comment #1

Rich S. says ...

This is one of the reasons I hate a prolonged awards season. There Will Be Blood is still not playing in my area. Boxofficemojo says it's still at only 51 screens nationwide. Yet, the entire movie will be completely dissected for me before it gets here.

And they wonder why piracy is so rampant.

comment #2

gpcreative says ...

I saw this film over a month ago and I still can't recall the milkshake scene.

comment #3

PhilContrino says ...

It's definitely a great line, and I loved the ending, but to say this will enter the "pop-culture catchphrase lexicon" is stretching it a little...

The other quotes mentioned came from movies that either made tons of cash at the box office (The Sixth Sense), have gained mass appeal on video (Scarface), or were spoken by one of the most iconic film characters of all time (Godfather III).

I think the TWBB line will achieve more of a cult status, because I doubt the film will be that huge of a financial success. I see it gaining a kind of Big Lebowksi level of notoriety, in the sense that it will be quoted endlessly by passionate film buffs.

Your average "red-stater" will always know where the quotes from The Sixth Sense and Scarface come from, but chances are most will have never even heard of TWBB.

comment #4

actionman says ...

"I saw this film over a month ago and I still can't recall the milkshake scene."

were you sending someone a text message instead of paying attention?

comment #5

gpcreative says ...

No, I was watching it at a DGA screening with a Q&A afterwards with PTA and Day-Lewis. My point is that a movie has to be POPular to have a line enter the POP lexicon.

comment #6

DavidF says ...

I totally though of the chianti bit when Lewis did that.
Still, he SELLS that shit.

I'd love to see raw footage of this scene being filled. The script, for example, makes no mention of Plainview running around the alley while explaining the milkshake thing. Like Scarface it's the over-the-top aspect that makes it so watchable.

comment #7

Dirty Harry says ...

TWBB will first need to enter our culture before that line enters the cultural lexicon. It might do that, but for now this is all insider-masterbation. Hey, enjoy yourselves, but remember you're alone.

Also, "I see dead people" is not trope. It was exposition, and a good and necessary piece at that moment of the film. That it caught on is another thing entirely.

Actually, a good examplle of trope is "Brother from another mother." A very off-putting moment and rare lapse of judgement for the mighty PTA.

I have no defense for "Say hello to my little friend." As over the top as the film. I relished every minute of it.

comment #8

Dave says ...

I dunno. I love the line, but with my friends who have seen the movie we've all been using "DRAINNNNNNNAGGGGGE!!!" instead to great comic effect.

e.g.,

"Awww, hell. I don't think I'm going to have enough money for the Vegas trip."
"Why not?"
"DRAINNNNNNNNNNNAGGGGGE!!!!!!!!"

As for the pop-culture impact of the film itself-- it's ALWAYS going to be an inside joke.

That said-- maybe someone should make up a quick "I drink your milkshake!" t-shirt online?

comment #9

MadCrazyMovieHouse says ...

Agreed with Phil. Another reason it won't enter pop culture vocabulary, aside from what others have said about money: it's too long. "I see dead people," "Say hello...," etc, are all short, simple one-liners. Day-Lewis's milk shake bit is a BIT. It's a whole speech driven home by the sucking sound, not just one cute little line. What really bugs me is Ozersky saying this is lazy writing. That bit serves so many purposes (shows how far gone Plainview is, furthers the Plainview/Sunday conflict, reveals information, etc) that it's hardly appropriate to call it "lazy."

comment #10

JD says ...

Something tells me the Hannibal Lecter thing was a deliberate Silence of the Lambs reference. PTA has always been a huge Jonathan Demme fan and he has said in the past that his method of shooting extreme close-ups in Boogie Nights was specifically influenced by the ECUs in Silence... so it makes sense.

comment #11

JD says ...

In reference to MadCrazy..., there are even more reasons that the milkshake exchange is meaningful beyond your pretty comprehensive list: 1) it cements this metaphorical notion that Daniel is a bloodsucking vampire/Dracula figure, 2) it circles back to the idea that he's drunk in the scene, which cumulatively 3) communicates the idea that he's drunk on milkshake, which is also oil, which is also Eli's blood, which of course (SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!) takes literal form later in the scene. I'm not explaining it very well but, like most key sequences in TWBB, this concluding sequence works on many different levels... and all these levels compliment one another. It's an insanely amazing movie.

comment #12

Geoff says ...

I have to admit....the line I came out of the theater having to mimic was "Draiiiinnnnnnnagggee!"

I also love how he follows it with "Eli, you boy. Drained dry." It was far more memorable and over the top to me.

comment #13

Jay T. says ...

Bullshit... that's ridiculous. This movie won't be popular enough for ANY line to enter the pop culture realm. Sorry, but it's true.

comment #14

bdboudreaux says ...

I gotta throw my vote behind "DRAIIIIIIINNNNNAAAAAGGGGGEEEE!" Being the quote for that movie. But the "I drink your milk shake" t-shirt is a brilliant idea. I would definitely rock that

comment #15

Daniel Tayag says ...

Thanks for the mp3 Wells. It's now my new ringtone.

comment #16

JohnCope says ...

What about the final line for God's sake?

comment #17

rcpweiner says ...

While I can get behind this 100%, does it really have hope to catch on if "Respect the Cock, and Tame the Cunt!" never did?

comment #18

Dave says ...

Gruver, check your email. . .

comment #19

Dirty Harry says ...

Wait. I'm the only using "Respect the cock?"

comment #20

christian says ...

I passed by some homies in the Grove and all I heard was a chorus of "Motherfucking DRAINNNNNAAAGGGE bitch!" "Yo, I'M FINISHED!"
Then I passed a group of teen grrls saying, "Then like I totally fucked him and pulled a Plainview on him, like I'm all hello, I Drink Your Milkshake and I'M FINISHED." On the way out, I passed some goth kids and they were chantingg, "Drained dry. Drained dry." "DRAINNNNAAAGGE." A true story.

comment #21

Glenn Kenny says ...

As you know, Jeff, I love the movie even more than the next guy, but I think those "Vulture" guys are overreaching. One is reminded of the line from "Mean Girls": "Gretchen, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen! It is not going to happen!"

comment #22

cjKennedy says ...

"'I drink your milkshake!'...will soon enter the pop-culture catchphrase lexicon"

A) No it won't.
B) if it does, this will mean it keeps the same lofty company as "Watchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?" Great.

comment #23

cjKennedy says ...

Also, I'm a bigger fan of "You're a bastard from a basket!"

comment #24

T. S. Idiot says ...

I agree with CJK. "You're a bastard from a basket" is better. And try saying it quickly ten times.

I'm finished.

comment #25

jeffmcm says ...

It has to make more than, say, $10million box office before it can have any impact.

Harry, I'm not sure what you mean by 'trope'. A line can't be 'a good example of trope'.

comment #26

berg says ...

there is NO WAY that I drink your milkshake will enter the Lingua Franca of current language ... how many people have you heard say SCHWING lately by the way

comment #27

christian says ...

Last time I heard SCHWING was from Artie on "The Larry Sanders Show."

comment #28

K. Bowen says ...

These things have odd currents. With all the great lines in Borat, who foresaw the one with the greatest cache being, "Not so muuuuch."

comment #29

K. Bowen says ...

And Christian, you just made Mike Myers cry.

comment #30

T. S. Idiot says ...

"Last time I heard SCHWING was from Artie on "The Larry Sanders Show.""

I killed a man like you in Korea.

comment #31

Daniel G. says ...

I think Rich explains in the first post why it simply won't take off, as explained by Phil.

I saw it a week ago and "DRAAAAIIIIIINNNNNNAGGGGGE" is a lot more memorable than the other lines in the last 15 minutes.

With repeated viewings, who knows what will take off. Has anyone seen it 3-4 times and picked up the most prominent lines?

comment #32

muckster says ...

Well, I'm the idiot who registered http://idrinkyourmilkshake.com, so I clearly like it. But I think there are really two discussions here:

- Will "I drink your milkshake!" enter the popular lexicon? For 15 minutes, perhaps, but who knows. Maybe not. The movie has a long way to go, so we'll see what happens when it goes wide.

- Is it the best line in There Will Be Blood? I think it is, for reasons that JD outlined above, and because it's the only one that works without any context. There's an "I" and a "you," which immediately sets up drama in the way "drainage!" by itself doesn't, hilarious as it is. There are lots of fantastic lines in Blood (lately, I've been partial to "DANIEL PLAINVIEW THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!"), but the strange combination of aggression and absurdity really sells "I drink your milkshake!"

comment #33

funkel says ...

I can barely remember hearing the milkshake line, but can't stop quoting 'bastard in a basket' for some reason! I've used it so much some of my friends have started shouting it, and they haven't even seen the movie!