Anyone watch Magnolia?

by mindfield 7 Replies latest social entertainment

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  mindfield

  I just saw Magnolia recently, and boy, did I enjoy it. The coincidences, the way things interconnected, the credible acting really got me. Wow.

  I admit, some parts were kind of slow and rambling, like when Earl Partridge rambles off in his bed about his mistakes. It was a wee bit long. But I enjoyed much of the rest. And the soundtrack is incredible as well... "Save Me" and "wise up" by aimee mann are now my two favorite songs!

  I just found out info. about the "frog rain" at the end of the movie...

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  Dear Yahoo!

  What was the meaning of the scene in Magnolia when frogs fell from the sky?

  Theresa
  Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  Dear Theresa:

  We can't tell you why P.T. Anderson's film about ten characters searching for redemption in the San Fernando Valley culminates in a shower of frogs. There isn't a single meaning; it probably relates to the film's central themes of synchronicity, fate, and forgiveness.

  We can, however, give you a little background on raining frogs. Mr. Anderson didn't come up with this on a whim. He'd read the work of Charles Fort and decided to incorporate the frog phenomenon into his film.

  Frog showers have a long and storied history. A Scientific American article from 1873 states, "A shower of frogs, which darkened the air and covered the ground for a long distance, is the reported result of a recent rainstorm at Kansas City, Missouri."

  The prevailing scientific wisdom dictates that violent thunderstorms or tornadoes pass over ponds, pick up small amphibians from the water, then deposit them many miles away. The forces of nature don't limit themselves to frogs and ponds, however. In 1995, a storm in Iowa swept up and then rained down unopened soda cans. No joke.

  In Exodus 8:1-15, a shower of frogs is cast down by God on the Egyptians for their refusal to set the Israelites free: "And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs." All the characters in Magnolia seem to be struggling for some kind of freedom. Maybe there's a connection there.
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  mindfield

  Ahem...bttt
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  safe4kids

  Sorry Mindfield,

  I haven't seen it. Actually, I don't think I've even heard of it! Sounds interesting, though I don't know what to make of the whole frog shower thing

  Dana
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  gilwarrior

  Magnolia, has to be one of the best films I have ever seen! I love the since where Tom Cruise, playing the guy who teaches men how to pick up women, disentegreates in front of the reporter who is interviewing him.

  My favorite character is Donnie Smith who is in love with a bartender and goes through pathetic lengths to try to get his attention. One of his line in the movie is my signature on these posts.

  "I have so much love to give, but no one to give it to."

  William H. Macy - "Magnolia"
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  rem

  Aimee Mann is a fantastic songwriter! Saw her at the Filmore in San Francisco a couple months ago. My wife and I really got into Aimee Mann after watching Magnolia. The soundtrack is great.

  rem

  "We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain
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  Seeker

  I very much enjoyed Magnolia and thought it was one of the best movies of that year. Hard to watch in parts, and the raw emotion at times is overwhelming. But I enjoyed the interconnectedness, and I understood the frog shower when I first saw it. It tied into the whole theme and unified the introduction. Besides, Anderson foreshadowed it all the way by his use of cited scripture.
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  dedalus

  A friend and I saw Magnolia one afternoon shortly after it came out, and there was no one else in the theater with us. About halfway through the film we began shouting at the screen: "End already! END! END!"

  It's a horrible movie. Badly written, a series of moody shots with the music doing the emotional work of the actors. The acting was okay -- but the "coincidences" were contrived, pretentious, pointless, and most of all, unoriginal. The idea that our lives are interwoven in mysterious ways is not a new concept, yet this movie seemed (to me) to be continually patting itself on the back for coming up with the idea by making each scene as excruciatingly long as possible.

  Ugh. I hated this.

  The music was good, though.

  Dedalus
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  spider

  Yes I was pretty moved by this film. I think it probably impacted on me because I was feeling pretty lonely when I saw it. I was in Bangkok on my own and feeling low and it had an emotional quality that registered with me - kind of like American Beauty - that had a similar effect although I do not think Magnolia is as good. All the same it was very thoughtful and had points to make that go beyond the superficial bullshit we get so used to seeing.
  I wrote an e-mail to my friend directly after I saw the film that I still have.It sums up what watching this movie made me think about.
  In part this is what I said :

  Most of the time we walk around thinking we are talking to people but the words are not coming from inside of us.We say what we think they want us to say.We shield ourselves so well but in doing so we lose the ability to touch or be touched. A lot of the time I do not really know how I feel.Have you ever said you were enjoying yourself because it seemed like you should be. I believe we all have little children inside of us.Only very often we forget them.We go out to work and earn money and put on fine clothes and get grand educations.I think this is where we can lose our way.We think we are grown up.We lose track of the child inside that needs to be rocked to sleep sometimes.Comforted and tenderly kissed.Like in Citizen Cane - he had lost his way and then on his deathbed he remembered - rosebud - his chilhood slay. Some people think there are rules to life.They follow maps printed out by other people.As eagerly as some try to follow them there is no real ultimate design.Life has no roads.We just have to figure out the best we can,what works for us and what does not.What feels good and what feels bad.We often find there are certain things that usually give us happiness and others misery.Their are certainly patterns to follow but even so we all have to figure it out ourselves.I went to the cinema tonight and saw a film called 'Magnolia'.It was an odd film in some ways which certainly had weaknesses.I didn't think I liked it for a while.There is one mad scene where there is a shower storm of toads.It had some messages which had real merit though. About stuff I've just said - how we are all just stumbling around in the darkness.Sometimes we grab on to someone's hand that seems to have a direction but they do not have 'the answer' any more than we do.We are all just looking to touch souls and we go through the pain because we have either forgotten this or we have not found a person to connect to.

  There is also an interesting question raised about forgiveness.When is it right to forgive - are there some things that simply can't be forgiven. Tom Cruise forgave his dad but the father that had molested his daughter could not be forgiven.
  
  The lyrics of the song by Aimie Mann are "its not what you thought when you first began it - you got what you want now you can hardly stand it though but now you know that its not going to stop till you wise up"
  That song still has the power to make me cry because I relate it to being a witness.
  After saying all that, my brother really didn't like the movie so each to his own