the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, this week with special guests Phil Bagnall and Darcie Faccio, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users.

This week, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will be Blood.

Daniel Plainview is an oil man at the turn of the twentieth century. A prospector who struck lucky in California, Plainview has dedicated his life to the pursuit of black gold on the edge of the American continent. As he stumble across a potentially life-changing find, the veteran businessman finds himself thrown into conflict with that other great American industry: organised religion.

At time of recording, it was ranked 142nd on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 20th August 2025.
• There Will Be Blood on the Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDb 250 at time of recording.
• Follow Phil on Twitter.
• Read Phil’s reviews at Scannain.
• Follow Darcie on Twitter.
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• What a Shot on Tumblr.
• The BBC reports on Mark Wahlberg’s daily workout routine, September 2018.
• Matthew Jussim at Men’s Journal writes about Mark Wahlberg’s daily routine, November 2024.
• Zack Sharf writes at IndieWire about Mark Wahlberg’s opinion of Boogie Nights, November 2017.
• Peter Bradshaw at The Guardian names There Will Be Blood as the best film of the century, September 2019.
• The BBC ranks the best films of the 21st century, August 2016.
• The New York Times ranks the best films of the century to date, June 2017.
• The New York Times ranks the best films of the century so far, August 2025.
• Andrew Collins considers the awards slate for The Guardian, January 2008.
• The Times reports on the premiere of There Will Be Blood, November 2007.
• Matt Dentler reports at IndieWire on the premiere of There Will Be Blood at Fantastic Fest, September 2007.
• Joe George writes at Den of Geek about the history of premieres at Fantastic Fest, September 2025.
• Manohla Dargis writes at The New York Times about the War on Terror anxieties infusing the films of the era, December 2007.
• Whitney Joiner writes at The New York Times about the production of No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood in Marfa, Texas, August 2006.
• A.A. Dowd writes at Chron about how both There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men films in Marfa, Texas, October 2023.
• Ryan Sanderson writes at Perisphere about the politics and legacy of There Will Be Blood, March 2025.
• Zach Vasquez at Crooked Marquee considers The Assassination of Jesse James, No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood as emblematic of a moment in American culture, September 2022.
• Jeff Reichert at Reverse Shot considers There Will Be Blood in the context of the late Bush era, January 2008.
• Philip French considers the contemporary resonance of There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men at The Observer, December 2008.
• Anthony Paletta at The Wall Street Journal complains about the over-determined readings of contemporary late Bush era cinema, December 2009.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to The Guardian about contemporary readings of There Will Be Blood, January 2008.
• Ed Yong writes at National Geographic about how the very act of remembering a memory can rewrite it, May 2013.
• Nancy Shute at NPR discusses how our memories of past events are coloured by our present emotions, February 2014.
• Steve Harvey at The Los Angeles Times considers California’s legendary oil spills, June 2010.
• Daniel Day-Lewis talks to The BBC about making There Will Be Blood, February 2008.
• Robert Altman talks to Entertainment Weekly about making Prairie Home Companion, June 2006.
• John Lopez writes at Grantland about the relationship between Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson, December 2014.
• Annabelle Dunne talks to Variety about how Guillermo Del Toro served as back-up director on William Friedkin’s Caine Mutiny Court Martial, September 2023.
• Guillermo Del Toro talks to IndieWire about serving as a back-up director on Caine Mutiny Court Martial, October 2023.
• Danny Graydon at Variety considers James Mottram’s study of The Sundance Kids, May 2006.
• Philip French at The Guardian considers James Mottram’s study of The Sundance Kids, March 2006.
• Steven Zeitchik at Variety considers the legacy of the generation of filmmakers who emerged during the early nineties, September 2006.
• Sean Hutchinson at Inverse considers how Paul Thomas Anderson ended up in Documentary Now!, October 2016.
• Patrick McElroy at Secret Movie Club considers the impact of Jonathan Demme on the films and career of Paul Thomas Anderson, June 2022.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to The Austin Chronicle about his lasting relationship with Jonathan Demme, March 2018.
• NerdWriter considers the editing rhythms of There Will Be Blood, July 2017.
• Sean Fennessey at The Ringer considers the tenth anniversary of There Will Be Blood, December 2017.
• Emily Nussbaum profiles Fiona Apple for The New Yorker, March 2020.
• Burt Reynolds talks to GQ about his tense relationship with Paul Thomas Anderson on Boogie Nights, December 2015.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to The Ringer about his tense relationship with Burt Reynolds on Boogie Nights, December 2017.
• Robert Elswit talks to The American Cinematographer about working with Paul Thomas Anderson on There Will Be Blood, January 2008.
• Michael Nordine at IndieWire reports on the collapse of the relationship between Paul Thomas Anderson and Robert Elswit, February 2019.
• Zack Sharf at IndieWire reports on Robert Elswit’s opinion of Paul Thomas Anderson’s cinematography on Phantom Thread, October 2020.
• Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson talk about their relationship to The New York Times, December 2017.
• Andreas Wiseman at Screen Daily talks about what Daniel Day Lewis enjoys about working with Paul Thomas Anderson, January 2018.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to Pop Entertainment about what drew him to There Will Be Blood, December 2007.
• Tom Carson writes at Grantland about Paul Thomas Anderson’s social history of California, December 2014.
• Philip Horne at The Guardian considers the influence of Chinatown on There Will Be Blood, July 2008.
• David Patrick Columbia writes at New York Social Diary about the death of Ned Doheny, April 2022.
• Borys Kit writes at The Hollywood Reporter about the use of Edward Doheny’s mansion in There Will Be Blood, January 2008.
• Michael Fleming at Variety reports on Javier Bardem dropping out of Nine to be replaced by Daniel Day-Lewis, April 2008.
• Mike Fleming writes at Deadline about the breakdown in talks over the potential casting of Joaquin Phoenix in Doctor Strange, October 2014.
• Scott Derrickson talks to /film about how close Joaquin Phoenix came to starring into Doctor Strange, April 2024.
• Kel O’Neil talks to Vulture about why he departed There Will Be Blood, December 2017.
• Joey Nolfi at Entertainment Weekly reports on Jared Leto’s antics on the set of Suicide Squad, April 2016.
• Rachel Abramowitz writes at The Los Angeles Times about the opinion of actors who work with Daniel Day-Lewis, February 2008.
• Daniel Day-Lewis wins an Academy Award, March 2008.
• Robert Putnam writes Bowling Alone, 2000.
• Robert Putnam talks to The New York Times about the collapse of social cohesion, July 2024.
• Jaime Fuller at The Washington Post considers the legacy of Nixon and shadow that he casts over popular culture, August 2014.
• The New York Times reports on Richard Nixon’s love of bowling, April 1971.
• Paul Harris at The Guardian reports on George W. Bush’s belief that he was chosen by God, November 2003.
• Rupert Cornwell at The Independent reports on the story that George W. Bush believes that God chose him to invade Iraq, October 2005.
• Jasper Craven at Politico writes about Pete Hegseth’s effort to make the American military more explicitly Christian, December 2024.
• Eid Mohamed at Brookings writes about the religious rhetoric and belief underpinning the War on Terror, October 2012.
• John Burnett on All Things Considered reflects on the money that Halliburton made in Iraq, December 2003.
• David E. Rosenbaum writes at The New York Times about the relationship between Dick Cheney and Halliburton, September 2004.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to Matt’s Movie Reviews about his religious beliefs, 2012.
• John Anderson writes at America Magazine about religion in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, October 2012.
• Jane Borden writes at Vanity Fair about the ubiquity of cults in the history of California, September 2020.
• Paul Thomas Anderson talks to Port Magazine about his religious upbringing, June 2013.
• Jesse Hassenger at Vulture considers the ineligibility of Jonny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood score for the Academy Awards, January 2008.
• Chris Willman at Entertainment Weekly reports on the Academy’s decision to rule the There Will Be Blood score ineligible, January 2008.
• Clayton Davis writes at Variety about the ruling that Hans Zimmer’s Dune: Part Two score would be ineligible for the Academy Awards, October 2024.
• Ian Youngs at The BBC reports on Steve Reich’s Different Trains, September 2016.
• Adam Possener at HeyAlma writes about the influence of the Holocaust on Steve Reich’s Different Trains, February 2022.
• The New York Times reports on the passing of Maurice Martenot, October 1980.
• Michael Cooper at The New York Times contemplates the resurrection of the Ondes Martenot, October 2017.
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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: ambition, american cinema, character complexities, cinematography, contemporary societal issues, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daniel Plainview, film, great american film, greed, identity, imdb, Jonny Greenwood, moral ambiguity, Movie, Paul Thomas Anderson, podcast, power, score, technical achievements, The 250, there will be blood, visual style |