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Magnolia - New Line Platinum Series

Magnolia - New Line Platinum Series

List Price: $26.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Magnolia
Review: I found this movie to be both disturbing and captivating at the same time. The only other movie I can remember that left me with such a "thick" feeling was "The Deer Hunter." Like that film from the 1970's, this cinematic effort breaks new ground with its disjointed, short story approach to moviemaking. Once the various tales start to merge, everything becomes clear. Well, sort of. I found it to be mesmerizing. The performance rendered by Tom Cruise alone makes the film worth the price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: What I'm Sick And Tired of...
Review: You know what? I'm sick and TIRED of people who write reviews for movies who call people stupid if they disagree with them. One of the people who wrote a review for this movie said everyone who gave it 5 stars "didn't get it." I got it. I'm only 14, but I thought this movie was EXCELLENT. I thought it was cool how all of their lives eventually come together in the end. When you look at all of the characters... A cocaine addict, a game show host, a former quiz whiz kid, a current quiz whiz kid, a man who is dying of cancer, his wife who is going crazy, his male nurse, the chauvinistic motivation speaker, a cop, and others... you think: "How are all these people going to come together?" I admit, the profanity was really extreme... but otherwise... this movie is a masterpiece!

"Things Fall Down. People Look Up. And When it Rains, it Pours."

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bring on the toads.
Review: I think that alot of people just didn't "get" this movie.

If you look closely, "Exodus 8:2" and the numbers "8" and "2" appear many times throughout "Magnolia". If you read Exodus 8:2 then see the movie, it will all somehow make sense.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the most beautiful films of all time
Review: Anderson, is a genius. thats all i can really say. The first time i saw the trailer for this movie, i said, i know thats gonna be a good movie, and it turned out it was. It comes to show you that strange things happen all the time, wether we want to face that fact or not. I am certain, that there is not a single person on this planet, that hasn't had something very odd happen to them and they say to theirself " thats something that would only happen in a movie or a book". I've watched this movie numerous times and its breathtaking, everything about it is so lively, the reason i feel people dont like this movie is because they can't face the facts. If your a believer in strange occurances or just have different views on life, or appreciate fine movies, this ones for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: AMAZING MOVIE
Review: This is the greatest movie than i ever seen!!!!!!! Paul Thomas Anderson is the best writer and director of all the 90', and an amazing peformance of all the cast

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: THE KING OF ALL FILMS!!!!!
Review: I JUST MUST SAY THAT THIS MOVIE BLOWS AWAY AMERICAN BEAUTY AND ALSO THE GREEN MILE, WHICH WAS TOO LONG AND RIDICULOUSLY FARFETCHED, AND NO ONE COMPLAINS ABOUT ITS LENGTH OR UNLIKELIHOODS. PEOPLE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THIS MOVIE BECAUSE THEY ARE EMOTIONLESS CONTROL FREAKS. THIS IS THE GREATEST FILM EVER. SEE IT, LIKE IT, OR SHUT UP!!!!! MAGNOLIA IS ALSO A LUNG-CLEARING HERBAL REMEDY. IT'S ALSO A STREET IN P.T. ANDERSON'S HOMETOWN IN THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: falls apart midway through
Review: Starts well enough but falls apart half way through. Watch "Short cuts" if you wanna see a good 3 hr movie about LA . This ones worth a rental but not $21.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A real treat from director P.T. Anderson.
Review: I`ve seen this film, not too long ago. Am surprise how the picture was made, it`s has a lot of great moments for this movie. Director Paul Thomas Anderson(also wrote the film) makes this an interesting journey about different sort of people in only one day with humour and drama are extremely well done. He has most of the cast from his 1997 picture-Boogie Nights was also one of the best films from that year. The performances, i like from the cast are the standout roles and also challenging part from Tom Cruise(Nice change of pace for the actor). Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman come off best in thier characters are the real winners in the film. True the film often has vulgar language out thought the picture but it does fit well in this kind of film. The movie runs three hours but to me, i find it fast to watch. A must see.

DVD has great picture from the anamorphic widescreen format(2.40:1) and Dolby Digital 5.1 Soundtrack is also great. The second disc include:Outtakes, a deleted scene of Cruise`s Character and also a very funny commerical also from Cruise. A great music video by Aimee Mann, Save Me is a touching song and a few anothers extras. A must buy, those who really loved the film. Grade:A. Panavision.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: I Detested It... But Isn't Art Subjective?
Review: "Magnolia" is a film that I greeted with high expectations -- anyone who has seen P.T. Anderson's first film, "Hard Eight" -- a brilliant, tight little thriller -- understands my sentiments. But I literally could not sit through this in a theatre, and forced myself to watch the ending months later, on video. I've seen over 2,500 films in my life, and "Magnolia" is the only movie I've ever walked out of... for several reasons.

First, although Anderson clearly aspires to be an auteur in the mode of the masters (Fellini, Bergman, Kubrick, Fosse, etc.) he demonstrates no sense of the aesthetic orchestration that became so essential in the works of his predecessors. For instance, if one looks at Bergman's "Persona," one will see that every piece of dialogue, every camera movement, every sound, and every physical movement (of the actors) has a definite purpose and adds to an overall aesthetic in the film. Yet Anderson's movement is helter skelter... as the opening sequence reveals. The camera whips in and out, speed zooms, trucks around frantically, and pans from side to side. The result is completely anarchic and nauseating. Anderson demonstrates no control and no consistent orchestration. Like Scorsese, he seems fascinated with aesthetic for aesthetic's sake.

Second, the characters are, quite simply, much too similar, in actions and dialogue; every character has a broken life, and every character has at least one major vice (sometimes, several). As a result, most of the characters are completely interchangeable, and all tonal control is lost (forty-five minutes into the picture, I didn't care about ANY of the individuals on screen). The Southern California dialogue is consistently filthy and indistinguishable from person to person... f--- this and c--- that... it becomes exhausting to listen to the gutter language. Granted, I'm not objecting to profanity *per se*, but I am objecting to a set of characters who all have the same rhythm and all use the same expletives, regardless of psychological makeup or background. The Coen Bros.' "Fargo" is a remarkable example of a film that dealt with seriously disturbed characters, yet created a unique rhythm for each one.

"Magnolia" is often compared to Robert Altman's far-superior "Short Cuts" (1993) because of its similar structure, but the beauty of Altman's film is that it provides a synthesis of many moods, from black comedy to tearjerking drama to tragicomedy, to (in the case of Lori Singer's suicide) pure tragedy. But the mood in "Magnolia" never wavers -- it remains consistently dour and depressing -- from the Frank T.J. Mackey Sex Guru subplot to the subplot involving "grown-up whiz kid" Donnie Smith. When the uniformity of mood is coupled with a running time of three-and-a-half hours, the film could pose a serious problem for some viewers.

And much has been mentioned about the film's bizarre final sequence. Let it be said that not since Mike Sarne's "Joanna" (1968) has a film repeatedly defied its own logical fabric. Here, the shifts occur in two major instances: 1) When the characters suddenly burst into song, and 2) During the rain of frogs. Another general rule of filmmaking is that anything can happen in a movie, as long as the basic logical fabric is established within the first 10-15 minutes. Perhaps that's the reason I found it so difficult to accept the major logical twists.. because the earliest sequences of the film did nothing to prepare the audience for the bizarre and unexpected events to follow.

The great thing about film (or any art form, for that matter) is its complete subjectivity. I loathed and detested this movie, and regard the sex guru scenes (in particular) as some of the most upsetting moments ever dramatized on film. Yet I've talked to countless people who insist that they've watched "Magnolia" four and five and six and ten times, and that every time they watch it, they learn something new -- one of my friends even insists that "Magnolia" convinced him to pursue a career in the ministry! Who can argue with that? I find it impossible to take a positive viewpoint about this movie, but opinion seems to vary from person to person. In any case, watch at your own risk.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: celestial beauty
Review: i am not sure how to put this....

i felt so enthralled with this film, it feels.... it is just beautifully cathartic... i know it's because i just saw this movie so i may be biased..... but i cannot think at this point in time of ever having seen a movie as emotionally powerful as this one. the acting is incomparable to anything... the soundtrack and the score.... they just pull you into the story in a way i cannot comprehend.... it is just utter beauty...

i feel sorry for the people that didn't enjoy this ... this is certainly one of the most beautiful masterpieces of our time... and for the people that complained it was 3 hrs. long... i guess you prefer Steven Seagal than good filmmaking. i will only tell you i felt crushed when this gem was actually over...

it tore me to pieces that's all i can say ... GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!


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