‘Blood' gushes with style, but this tale of moral corruption disappoints

Gushing critics have laughably likened Paul Thomas Anderson's oil-and-brimstone epic "There Will Be Blood" to the twin classics "Giant" and "Citizen Kane." A far less ridiculous comparison might be Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York."

Beyond A-list directors, the films share themes of moral corruption and unfocused passion in relation to volatile, unsettled societies. Both also feature a hammy, over-the-top Daniel Day-Lewis as a ruthless tyrant matching wits with a young idealist from a family he's wronged.