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Magnolia - what a piece of crap

Just saw this on Pluto. Great cast and I kept with it for two hours and then gave the fuck up. I'd appreciate any fans telling me WHY they enjoyed this film.

by Anonymousreply 71October 17, 2025 11:49 PM

I was morbidly fascinated by it.

by Anonymousreply 1December 25, 2024 2:21 AM

Tammy was great in that role.

by Anonymousreply 2December 25, 2024 2:22 AM

PLAGUE OF FROGS!

by Anonymousreply 3December 25, 2024 2:22 AM

Yeah I sort of hated it too, OP. It's so up it's own ass. I always have time for Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but oy vey it is a bit of a slog. Good soundtrack by Aimee Mann.

by Anonymousreply 4December 25, 2024 2:24 AM

It was a bit long but Paul Thomas Anderson directed it very well. He was with Fionna Apple at the time, there's someone you never hear about anymore.

by Anonymousreply 5December 25, 2024 2:28 AM

R4 Had PSH lived, I'm convinced that he would have beat DDL's record number of Oscars. He had talent above and beyond.

by Anonymousreply 6December 25, 2024 2:33 AM

I meant to post this in the Melanie Mayron thread. I live down the street from MM. Back in January 2014, I was walking my dog past her house at around 10am. I saw a very disheveled man getting out of a car and heading to her house. He was very disheveled, like possibly hungover and/or hadn't slept for days. I recognized him as PSH.

About two weeks later I saw his obit on the early evening news. Obviously, I wasn't the least bit surprised.

by Anonymousreply 7December 25, 2024 2:40 AM

^^did I mention he was disheveled? lol sorry 'bout that!

by Anonymousreply 8December 25, 2024 2:41 AM

well, that's bombshell-level shit r8.

by Anonymousreply 9December 25, 2024 2:42 AM

Actually Fiona Apple is still at it. She released a really amazing, wildly original album in 2020 called "Fetch The Boltcutters." I think it was her fifth studio album.

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by Anonymousreply 10December 25, 2024 2:44 AM

Fiona has a unique voice.

by Anonymousreply 11December 25, 2024 2:47 AM

I enjoyed it knowing that Tammy was once again sure she'd get an Oscar, and wouldn't, and didn't, and won't.

Kulti$t POS.

by Anonymousreply 12December 25, 2024 3:15 AM

[quote]r7 Back in January 2014, I was walking my dog past Melanie Mayron’s house at around 10am. I saw a very disheveled man getting out of a car and heading to her house… I recognized him as Phillip Seymour Hoffman. About two weeks later I saw his obit on the early evening news.

Was she his [italic]heroin dealer??[/italic]

She’s suddenly our generation’s Cathy Smith ! !

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by Anonymousreply 13December 25, 2024 3:36 AM

Amazing movie, one of the best

by Anonymousreply 14December 25, 2024 3:39 AM

Friendo, I cannot tell you why I enjoyed it. Because I did not enjoy it.

by Anonymousreply 15December 25, 2024 3:50 AM

Magnolia Network?

by Anonymousreply 16December 25, 2024 4:20 AM

Tom Cruise, PSH and Julianne Moore are all fantastic. That weird little boy gives a great speech.

I think it's the best movie about intersecting LA stories. It's better than Short Cuts, Pulp Fiction and Crash.

by Anonymousreply 17December 25, 2024 4:31 AM

Cruise played against his usual type. Or did he really?

by Anonymousreply 18December 25, 2024 4:37 AM

Cruise played a misogynist a little too realistically. He's not THAT good of an actor.

by Anonymousreply 19December 25, 2024 4:40 AM

I think Cruise became so embedded in that fucking cult Scientology it fucked with his brain.

by Anonymousreply 20December 25, 2024 4:45 AM

Cruise was great and played against type. Let him have that. Stop trying to find reasons to shit on the performance.

by Anonymousreply 21December 25, 2024 4:49 AM

It was a little overrated like Crash or Love Actually. It was an ensemble movie that went nowhere. The opening montage was the best part the film. There were interesting scenes but cut disjointed PSH was underwhelming in his caretaker role.

PT Anderson said Fiona wasn't there for him as he's talking to PSH in the limo. He said the premiere of the movie and the making of the movie was a different thing than what filming was like.

PT Anderson has some blind in CDACN something flagpole sitta song and Jamie Presley. Paul is married to Maya Rudolph now. Paul also had a crush on the fan dance girl in Putney Swoop, looked sort of like Maya.

Orson Welles said filmmaking can be learned in a day and a half so get out there, directors. Make a Magnolia

by Anonymousreply 22December 25, 2024 4:54 AM

I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I don’t really remember it. But once a time I wanted to worship Cruise’s cock, so I couldn’t pass it up.

by Anonymousreply 23December 25, 2024 5:06 AM

Cruise was electrifying in "Magnolia"--he used to take chances as an actor. I remember being really equally impressed by Melora Walters, Melinda Dillon, Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, and Philip Baker Hall. The soundtrack was a great and funny playlist for all the sound and fury of these characters who were grasping after any shred of belief or dignity, anything to keep from facing their own silence. I didn't care for the meta-moment when the characters started singing along with Aimee Man, but I can see where the director was going with it. The frogs worked okay for me--Anderson wanted to put in something a little magical alongside all the desperation, and I think he succeeded in making a worthy companion piece to Altman's mosaic films "Short Cuts" and "Nashville."

by Anonymousreply 24December 25, 2024 5:08 AM

Tammy Cruise's best performance

by Anonymousreply 25December 25, 2024 5:20 AM

I recommended Nashville to a very close friend and he got back to me that he hated it. How could anyone hate Nashville, I thought, this was incomprehensible—until I saw Short Cuts. I agree, of the LA ensemble films, Magnolia is the best, if still not as good as Nashville.

by Anonymousreply 26December 25, 2024 5:39 AM

I can’t, with you troglodytes.

by Anonymousreply 27December 25, 2024 6:20 AM

[quote]R26 I recommended Nashville to a very close friend… of the LA ensemble films, Magnolia is the best, if still not as good as Nashville.

Did your friend notice that Henry Gibson was in both?

I did not recognize him the first time I saw MAGNOLIA. Then I was like, “OMG, he’s such a good actor! He’s nothing like he was before!”

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by Anonymousreply 28December 25, 2024 6:27 AM

I loved “Boogie Nights,” so I probably set my expectations too high, and was very disappointed.

by Anonymousreply 29December 25, 2024 6:33 AM

I enjoyed this movie but whenever I want to rewatch it I remember that John C. Reilly is in it. I've never liked him but he's particularly repulsive in Magnolia. He plays a loud, bossy cop. I hate him.

by Anonymousreply 30December 25, 2024 6:57 AM

PSH in an under appreciated and weird movie , Loving Liza. He is a disheveled man, living through the period following his wife’s suicide. She left him a letter which he carries around and won’t open .

The girls mother is Kathy Bates. He begins inhaling gasoline to cope. Clever movie . I can’t remember if he reads the letter ; maybe he does but we don’t find out the content.

by Anonymousreply 31December 25, 2024 7:28 AM

I love the film, though sometimes some of the performances would have been much better had they held back even a tiny bit. PSH, for example...he's too precious and frail and fey; it's not one of his great performances because it went a few steps too far. Wm. H. Macy likewise -- he's an actor I dislike and the role is overwrought. Hideous John C Reilly was not bad for once, even if still John C Reilly.

Melora Walters was brilliant, I thought, the best of the lot. And Julianne Moore was perfect, I thought, and harrowing.

The plot I like a great deal, and the music.

by Anonymousreply 32December 25, 2024 8:06 AM

I was just discussing this w/ someone the other day! When it came out, "Magnolia" was SO overhyped. Meant to be PTA's magnum opus but it was just meandering, bloated and self important. I agree the storyline w/ Julianne, PSH and Robards was the best-Tammy was ok. But all the fanboys came out in droves, defending it against the critics and saying it was God's gift to cinema. Now? You rarely here about it compared to some of PTA's later, more beloved films- especially TWBB, which many still regard as his best and one of the best films ever made *period*. Magnolia, by comparison, is largely forgotten.

But so is "Boogie Nights" and that makes me sad because it is also a great picture. Just think- PTA completed that film when he was 27/28. Crazy.

by Anonymousreply 33December 25, 2024 8:07 AM

The only thing I remember from this movie is the Julianne in the pharmacy scene.

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by Anonymousreply 34December 25, 2024 8:21 AM

My pharmacy never let me come back after I performed this monologue for them. I assumed everyone had watched Magnolia.

by Anonymousreply 35December 25, 2024 8:24 AM

I realized I can’t stomach Julianne Moore‘s high pitched quavery voice and I haven’t seen any of her movies since then.

by Anonymousreply 36December 25, 2024 10:21 AM

Tom's performance in this earned him one of the 3 golden globes he returned in mock outrage and protest at the HFPA LOL. Yeah Tom, bit of an overreaction there, no?

by Anonymousreply 37December 25, 2024 10:50 AM

R30 he was a complete opposite of a loud, bossy cop. What movie did you watch?

by Anonymousreply 38December 25, 2024 1:09 PM

RESPECT THE COCK!

TAME THE CUNT!

by Anonymousreply 39December 25, 2024 2:09 PM

I was just thinking about this movie and raining frogs the other day. These things happen!

by Anonymousreply 40December 25, 2024 2:18 PM

He muscled his way into his neighbor's apartment and then asked her out while looming over her. He's loud in every movie, r38. What movie did YOU watch?

by Anonymousreply 41December 25, 2024 2:26 PM

OMG. You’re all so stupid. I hope it rains down frogs on you.

by Anonymousreply 42December 25, 2024 3:10 PM

R41 You mean he did cop stuff and then asked a woman that was into him, is wants to go on a date? What a brute

by Anonymousreply 43December 25, 2024 3:16 PM

[quote]r34 The only thing I remember from this movie is the Julianne in the pharmacy scene.

I think the lawyer scene is even better.

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by Anonymousreply 44December 26, 2024 3:03 AM

Shut the fuck up!

by Anonymousreply 45December 26, 2024 3:26 AM

It's one of those movies where everyone - actors, writer, director - is non-stop swinging for the fence. It's exhausting.

by Anonymousreply 46December 26, 2024 3:30 AM

[quote]r45 Shut the fuck up!

[italic]I sucked other men’s caaaaaks!

by Anonymousreply 47December 26, 2024 3:47 AM
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by Anonymousreply 48December 26, 2024 4:20 AM

WOW! Just watched the clips- and I don't remember Julianne Moore being so godawful but she's *hilariously bad*! What a turkey.

To be fair though, I think PTA learned his lesson here and stopped w/ the overwriting. Instead he began moving towards scripts that are pretty spare, by comparison. By the time he did TWBB and The Master, he'd sort of found his flow and realized that scenes need to breathe. And so do actors.

by Anonymousreply 49December 26, 2024 9:02 AM

You know I just don’t think Tom Cruise is gay so I don’t know where this in coming from?

by Anonymousreply 50December 26, 2024 1:18 PM

That fuckin' conversation between Reilly and Walters in her apartment must have been 45 minutes of the film and did nothing for the "plot".

by Anonymousreply 51December 26, 2024 3:08 PM

I watched it again yesterday (as I rewatched Boogie Nights again recently) because I loved One Battle After Another and want to revisit some of PTA’s films. I actually appreciated it more this time than I did in 1999. I thought it was a very moving film about parents and children, and about connection. I understand why the scene where the main cast each sings along to Aimee Mann’s song Wise Up isn’t for everyone, but I thought it was beautifully done.

The one odd detail I noticed this time was that Tom Cruise’s character drove a Saturn, which seems like a very interesting choice,

by Anonymousreply 52October 16, 2025 10:28 PM

is this the movie that was written to feature Aimee Mann's music (specifically)?

by Anonymousreply 53October 16, 2025 10:43 PM

Quality isn’t for everyone.

by Anonymousreply 54October 16, 2025 10:45 PM

R53, yes. It was actually inspired by her music.

by Anonymousreply 55October 16, 2025 10:46 PM

Magnolia seemed like an interesting movie for about two days. Then you realize it was a series of cameos and bits and speeches and songs and now I think it's much ado about nothing, if not total crap.

And I absolutely hated his subsequent movies, aka There Will Be Bowling and Phantom Thread. Both of them like phantom point.

PTA is in the same category as Wes Anderson. Media is always mentioning these Gen X guys as the first generation to grow up with video stores. Is that why their movies seem like a pastiche of every tape they ever rented?

by Anonymousreply 56October 16, 2025 10:51 PM

I thought Moore was great, especially in the pharmacy meltdown scene.

When I saw it, the film melted midway through so they needed to do some quick surgery and restart.

by Anonymousreply 57October 16, 2025 10:56 PM

[quote] didn't care for the meta-moment when the characters started singing along with Aimee Man

That was my favorite part.

by Anonymousreply 58October 16, 2025 11:00 PM

[quote] That was my favorite part.

I liked that too, but again, this movie was just parts.

by Anonymousreply 59October 16, 2025 11:03 PM

Because I sucked SOOOO MAAAANNNNY COOOOCCCCKKKKSSSSSSS

by Anonymousreply 60October 16, 2025 11:24 PM

Perfect film...except for Tammy. He's always awful.

I judge people who don't like this film. Consider your asses judged.

by Anonymousreply 61October 17, 2025 12:05 AM

As a mid 50-something person who never saw this, I thought I'd missed an important movie, given it is often mentioned for one reason or another.

But in reading this thread, it feels like I really didn't miss anything at all, and that this concept movie was one that didn't have a very cohesive flow to it. It doesn't sound very appealing, so I'll put it aside now and not think twice anymore about seeking it out and watching it.

I also never saw Avatar either, and always heard what a great masterpiece it was. Perhaps I can put that one aside as well...?

by Anonymousreply 62October 17, 2025 12:07 AM

I bought the DVD way back when and it came with a rubber frog (that I still have). I watched the movie and it hit me really hard. I hope everyone realizes it's a semi musical. The Aimee Mann songs are fantastic "Save me" should have won an Oscar. All the actors are great even Tammy. They don't make them like this anymore.

by Anonymousreply 63October 17, 2025 12:22 AM

[quote] Good soundtrack by Aimee Mann.

I agree. I loved the soundtrack and I still have the CD

by Anonymousreply 64October 17, 2025 12:58 AM

I'd see this over Avatar r62 but you'll have a full life having seen neither one.

by Anonymousreply 65October 17, 2025 1:17 AM

I felt exactly like you, OP. At two hours I was thinking of slitting my throat.

by Anonymousreply 66October 17, 2025 1:21 AM

I remember everyone saying how good Tom was and just thinking, well… he was loud.

by Anonymousreply 67October 17, 2025 5:05 AM

I like the idea and tried to watch it but never finished it.

by Anonymousreply 68October 17, 2025 5:44 AM

Like all of PTA films it's too long by being too self-indulgent but somehow somebody said he was a genius so he keeps on cranking them out.

by Anonymousreply 69October 17, 2025 5:10 PM

And I absolutely hated his subsequent movies, aka There Will Be Bowling and Phantom Thread

R56 I liked Phantom Thread. It's probably the only one of his movies I would want to see a second time.

by Anonymousreply 70October 17, 2025 11:44 PM

I never understoood the acclaim for this film. (Also not a huge PTA stan, outside of Boogie Nights) But I love Aimee Mann's soundtrack. SO many great songs

by Anonymousreply 71October 17, 2025 11:49 PM
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