Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => Paul Thomas Anderson => Topic started by: SailorOfTheSeas on May 08, 2014, 03:42:40 PM

Title: Magnolia discussion
Post by: SailorOfTheSeas on May 08, 2014, 03:42:40 PM
Hey, couldn't find a broad Magnolia thread in the last few pages so decided to make one, to put all little things you find and thoughts you have on Magnolia.

I got a question to start it off with tho.

What encouraged me to make this was finding out about Short Cuts. I've spent a lot of my recent PTA loving years oblivious to it and thinking Magnolia's framework was totally original. I haven't seen the film and haven't gt the time atm because of exams, but i read something that pointed out loads of similarities that go beyond simple thematic and story links. Both 3 hr and 8 mins long.  Both have a similar police-man character. Both culminate in a natural disaster. Both play with the idea of luck and coincidence.Things like that. Not that this ruins Magnolia for me at all, it's still phenomenal and one of the best films i've seen, but just punctures my awe of its originality and character a lil bit. I get that the two probably have very different messages and styles and are their own films, but these kinda similarities are quite crazy.

Can anyone who's seen Short Cuts debunk this and say that they do have some similarities but nothing major or is it true that the two are extremely similar? 

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: SailorOfTheSeas on May 08, 2014, 03:54:05 PM
Please tell me if comparing these two films is as stupid as saying Requiem for a Dream copied Trainspotting because they both feature a group of characters and drugs, or if the comparison is entirely justified.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: jenkins on May 08, 2014, 04:20:04 PM
short cuts thread:
http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=789
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: SailorOfTheSeas on May 08, 2014, 04:31:24 PM
Thanks!
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Mel on May 09, 2014, 03:20:59 AM
There is no question that Altman has been and is huge inspiration to PTA. In that regard comparing any work of Altman to Anderson doesn't seem artificial to me.

"Magnolia" was the first film of PTA I have seen. Since then I re-watched it again somewhere between "CMBB" and "Master", so my memories aren't fresh. Maybe it is time to revisit it?

Anyway "Magnolia" feels much formal to me than "Short Cuts". Opening of "Magnolia" is good example of that. It set ups mood and themes in the beginning of the film, in your face way. On the other hand "Short Cuts" are more subliminal (probably same goes for other Altman). There is voyeuristic feel to it - we got glimpses at lives of characters, often without much explanation to their behavior, film is resolved without conclusion.

Compared to that PTA is much more attached to characters, he cares a lot more for them. Cop character is good example of that - in both films they are stupid, but in case of PTA there is true sense of calling and that makes him much more likable.

Themes are also more visible in "Magnolia", maybe even to the point of being sometimes repetitive. In case of "Short Cuts" it is easier to point out themes after seeing the film than in the middle of watching.

Not sure if this is helpful at all, since I compared those films in very abstract way.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: modage on August 06, 2014, 10:20:43 AM
Must-read piece on Tom Cruise in MAGNOLIA with quotes from PTA & Cruise from Amy Nicholson's new book on Cruise...

http://grantland.com/features/tom-cruise-magnolia-amy-nicholson/
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 06, 2014, 04:59:13 PM
Loved that. Beautifully written and researched. Basically everything about Tom Cruise & Magnolia that had been missing.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: ©brad on August 06, 2014, 07:24:55 PM
Great stuff. I wish Cruise would take a break from saving the world and do another Magnolia or something small and character driven.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on August 07, 2014, 07:20:48 PM
Not to be that guy, but I assumed everyone knew that already.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 07, 2014, 08:11:04 PM
I had no idea, personally. I actually thought Reelist was joking at first, until I recognized the resemblance, then a few seconds later, the actual sincerity in Reelist's post.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on August 08, 2014, 05:48:55 PM
Its a great week to be a MagnoliaFan, between the Grantland excerpt and now this essay from The Dissolve:

http://thedissolve.com/features/encore/696-the-beautiful-imperfection-of-magnolia/ (http://thedissolve.com/features/encore/696-the-beautiful-imperfection-of-magnolia/)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on August 09, 2014, 02:17:30 PM
Quote from: polkablues on August 07, 2014, 07:20:48 PM
Not to be that guy, but I assumed everyone knew that already.

haha yeah, you're totally "that guy"
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on November 13, 2014, 05:54:15 PM
A nice little essay about Magnolia, by Britt Hayes over at Badass Digest.

http://badassdigest.com/2014/11/12/this-is-something-that-happens-the-loneliness-of-magnolia/ (http://badassdigest.com/2014/11/12/this-is-something-that-happens-the-loneliness-of-magnolia/)

It's a little strange that it's been 15 years and all these 'looking back' articles are trickling out. I've been watching this film for over half of my human life.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on December 01, 2015, 07:05:34 PM
If you're anything like me, you've been waiting to see Julianne Moore scream her Magnolia drug store monologue into a real stranger's face for years. Today is our day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsfoKkBdVnI&feature=share
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on December 01, 2015, 07:37:22 PM
Quote from: Fuzzy Dunlop on December 01, 2015, 07:05:34 PM
If you're anything like me, you've been waiting to see Julianne Moore scream her Magnolia drug store monologue into a real stranger's face for years. Today is our day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsfoKkBdVnI&feature=share

Jeremy Blackman [01|Dec 02:52 PM]:   Hahaha... confused bystander at 2:06 is priceless
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 16, 2016, 04:17:49 PM
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CZabiqlUEAAa-Qb.jpg)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on June 08, 2016, 01:28:59 PM
The hosts of my favorite Game of Thrones podcast recently reviewed Magnolia:

http://baldmove.com/bald-movies/magnolia-1999-commissioned-podcast/

(You can also search for the podcast "Bald Movies.")

It's an hour and a half reaction to the movie from a fairly personal POV. I found it interesting to hear what a couple civilians thought of Magnolia, seeing it for the first time 16+ years later.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 12, 2017, 12:37:32 PM
The host of the podcast Read It And Weep (http://read-weep.com/) makes a sly reference to Magnolia at 5:28 in Episode 295 - Criminal Minds (http://read-weep.com/#!/episode.php/criminal-minds). He directly quotes a character from the movie, completely in context. I don't think the guests realized it was a Magnolia quote. But it definitely is, because he's talked about Magnolia several times in subsequent episodes.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alexandro on February 26, 2017, 10:21:27 PM
is this the place to post about a pretty nice aimee mann/magnolia tribute in the fucking lego batman movie? made me chuckle. actually the whole movie is pretty funny. check it out.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: RegularKarate on March 01, 2017, 09:13:19 AM
I saw that movie and must have missed the Magnolia tribute while trying to keep up with all the subtle (and not so subtle) Batman in-jokes.
Where was the reference?
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alexandro on March 01, 2017, 09:20:22 AM
Quote from: RegularKarate on March 01, 2017, 09:13:19 AM
I saw that movie and must have missed the Magnolia tribute while trying to keep up with all the subtle (and not so subtle) Batman in-jokes.
Where was the reference?

really? there's a whole sequence of batman dead set on working alone with a cover of "one" playing all through it, showing how lonely he and the other characters feel.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: RegularKarate on March 01, 2017, 09:46:15 AM
I guess I didn't see that as a Magnolia reference since they're playing the original Harry Nilsson version and "one is the loneliest number" just matches the moment. Now, if they had been playing "Wise up"...
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alexandro on March 01, 2017, 01:30:36 PM
that film is so crammed with all sorts of crazy references I wouldn't think it was a stretch.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Shughes on March 04, 2017, 08:21:44 AM
This is a great article:

https://cinephiliabeyond.org/magnolia-paul-thomas-andersons-absorbing-mosaic-compassion-humanity-importance-forgiveness/ (https://cinephiliabeyond.org/magnolia-paul-thomas-andersons-absorbing-mosaic-compassion-humanity-importance-forgiveness/)

Probably not news to anyone here, but nice to have the screenplay, those interviews, and some great production stills all in one place.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Sleepless on October 25, 2017, 08:55:29 AM
Has anyone heard of or seen this movie? It's currently on Mubi, they say: A murder mystery that doubles as a drama about the interconnected lives of strangers, this Australian import—which won numerous awards in its homeland—was a critical success, earning comparisons to Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. The trailer is definitely trying to make the most of that comparison:



Btw, if you want to check it out, use this link to get a free month on Mubi (https://mubi.com/t/web/global/14cz5r7) (I'll get a free month too).
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilder on October 25, 2017, 11:37:57 AM
I saw it upon its DVD release for the very reason that it was lumped together with Magnolia on many film lists at the time. Sorry to say I remember almost nothing about it other than it wasn't for me, but I seem to have trouble connecting to Australian films on the whole. It's like they're operating on an entirely different wavelength. There's also the possibility that I was just too young.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Sleepless on October 25, 2017, 12:36:53 PM
I haven't watched it yet, but I will. The trailer doesn't look great. Haven't watched a ton of Australian cinema, but I still love The Dish (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwVsZumdab8).
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilder on October 25, 2017, 02:24:44 PM
Ah, The Dish. I always heard good things. Let us know what you think of Lantana. I was just looking up Ray Lawrence's other movies - he also made Jindabyne (2006) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382765/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1) starring Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, based on that same Raymond Carver short story Short Cuts was partially adapted from with the three fishermen discovering the dead girl's body in the creek (I never got around to seeing it). And his first movie Bliss (1985) certainly looks worth watching. The guy's made only three films in just over 30 years of his career. I always wonder what directors who have sporadic projects like that do with the rest of their lives...

(https://i.imgur.com/41Ufurw.jpg)

After a near-death experience, a man wonders if he actually did die and is now in Hell.








Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Sleepless on November 15, 2017, 08:40:06 AM
Quote from: wilder on October 25, 2017, 02:24:44 PM
Let us know what you think of Lantana.

My thoughts. (http://www.davidtharwood.com/blog/lantana-lifes-a-bitch-but-just-get-on-with-it-mate/)

Also, I just found out it has it's own thread (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=2603). Best bits from there:

Quote from: ono on July 14, 2003, 12:13:11 AM
There are so many great moments in this film, one of which I really remember: Leon (LaPaglia) is running and he slams into another guy and explodes, yelling at him.  Both their faces are bloodied, the other man's nose possibly broken.  Leon sees the man has dropped a bag, and feeling bad, he runs after him and gets it and tries to smooth things over.  And the man (full grown, strong, goatee and everything) just breaks down and starts crying in Leon's arms.  And I haven't seen anything like that since Brando in Last Tango in Paris.  My jaw dropped open, it was so real, so powerful.  Later on, Leon meets John, the man whose wife he's having an affair with, unbeknownst to him.  They share drinks, and discuss the incident in the bathroom, wondering what it would take for someone to cry like that.  It gets even better when the scene was paralleled later on in the movie when Leon cries upon hearing a tape where his wife professes she still loves him (long story; see the film to understand it).

Quote from: filmcritic on July 14, 2003, 12:20:10 AM
it really wasn't about a murder case. It's about love and marriage. Two Thumbs Way Up for me for "Lantana".

Quote from: chainsmoking insomniac on July 14, 2003, 07:39:31 AM
I was just fucking blown away.

Quote from: brockly on August 11, 2003, 02:03:25 AM
Brilliant, absolutely BRILLIANT! It's an unrecognised gem that nobody should miss.Why?!?

It's still on Mubi for another week. If anyone wants a free month trial and thus give me a free month in return. (https://mubi.com/t/web/global/14cz5r7)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on November 27, 2017, 07:15:36 PM
I watched Lantana last week because of the mention in this thread.  I ultimately found it a little too one-noted.  It didn't really end-up anywhere (if that makes any sense).  I can see the comparison to Magnolia, but no where near as compelling for me.  I do agree about the jogging collision scene, though.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on January 14, 2019, 06:24:24 PM
Shall we start an in-house GoFundMe?   It's ours for a measly $10K.


(https://i.imgur.com/Gf9K65r.jpg)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on January 14, 2019, 06:27:50 PM
We could make that back in the first seminar alone!
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on January 15, 2019, 03:29:51 PM
And what's the first thing we're gonna do?

That's right, we're gonna MARK THAT CALENDAR.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Something Spanish on January 15, 2019, 07:42:00 PM
come August, it's saint suck my big fat juicy fucking sausage-ah
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Something Spanish on January 15, 2019, 07:46:00 PM
you think she's your friend Geoff? she's not your friend
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on August 07, 2019, 09:19:14 PM
https://film.avclub.com/the-best-and-worst-of-magnolia-s-multiple-melodramas-1836941555 (https://film.avclub.com/the-best-and-worst-of-magnolia-s-multiple-melodramas-1836941555)

I disagree with a lot of this, including the concept of ranking the storylines itself ("I'm trying to tell ONE story!"), but its still fun to pick at. 20 years! God damn.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on August 07, 2019, 09:27:30 PM
I wouldn't change a frame.

And PTA would have to get past me first to cut 20 minutes.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on August 08, 2019, 11:00:12 AM
Much as I love Magnolia, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with most of that. Not that I care ultimately; its reckless earnestness is a key aspect of its overall power.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drenk on August 08, 2019, 11:05:43 AM
QuoteThere’s a prescience to Frank in an age in which we’re forced to reckon with the online and real-life violence of the anti-feminist “incel” community, men who believe they’re owed sex by what they perceive to be an inferior gender, a mindset that’s propagated by Frank’s teachings. It’s not hard to draw parallels between his seminar and snake oil grifts of some of the alt-right’s ugliest personalities.

Damn. PTA predicted misogyny.  :bravo:

The only issue I developed with Magnolia over the years—probably my favorite film—is Linda: she's really one note, so the over topness of her arc is...kind of boring. It feels like PTA didn't really tried to get in her head.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on August 08, 2019, 11:16:39 AM
Quote from: Drenk on August 08, 2019, 11:05:43 AMThe only issue I developed with Magnolia over the years—probably my favorite film—is Linda: she's really one note, so the over topness of her arc is...kind of boring. It feels like PTA didn't really tried to get in her head.

I agree. Magnolia is absolutely my favorite film, but not all of the Linda stuff holds up.

I wouldn't remove a frame of the pharmacy scene. Elsewhere, though, I think we do spend too much time with her. Some of those scenes are hard to get through, and (hate to say it) this is not the strongest performance in the movie.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on August 08, 2019, 02:46:47 PM
Quote from: eward on August 08, 2019, 11:00:12 AM
Much as I love Magnolia, I wouldn't necessarily disagree with most of that. Not that I care overall; its reckless earnestness is a key aspect of its overall power.

That's where I'm at. If it were more polished, I don't think I would love it as much.

I once had a film professor suggest that Donnie's entire storyline should have been cut. I almost had to leave the room.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on August 11, 2019, 10:12:30 PM
Apparently there is a stage adaptation of MAGNOLIA running in Poland.  (At least according to this barely readable review.)


https://www.broadwayworld.com/poland/article/BWW-Review-MAGNOLIA-at-Teatr-Wspolczesny-Wroclaw-Frog-Rain-of-Emotions-20190809 (https://www.broadwayworld.com/poland/article/BWW-Review-MAGNOLIA-at-Teatr-Wspolczesny-Wroclaw-Frog-Rain-of-Emotions-20190809)



Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: d on August 12, 2019, 03:14:50 AM
Yes there is. It is directed by Krzysztof Skonieczny, who had a very successful HBO series here in Poland a few months ago titled Blinded by The Lights based on a rather popular modern novel. I guess there are plans to dub it and release it worldwide. Not a masterpiece by any means but one of the best Polish TV series in recent years (which is sadly not a great achievement considering the quality of TV series made in Poland recently). It was well made and made Skonieczny quite a hot name here. While not shocking, the stage adaptation of a great but not very popular movie was not an obvious choice for his next project but he mentioned PTA as one of his most important inspirations and Magnolia in particular. The TV series features among other smaller references to PTA style a montage which is an obvious homage to Magnolia Wise-up sequence. here it is if you want to have a look:

Spoiler: ShowHide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsYPwCpy5Qk


Here are some more photos (the article is all in Polish):
https://www.tuwroclaw.com/wiadomosci,dlugi-spektakl-o-braku-milosci-recenzja-magnolii,wia5-3267-48972-1.html

I see the play is receiving good reviews. I am considering seeing it in a few weeks.

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on August 12, 2019, 09:03:56 AM
I am caught between being unable to fathom how in the hell that could ever work and wanting to see it desperately.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: d on August 12, 2019, 09:23:04 AM
As far as I remember, based on what I read about it, it's rather a loose adaptation.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Robyn on August 12, 2019, 09:36:45 AM
This must be Polish Philip Seymour Hoffman, right?

(https://www.tuwroclaw.com/images/galbig3/gallery/7305/images/foto-btw-photographers-maziarz-rajter-4146_5ce7c06c81f972_93448728.jpg.jpg)

And this, is this the Polish version of Tom Cruise?  :ponder:

(https://www.tuwroclaw.com/images/galbig3/gallery/7305/images/foto-btw-photographers-maziarz-rajter-309080_5ce7c077f14862_72352897.jpg.jpg)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on August 12, 2019, 12:20:57 PM
Quote from: d on August 12, 2019, 03:14:50 AM
Yes there is. It is directed by Krzysztof Skonieczny...
I see the play is receiving good reviews. I am considering seeing it in a few weeks.


Well, you'll certainly have to share your reactions with us if you do!
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: jviness02 on August 12, 2019, 06:04:42 PM
As time has gone on, Magnolia has slowly fallen in my ranking of  PTA's filmography,  but it's still fantastic. I don't know if a filtered, less messy version of Magnolia would actually be better, though. Part of the charm is the "writing from the gut" aspect and I think that's what makes it special.


But Julianne Moore, who I genuinely like, is borderline awful in this movie.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on November 15, 2019, 03:03:52 PM
This week on Filmspotting: Magnolia at 20.

https://www.filmspotting.net/episodes-archive/2019/11/15/752-magnolia-at-20-jojo-rabbit-the-report-the-king (https://www.filmspotting.net/episodes-archive/2019/11/15/752-magnolia-at-20-jojo-rabbit-the-report-the-king)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on November 15, 2019, 03:16:33 PM
Cool.  Did the (problematic) Simmons podcast come out from behind the paywall yet...?
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on November 15, 2019, 03:26:59 PM
It's available for free on Youtube, among other platforms. Unless I'm misunderstanding something...
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: trytotell on November 28, 2019, 11:13:09 AM
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Y9zC-Ap09/
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drill on November 29, 2019, 07:05:02 PM
Quote from: Drenk on August 08, 2019, 11:05:43 AM
QuoteThere's a prescience to Frank in an age in which we're forced to reckon with the online and real-life violence of the anti-feminist "incel" community, men who believe they're owed sex by what they perceive to be an inferior gender, a mindset that's propagated by Frank's teachings. It's not hard to draw parallels between his seminar and snake oil grifts of some of the alt-right's ugliest personalities.

Damn. PTA predicted misogyny.  :bravo:

The only issue I developed with Magnolia over the years—probably my favorite film—is Linda: she's really one note, so the over topness of her arc is...kind of boring. It feels like PTA didn't really tried to get in her head.

I'd argue the same thing is even more true of Claudia. She's a cokehead because daddy molested her. You can't really get more one note or cliche than that.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drenk on November 29, 2019, 07:12:05 PM
That's a cliché because it's true. She's over the top, but that's an over the top movie: special, overwhelming, night and all.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drill on November 29, 2019, 11:28:43 PM
Quote from: Drenk on November 29, 2019, 07:12:05 PM
That's a cliché because it's true. She's over the top, but that's an over the top movie: special, overwhelming, night and all.

But she's boring and one note. At least the Linda character was somewhat unpredictable. But female characters are likely always going to be a nut he can't crack.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Pringle on November 29, 2019, 11:48:12 PM
The protagonist and main character of his last film was a complex and multi-layered woman.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drill on November 30, 2019, 12:14:00 AM
Quote from: Pringle on November 29, 2019, 11:48:12 PM
The protagonist and main character of his last film was a complex and multi-layered woman.

I like PT but eh...I've never seen a movie "about a woman" be more about a man. It fails the Bechdel test, Alma doesn't really have any agency (you could say the movie was about that but still). His best female character is probably his first: Clementine in Hard Eight.

If that rumor about his new movie is true, that the lead is a mixed race girl, then that's probably the best shot given his daughters. Other than that, I think his bad relationship with his mom has always prevented him from knowing how to get inside a female character's head. He's hardly the worst offender, but it's always been a bit disappointing/something he's been allowed to skate by on.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 10, 2019, 10:39:45 PM
We should have had a party or something.  So glad I had a chance to see it (yet again) on the big screen 3 nights ago.  Took my baby sister with me for her first viewing, too, which added something to the experience.  (She loved it.)

https://twitter.com/jadebudowski/status/1204171746124783616
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Something Spanish on December 11, 2019, 01:16:37 PM
Fuck, 20 years? I remember seeing it on the big screen like yesterday. It opened in NYC on a Wednesday, if memory serves, and I saw it that Sat at Lincoln Square. Had never been so hyped about a movie in my 16 years of moviegoing at the time. I remember all 9 times I've seen this movie on the big screen. Still my favorite of the bunch, haven't revisited in 2 years, but safe to say i've seen it enough times to stand firm on that claim. Probably will take a gander tonight for as long as I can stay awake. I'll always remember to Respect the Cock thanks to this movie.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 11, 2019, 01:31:00 PM
I can't remember if I told this story here, but I remember seeing it on a weekday afternoon at the local AMC with about 10 of us in attendance.  At the end of the prologue I remember saying--my memory is actually having done so out loud--"who IS this guy?!" with great excitement (referring to PTA). 

I had seen and very much enjoyed  Boogie Nights two years before, but those opening minutes of Magnolia made me realize there was a new filmmaker I would really have to keep track of.  When Punch-Drunk Love arrived in a couple of more years, I was smiling like an idiot, knowing my new Cinema Savior had arrived (Stanley having proved mortal in the end).
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Robyn on December 11, 2019, 01:52:39 PM
I saw it in 2008 when I lived at grandmom and needed to think about something else then her being angry at me for sleeping all day.

it was my first PTA love, hehe  (had seen TWBB and BN but didn't fall in love with them until later)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 18, 2019, 01:00:01 AM
From the Ranks of the Freaks: "Magnolia" at 20 (https://thespool.net/movies/2019/12/magnolia-review/)
Paul Thomas Anderson's character study baffled, aggravated & emotionally moved a divisive audience.

We say we want to see movies with people that look like us, with ordinary, unremarkable lives, but that's not really true. Give us fantasy, give us beautiful people with lives that may be a little messy, but get better by the time the credits roll. Our time is short, why waste it on movies that illustrate how life is a long, often lonely series of fateful encounters and occurrences that, try as we might, we have no control over?

Magnolia, released twenty years ago this month, is arguably Paul Thomas Anderson's most polarizing film. It has the audacity to be over three hours long, while not actually being about anything. There's no real plot to speak of, not in the "point A to point B" sense, at least. There's very little conflict (and when there is, it's never really resolved), there's no hero's journey, and if the characters experience any sort of growth or change, it's almost imperceptible, just enough to keep them going the next day. In the middle of the action (if you can even call it that), everyone stops to sing a melancholy song about how they're foolish for thinking life is going to get any better. For some, Magnolia is a twee, melodramatic slog. For others, it offers comfort and hope, albeit served in tiny spoonfuls. Few major studio films have so accurately depicted the concept of bittersweet ordinariness — none of us are special, we're at the mercy of what life decides to throw at us, and how we decide to handle it.

An ensemble piece, the closest thing the film has to a protagonist is Jim (John C. Reilly), a good-hearted man who's unfortunately not all that great of a cop. Reilly has become so familiar for his comedic work that it's hard to remember that his sad, expressive eyes–he was born to be a silent film actor–give his serious roles an exhausted, touching humanity. You believe in Jim, and his good intentions, and his embarrassment over losing his gun, and his awkward tenderness while courting Claudia (Melora Walters). We know right away that Claudia, with her drug addiction and traumatic childhood, might be too much for Jim to handle, but he wants to try, and the fact that anyone does is more than she's experienced in a long time.

Far ahead of Jim in the sad sack-a-thon is Donnie (William H. Macy), a real life version of those memes about gifted children growing up to be miserable, neurotic adults. Donnie was bilked out of all the money he won as a kid on a TV quiz show by his parents, and now is just stumbling around in life alone, and, like Jim, stuck in a job he's not very successful at. Donnie has laid all his hopes and dreams at the feet of Brad, a handsome bartender he's besotted with, but who barely acknowledges his presence. He believes that the best way to get Brad to notice he exists is to get his teeth fixed, which he plans to do with money stolen from his ex-employer. There's an interesting meta feel to this–Donnie clearly got the idea from a movie or TV show, and it doesn't occur to him that such a thing isn't as easy to get away with in real life. We see a movie character figure out that reality isn't like the movies.

The character connecting everyone, even if just indirectly, is Earl (Jason Robards), former producer of the children's quiz show Donnie won, which is hosted by Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), Claudia's estranged father. Earl is dying, and reckoning with a series of bad choices in his life, most predominantly abandoning his sick wife years earlier. Now all he has is a son who doesn't speak to him, and a trophy wife, Linda (Julianne Moore), who has grown to love him, but is too caught up in her own shame and regret to tell him.

The only person who's there to see Earl into his last days is Phil (Philip Seymour Hoffman), his nurse, and, along with Jim, the film's moral compass. Considering how much of Hoffman's career was devoted to playing troubled creeps and losers, it's poignant to see him in such a role, with warmth and kindness all but emanating from his pores, particularly when you know that Anderson wrote the part with him in mind. We don't really know much about Phil, but the fact that he offers comfort to Earl, and weeps at his impending death is what matters. Earl matters, to him at least, and, like Jim and Claudia, that's enough.

Earl's estranged son, Frank (Tom Cruise), is the closest thing the movie has to a villain. Frank is a motivational speaker/dating coach who says stuff like "Respect the cock, and tame the cunt," while insecurity and sadness hangs in the air around him like bad cologne. He doesn't seem like he really believes what he's saying, and we see no evidence that his misogynist "dating advice" works for him. He's just angry, and has found an easy, gullible audience in other angry men. If Magnolia was released now, he'd have a YouTube channel with a million subscribers.

Magnolia is one of the few times in Cruise's career where he's been genuinely great, rather than just okay. Like when he portrayed a hammy 18th century vampire, he's taking a real risk here, playing a character who seems to have no redeeming qualities, up until perhaps the last quarter of the film. Frank's bedside reunion with Earl is fraught with rage and sorrow — he's come back into his father's life, only to face losing him again, for good. Largely improvised, it's one of Cruise's finest onscreen moments.

Despite their connections, and the fact that they're all within a mile of the same place, many of these characters don't ever encounter each other. They're all tiny ripples in each other's ponds, becoming indirectly associated by chance. There's a saying about how we're all walk-on characters in the movies of other people's lives, and that's what Magnolia is, a series of short films that all have a thread tying them together. Sometimes the thread is so thin you can barely see it, but it's there.

Many of the characters, without ever realizing it, have something in common — Claudia and Linda are both addicts, Frank and Claudia both refuse to use their father's last names, Earl and Jimmy both have cancer, Jimmy and Donnie are both alcoholics. There's even two quiz kids: Donnie, and Stanley (Jeremy Blackman), both of whom only matter to their parents when they're winning money. The fact that Stanley's father, near the end of the film, icily ignores Stanley's suggestion that he needs to "be nicer" to him is sobering proof that the cycle always continues, for good or ill. Maybe Stanley will grow up to be just like Donnie, or maybe something he'll never see coming will turn him down a different path.

While focusing so much on the bleaker aspects of it, it's hard to remember that Magnolia is genuinely funny at times. Not fall down funny, but in that sort of bemusing way, like when you have an encounter with an eccentric stranger. Donnie has a strange, elliptical conversation with a fellow bar patron who calls himself Thurston Howell (Henry Gibson). During their sweetly clumsy first date, Jim abruptly blurts out his embarrassment and insecurity about his job, and Claudia is so impressed with his honesty that she kisses him. Jim seems a little surprised and puzzled by this. After all, he doesn't know any other way to be.

If Magnolia doesn't have a happy ending, per se, it at least has a hopeful one. Because like I said above, with hope there's a reason to keep going. Every day we wake up and choose to keep moving ahead is another day for things to turn around and go our way. And if not, then maybe the next day, or the one after that. We won't know unless we keep going.

Earl's pain comes to an end, and though it's a fraught reunion, he gets to see his son one more time. Jim's missing gun reappears, having seemingly fallen out of the sky. When Linda awakens from a suicide attempt, she'll find a most unlikely person sitting at her bedside: Frank, taking the first steps towards letting go of years of hurt and anger. We close on Claudia (appropriately, as she was the first character Anderson created, spinning everything off of her), sure she's pushed kind, tenderhearted Jim away with all the broken, jagged parts of her. But he's there, and he's asking for a chance to be with her, to be the strength and steadfastness that she needs. Claudia, her teary, tired eyes telling the truth, that this life, it's so damn hard, and so long, looks at Jim as he makes his speech. Then she look at us, and smiles. A little bit.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 20, 2019, 02:32:02 AM
On Location with Jared Cowan
Ep. 11: Tim Hillman at the Fox Fire Room from "Magnolia (https://soundcloud.com/onlocationpodcast/ep-11-tim-hillman-magnolia)"

For the 20th anniversary of Paul Thomas Anderson's 1999 San Fernando Valley mosaic, "Magnolia," we were "up before the dawn" to meet location manager Tim Hillman at one of the film's most recognizable shooting locations. We talk specificity of locations when working for the auteur filmmaker, Hillman's change of career in his early 30s, working on the 1991 comedy "Drop Dead Fred," and much more.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 20, 2019, 06:27:18 PM
Not to bump my own thread, but this Valley Boy really enjoyed this discussion with Tim.  All of PTA's Valley-based films resonate extra deeply for me having grown up here, and I've made a pilgrimage to about 97% of the BOOGIE NIGHTS locations (some based on original research), and 3 or 4 of the places used in MAGNOLIA.  (The bar, the pharmacy, the froggie gas station, the hospital....)   It was also fun to hear him good-naturedly dish about what it was like to work with Paul back in his youthfully  exuberant days.  I don't think you have to be a Location Nerd, like I am, to enjoy this, but I would encourage a listen.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on December 26, 2019, 07:49:23 PM
'Magnolia' at 20: Paul Thomas Anderson's Masterpiece Still Blossoms with Pure Emotion (https://www.slashfilm.com/magnolia-revisited/)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: jenkins on December 26, 2019, 07:55:42 PM
Cunning Emotion
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on March 04, 2020, 03:33:06 PM
The 20th Anniversary of the release of MAGNOLIA in France is this month.  Prompting this (Google Translation) of an article in "Inrocktubtibles".  (Anyone speak French?  This could use a bit of a polish in places.)

https://www.lesinrocks.com/2020/03/03/cinema/actualite-cinema/magnolia-monument-de-paul-thomas-anderson-fete-ses-20-ans/

"Magnolia", monument to Paul Thomas Anderson, celebrates its 20th anniversary

Quote
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of its release, return to Magnolia , the third feature film by Paul Thomas Anderson and ultra-ambitious choral film, which follows the weather of a stormy night, the crossed destinies of nine residents of Los Angeles.
Of the eight films that make up the filmography of Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia is perhaps the one that best crystallizes the critical and aesthetic dispute between the supporters of PTA, who hoist the filmmaker aloft in their film buff, and his detractors, who do not see in him little more than a pretentious maker. Vain show of force for some, kaleidoscopic masterpiece for others, Magnolia is one of those films that maintain differences, and exacerbate positions. Twenty years after its release, return to a monumental and intimate film, which, like its dissonant reception, cultivates oxymorons wonderfully.

Rising star
When Magnolia was released in December 1999 (March 2000 in France), PTA was not yet the super-author he would become seven years later with There Will Be Blood , but a rising star of American independent cinema, furtively passing over red carpets of international festivals, and by Sundance writing workshops. After Hard Eight , a highly seminal neonoir but remained relatively confidential, presented at Cannes in 1996 to ultimately not be distributed in France, and Boogie Nights , jubilant and neurotic plunge in the declining porn industry of the late 1970s, PTA begins to attract attention, and put on the costume of hope of young American cinema in a decade that has already seen the dubiousness of some of its peers, Tarantino in particular. Already it is said of this young Californian barely thirty years old, brimming with ambition but sure of his talent, that he could be the spiritual son of revered masters of New Hollywood, Scorsese first, but above all Altman, tutelary figure from the filmmaker, whose work will find a powerful echo in his films. Others, on the other hand, see in his first two films only a vain emulation of the cinema of his ancestors, even a shameless plagiarism of their connoted style. Genius in the making, or talented forger? It will necessarily take a third feature film to mark the right trend. Unless it further exacerbates this inextricable dissensus.

This third feature film will therefore be Magnolia , a 3-hour river film that borrows its structure from Altman's choral films ( Nashville , Short Cuts ) and examines the cracks in nine main characters, all plagued by unfathomable demons, that fate (if not an improbable series of coincidences) will eventually link, until a mythological final, figured in an anthology sequence, where a rain of frogs falls on Los Angeles, freeing the space of an instant these nine souls lost from their turpitudes. Magnolia is less a choral film than a polyphony of solitudes, where we follow, for a stormy night, nine women and men riddled with anguish, crumbling under the weight of their own vices, buried family secrets, and deeply rooted unsaid.

American Society on Infusion
The film draws, through these nine portraits, that of a larger American society on a drip. First of all, literally, with the character of Earl Partridge (played by Jason Robards, who will die a few months after the film's release), a former press magnate in the terminal stages of cancer, who half-loads his help - caregiver (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to find the son he once abandoned. Then metaphorically through the exploration of the backstage of a television channel, opium of a society that lives on its dreams, where we follow in parallel the tribulations of Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall) - star presenter of a game televised which sees a team of adults and children gifted on questions of general culture confronting each other - and Stanley Spector, one of the children participating in the program, exploited by his father who wishes to pocket the jackpot. A company on a drip which conjures up its ill-being in a frantic consumption of products of all kinds, like the antidepressants that frantically swallows Linda (Julianne Moore), the cockroach girl of Earl Partridge, or the rails of coke that chained Rose (Melinda Dillon), stakhanovist of the knockout and daughter of Jimmy Gator, who will find relative comfort with Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), awkward but conscientious cop, fell in love with the young woman during a search. A society on a drip, finally, which brings to the skies Frank TJ Mackey (Tom Cruise), an enlightened seminarian and erotomaniac who gives advice to a crowd of destitute sexuals to "eat pussy", but conceals beneath an a priori rust-proof confidence, and an abject character, old and deep wounds.

Magnolia is a whirlwind, a washing machine that harnesses us for 3 hours to the twirling camera of PTA, offering rare moments of breathing, which then become unexpected dressings on gaping wounds; like this surreal sequence where all the characters start to sing with one voice " It's not going to stop, 'til you wise up ", or the famous one, of the rain of frogs, biblical apparition which comes to wash the City of Angels of a thousand torments in a strangely providential deluge. Parable about the links between humans, transmission, the past and coincidences, the third PTA film is above all a film about the disease (whatever it is) and its treatment (whatever it is). The cynicism that contaminates the beginning of the film is concealed as the masks fall, the past reappears, the pains are explained, and the wounds heal. Magnolia is as much a disease as a cure, a healed wound and an open wound.

When it was released in France, Les Cahiers du Cinéma , in a somewhat laudatory text, said of the film that it was " a re-reading, independent American cinema style, of the routine of soap operas " and concluded: "Magnolia is worth what Les Feux de love , no more no less ". We could not, despite our otherwise more laudatory reading of the film, disqualify this analysis ( Le Monde already looked like Boogie Nights to a sitcom), because Magnolia is indeed a soap opera, or rather a degenerate, deliquescent version of the soap opera, just like PTA's next film, Punch Drunk Love , will be a sick romantic comedy, tainted by the incommunicability of its two incapacitated lovers, or Phantom Thread , its latest film, a poisonous reinterpretation of melodrama. By instilling vice in all human relationships, and in all genres it has explored, PTA takes the pulse of a disenchanted, sick and morally shaky world, to finally offer its characters an unexpected salvation. By confronting their turpitude, they give themselves the means to ward them off. By accepting their illness, they authorize their healing. This is the central subject of PTA cinema, from Magnolia to Phantom Thread , from The Master to Inherent Vice .

Twenty years after its release, Magnolia continues to fascinate. And if the third PTA film remains, like its filmography, an extremely divisive work, its supporters will find there in each (re) vision an unexpected comfort, swept away by the stream of beauty which slumbers under a thick mire.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on June 10, 2020, 11:22:34 PM
https://youtu.be/bZhUwQqmvnk
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Fuzzy Dunlop on June 25, 2020, 03:19:17 PM
"The Magnolia soundtrack made sweet music from a cinematic ode to Aimee Mann"
https://music.avclub.com/the-magnolia-soundtrack-made-sweet-music-from-a-cinemat-1844139288 (https://music.avclub.com/the-magnolia-soundtrack-made-sweet-music-from-a-cinemat-1844139288)

I kind of love how magnolia is becoming his most underrated movie (even to paul, maybe). Imagine making a movie like this and its your most underrated movie?? It makes me want to double down on loving it even harder.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on July 16, 2020, 09:24:49 PM
All this time, all these viewings--and I did NOT recognize Veronica Hart as "Dentist Nurse #1" in MAGNOLIA.

(https://i.imgur.com/M7yibEG.png)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on January 28, 2021, 11:14:55 PM
Holy artifact. 

Brian can be seen running the camera behind Frank in the interview scene with Gwenovier. (He's also in a few frames of Boogie Nights as the keyboardist in the awards show band.) 

A very nice man, and multi-talented.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on April 05, 2021, 12:06:12 AM
https://youtu.be/NiDS6tK7fEo
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 12:28:45 AM
well after watching this movie for about 20 years I think I just noticed a PTA-esque hidden detail.
In the audience, right under Frank's left armpit in the front row...appears to be a woman. A woman yelling "respect the cock and tame the cunt."
PTA flicks still paying dividends a couple decades later if ya ask me.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on May 02, 2021, 01:23:01 AM
Quote from: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 12:28:45 AM
well after watching this movie for about 20 years I think I just noticed a PTA-esque hidden detail.
In the audience, right under Frank's left armpit in the front row...appears to be a woman. A woman yelling "respect the cock and tame the cunt."
PTA flicks still paying dividends a couple decades later if ya ask me.

I definitely agree about the dividends part, but disagree about that being a woman in the front row.  Here's a couple of frames from much earlier in that scene.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 10:06:38 AM
Quote from: wilberfan on May 02, 2021, 01:23:01 AM
Quote from: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 12:28:45 AM
well after watching this movie for about 20 years I think I just noticed a PTA-esque hidden detail.
In the audience, right under Frank's left armpit in the front row...appears to be a woman. A woman yelling "respect the cock and tame the cunt."
PTA flicks still paying dividends a couple decades later if ya ask me.

I definitely agree about the dividends part, but disagree about that being a woman in the front row.  Here's a couple of frames from much earlier in that scene.

Yeah, I just checked that too..but I swear it's a completely different actor...or even actress... for that one shot haha. Puffier lips, rounder face, way less tan.
Being unable to sleep as I watched this last night could have shaded my perception of the film. This does also seem like something PTA would do amongst all the easter egg/details/whatcha wanna callems he put into this flick.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 10:12:50 AM
which also reminds me of this moment in Boogie Nights where this woman pulls a face directly into the camera...or of course the out-of-focus Maya Rudolph in red in PDL....like testing if we're gonna notice these things? y'all can disagree or maybe explain away these things or tell me I'm hallucinating, but i still enjoy thinking of these things as possibilities.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on September 17, 2021, 01:23:12 PM
This may be old news to you old timers, but I didn't know (and never tried to find out if)  there was an episode of the kids quiz show that young Paul interned on.  I haven't watched it yet, but it will be interesting to see how much of it ended up in the film.

https://youtu.be/WHA_LoE7kjc
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on September 17, 2021, 02:57:22 PM
Okay that's amazing...
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on September 17, 2021, 03:24:49 PM
Spoiler: ShowHide
And the (losing) kids sent home with a "World Book Encyclopedia" as a consolation prize!


Man, look at the size of lil' David in the middle, there.  Embedded commercials, too!
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on September 19, 2021, 02:04:29 PM
Another member of the tribe.

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Find Your Magali on September 24, 2021, 08:46:59 AM
This has risen to the moment of being my favorite scene in Magnolia.

So much chutzpah to be this blatantly meta in the screenplay, but I think Paul trusted Phil to turn it into absolute gold, and he did:

I know this sounds silly and I know that I might sound ridiculous. Like this is the scene in the movie where the guy's trying to get ahold of the long lost son, you know, but this is that scene. This is that scene. And I think that they have those scenes in movies because they're true, you know, because they really happen. And you gotta believe me. This is really happening. I mean, I can give you my number and you can go check with whoever you have to go check with and call me back, but  do not leave me hanging on this. Alright? Please? See, this is the scene in the movie where you help me out.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drenk on September 24, 2021, 09:02:52 AM
Hell of a disease.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k0-pSCwcx4
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on September 24, 2021, 09:12:42 AM
This is that scene.

...still chokes me up.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drenk on September 24, 2021, 09:15:58 AM
By the way, modern PTA would probably film that scene the same way.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: PinkTeeth on September 24, 2021, 11:10:55 AM
Quote from: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on May 02, 2021, 10:12:50 AM
...or of course the out-of-focus Maya Rudolph in red in PDL....

Wait, what, where & when?

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Robyn on September 24, 2021, 11:28:38 AM
At the supermarket in the background, "what am I looking for? what am I looking for? what am I looking for?"

edit: ....right? now I'm getting uncertain
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: PinkTeeth on September 24, 2021, 11:51:06 AM
I thought that was Lena, not Maya
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on September 24, 2021, 12:11:29 PM
A Google search finds a couple mentions of Maya possibly being the stand-in for Lena in that scene, but I can't find a primary source for the claim.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on September 24, 2021, 12:32:02 PM
I mean, it def looks like they just used Emily Watson but, could be wrong
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on September 24, 2021, 01:17:37 PM
It's so out of focus they could have put a dress and a wig on anyone. It could have been David Spade, which is a rumor that I'm going to start right now and hope to god it catches on.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drenk on September 24, 2021, 02:12:35 PM
I thought it was Loïs Lane. But Amy Adams is only in The Master, silly me.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Reel on September 24, 2021, 03:34:34 PM
Quote from: Find Your Magali on September 24, 2021, 08:46:59 AM
This has risen to the moment of being my favorite scene in Magnolia.

So much chutzpah to be this blatantly meta in the screenplay, but I think Paul trusted Phil to turn it into absolute gold, and he did:

I know this sounds silly and I know that I might sound ridiculous. Like this is the scene in the movie where the guy's trying to get ahold of the long lost son, you know, but this is that scene. This is that scene. And I think that they have those scenes in movies because they're true, you know, because they really happen. And you gotta believe me. This is really happening. I mean, I can give you my number and you can go check with whoever you have to go check with and call me back, but  do not leave me hanging on this. Alright? Please? See, this is the scene in the movie where you help me out.

I actually just watched it again last night and would have to agree. It really stands out in terms of PSH's delivery, the framing of his face, and the meta-meaning to what he's saying. After Ricky Jay's voiceover narration at the beginning, we know we're in for an unusual film where the 4th wall could be shattered at any turn, but from there we're just following the characters' lives and kind of in the dark about how their stories will align with the "tales of coincidence." It's at this moment when Phil delivers that line that kind of jolts you back up in your seat, reminding you you're not watching just any movie. The funny thing that struck me about it last night is how Phil describes it as "one those typical scenes from the movies" when it's in fact a very unique situation that I don't think I've seen in another movie- needing to find the long lost son in such a manner, with such a time crunch.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Alethia on October 12, 2021, 06:58:22 AM
(https://i.imgur.com/PLpX5Ln.png)

It's not that easy being green...
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Yes on November 08, 2021, 04:01:43 AM
https://twitter.com/oscarsclip/status/1456500360764293122
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: WorldForgot on December 22, 2021, 03:14:41 PM
In my Licorice Pizza write up I mention that it's a film revolving trespasses and hustle.

And in a way all of Paul's films have toyed with notions of hustle (porn, pudding, oily soil, soggy bottoms) and they're all marked by how we may or may not allow grace into our lives. Magnolia is his film where grace iz bound to faith and fate.  Forgiveness and compassion. It would not have its weight without the intensity that's captured by the entire production crew, and its unerring cast.

Complicating your film gives more credence to the complicated nature of our personal strife. It seemz to me that the more facile your film is the less humanity is portrayed; as in the being/becoming of a life. Magnolia through and through is earnest - like PDL and LP will be, after it. Its formal leaps and asides are part of that earnest soul. Expressing maturity and an honest sense of human journey precisely by getting in its own way.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Reel on January 01, 2022, 03:06:27 PM
Fish fall from the sky during rain in East Texas, city reacts (https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news/fish-fall-from-the-sky-during-rain-in-east-texas-city-reacts?_amp=true)

As if 2021 hasn't been quite a year already, now there are fish falling from the sky in east Texas.

Several residents in Texarkana posted pictures and videos to social media Wednesday after finding fish scattered in some unlikely places including their lawns and sidewalks.

"2021 is pulling out all the tricks... including raining fish in Texarkana today," said the City of Texarkana. "And no, this isn't a joke."

According to the city, this phenomenon is referred to as "animal rain" and occurs when small water animals are swept up in waterspouts or drafts that occur on the surface of the earth.

Animals like frogs, crabs, and small fish are then rained down when the forecast calls for showers.

"While it's uncommon, it happens, as evidenced in several places in Texarkana today," said the city. "And please, for the sake of everyone, let's tiptoe into 2022 as quietly as possible."
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: kingfan011 on January 28, 2022, 01:50:06 AM
Just saw Magnolia for the first time in the theater since it opened at the New Beverly tonight. Still great as usual and a few things popped up:

- I forgot how surprisingly fast paced the film is for a 3 hour movie.
- Watching it on the big screen really makes you realize hoe extraordinary Cruise is. How did he not win an Oscar.
-The film is gorgeous. Seeing a great film print really shows how beautiful and rich the colors are.

Surprisingly full showing with many first time viewers. Everyone seemed to like it
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on January 28, 2022, 11:14:41 AM
It gives me a disturbing amount of joy that you (and many others) made the effort to see MAGNOLIA on the big screen at The Bev last night.   I wonder if it was the print I saw a couple of years ago:  there was about 30 seconds missing from the beginning of reel 2.  I fall more and more in love with that film with every viewing...

(I'm not sure I knew--or remembered--that you were an Angeleno--WF, SW, and wilbz could have arranged a Xax Meet at one of the recent Village Theatre Pizza Fests!)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: kingfan011 on January 28, 2022, 02:46:16 PM
Quote from: wilberfan on January 28, 2022, 11:14:41 AM
It gives me a disturbing amount of joy that you (and many others) made the effort to see MAGNOLIA on the big screen at The Bev last night.   I wonder if it was the print I saw a couple of years ago:  there was about 30 seconds missing from the beginning of reel 2.  I fall more and more in love with that film with every viewing...

(I'm not sure I knew--or remembered--that you were an Angeleno--WF, SW, and wilbz could have arranged a Xax Meet at one of the recent Village Theatre Pizza Fests!)

It was definitely a really nice print. I noticed very little dirt although it did have two breaks where a white scratch appeared across the screen for a  second.

Definitely interesting how the jokes that are in the movie played well. People were howling at Frank's Ill drop kick those dogs line
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on June 22, 2022, 10:22:03 PM
Has this been posted yet?

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on June 22, 2022, 11:36:22 PM
That's a great video, but it triggers me that he calls them "whoosh cuts" and "whip edits" rather than what they are, WHIP PANS.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on June 23, 2022, 04:17:52 PM
Yeah, I was thinking his term didn't sound quite right...
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: WorldForgot on June 23, 2022, 05:30:05 PM
"whoosh cuts"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urja4Dzqmtc

"you know what... you might be afflicted with synesthesia."
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on June 25, 2022, 01:06:05 AM
Doing a rare Login just to say "Philip Baker Hall: Rest In Peace".

Sydney.
Floyd.
Jimmy.

Wouldn't have known about this class act performer if it weren't for PTA's love of him.
Thank you for what you have given us, Mr. Hall.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on February 05, 2023, 06:04:07 PM
"This actually happened - Pookie was my girlfriend Jovanka's cat, and when I was on the phone with PTA, Pookie started having seizures. (But did not die.)" -- Brian Kehew

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: jviness02 on February 11, 2023, 03:19:27 AM
For those who are interested in this sort of thing, Magnolia is on the full 250 Sight and Sound list at 185.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on February 16, 2023, 12:01:14 AM
How have we not encountered this yet?

MAGNOLIA REMASTERED (https://www.youtube.com/@magnoliaremastered/videos)

"...an all new remastered edition of 1999's Magnolia, so powerful that it cannot be released all at once."


(The first of 180+ short 'episodes' so far...)
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: PinkTeeth on February 19, 2023, 04:45:58 AM
This  :shock:
This is for me, tonite
<3
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: polkablues on February 20, 2023, 01:38:17 AM
I admire the commitment to the bit, if nothing else.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on February 25, 2023, 01:19:22 PM
Almost There: Julianne Moore in "Magnolia" (http://thefilmexperience.net/blog/2023/2/24/almost-there-julianne-moore-in-magnolia.html)
Friday, February 24, 2023 at 1:39PM
by Cláudio Alves


Though the year is still relatively young, Julianne Moore has already staked her claim on 2023. She stars in two early releases, Jesse Eisenberg's When You Finish Saving the World and Benjamin Caron's Sharper and has some juicy upcoming projects lined up. For instance, Todd Haynes' May December has already wrapped filming and is in post-production, maybe headed towards a festival release later in the year. With all this in mind, it felt like a good time to shine the Almost There spotlight on the 2014 Best Actress champion. And so, let's think back to the afterglow of Moore's first brush with Hollywood's most coveted trophy.

In 1997, she was nominated for Boogie Nights, grasping mainstream acclaim. Two years later, Moore was back working with P.T. Anderson on another prestigious project - the Berlinale-winning hyperlink nightmare of Magnolia...

In the tapestry of interconnected stories that make up Magnolia's narrative, Julianne Moore plays Linda, the trophy wife of Earl Partridge, a former bigshot TV producer. As the camera crashes into these people's lives, the viewer quickly learns that her existence is now defined by the shadow of death looming over every waking minute, her husband wasting away from cancer. Their luxurious abode has been retrofitted into something halfway between a hospice and a mausoleum, with nurses cycling through. Today's orderly is Phil Pharma, whose tense posture whenever Linda shows up tells the viewer all they need to know about their dynamic.

Introduced while arguing on the phone, Linda is a wealthy neurotic who probably spends a lot of energy shouting at people like Phil, chewing his ass as an outlet for the pent-up anxiety she carries with her at all times. Between sweeping camera choreography and the fast cutting, Magnolia doesn't give Moore much space to breathe in these first few moments, demanding that the actress telegraph her characterization in quick flashes. She obliges, using broad strokes to paint a portrait of high-strung sharpness that only ever morphs into something softer when she's comforting the dying man or alone with her thoughts.

That may be the most terrifying thing, so Linda rarely lets silence encircle her, talking a mile a minute, peppering curses between breaths. Moore's first real scene is between Linda and her husband's doctor, and it further underlines the panicked swiveling between aggressive cacophony and silent terror that forms Linda's screen presence. At first, she vomits a speech about Earl's pain, seemingly lost in the reminiscence of his closing throat, the suffering that won't stop. There's disgust there, but not at the moribund body. Instead, it feels directed at the waning abstraction of death, talks of logistics making the thing awfully palpable.

But is dying so bad? That hypothesis haunts the pair's interaction. Talking herself into accepting that it might be the kindest thing that could happen to Earl, the doctor further concretizes the possibility when he recommends a potent cocktail. Her husband's pain will be gone, and so will he, consciousness lost to the pharmaceuticals as he drifts away from the land of the living. Anderson's camera holds on to Moore's face then, the fast-cutting stopping for a hot second, manic panic settling down to a contemplative mood. Lit by Robert Elswit, the actress has seldom looked more beautiful. She also rarely looked more afraid.

It's easy to be put off by Julianne Moore's performance, so big and loud, so ferocious in its surrender to high melodrama, to soap opera stylings, to sheer hysteria. She overacts throughout, though never without purpose. Tonally, she's always on point. I'd go as far as stating that this is a masterclass in delivering what a film's script and its given form ask for, pushing past the barriers of good taste while doing so and never looking back. If that was evident in those first moments, it becomes impossible to ignore as Magnolia turns the dials up its storylines. Linda's freak-out is taken to a fever-pitch of narcotized guilt, gross shame bubbling from within a pool of self-hatred.

The rain is pouring outside and she's perspiring despair - it's like a film of oil coating her soul. That's the state of Moore's mad housewife as she arrives at her next stop, the shrink, where she picks up a prescription for more medication. And then, it's time for THE scene, a showstopper of a breakdown wherein an actress whose best performances hinge on precision lets herself become a loose cannon personified. It all starts subtly enough, with angry looks dripping with condescension towards the young man suspicious of her little mountain of dangerous drugs.

As soon as the guy dares to question her with more than his eyes, she explodes, eye rolls igniting a powder keg of pent-up fury. One can get lost in the levels of unhinged behavior Moore accesses, letting vocal variations become as vertiginous as a face contorted in shouted caricature. Watching her is hypnotic, a psychotic beauty verging on camp while keeping a foot firmly planted on the character's anguish. Sure, Moore's screeched monologues are ready to be made into a spoken-word lip-syncs for your life on Drag Race. However, that doesn't mean this chosen path of maximalism is wrong for the movie.

Decontextualized, you can laugh. In context, it's mesmerizing.

The same goes for her following scenes, as Moore finally lets Linda bare her soul, deciphering the folly she's allowed on-screen with a confession to the family's lawyer. Losing the plot in actorly business, the performance reaches for a level of seriousness in line with the portentous score swelling in the background. Linda married Earl for his money, falling in love with him as time passed. Now, death imminent, she wants to renounce the inheritance while preventing it from falling into the hands of the man's disgraced son. Glassy eyes shining in the shadows, she's a woman possessed.

The trance is broken, once more, by the words of a man looking down on her with suspicion, perchance pity. There's a finesse to the transition, how her gaze suddenly focuses on the scene partner, the haze of drug-addled self-reflection transcended for a cruel second. 'Fuck yous' are spit at the camera, another wrathful scene exit manifests, another attempt at running away from the darkness within. Finally, it leads back to the dying man and a decision that liberates in its promise of destruction. Moore whispers through a scene for the first time and sketches the faintest hint of a smile. In self-annihilation, she shall find peace.

With all the muchness that Julianne Moore indulges in Magnolia, it's easy to forget this moment, the instant of her character's tragic resolution. Regard this glimmer of finality, and you'll see an actress in full control of her character, the screen performer as some stormy deity forcing a hurricane to submit. Our last glimpse of Linda before the frog rain finds her tired from the constant escape, from the screams, from another confrontation, a newfound epiphany. The heightened register fades, catatonic stillness prevails, Aimee Mann playing through a breath of movie magic. Bound in musical unity, the ensemble cast sings along as Linda tries to end it all.

Though Magnolia was nominated for three Academy Awards, Julianne Moore wasn't among the nominees. In the end, Tom Cruise snatched the picture's only acting citation. However, the precursors were kind to the red-headed wonder, with the actress collecting nominations from SAG and the NSFC, plus a win from the NBR. That's more than some of AMPAS' eventual nominees in the Supporting Actress category. They were Toni Collette in The Sixth Sense, Angelina Jolie in Girl, Interrupted, Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich, Samantha Morton in Sweet and Lowdown, and Chloë Sevigny in Boys Don't Cry. Jolie won that year, while Moore would receive three more nominations and a win for Still Alice.

Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: kingfan011 on February 25, 2023, 04:06:30 PM
Great article
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Drill on February 25, 2023, 10:25:46 PM
They put more thought and effort into that article than PTA did in writing that character.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Find Your Magali on February 26, 2023, 11:57:49 AM
Ouch. But possibly not wrong.
Magnolia is my favorite PTA movie, but I've always really grappled with the over-the-top characterization of Linda Partridge. I think it may just be the one he dropped the ball on, while juggling such a huge tapestry of characters and their arcs. Probably put too much faith in the idea that Moore could just "make it work" (and when she DOES -- in the pharmacy scene and the scene slapping Phil -- it's incredible). The meltdown scenes in the doctor's and lawyer's offices are redundant. Michael Murphy as the lawyer could/should have been cut, but I'm sure PTA had an inability to see through his affection for Altman connections.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: Jeremy Blackman on February 26, 2023, 08:21:08 PM
Quote from: Find Your Magali on February 26, 2023, 11:57:49 AMOuch. But possibly not wrong.
Magnolia is my favorite PTA movie, but I've always really grappled with the over-the-top characterization of Linda Partridge. I think it may just be the one he dropped the ball on, while juggling such a huge tapestry of characters and their arcs. Probably put too much faith in the idea that Moore could just "make it work" (and when she DOES -- in the pharmacy scene and the scene slapping Phil -- it's incredible). The meltdown scenes in the doctor's and lawyer's offices are redundant. Michael Murphy as the lawyer could/should have been cut, but I'm sure PTA had an inability to see through his affection for Altman connections.

100% agreed. Magnolia does remain my favorite movie, but Linda doesn't really hold up. The pharmacy scene is unimpeachable though.
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: jviness02 on February 27, 2023, 12:20:52 AM
Linda/Moore is the lone reason Magnolia is my second least favorite PTA film. She is AWFUL. The "I  sucked other men's coooooooooccks" line is a recurring joke amongst my friends. The character is poorly written and an actor can only do so much with limp dick writing, so I blame PTA more than Moore, but she doesn't do herself any favors with some of the choices she makes. Love the film, flaws and all, but when he talks about regretting not cutting the film down, I imagine a Linda-less Magnolia and dream of better times.
Title: There Will Be Hitchcock
Post by: Scrooby on February 27, 2023, 01:05:12 AM
Anyone ever notice this :

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/60/9d/05/609d05fd448e415a5a81db4b21b73966.jpg)
Foreign Correspondent (1940). See Magnolia, 5:16
Title: Re: Magnolia discussion
Post by: wilberfan on May 09, 2023, 10:37:27 AM
I enjoyed this.  Some interesting details and insights I hadn't noticed.