Not that this short video goes very deep into the similarities between Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and Kubrick’s films (specifically 2001: A Space Odyssey), but it does illuminate some of the fun visual references. More so than momentary homage, the structure of Kubrick’s films (namely the triptych) has been adopted for Anderson’s past two features. Maybe the most interesting here is the mirroring of The Shining’s ax wind up with Daniel Plainview’s relentless pursuit of gold and oil in TWBB. Enjoy.
Check out these two articles for further reference:
Bohemian Cinema
Press Play
