Magnolia - New Line Platinum Series

Rating:
Summary: THE LUCKYDOG NEWSLETTER
Review: One of the most INTRICATE MOVIES I HAVE EVER SEEN, I think that everyone speeks rightly when they say that the movie didnt make much since or that it did not even weave in and out as much as everyone thought it would, But it is still an excellent film.

It does capture the viewer to the point that you have to watch everything and not miss one beat, much like a soap oprah but with REAL PEOPLE, they did not even look or act like actors, they actually did an excellent job of becoming those people. But in the end it leaves you wanting more and it barely answers your questions. I did figure out what the whole frogs thing was about, in how IT tied all the key players in the film together, but I never found any other significant parts in which they are all connected. Unsolved Mystery.

Reasons for the R rating: Sexuality/Nudity, EXTREME CRUDE HUMOR, Violence, Drug abuse, a guy orders porno magazines, multiple depictions of suicides-murders-and robberies, THE WORST LANGUAGE PROBLEM IN ANY MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN, not one sentence came out without a negative or derogatory comment or even a curse word which was a big dissapointment for such an excellent film.

The Film Plot: It didnt really have one, BUT it was supposed to be that "EVERYONE'S SO AND SO MEETS EVERYONE ELSE'S SO AND SO," AND THEY INTERACT AND WEAVE IN AND OUT OF EACH OTHERS LIVES TO CREATE A SINGLE STORY THAT REVOLVES AROUND AN UNCOINCIDENTAL EVENT IN HISTORY (OR A FICTIONAL EVENT IN THE CASE OF THIS MOVIE.)

The reasons I gave it the 5 star treatment: 1:Tom Cruise ("M.I."&"MI-2") and many of the other actors and actresses whose names are fleating at this moment.-Excellent job acting or should I say looking like real people in real life situations with a camera that just so happens to be filming everything. 2:The stories at the beginning that gave the film a sort of Twighlight Zone/X-Files appeal. 3:The message that it finally gets around to in one of the last scenes where the cop asks, "I GUESS THATS THE HARD PART, WHO SHOULD WE FORGIVE?" 4:HATS OFF to the intellegent devils who put that together. 5:Thanking God it was only 3 Hours and 8 Minutes, if they would have weaved that plot anymore I would have weaved into a VERY DEEP SLEEP.

This is Acedog from THE LUCKYDOG NEWSLETTER: MOVIE REVIEW Have a wonderful Frogday afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: perfection
Review: I have seen too few films with this much hidden intensity and strength. In a subtle, seamless way, all things come together, follow each other, resolve themselves, and even the things that die come to terms with what is around them. This is an immensely thought provoking film that will last, passively perhaps, in your mind for a long while. Don't miss it, and you shall be rewarded.

Rating:
Summary: Complex and magnificent
Review: Magnolia left me stunned, thoughtful, and more than a little unnerved. The movie chronicles the unraveling of the lives of a large cast of characters, all of whom are revealed to relate to the others in some way, and finds a moral redemption from the chaos. It has a dark fascination similar to American Beauty's. In fact, of those two excellent movies, I would say Magnolia is the stronger. It's not a movie for those who want shallow, stupid entertainment; it will disturb you and (God forbid!) make you think. Wonderful. (It will also have you looking nervously at storm clouds for months; see it and find out why....)

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Summary: 1999's best film
Review: I say unequivicably that this is the best movie of the year. P.T. Anderson has gone out of his way to weave a captivating, heartwrenching and very quirky story. Correction - stories; he has brought together the lives of several people, linked in various ways.

With Aimee Mann singing wonderfully, especially for the movie and some incredible acting, this movie was fascinating and disturbing. And the scene where everyone sang all at once was a wonderfully symbolic and bold gesture that some may have found odd, but I absolutely loved.

And what about the frogs? Again, even more bold and extremely disconcerting if you don't watch the movie closely. It a bit hard to explain, but basically, he plays with the idea of the possibility of this happening....unrweal as it seems. After all, "this really happened". Moreover, it touches on biblical issues - the sins of a generation being punished by frogs, as warned in Exodus....so is it just a coincidence or is it a miracle? Urban Legend or real? It makes you think.

Tom Cruise was brilliant. The tension in the film as this mysogynist was being interviewed was palpable, a tribute to Anderson's direction.

There are few movies that are as bold and thought provoking as this. But get ready for something different.

Rating:
Summary: Can I have my money back?
Review: Great casting, but horrible movie. I thought with such great actors, this movie would be far better than it was. The story line was somewhat dis-jointed, and it was so dark and depressing, I honestly don't know how anybody would want to actually OWN the movie. This film seems to want to be 'Pulp Fiction' with various story lines happenning, but it doesn't come together in such a nice way. It was bizarre, but not in any sort of endearing way. Very bad.

Rating:
Summary: This movie blows
Review: You wade through three hours of a decent film to encounter one of the wirst endings I've seen on a film since - geez I don't remember when. Don't bother with this clunker. I went to fil school and I still don't think it's "cool." Director PTA should rot in h-e-double hockey stciks for offering this up as his follow-up to "Boogie Nights." Sure, the Aimee Mann sing along is cool, but he could have made that a music video, in fact music videos is all he's good for at this point. He's been directing annorexic girlfriend Fionna Applegate's videos for the past few years. Couldn't he have spared Tom Cruise's best performance for a better film?

Rating:
Summary: PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON IS THE GREATEST DIRECTOR/WRITER EVER!
Review: WHERE SHOULD I BEGIN? THE FILM TAKES PLACE DURING 24 HOURS IN THE LIVES OF 9 CHARACTERS. FIRST THERE IS JIMMY GATOR (AN EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE BY PHILIP BAKER HALL). JIMMY GATOR IS A GAME SHOW HOST FOR WHAT DO KIDS KNOW? A POPULAR GAME SHOW, AND HE IS WORLD KNOWN FOR HIS CAREER. NEXT, THERE IS STANLEY SPECTOR (ANOTHER GREAT PERFORMANCE, BY CHILD ACTOR JEREMY BLACKMAN). HE IS PRESSURED BY HIS ALCHOHOLIC FATHER TO BEAT THE RECORD ON THE SAME GAME SHOW WHAT DO KIDS KNOW? IF HE CAN LAST ANOTHER TWO WEEKS ANSWERING QUESTIONS HE WILL BECOME THE QUIZ KID, WHICH WOULD BE A RECORD. WILLIAM H. MACY (ONE OF THE FINER ACTORS TODAY) PLAYS EX QUIZ KID DONNIE SMITH. DONNIE WAS IN THE SAME POSITION THAT STANLEY, THE BOY GENIUS, WAS IN, WHEN HE BEAT THE RECORD IN 1968. THE GAMESHOW HOSTS DAUGHTER, CLAUDIA WILSON GATOR IS PLAYED BY MELORA WALTERS. CLAUDIA HAS A LOT ANGER TOWARD HER FATHER JIMMY, DESPITE HIS FAME. SHE IS TROUBLED AND SUFFERS FROM DRUG ADDICTION AMONG OTHER THINGS. SERIOUS, YET CLUMSY OFFICER JIM KURRING IS PLAYED BY JOHN C. REILY (ANOTHER GREAT ACTOR). THE POLICE MAN IS DESPERATE TO MEET SOMEONE AND FALL IN LOVE, AND MEETS CLAUDIA WHEN HE COMES TO CHECK OUT A DISTURBANCE. HE THEN FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER. AT THE SAME TIME, EARL PARTRIDGE (JASON ROBARDS) IS DYING RAPIDLY OF CANCER, AND HIS DEDICATED HOSPIS NURSE PHIL PHARMA (PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN) IS TRYING TO HELP EARL FIND HIS LOST SON FRANK TJ MACKEY (A GREAT PERFORMANCE BY TOM CRUISE) WHO IS A MALE SUPREMICIST, IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ALL MALE SEMINAR. FRANK HAS A LOT OF ANGER TOWARD EARL, BECAUSE WHEN FRANK WAS VERY YOUNG, HIS MOTHER, LILY, HAD CANCER, AND EARL WOULD LEAVE AND CHEAT ON HER, AND THEN LEFT FRANK TO TAKE CARE OF HER AS SHE DIED BESIDE HIM OF CANCER. HOWEVER, EARL WANTS TO SEE HIM BEFORE HE DIES, AND IS FULL OF GUILT ABOUT WHAT HE DID, BECAUSE HE REALLY LOVED HIS OLD WIFE, AND HIS NURSE IS DESPERATELY TRYING TO HELP EARL FIND HIS LOST SON. MEANWHILE, EARL'S NEW WIFE LINDA PARTRIDGE (JULIANNE MOORE) IS TAKING ALL OF EARL'S PILLS HERSELF TO END HER SUFFERING, BECAUSE SHE TOO, CHEATED ON EARL, AND IS SEEKING FORGIVENESS. AND AS THE STORY UNFOLDS ALL THE CHARACTERS INTERTWINE AS DO THEIR PAST. PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON IS A GENIUS. THE FILM IS SO WELL DRAWN OUT AND THE STORY IS TERRIFIC, AS ARE THE PERFORMANCES. ESPECIALLY BY JEREMY BLACKMAN, JOHN C. REILY, PHILIP BAKER HALL, AND WILLIAM H. MACY. ALL IN ALL ITS A GREAT FILM, AND I'VE SEEN IT SIX TIMES, WHICH MEANS IF I WATCH IT ANOTHER TWO TIMES, ILL HAVE WASTED AN ENTIRE DAY OF MY LIFE. THE DVD IS ALSO GREAT, WITH ITS DOUBLE DISC PLATINUM EDITION. I RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO ANYONE WHO IS SERIOUS ENOUGH AND WILLING TO SEE A GREAT AND POWERFUL (ALMOST BIBLICAL) MOVIE. HOWEVER, IF YOU ARE AS IMMATURE AS THE PEOPLE ABOVE ME WHO GAVE THE FILM ONE AND TWO STARS, THEN STEP AWAY. GOD, I CANT BELIVE WHAT A GOOD MOVIE THIS IS, WHAT MORE COULD I SAY. WITHOUT IT, ID DIE.

Rating:
Summary: Pretentious and self-indulgent.
Review: This movie....ugh. Would somebody mind explaining to me the allure ofthis movie? Wait, would somebody who has seen Robert Altman's SHORTCUTS and Todd Solondz' HAPPINESS mind telling me what the allure ofthis movie is? Original it ain't.

Anyone who has seen theaforementioned movies knows darn well that ... Anderson cribbed somany elements from both movies it is PATHETIC. Save for Tom Cruise'sperformance, Anderson manages to waste a lot of talent with his clichedialogue and self-gratifying camera moves (totally unmotivated andobvious), never really getting to the point. What was the point?Frogs? Great, flying amphibians. Anyhow, don't waste your time. SeeHAPPINESS and SHORT CUTS instead.END

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, Daring Motion Picture that Defies Convention
Review: Paul Thomas Anderson has made his masterpiece with Magnolia, a daring movie that may forever change the way we look at motion pictures.

Magnolia deals with a variety of subjects: coincidence, redemption, forgiveness, loneliness, and love-all with incredible understanding and empathy. The whole of the movie is greater than the sum of its ensemble cast parts. As many know, Tom Cruise received a well-deserved best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his part as a multimedia sex guru with a painful past. But there are so many other affecting performances in this picture, like John C. Reilly as a lonely police officer, Melora Walters as his coke-sniffing love interest, William H. Macy as a former quiz-kid, Jason Robards as Cruise's dying father and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as his male nurse-just to name a few. Paul Thomas Anderson's direction brings out inspired performances from everyone in the cast.

One of the most touching and emotional parts in Magnolia is the "Wise Up" sequence, set to Aimee Mann's incredibly haunting song. It must be experienced to be believed. Mann's songs are used extensively in the excellent soundtrack, as well as a couple of vintage Supertramp compositions-"The Logical Song" and "Goodbye Stranger".

A word of warning to the viewer. Magnolia is not the kind of motion picture that one can sit through and be entertained. Thinking and introspection are required. But if you invest your time and emotion, the payoff is worth it-even at three hours plus in length.

The DVD is chock full of features and includes a second disc that includes Aimee Mann's "Save Me" video, trailers, and a video diary of the making of Magnolia.

Rating:
Summary: Magnolia: A Truly Great Film
Review: Magnolia is easily and without a doubt one of the most original, interesting, and insightful films I have ever been fortunate enough to have seen. The intricate and well-acted plot spellbinds viewers; they watch with eager awe as they are led through a twisting and turning passage, and step by step approach the truth. This truth is that it is human nature to hurt and be hurt, to need and be needed, and is expertly illustrated through a spiral of everyday-but-compelling events intertwining the lives of the film's variety of characters.