It becomes great, eventually, but that first act is a total mess. It's PTA trying to be Charlie Kaufman. Slow the fuck down and tell a story. Throwing all that shit at the viewer is not "artistic", to borrow the dull patois of the predictable denizens on this website; it's just a clusterfuck.
The other huge flaw with this move is the music mixing. The soundtrack is extremely loud and overbearing and the mixer was an asshole who probably raped his own cat. Shut the fuck up already with the music and let the movie speak for itself. Stop DEMANDING that I be kept in a constant state of nervous tension.
A movie has to be a conversation, not manipulation.
Eventually, the movie levels out, and it becomes masterful. BUT on the whole it needed a better editor. It's even questionable that they needed this many subplots to all tell the exact same thing. That's not subtext anymore, that's beating me over the head with the exact same story. Dad is bad to kid, we get it. Did we need Macy's story? The piss pants kid? Probably not. We're here for Cruise, Reilly, and Hoffman.
It's only after the 50% mark that this stops being a fuck you and starts being a movie.
There's so much genius here yet Magnolia doesn't make that much of an emotional impact on me. Rewatching it all these years later, I realize why that is:
I like the movie, but whoever did the sound design is an idiot. There was almost constantly music playing, usually songs. In one scene there was even two songs playing at the same time, and the music was always too loud. Not to mention how cheesy the choice of songs was.
One of my favorite films of all time, the themes, direction, acting and writing all trump the basic obstacle of unsympathetic characters and a loopy fable ending. Love it and its moments of surreal apotheosis.
I loved it .. mind-fucking .. if it's too long .. take your time and watch . It falls in the category of Art obviously and most of the times I hate those movies .. but, this got me invested throughout . .. and Tom Cruise's face is a boon to humanity ... Thank you , God!
I really loved the intro to this film. The three coincidence stories brilliantly told, and then the introduction to the nine characters, or so, whilst playing a really cool song.
The rest of the film was pretty good, but I must admit I got my hopes up a little too high after that.
I'm sure I've read source material/inspiration for this! When I was in primary school - a couple of years before the release of this - I had a teacher who was obsessed with some "weird world" type book. The story I remember clearest is the exact one narrated at the beginning, and it also featured at least three stories about rains of at least partly aquatic creatures (frogs, fish, and salamander, I think).
aahh... shallowness. three hours is a long time to say/show/point out what you want to put forward. (some) credits should be given to the film for the sake of originality—second that—; nonetheless, magnolia cannot snap out of shallowness.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 39
shitmovies
It becomes great, eventually, but that first act is a total mess. It's PTA trying to be Charlie Kaufman. Slow the fuck down and tell a story. Throwing all that shit at the viewer is not "artistic", to borrow the dull patois of the predictable denizens on this website; it's just a clusterfuck.The other huge flaw with this move is the music mixing. The soundtrack is extremely loud and overbearing and the mixer was an asshole who probably raped his own cat. Shut the fuck up already with the music and let the movie speak for itself. Stop DEMANDING that I be kept in a constant state of nervous tension.
A movie has to be a conversation, not manipulation.
Eventually, the movie levels out, and it becomes masterful. BUT on the whole it needed a better editor. It's even questionable that they needed this many subplots to all tell the exact same thing. That's not subtext anymore, that's beating me over the head with the exact same story. Dad is bad to kid, we get it. Did we need Macy's story? The piss pants kid? Probably not. We're here for Cruise, Reilly, and Hoffman.
It's only after the 50% mark that this stops being a fuck you and starts being a movie.
Matt Addis
What Crash wishes it could have beendevilsadvocado
There's so much genius here yet Magnolia doesn't make that much of an emotional impact on me. Rewatching it all these years later, I realize why that is:KaramAkerfeldt
I like the movie, but whoever did the sound design is an idiot. There was almost constantly music playing, usually songs. In one scene there was even two songs playing at the same time, and the music was always too loud. Not to mention how cheesy the choice of songs was.Concepterie
I wanted to pick something special for my 3,000 movie mark here, and I sure was not let down. Gripping storytelling and stellar acting throughout.Siskoid
One of my favorite films of all time, the themes, direction, acting and writing all trump the basic obstacle of unsympathetic characters and a loopy fable ending. Love it and its moments of surreal apotheosis.sneha
I loved it .. mind-fucking .. if it's too long .. take your time and watch . It falls in the category of Art obviously and most of the times I hate those movies .. but, this got me invested throughout . .. and Tom Cruise's face is a boon to humanity ... Thank you , God!"Life is so damn long, bitches"
fonz
PTA and his daddy issuesCadeicus
I really loved the intro to this film. The three coincidence stories brilliantly told, and then the introduction to the nine characters, or so, whilst playing a really cool song.The rest of the film was pretty good, but I must admit I got my hopes up a little too high after that.
PoloLeTruand
@Carota, I don't think that it tried to much to be like "short cuts". It does it perfectly to me!Amazing movie...
ClassicLady
Tom Cruise makes my flesh crawl...and not in a good way. Yuk!Joker of Gotham
Great script by P.T. Anderson is an incredible writer, so good, way better script that American Beauty.The performances were great, Tom Cruise in particularly for me, and Julianne Moore.
3 hours was a little too much, maybe cutting 20 minutes would make the movie more watchable.
4.25/5
Carota
tried too much to be like "short cuts".i prefer earthquakes.
very good acting nevertheless. kinda memorable movie.
Larkspire
I'm sure I've read source material/inspiration for this! When I was in primary school - a couple of years before the release of this - I had a teacher who was obsessed with some "weird world" type book. The story I remember clearest is the exact one narrated at the beginning, and it also featured at least three stories about rains of at least partly aquatic creatures (frogs, fish, and salamander, I think).franzekafky
aahh... shallowness. three hours is a long time to say/show/point out what you want to put forward. (some) credits should be given to the film for the sake of originality—second that—; nonetheless, magnolia cannot snap out of shallowness.Showing items 1 – 15 of 39