1. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Paul Thomas Anderson's opus is an epic display of cinematic mastery. It features Daniel Day-Lewis' finest performance as Daniel Plainview, a technical majesty very rarely seen anymore and an ambition to explore important themes such as Godlessness, family, greed and vengeance. There Will Be Blood is a powerful, confident film and a perfect example of a writer-director growing and maturing with experience. The film is unsettling in a way that is unique as it is not frightening or disturbing but it's central character has a cold ruthlessness that will shake and haunt your very core. Daniel Day-Lewis' Daniel Plainview has since become an iconic cinematic character, immortalised through the climatic scene of vengeance, humiliation and brutality. There Will Be Blood, is on the surface, unlike any other Paul Thomas Anderson film, yet it bears many similarities to his previous work. The central theme of a father-son relationship is important to all of his films apart from Punch-Drunk Love, the idea of greed is something which he continues to explore and a deeply flawed main male character is a recurrence in his films, but despite the lesser number of characters, the film is greater in scope. There Will Be Blood brought Anderson more mainstream success and acclaim after the financial failings of Magnolia and Punch-Drunk Love and the rest of the world finally woke up to his unparalleled genius. There Will Be Blood is a bonafide masterpiece and the finest film of the last decade. It deserves to be considered alongside the great American classics such as The Godfather, Taxi Driver and Apocalypse Now.
Agree or disagree with this order? Let us know in the comments section below.