american cinema | the m0vie blog

436. There Will Be Blood (#142)

Posted on September 13, 2025 by Darren

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.

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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 | Leave a comment »

348. Halloween (1978) – All-o’-Ween (#—)

Posted on October 7, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Joey Keogh, this week with special guest Doctor Bernice Murphy, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This year, we are running a season looking at the films in the Halloween franchise. So this week, John Carpenter’s Halloween.

In October 1963, the small town of Haddenfield is shocked by the brutal murder of young Judith Myers. The culprit? Her younger brother Michael. Committed to a psychiatric institution under the care of Doctor Samuel Loomis, Michael escapes fifteen years later to continue his reign of terror. This time, he has got young babysitter Laurie Strode in his sights.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: american cinema, bernice murphy, debra hill, doctor bernice murphy, donald pleasance, halloween, horro, iconic, importance, influence, irwin yablans, Jamie Lee Curtis, joey keogh, John Carpenter, laurie strode, loomis, michael myers, moustapha akkad, podcast, slasher, The 250 | Leave a comment »

238. To Be Or Not To Be – w/ The Movie Palace (#199)

Posted on June 12, 2021 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, with special guest Carl Sweeney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, a crossover with The Movie Palace, Ernst Lubitsch’s To Be Or Not To Be.

War rages across Europe. Hitler is on the march. In Poland, a troupe of actors find themselves cast as the most unlikely heroes in a daring mission to prevent vital intelligence from making its way to the Nazi authorities. Saving the day will require courage, guile and the ability to hit their marks.

At time of recording, it was ranked 199th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.