‘There Will Be Blood' Was Released 5 Years Ago Today

When Ambition Meets Faith.

"There Will Be Blood" was released on December 26, 2007 to rave reviews and record-breaking grosses in New York and Los Angeles. The fifth film by Paul Thomas Anderson took five long years to make its way to the screen and was unlike anything his critics or fans could've anticipated. It was his first adaptation, first film not to feature any of his usual stock company of actors and first film since "Hard Eight" to leave the Valley behind completely. If "Punch-Drunk Love" took a hard left turn from the highly controlled ensemble films he had been known for, 'Blood' showed audiences that there was no turning back. Daniel Day-Lewis' towering performance as Daniel Plainview was immediately recognized as one for the ages, his character's speech was imitated (lovingly) by many and even spawned a phrase that entered the zeitgeist.  The film would be nominated for 8 Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay and go on to win 2 for Best Actor (Daniel Day Lewis) and Best Cinematography for PTA's longtime cinematographer Robert Elswit.

To celebrate "There Will Be Blood"'s 5th Anniversary, take a stroll down memory lane on our "There Will Be Blood" info page. There you can find interviews, production notes, posters, deleted scenes and more.  We'll be posting some archival bits and pieces throughout the day on Twitter so stay tuned.



I first saw "There Will Be Blood" at an advance screening in early December of '07 presented by the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. PTA and Daniel Day-Lewis were there for a Q&A and I spotted PTA-regular Julianne Moore in the crowd. I was seated with two rows of longtime PTA fans and when it ended I think we were all speechless. I knew I had seen something great but I didn't know at that moment it would be my favorite film of the decade. But a second, third and fourth viewing theatrically confirmed this would be the case. Each time I brought a few different friends to see the film, gathering different reactions each time and until "The Master," I hadn't seen any film that many times theatrically since. That first screening of 'Blood' will always stand out as being a special one because it was also my first (unofficial) date with my longtime girlfriend.

Where did you first see "There Will Be Blood"?
What are your favorite moments from the film?
Leave a comment below or use the hashtag #ThereWillBeBlood5 on Twitter.

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‘Punch-Drunk Love' Was Released 10 Years Ago Today

I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.

"Punch-Drunk Love" was released ten years ago today on October 11th, 2002. If you weren't lucky enough to have caught Paul Thomas Anderson's 4th film when it debuted at Cannes (where Paul won the Best Director prize), you had another agonizing 5 months to wait. During that time the film picked up even more acclaim at festivals in Toronto, Chicago and New York. Paul's longtime producer JoAnne Sellar said of the film's genesis, "After 'Magnolia', which was a huge, dark, challenging movie. I think Paul wanted to make something that was contained, uplifting and sweet." Prior to its release it was impossible to imagine what a "90 minute Adam Sandler romantic comedy" would look like through the lense of Paul Thomas Anderson. But after you see the film, wonderful and strange as it is, you can't imagine it any other way. The film was not a commercial success and was snubbed at the Academy Awards despite being one of the best reviewed films of that year. In retrospect, the film is a pivotal one in Paul's career, marking the transition from his earlier tightly controlled films to his later more improvisational efforts.

To celebrate "Punch-Drunk Love"s 10th Anniversary, take a stroll down memory lane on our "Punch-Drunk Love" info page. There you can find interviews, production notes, artwork, trivia and more.  We'll be posting some archival bits and pieces throughout the day on Twitter so stay tuned.



I saw "Punch-Drunk Love" on opening night at Loews Lincoln Square in NYC. I was going to college in Philadelphia at the time and rather than wait another week, I decided to drive up to New York with a few friends to catch the first evening show. The film was nothing like I'd expected but I loved it all the same and proved that the filmmaker who had made "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" was capable of doing something different, wildly different even, than critics, fans and audiences had expected. I saw the film several more times in theatres and one final time the following summer at a BAM screening in Brooklyn with Paul and Philip Seymour Hoffman in attendance.

Where did you first see "Punch-Drunk Love"?
What are your favorite moments from the film?
Leave a comment below or use the hashtag #PunchDrunkLove10 on Twitter.

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‘Boogie Nights' Was Released 15 Years Ago Today

Everyone has one special thing.

"Boogie Nights" was released on October 10th, 1997 shortly after premiering to raves at the Toronto and New York Film Festival's. The sophomore feature by the then little-known Paul Thomas Anderson arrived less than 9 months after his debut "Hard Eight" had been quietly released into a handful of theatres. But things were different this time. The buzz which had been building since the film went into production had reached a fever pitch by the time it was released. Reviews were ecstatic and many compared the young filmmaker to Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman. Everyone wanted to know just who was this 27 year old that had made such a brilliant film which went on to rack up 3 Oscar nominations including Best Original Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson.

To celebrate "Boogie Nights" 15th Anniversary, take a stroll down memory lane on our "Boogie Nights" info page. There you can find interviews, production notes, posters, deleted scenes and more.  We'll be posting some archival bits and pieces throughout the day on Twitter so stay tuned.



I first saw "Boogie Nights" in 1997 when I was in high school. All my friends worked at the local theatre so we basically saw everything that came out. We probably went in expecting something a little bit risqué but were totally unprepared for what we saw. I remember stumbling out of the theatre afterwards. My mind was blown. It was hilarious, heartbreaking and unmistakably confident. When the film was re-released for Oscar consideration I saw it a 2nd time in the theatre and subsequently many more times on VHS (!) and DVD. I knew then that Paul Thomas Anderson was my favorite filmmaker at that moment. But what I didn't know was that a decade and a half later he would make such a good case for being the very best filmmaker of his generation.

Where did you first see "Boogie Nights"?
What are your favorite moments from the film?
Leave a comment below or use the hashtag #BoogieNights15 on Twitter.

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