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‘There Will Be Blood’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

July 26, 2022 · There Will Be Blood (2007) · Drama · 2:14:55 · ▶ Listen on Spotify

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Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 37:51Why doesn't he want to be in movies about things that are happening in this year?

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 56:39Multiple scenes including: the opening hole fall sequence (first 20 minutes), Eli's sermon scene, the oil derrick explosion sequence, Daniel slapping Eli, Daniel's 'I have a competition in me' confession to his fake brother, Daniel's baptism, the drunk lunch scene, and the adult deaf son visit scene
Chris Ryan▶ 59:14Emphasized the oil derrick explosion for its dramatic relevance (Daniel choosing oil over the kid) and the Henry/Daniel beach scene where Daniel figures out Henry is lying
Sean Fennessey▶ 59:05Praised the oil derrick explosion as potentially '10 minutes of movie in the last 20 years' and highlighted the sequence from union proposal through Henry's murder to baptism

Great Shot Gordo Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:18:08Multiple shots including railroad scene with young son and the wordless shot of Daniel leaving his son behind on the train
Chris Ryan▶ 1:16:06The shot where Daniel decides to kill Henry and he's in the ocean, and the wave takes the camera into Daniel Day-Lewis
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:16:45Beautiful Vista shots with the derrick on fire and intimate camera work in Eli's first church scene

Slow Ride Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:22:37The score during the explosion scene
Chris Ryan▶ 1:23:10When Slow Ride drops on the closing credits
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:22:41The clacking percussion score when Daniel is carrying H.W. back to the shack

Big Kahuna Burger Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:24:41Discusses multiple food/drink moments including 'Two steaks, whiskey, water, and goat's milk' and Daniel Day-Lewis eating steak in the final scene, but doesn't give one clear pick
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:25:10The whiskey stuff, especially when he's pouring whiskey and giving it to the kid

Den of Thieves Benihana Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:26:02Bowling alley (as number one pick, with Pacific Ocean as alternative)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:25:55Silver mine in the beginning

Butch's Girlfriend Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:29:45No weak link - doesn't have anybody written down, likes all the decisions they made
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:29:55Environmental damage from the fire

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:33:27Mentions several famous quotes including 'I drink your milkshake', 'I'm abandoned my son', 'I have a competition in me', and 'I've built up my hatreds over the years, little by little'
Chris Ryan▶ 1:33:39Likes Eli's quote about 'he's completely failed to alert me to the recent panic in our economy' and Eli's sermon with 'if I have no teeth, I will gum you'
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:34:01Yes, I do (as favorite line reading)

Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:35:14Daniel was secretly gay during an era when you had to be secretly gay, noting his lack of interest in women and possible impotence
Chris Ryan▶ 1:34:24Daniel is in love with or obsessed with Henry in a way that transcends fraternal interest, with sexual chemistry and intimacy between them

Picking Nits

Bill Simmons▶ 1:35:47Daniel Plainview is too savvy to ever believe Eli Sunday was actually his brother - he should have been more suspicious and tried to trap him way earlier
Chris Ryan▶ 1:36:00Daniel could have done the Fond du Lac test (asking about the house) the first time he met Eli to expose him

Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 1:44:46Philip Seymour Hoffman — Philip Seymour Hoffman as Henry (the long lost brother) and discussed Ryan Gosling, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Heath Ledger as potential Eli recasts
Chris Ryan▶ 1:40:29Leonardo DiCaprio — Would prefer another young actor instead of Paul Dano playing twins, but acknowledges it was 'making lemonade out of lemons'. Against Leonardo DiCaprio as too big a star
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:40:40Paul Dano — Disagrees with recasting Paul Dano - thinks he's great in the role and prefers him over alternate casting. Against Ryan Gosling as too modern for period pieces

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:50:58Paul Thomas Anderson — Yes for Paul Thomas Anderson and Dino De Laurentiis; discusses various other Apex Mountains including oil well explosions, faces covered in oil, feeding liquor to a baby, and 'my wife died during childbirth' excuse
Chris Ryan▶ 1:50:50Paul Thomas Anderson — Agrees this is Apex Mountain; says Paul Dano's Apex Mountain is probably being the Riddler in Batman rather than this film
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:51:05Paul Thomas Anderson — Agrees on Apex Mountain for the main subjects; asks if this is the first movie in PTA's obituary and discusses private bowling alleys

Racehorse Name Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:55:50Multiple suggestions including Get Out Ghost, Milkshake, Plain View, Peach Tree Dance, and The Third Revelation (which they declare the winner)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:55:56The Bandy Tract and My Son and My Partner HW

Is This Movie Better With

Bill Simmons▶ 1:58:00Wayne Jenkins
Bill Simmons▶ 1:58:22Philip Baker Hall — Philip Baker Hall (as Mandy or the standard oil guy)
Bill Simmons▶ 1:58:44Steve Buscemi — Steve Buscemi (as the fake brother)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:58:26Jon Bernthal — Bernthal (as Kieran Hines)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:58:41Steve Buscemi

Just One Oscar

Bill Simmons▶ 1:59:20Daniel Day-Lewis

Best Double Feature

Bill Simmons▶ 2:01:02No Country for Old Men
Chris Ryan▶ 2:01:09Citizen Kane — Citizen Kane, Treasure of Sierra Madre, and Chinatown

Coach Finstock Life Lesson

Bill Simmons▶ 2:04:09Oil defeats religion
Chris Ryan▶ 2:04:27Questioned whether competitive people should reflect on whether their drive is poisoning themselves and the earth
Sean Fennessey▶ 2:04:12Stop worrying about dominating everybody

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 2:06:46Daniel Day-Lewis — Daniel Day-Lewis, but acknowledges it's extremely difficult and calls it 'probably the single hardest who won the movie we've ever had'
Chris Ryan▶ 2:05:54Daniel Day-Lewis — Supports Daniel Day-Lewis, arguing he's in almost every shot and integral to the movie, representing 50% of the accomplishment
Sean Fennessey▶ 2:05:39Paul Thomas Anderson — Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) - the writer/director/producer who conceived the film

Movies Referenced (59)

Boogie Nights (1997)

15 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 4:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

No Country for Old Men (2007)

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 14:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Lincoln (2012)

9 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons▶ 27:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Clayton (2007)

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 15:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Chinatown (1974)

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 12:09IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Citizen Kane (1941)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 10:48IMDb ↗Lb ↗

American Gigolo (1980)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 2:09:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Days of Heaven (1978)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey▶ 1:16:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Fargo (1996)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 47:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gangs of New York (2002)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 21:29IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Inception (2010)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 15:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 33:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (8)

Paul Thomas Anderson

7 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Punch-Drunk Love, Licorice Pizza, There Will Be Blood▶ 53:22IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Houston

5 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 11:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Karen Hines

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Man of the Year, Hedwig and the Angry Inch▶ 33:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

George Clooney

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for The Ides of March, Good Night, and Good Luck., Michael Clayton▶ 18:59IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Wes Anderson

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums, Isle of Dogs▶ 1:21:51IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Brit Manor

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:50:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Christopher Nolan

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Tenet, Interstellar, Inception▶ 2:09:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Altman

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Gosford Park, Nashville, Short Cuts▶ 11:20IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (70)

Daniel Day-Lewis

27 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for There Will Be Blood, The Last of the Mohicans, Lincoln▶ 5:27IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Philip Seymour Hoffman

16 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for The Master, Capote, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead▶ 31:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Paul Dano

13 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine, 12 Years a Slave▶ 28:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ned Doheny

11 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Magic Mike XXL▶ 19:18IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jack Nicholson

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Chinatown, As Good as It Gets, The Departed▶ 17:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kevin O'Connor

7 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Let's Scare Jessica to Death▶ 33:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Philip Baker Hall

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Hard Eight▶ 48:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Al Pacino

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Dog Day Afternoon, The Godfather▶ 23:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Marlon Brando

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, On the Waterfront▶ 29:55IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jon Bernthal

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Wolf of Wall Street, King Richard, Fury▶ 1:58:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Jesse James

4 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for The Butterfly Effect, As Good as It Gets, Message in a Bottle▶ 15:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kid Cudi

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Harder They Fall, Don't Look Up, Need for Speed▶ 1:22:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (4)

Arthur Miller

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 22:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cormac McCarthy

2 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Road, No Country for Old Men, The Counselor▶ 50:16IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Rebecca Miller

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Maggie's Plan▶ 33:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Tennessee Williams

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof▶ 42:32IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (2)

Robert Elswit

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for There Will Be Blood, Good Night, and Good Luck., Nightcrawler▶ 1:15:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Grantland

1 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for The Taking of Pelham 123, The Other Guys▶ 1:28:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗