No Country For Old Men Vs. There Will Be Blood (Ep. 0008)

Episode Summary: On episode 0008 of the Movie Wars Podcast, Kyle, Drew, and Phil dissect two modern masterpieces. These films duked it out for best film (No Country edged TWBB out) in 2008. Both qualify as American classics of masterful storytelling. These movies were even filmed in the same place. One of Kyle’s Rando’s covers how one film’s pyrotechnics halted the production of another. Kyle’s Randos cover original casting, pre-production mishaps with one of the film’s stars, notes from the books, and many more items. The story-hook focuses on how films were exploring dark and nihilistic themes comfortably after the tragic events of 911. Artists in all mediums weren’t shying away from dark themes. This created the opening for these two films. Not to mention that these two films were released the same year that Breaking Bad began its unprecedented run as, according to several, the best show ever made. Walter White took the concept of the antihero to new heights as do No Country For Old Men And There Will Be Blood. Anton Chigurh and Daniel Plainview are two of the darkest, complex, and interesting antiheroes to ever hit the big screen. The guys finish it out with their epic scorecard and personal picks to conclude the show.

Movie Wars Score Card Categories for Episode 0008

1. Best Top Bill Cast

2. Best Supporting Cast

3. Best pretentious long title

4. Best Music

5. Best Dessert/Setting

6. Bowling Pin Vs. Silenced Shotgun

7. Sending your kid off to deaf school without telling him or flipping a coin that decides if you kill someone

8. The Real "Best Picture"

9. Best Mustache (Brolin Vs. DDL)

10. Best Dark Comedy

11. Best resourcefulness

12. Best Time Transport

Plot Summaries:

No Country For Old Men:

While out hunting, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds the grisly aftermath of a drug deal. Though he knows better, he cannot resist the cash left behind and takes it with him. The hunter becomes the hunted when a merciless killer named Chigurh (Javier Bardem) picks up his trail. Also looking for Moss is Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), an aging lawman who reflects on a changing world and a dark secret of his own, as he tries to find and protect Moss. -Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_country_for_old_men)

• Director:

  Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

• Producer:

  Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Scott Rudin

• Writer:

  Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

• Release Date (Theaters):

  Nov 21, 2007 Wide

• Box Office (Gross USA):

  $74.3M

• Runtime:

  2h 2m

Courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_country_for_old_men)

There Will Be Blood:

Silver miner Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) leads a hardscrabble life with his son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier). When he hears about oil oozing from the ground near the Western town of Little Boston, Daniel takes his son on a mission to find their fortune. Daniel makes his lucky strike and becomes a self-made tycoon but, as his fortune grows, he deviates into moral bankruptcy.

• Director:

  Paul Thomas Anderson

• Producer:

  Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi, JoAnne Sellar

• Writer:

  Paul Thomas Anderson

• Release Date (Theaters):

  Jan 25, 2008 Wide

• Box Office (Gross USA):

  $40.2M

• Runtime:

  2h 38m

  -Information, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/there_will_be_blood)