comment #1

arch451 says ...

You bastard. I say that with the utmost respect and admiration.

comment #2

ZayTonday says ...

Damn you Wells.

comment #3

George Prager says ...

The other critics were Armond White ("it lacks the seriousness [exemplified by] Innaurato's "Happy Birthday, Gemini."), Gene Shalit ("It should be against the law not to see THERE WILL BE BLOOD"), and Christian Toto (THERE WILL BE BLOOD offers the kind of razzle dazzle action Michael Bay only thinks he creates.")

comment #4

Nick J says ...

God damn it. GOD DAMN IT.

comment #5

GKLondon says ...

"I have some Ice cream, you don't have no ice cream, you didn't get none, cause you are on the welfare, and your father is a al-co-holic..."

comment #6

Balthazar says ...

Is it just me, or does that look like a picture of Tom Selleck from Quigley Down Under?!?!?!

comment #7

Zimmergirl says ...

So Wells are you going to have to retract your now famous "There Will Be Oscars" quote? I'm going to guess that the film has already been reviewed and thus can't be embargoed but that a deal was struck that no negative comments will be said until the general public gets a crack at it then all bets are off.

comment #8

T. Holly says ...

Zimmergirl, are you a communist? Kris laid it out in black and beige.

comment #9

701 says ...

Saw it a couple of weeks ago in NY.

To my eyes, it very much lived up to the hype. (My only reservations -- very mild -- concern the last ten minutes.)

I'd be surprised if Jeff disagreed.

comment #10

EDouglas says ...

Sure, Jeff, you can't hold out that long. I'll give you three days before every other post is about it.

comment #11

christian says ...

I'll wait for Rex Reed.

comment #12

Zimmergirl says ...

I gots my theories and I'm stickin' with 'em. But I'll just say this: I had a chance to see it too but declined because I want to see it with a real crowd, not a bunch of poker faced babies who whine about not being FIRST. Waaaaa. :-) I mean, no offense.

If I could be a Communist with all of the trappings of Capitalism I'd be one. Oh, wait, that's socialism.

comment #13

Balthazar says ...

Are the last 10 minutes controversial because of the scene with Daniel-Day Lewis in the dressing room with his Ringo speech and prosthetic appendage??

comment #14

Wrecktum says ...

A movie is not truly reviewed until Michael Medved sees it.

comment #15

T. Holly says ...

I'm waiting for Zimmergirl's review, I don't see it until she says so.

comment #16

EOTW says ...

I'm curious what Wells thinks and he better not spoil it!!!!!!! that being said, I got the script but refuse to read it until I see the pic. God, I wanna watch this thing right now so much. Can anyone comment on the score? Curious to know what JG is going for.

comment #17

MiraJeffAICN says ...

I've read the script and it's pretty tight, especially the first 15 pages, which are awesome and dialogue-free. I also know who all of Gruver's peers were last night, and I'm jealous of all of them. With Jonny G doing the score, there's no doubt it's great. I repeat, no doubt. Can't wait to see this. When Vantage, when will you share with me.

comment #18

KeithNYC says ...

Hearing rumors that its great but the end...well...stinks.

comment #19

Zimmergirl says ...

"With Jonny G doing the score, there's no doubt it's great."

Heh heh heh. Not saying a word.

comment #20

T. S. Idiot says ...

Henry Fonda in My Darling Clementine.

comment #21

TheJeff says ...

Tapley has updated his Oscar predictions at incontention.com today. THERE WILL BE BLOOD has been yanked from his best picture, director, screenplay, and supporting actor predictions. Only best actor and cinematography remain. Take that for what it's worth.

comment #22

BurmaShave says ...

How are the closure junkies at AICN going to reconcile their geek love with a frustrating ending? They've already completely blown their credibility pissing on NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

comment #23

DarthCorleone says ...

Two things:

1) I hate you.
2) I don't care if it's November 5th or not - seeing as how I and most other mere mortals won't be seeing this until late December - if you spoil this for me, there will be blood indeed. Oh, yes, there will be blood.

I'm sure you realize that was tongue-in-cheek, but in all seriousness I don't want to know a single thing more about this film ahead of time than I already know. Thanks in advance for the spoiler protection.

Anyway, I hope it's great and that you enjoyed it.

comment #24

Gordie Lachance says ...

Paramount has put the final shooting script online for anyone who wants to spoil it for themselves.

http://www.vantageguilds.com/twbb/FinalScript_TWBB.pdf

comment #25

BNick says ...

So Kris Tapley either didn't like the film or didn't think it would appeal to the academy, since he's removed it from most of his Oscar predictions.

Jeff has declined to comment altogether, which probably means he didn't like it and is honoring the embargo on reviews. I doubt the studio would mind some early positive word leaking out.

So what does this mean? The ultimate showdown between the entertainment press and the fanboys (PTA devotees, DDL devotees, etc.), who won't let this film go down without a fight, no matter how good or bad it is. These boards are going to be in chaos.

comment #26

Zimmergirl says ...

I don't think that's what it means, BNick, all due respect. If it was a fanboy movie, Jeff as king of all fanboys would be over the moon (Children of Men, Jesse James, Zodiac). No, it's not good news, particularly in light of the premature Citizen Kane ejaculations. It really should have been opened quietly with no fanfare. The opposite happened.

comment #27

Zimmergirl says ...

And ps, just because Kris Tapley does anything with his Oscar charts only means he didn't like it. That is only one person's opinion and it's unwise to trust a single person's Oscar predictions in October . That said, Jeff's silence speaks volumes.

comment #28

mutinyco says ...

To put it in perspective, Kris has the only major chart without No Country in any top spots...

comment #29

Zimmergirl says ...

That is a mistake; No Country is so far and away one of the best films of the year.

comment #30

Kristopher Tapley says ...

FYI, my favorite ilm in ten years is Assassination of Jesse James and I'm predicting it for two nominations.

Just saying...

comment #31

TheJeff says ...

That's reassuring, Kris. I'm now inferring that you did like it (a lot?), but you don't think it has much Academy appeal. I guess I ultimately don't give a shit if it gets nominated for anything (the best films rarely do), it just looked like this particular story had lots of Academy crossover potential.

comment #32

mutinyco says ...

Wondering if that's the problem with the whole Oscar prognosticating genre. Since it's about what "will" get nominated over what should. If this type of journalism was as prevalent 35-40 years ago, would Midnight Cowboy or A Clockwork Orange, among others, have been considered likely nominees? As much as Oscar prognosticating tries to be fair and balanced in its reporting, it would be disingenuous for the prognosticators to suggest their opinions don't influence the races and how the studios mount their campaigns. They're in it for the money like everybody else.

comment #33

BNick says ...

I wouldn't say Jeff is the king of all fanboys. Judging from the reaction from some of the AICN crowd to this movie in Texas (i.e. calling it Citizen Kane-esque) I think it will still be warmly accepted by a large portion of that crowd, if not by mainstream journalists and academy types.

And I'll leave Kris to defend himself but I think his lists tend to be much less affected by his personal opinion than most if not all other online oscar watchers.

comment #34

DarthCorleone says ...

I could not care less about its Oscar status. All I want is for it to be a great film.

And I agree Jeff's silence would seem to be more of a bad sign than a good one, but I hope I'm wrong.

comment #35

thorsen1nk says ...

Ticketmaster just e-mailed me to say the SF screening was canceled.