7. Daniel Day Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Paramount VantagePaul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, loosely adapted from Upton Sincialr's 1927 novel Oil!, is certainly one of the most beautifully shot movies to be released in recent years, with a number of stunningly composed sequences which belie the deceitfulness which resides at its core, where wealth and power take precedent over everything else. Daniel Day Lewis plays prospector Daniel Plainview, a man obsessed with unearthing oil and expanding his business empire regardless of the cost. Functioning as a parable for the inexorable tide of capitalism in America, Plainview stands for greed gone mad; a man whose zeal for money allows him to double cross or murder anyone who stands in his way. As There Will Be Blood moves towards its conclusion, Plainview's egomania goes into overdrive. The finest actor of his generation, Day Lewis inhabits Plainview like no other actor could hope to, his steely-eyed intensity and growing obsession imparted in every tick and inflection, punctuated by explosive fits of violent rage as he becomes increasingly unhinged. .