There Will Be Misanthropy

"Are you an angry man? Are you envious? Do you get envious? I have a competition in me; I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people. There are times when I look at people and I see nothing worth liking. I've built up my hatreds over the years, little by little. I see the worst in people. I don't need to look past seeing them to get all I need. I want to earn enough money I can get away from everyone."
—Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood"

Okay, I've now seen THERE WILL BE BLOOD twice. I may have had mixed reactions the first time, but I appreciated it much more the second time through. The study of characters, the shifts, the building of tension, the score, the cinematography. Craft-wise, it's PTA's strongest film to date (although "Boogie Nights" will always hold an irresistibly delirious charm for me).

And has there ever been a better Misanthropy Central mascot than Daniel Day-Lewis's magnetically misanthropic Daniel Plainview...?

(Hint: No.)

Thursday night, I attended a screening of the movie @ the DGA Theatre that I actually stayed to watch. Afterwards, Martin Scorsese interviewed Paul Thomas Anderson... and Paul Thomas Anderson interviewed Martin Scorsese.

It was so worth it.

Because Scorsese knows everything about movie-making, and was able to talk and ask about the film so well. No stupid questions on Scorsese's end. And every so often, the geek in PTA would push him to turn it on Scorsese and ask him about his filmography, so Scorsese would start talking about making fucking KING OF COMEDY and RAGING BULL. They both talked about their unique experiences working with Daniel Day-Lewis. By far, the coolest screening/Q&A that I've been able to attend via the WGA.


"For those who care: Nick Gaffney turns 33 today," interjected the Average Frustrated Raccoon. "It's a fact!"