For “There Will Be Blood,” there will be Oscars. Or, at least, there should be.

Meriting special honor, one element in particular establishes this unconventional and spellbinding period epic by maverick filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (“Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia”). That element is the achievement of a genius chameleon. Daniel Day-Lewis further proves here why he continues to rank, hands down, as the greatest actor of his generation. He gives the single most committed and transformative big-screen performance of the last 12 months in today’s unforgettable character study of blind ambition, gritty ingenuity and emotional cluelessness.

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