Me update: I return to school in 9 days. That is one crazy thought. But I'm ready and excited for the upcoming year. Adding up PA duties, IFC, and 17 credits should result in a fairly hectic fall schedule but for as much as I complain and "hate" being busy, it's so great being at school. I'm going to have to do some major adjusting for post college life.
As I've repeatedly mentioned before, this summer has been filled with an overabundance of movie watching. Last night I re-watched There Will Be Blood with the Hallings and my little brother and I was reminded of why movies are made. This little P.T. Anderson gem showcases Daniel Day Lewis doing what he does best but you already know who's in it. What I concretely realized while watching it last night was that this particular film was structured very much like a novel. Now that's a quasi-stupid statement considering it is indeed based off of Upton Sinclair's novel, Oil! but what I mean by that statement is that while watching the movie, the pacing and unfolding of the plot is novel-esque.
Something movies do is speed up the pacing in order to sell tickets. Which is understandable. As I mentioned in my last blog, no one wants to watch a movie that's longer than it should be. But I felt that in There Will Be Blood, much more attention is given to the few events that happen and the viewer is allowed to chew on the themes of the movie while actually watching the movie - like a novel. Watching Daniel Plainview become consumed with greed, comparing Daniel with Eli the preacher, or anticipating H.W.'s response to all that he is put through are all themes easily identified if it were a book. Believe me, I'm a Literature Minor (that was a joke). I thought P.T. gave us a movie with a different pace which has allowed for me to give it much more thought than most the movies I've seen. Kudos.
(Oh, I haven't read the book, Oil!, so I'm making no comment there.)
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