The derrick explosion wins over the wordless opening, Eli sermon, oil-soaked beating, competition confession, baptism, beach revelation, drunk lunch, H.W. rupture, Paul’s sales pitch, and milkshake murder.
In the discussion (10)
- Fourteen dialogue-free minutes show Daniel breaking his leg and dragging himself from a mine, establishing that he will endure anything for wealth.
- Eli’s first sermon lets Daniel identify the rival he must pressure.
- The practical-looking explosion combines danger, hellfire imagery, H.W.’s injury, and Daniel choosing the ocean of oil over his child; all three settle on it.
- Daniel’s oil-soaked assault on Eli is short, physical, and appears painfully real.
- The “competition in me” confession reveals his hatred and sociopathy to the false brother.
- The baptism turns genuine pain and calculated pipeline submission into simultaneous truths.
- The Pacific beach lets Daniel quietly discover Henry’s lie before murder; the drunk steak lunch shows his power and contempt in posture and line delivery.
- Adult H.W.’s departure forces Daniel to reveal the adopted child as a sales instrument, though their earlier bond remains emotionally ambiguous.
- The milkshake scene ends oil versus religion with drunken pantomime, humiliation, and a bowling-pin murder; power inevitably wins.
- Paul Sunday’s initial pitch is an understated two-actor negotiation that unlocks the entire plot.
The theme, emerging humor, visible oil-building process, score, ambiguity, PTA’s ascendancy, practical landscapes, script, trailer, young H.W., and “I’m finished” age best.
In the discussion (7)
- The first minutes methodically turn a hole into an oil enterprise and make a complex process legible.
- Oil superseding religion reads as the twentieth century replacing nineteenth-century structures of power.
- The movie’s shots range from vast fire landscapes to intimate church movement and precise match cuts.
- The bowling ball visibly striking Dano’s foot enhances the climactic physical risk.
- No opening credits, Daniel leaving H.W. on the train, Dylan Freasier’s one-film performance, and the final line are individually celebrated.
- Ambiguity about Eli’s faith, Daniel’s love, and the curse of the unblessed site changes with each viewing.
- PTA’s scale and command pushed contemporaries toward their own mature masterworks.
The beach two-shot with Henry’s face partly in sun leads a field including the dynamited well, mine fall, falling well debris, burning derrick silhouette, and vintage-lens train image.
In the discussion (3)
- The favored beach framing mirrors a famous painting and visually anticipates Daniel seeing through Henry.
- Fletcher and Daniel in shadow before the burning derrick turn destruction into triumph.
- A modified 1910 Pathé lens created the unusual train image of Daniel and infant H.W.
The category is deliberately left blank because the panel supports the film’s decisions.
In the discussion (1)
- The category is deliberately left blank because the panel supports the film’s decisions.
The real fire’s environmental damage, Miramax branding, and the oil state’s global damage are the only candidates.
In the discussion (1)
- The real fire’s environmental damage, Miramax branding, and the oil state’s global damage are the only candidates.
Three takes argue Daniel may be sexually attracted to Henry, the film is much better and more important than No Country, and Day-Lewis cannot be greatest without a mass-audience movie.
In the discussion (3)
- The Henry theory draws on betrayal, brothel jealousy, beach intimacy, impotence, and Daniel’s absence of women; the counterview sees a needed surrogate after H.W.’s injury.
- All three prefer There Will Be Blood to No Country despite calling the latter an exceptional Best Picture winner.
- The Day-Lewis dissent wishes he had played Nicholson’s Departed role or another broad commercial part.
Paul Dano’s exorcism wins, while Day-Lewis is declared ineligible despite the climactic pantomime.
In the discussion (1)
- Paul Dano’s exorcism wins, while Day-Lewis is declared ineligible despite the climactic pantomime.
Legendary SNL writer Jim Downey wins for his small real-estate role.
In the discussion (1)
- Legendary SNL writer Jim Downey wins for his small real-estate role.
Bandy wins for two compact, forceful scenes.
In the discussion (1)
- Bandy wins for two compact, forceful scenes.
Day-Lewis and PTA both have strong apex cases; oil, modern outdoor epics, oil-covered faces, private bowling alleys, well explosions, and feeding liquor to a baby receive playful subcases.
In the discussion (1)
- Day-Lewis and PTA both have strong apex cases; oil, modern outdoor epics, oil-covered faces, private bowling alleys, well explosions, and feeding liquor to a baby receive playful subcases.
The movie is untouchable, though an all-Black version is briefly enjoyed as a thought experiment.
In the discussion (1)
- The movie is untouchable, though an all-Black version is briefly enjoyed as a thought experiment.
Wayne Jenkins is the comic default, while Philip Baker Hall and Buscemi fit naturally and Bernthal could replace Ciarán Hinds.
In the discussion (1)
- Wayne Jenkins is the comic default, while Philip Baker Hall and Buscemi fit naturally and Bernthal could replace Ciarán Hinds.
Daniel Day-Lewis gets the single Oscar.
In the discussion (1)
- Daniel Day-Lewis gets the single Oscar.
The bloody bowling pin leads Daniel’s flask, hat, Henry’s diary, long swimming trunks, and Eli’s final cross.
In the discussion (1)
- The bloody bowling pin leads Daniel’s flask, hat, Henry’s diary, long swimming trunks, and Eli’s final cross.
Oil defeats religion and unchecked competition can poison the self and the world.
In the discussion (1)
- Oil defeats religion and unchecked competition can poison the self and the world.
Daniel Day-Lewis wins the two-to-one host vote over Paul Thomas Anderson after an extended dispute; Craig finds Sean’s PTA case more compelling but does not cast a candidate ballot.
In the discussion (3)
- Sean selects PTA as writer, director, producer, conceiver, and career-transforming author of the whole work.
- The other two hosts choose Day-Lewis because no substitute could reproduce the singular performance or the movie’s rewatchability.
- Craig evaluates the arguments without declaring his own candidate, and the panel acknowledges that PTA may own the film’s longer historical legacy.
Podcast choices
- Speaker not identified
- Paul Thomas Anderson
- Speaker not identified
- Daniel Day-Lewis
- Speaker not identified
- Daniel Day-Lewis
Most Rewatchable Scene
