There Will Be Blood named top film of 2007 by AFCA

The Austin Film Critics Association announced their "best of 2007" awards this week and topping out the roster is Paul Thomas Anderson's magnificent THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD opens the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown on January 18. We are also hosting a special midnight sneak preview of the film on December 29. Tickets for this sneak are going fast; if you are going to attend, we recommend you purchase online in advance.

Here's the official release from our esteemed Austin film critics:

"There Will Be Blood," the gripping tale of an oil-man overtaken with greed, packed a punch as it led all contenders with five awards including the top honor, Best Film. Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed, produced and scripted the epic film based on the Upton Sinclair novel "Oil!" was awarded Best Director while Daniel Day Lewis took home Best Actor for his breathtaking portrayal of the lead character Daniel Plainview. Best Original Score went to multi-instrumentalist Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame for his musical creation and Best Cinematography went to Robert Elswit for his photography of the historic Marfa, Texas desert.

Ellen Page, the teenager who upset royalty last year, moved "away from" another veteran frontrunner and took home the award for Best Actress for the second consecutive year. As the title role Page plays an offbeat 16 year-old who decides to keep her unborn child and seek adoptive parents. The acting seemed to strike a chord with voters all-around as Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress as Juno's supportive stepmother and Michael Cera was named the Breakthrough Artist of the Year for his performances in both "Juno" and "Superbad." Diablo Cody, a pseudonymous first time screenwriter, won Best Original Screenplay for her innovative story filled with quirky, hipster dialogue.

Javier Bardem was given Best Supporting Actor for his role as a cruel, ruthless killer in "No Country for Old Men" and the Coen Brothers, who also directed, grabbed Best Adapted Screenplay for their reconstruction of Pulitzer Prize Winner Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name.

Best Foreign Film went to Paul Verhoeven's "Black Book (Zwartboek)", the Dutch World War II resistance film. Best Animated Film went to a Pixar production for the second year in a row for Brad Bird's "Ratatouille". "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" won Best Documentary and Ben Affleck, who transitioned from actor, received Best First Film.

The Austin Film Award, which goes to the best film made locally, went to "Grindhouse" directors Quentin Tarantino and Austinite Robert Rodriguez, who also won the award in 2005 for "Sin City".

Awards are voted on annually for the previous calendar year's films. The AFCA's membership includes critics from daily newspapers, weekly alternatives, monthly magazines, local television news and online video and review sites.