'Blood' Flows: L.A. Film Critics Make Surprise Pick for 2007 Best Pic

By: The Hollywood Reporter Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood," an epic tale of the oil business in early 20th-century California, won four awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in their year-end voting Sunday including best picture, director and actor honors.

Anderson was selected as best director while Daniel-Day Lewis' performance as a rapacious oil man in "There Will Be Blood" won as best actor. The group also gave its production design honor to "Blood's" Jack Fisk, whose early California design won over Dante Ferretti's re-creation of late 19th century London for "Sweeney Todd."

The other multiple-award winner was Christian Mungiu's Romanian film "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" -- the Palme d'or winner at Cannes this year -- which won both best foreign language film honors and best supporting actor in Vlad Ivanov, who played the abortionist in the film.

The film that finished runner-up in the best picture and director categories was Julian Schnabel's French-language "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Best actress went to French actress Marion Cotillard, who delivered a knock-out performance as Edith Piaf in the biopic "La Vie en Rose." Runner-up was Anamaria Marinca, who played a young woman helping a friend get an abortion in "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days."

The runner-up to Lewis as best actor was Frank Langella, who played an aging novelist in "Starting out in the Evening."

Tamara Jenkins won the best screenplay citation for "The Savages," her comic drama about two quarreling siblings trying to settle their mentally failing father, beating out "There Will Be Blood," Anderson's adaptation of Upton Sinclair's novel.

The best supporting actress nod went to Amy Ryan, recognized for her work in two films, "Gone Baby Gone" and "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead." She won over Cate Blanchett, who played Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

Hal Holbrook, who played a retired army officer in "Into the Wild," finished second to "4 Month's" Ivanov.

The New Generation Award, which usually goes to a cinema newcomer, went to Sarah Polley, a long time Canadian actress but first time director with "Away From Her."

In animation, Brad Bird's "Ratatouille," made at Pixar, tied "Persepolis," made in France and directed by Marjane Satrapi (which Vincent Paronnaud co-directed).

In the documentary category, the critics honored Charles Ferguson's Iraqi doc, "No End in Sight." Michael Moore's indictment of health care in the U.S., "Sicko," came in second.

For cinematography, the group voted for Janusz Kaminski's work in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Robert Elswit's cinematography on "There Will Be Blood" was runner-up.

For best musical score, the critics selected the score -- mostly songs written by Glen Hansard and Markita Irglova -- for the Irish musical "Once." Jonny Greenwood's score for "There Will Be Blood" was runner-up.

The Douglas E. Edwards Independent/Experimental Award went to Portuguese filmmaker Pedro Costa for his film "Colossal Youth," which played at the Redcat in Los Angeles.

The group bestowed its newly created Film Legacy Award to Milestone Films, for its efforts to release such vintage films as "Killer of Sheep" and "I am Cuba," and Outfest Legacy Project, for its restoration efforts on many gay and lesbian films.