Rating: Summary: I love this movie about love... Review: I never get very sad while watching a movie. But Magnolia did it for me. I love that the director put so much effort into the film and wasn't shy about puting his feelings into his characters. It makes me very happy that there are people like him making films, something to look forward to. I won't try to review the whole damn thing, im lazy. I'll just tell you some good stuff to make you look forward to the movie. There's about nine different maine characters in the movie, mostly all of their stories are entertaining as hell, especially William H. Macy's character. He plays this middle-aged loser type who brags to anyone who will listen about how he was "whiz-kid donnie smith" about 30 years ago. He has my favorite line in the movie "i have some much love to give, i just don't know where to put it". Tom Cruise is also good as the woman hating macho man. My favorite story centers around a lonely cop who seems like the nicest guy in the world. There is a lot more great stuff too. But like i said, i'm lazy and don't want to go into it.
Rating: Summary: A beautiful, beautiful movie Review: P.T. Anderson does it again. Fresh off of _Boogie Nights_, his porn star remake of _A Star is Born_ he brings us _Magnolia_. What can I say about this movie, it's Altmanesque, it is a series of small stories that move towards a common denouement. John C. Reilly is fantastic as an L.A. cop who gives us a stream of consciousness monologue reminiscent of a bad episode of _Cops_. Tom Cruise is equally fantastic as a misogynistic huckster selling a dating video for men called "Seduce and Destroy". Cruise's acting is fantastic in this movie, I know, I used the word acting in sentence with Tom Cruise's name, and not in a negative fashion, but he's good, damned good, showing us a misogynistic thug who is deeply damaged and hurt inside due to a childhood betrayal. Juliette Moore is excellent as gold-digging vamp who realizes, as her husband, Jason Robards, is dying that she really loves him. All of the actors are fantastic and the dialog shines from the beginning of the movie, narrated by Ricky Jay to the end with John C. Reilly and Melora Walters, in fact you should watch the DVD with the subtitles on so you don't miss anything. The DVD transfer is good and there are loads of extra features. This movie should have won an Oscar, too bad that it didn't.
Rating: Summary: One of the Best Movis I have ever seen! Review: P.T. Anderson is a genius and Julianne Moore is a goddess!
Rating: Summary: I want my 3 1/2 hours back! Review: I have thrown money away before, but this really hurt. I don't want my 8 bucks back nearly as much as I want those 3 and one half hours back in my life. I was at the movies staring at the screen with incredulity, and all I could think was that I wasted 8.50 on this piece of celluloid refuse. I felt more sorry for these two elderly women who looked back at me with confusion, seeking an explanation of what incontinent drivel they had just witnessed. I could not help these poor women and felt really bad for them since I know they must be on a fixed income and shelled out cash for this THIRD effort by a talented writer director, who has two awesome films under his belt. WHAT HAPPENED???? I can only hope that Anderson wakes up and goes back to making a really good film like he did with Boogie Nights and Hard Eight. Either one will be worth owning.
Rating: Summary: jeesh Review: i don't know what to add to all these 5 stars...except this: all of them are right. it deserves every kudo. pta is his genreation's altman.
Rating: Summary: Very well done, but a depressing 3 hours Review: Magnolia has a lot to recommend it -- very talented cast, outstanding performances, interesting story lines and a great soundtrack. At one point, the skies even open up and it rains cats and frogs -- well, o.k., no cats. The movie is so well done, that even the raining frogs seem to make sense. All the performances are terrific and interesting, from Tom Cruise as a malevolent motivational speaker to the bit-part Luis, a cantankerous but very funny game show contestant. On the down side, this movie is really depressing. The plot follows about 5 main characters whose stories interlock. (I did feel after one viewing that there were a few scenes that did not make any sense. Perhaps it takes a few viewings to fully get all the connections.) While each of the stories is engrossing, the unifying theme seemed to be that we're each alone, locked into our own misery. The only possible redemption, the movie seems to say, is forgiving ourselves and each other for the hurts that caused the misery in the first place. But, as the lives of the characters show, forgiveness may elude us for a long time, even forever. Sigh. Definitely not happy thoughts.... I did appreciate the fine performances and music, but wished I'd picked a more uplifting film on which to spend those three hours. The DVD has substantial interesting material about the making of the movie.
Rating: Summary: I know, I know! ............ Review: This is my SECOND review of this movie. (I even watched it again so I would qualify!) But I feel I must review this movie again in order to even out some of the *5* star reviews. Not only is this movie overly long - and as if that were its biggest flaw (!) - I mean, *Heat* runs almost three hours and the length serves that story very well; ditto *Braveheart*; ditto *Saving Private Ryan*; ditto "Anna and the King* - but the excessive length of *Magnolia* does not serve it well. In fact, it detracts from the film. It _only_ makes me loathe this crock of dookie that is magnolia even more. And, holy cow, yes, it was pretentious of pta to stretch this pile of hot steaming rubbish out to three hours in order to try to give it the air of oscar-worthiness. And it was pretentious of pta to actually film this steaming pile of gutter sludge and try to make money off of it. He should have made this film for himself and then quietly tucked it away in a vault where it wouldn't have had the opportunity to bother anyone or to have the Hollywood ad men & women try to spin this dookum and try to pass it off as a serious and life-altering film-going experience. And, yes, most of the (over-) acting stunk, the soundtrack was horrendous, the writing was abysmal, the directing was atrocious, the twist at the end was moronic, the plot was nonexistent. Get the point?
Rating: Summary: Ostentatious! Review: Here's a brief summary of the film Magnolia: Way too long, this movie delves into such interesting topics as annoying people who struggle through the most non-auspicious turmoils you can think of. You'll get a kick out of the introduction and conclusion: it made zero sense in relation to the movie! And in between are meaningless stories. Whoever stayed at home to write this stuff must think the general public is pretty dumb. I want my 2 and one half hours back.
Rating: Summary: Learn to Like it Review: I thought the performances in this film were stupendous. Cruise was nominated for best supporting actor for it and I thought should have won it, hands down. Melora Walters as the drug addicted daughter of a TV gameshow host is also top notch. The plot, well, the plot is just a bunch of lives intertwining within a period of time. Each goes through major life changes in the process. This movie also can lay claim to the weirdest beginning and ending in movie history!...
Rating: Summary: bleh! Review: a quaint, but irritatingly sterile character study, this has to be the most overproduced, useless, plotless poop since american beauty. think of a really, really long soap opera with two-dimensional characters and predictable, melodramatic "twists". over two hours of film with about 13 minutes of content. the star is for the score.
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