By Dre Rivas

There is a great moment in that masterpiece, There Will Be Blood (which has been on my mind a lot recently since the release of the trailer to The Master, the director’s next film), when the oil derrick is set ablaze in an ill-fated accident. Our antihero is the great oil tycoon Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). Plainview watches money burn before his eyes and though he is quite a serious man, he is not overly angry. In fact, he blasts his right-hand man, Fletcher, (played by Ciaran Hinds) for “looking so miserable”. Fletcher is dumbfounded… why isn’t Plainview more upset about the costly accident as the oil burns like a flamethrower all night and through the morning? It’s a wasted day, a wasted night of riches. How can Plainview, an otherwise serious man of short temper, appear to take this awful misfortune in stride? Before he can ask, Plainview explains… it’s the bottom line:

Read More