Last Sunday night, I finally took myself to see “There Will Be Blood.” No plot synopsis here, just some observations/impressions - and perhaps details you might not want to know. Ah, well. At this point, I’ll just go with it.

First thought: It was far quieter than I expected. Then again, this is from the man who brought us “Magnolia”, which was also a fairly quiet film in a similar way. But it was very quiet. I feel this must have some connection with a certain character’s deafness later (where sound disappears entirely from certain scenes); or perhaps it’s simply a device they’re using to accentuate how vast and empty the world was (and to this man in particular) and the various things he did or was willing to do to fill that emptiness (which never abated since that type of greed can’t be “met” or fulfilled).

Second: Yes, Daniel Day Lewis was good again. For very superficial reasons, this role (Daniel Plainview) reminded me of his performance as Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting in “Gangs of New York.” Both characters possess incredible charisma which they use to manipulate people into doing things they might not do otherwise. That said, there were still moments I wanted to like him and see some good within him, despite his being a manipulative, greedy oil man. The limp he affects elicits part of that response, I think (oooh - flawed! Human!) I got over it by the end of the movie, though.

Third: I understand that for the time period and subject of the film (late 1800s/early 1900s - the wilds of California and the American west, with oil prospecting as the centerpiece), the relative lack of female characters is fitting. It was just a bit strange for the biggest female parts to be little girls who either a) run and fetch things for the men or b) look cute when someone needs a prop to appear sensitive and family-oriented.

Fourth: The depiction of religion and the role of religion in the various characters’ lives was fascinating. You have “dueling charismas” when it comes to relationship between the young minister and the greedy oil man. They’re like two sides of the same coin, and I think that’s pretty heavily suggested throughout. It’s not exactly a doppelganger set-up, but I think seeing them as more alike than different is key. Things like the sarcastic use of “brother”, the fact that the minister is/was a twin, their similarities in terms of showmanship and the ability to manipulate people to their way of thinking… and the way they play each other, competitively and maliciously—these all play into it.

Fourth (ancillary): The names. A minister named ELI SUNDAY? A greedy liar named DANIEL PLAINVIEW? And throw in the fact that he tosses around, “I believe in plain-speaking” to everyone he meets… and, here’s a curiosity. The name Eli means “ascension” or “my God” in Hebrew; the name Daniel is also derived from Hebrew and means “God is my judge.” Interesting.

Fifth: I need to see it again to make any larger-scale big-picture comments. Because it was so quiet, you’d think I would’ve focused quite clearly on what was said and what was shown; but it’s a long movie. And I wasn’t feeling all that hot on Sunday, anyway.

Sixth: Now I’ve seen the new movie catch-phrase du jour in action. There’s a site. Probably several.

But I will call your attention to this one, Idrinkyourmilkshake.com, since it’s billing itself as a discussion board about the movie or a place to play the line over and over and over. Movie folks on the blogosphere are saying that line is either the new “show me the money!”, “say hello to my little friend” or “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. (slurping noise).”

Hrm. Well, I’ll consider the last two, but there’s no way you can compare a line from “Jerry Maguire” to the lines from those other films.