I thought they both were great.. I guess "No Country" was more of a character driven story and "Blood" was more plot driven. But on those different fronts they were both very good.
In "Blood", I loved the "If I have a milkshake and you have a milkshake" speech!
I disagree to some extent. Blood was both character and plot driven. Watching Daniel slowly destroy his life and alienate all those around him was, to me, something akin to Charles Foster Kane's self-inflicted isolation. There Will Be Blood is on par with some of the greatest movies of all time.
That's a great speech.. This is from imdb.com:
The fictional character of Daniel Plainview bears some resemblance to a real, early 20th-century California oil tycoon named Edward L. Doheny. Both were from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; both were employed by Geological Survey and worked in Kansas; both tried a hand at mining before going into the oil business; and both worked with a fellow prospector named "H. B. Ailman." As for other Plainview-Doheny connections, the bowling alley scene in ‘There Will Be Blood’ was filmed at Greystone Manor, a California estate Doheny built as a present for his only son.
Also interestingly, the infamous "milkshake speech" Plainview gives is based upon transcripts of congressional hearings concerning the Teapot Dome Scandal, in which the very same Edward L. Doheny had been accused of bribing a political official.Several characters seen or mentioned in ‘There Will Be Blood’ seem to have been based on real life historical figures. Though his name is never spoken during the film, Plainview's business partner and H. W.'s biological father, H. B. Ailman, shares the name of a real life prospector and oilman who was active during the turn of the century and associates with oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny, of whom Daniel Plainview seems to have been partly based. The two Standard Oil representatives "H. M. Tilford" and "J. J. Carter" who meet with Plainview are based on real-life oilmen: Henry Morgan Tilford was once vice-president of the Standard Oil Company during the turn of the century, while John Joyce Carter's Carter Oil Company was incorporated and subsidized by Standard Oil (New Jersey) in the 1890s. At one point in the film, the name "A. C. Maude" is stated as a property holder in Little Boston; the real life A. C. Maude was a prominent community member of Bakersfield, California during the late 1800s; Bakersfield is located in Kern County, where over 80% of California's oil wells are found. The name "Redlick" is also stated as a nearby Little Boston property holder; Joseph Redlick was also a prominent community member of Bakersfield during the early 1900s.
Also:
While on location in Marfa, Texas, No Country for Old Men (2007) was the neighboring film production. One day, director Paul Thomas Anderson and his crew tested the pyrotechnical effects of the oil derrick fire, causing an enormous billowing of smoke, intruding the shot that Joel Coen and Ethan Coen were shooting. This caused them to put off filming until the next day when the smoke dissipated from view. Both this film and No Country for Old Men (2007) would eventually become the leading contenders at the Academy Awards a year and a half later.
There's more here:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469494/trivia