33. There will be blood, 2007, Paul Thimas Anderson
Greed, power, religion, image, pride, competition, paranoia, projection and above all ambition define this movie, loosely based on the 1927 novel Oil! and partly inspired by the 1948 movie Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
The story starts in 1898 just before the discovery of oil in the western US. Daniel Plainview, a gold mine prospector finds oil instead of gold. He sees the opportunity and uses any method he can use to become the biggest oilman in the country, including adopting a dead workers son to build his image as a family man. His biggest adversary turns out to be Eli, a self made pastor who is determined to build his own church within the oil boom.
The movie is beautifully made and illustrates the time period very well, however it is the conversations and especially the confrontations between Daniel and Eli that set the movie apart. The final scenes are truly haunting.