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What's changed for you since then? One thing I couldn't imagine thinking about Magnolia is that it's a drag to get through... there's always something electric and interesting going on.

mfunk9786 wrote:What's changed for you since then? One thing I couldn't imagine thinking about Magnolia is that it's a drag to get through... there's always something electric and interesting going on.

Maybe it's because I've just turned 40 and that I'm sooo over movies that beat on your head on how miserable life is. Magnolia is about nothing but people fucking up, being left in abysmal despair. Its tone is very ugly and dreary, there is no humor of any kind for balance, the exact thing that makes its grandpa Nashville such a superior and lasting achievement. The humor, as bitter as it gets, gets you a lot closer to the heart of the people in Nashville, IMO

Michael wrote:Magnolia is about nothing but people fucking up, being left in abysmal despair.

I gather quite a bit of that happens in real life, too.

I popped Magnolia into the DVD player tonight, and while yes, much of it is very hard emotionally, there is also a lot of heart in the film, particularly with the characters of John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman. And the film isn't about how life miserable life is -- it's a bit more complex than that. Sometimes things are shitty, sometimes things are good, sometimes you are redeemed and sometimes you can be the redeemer without even knowing it. And sometimes it rains frogs. I'm still drawn by the film and think it's a rich tour de force. And if the last moments with John C. Reilly don't move you, then truly you must have a heart of stone. That scene gets me every time.

Reilly's performance in said film is the first I ever saw of him, and I just assumed he was an ultra-serious dramatic actor... until I saw every other prominent role he's done. Still like him as a doofus, but he is pretty damn good in Magnolia.

hot_locket wrote:Reilly's performance in said film is the first I ever saw of him, and I just assumed he was an ultra-serious dramatic actor...

He was

Cold Bishop wrote:

hot_locket wrote:Reilly's performance in said film is the first I ever saw of him, and I just assumed he was an ultra-serious dramatic actor...

He was

Yeah, I kind of experienced it the opposite of hot_locket also

Mr_sausage wrote:

Michael wrote:Magnolia is about nothing but people fucking up, being left in abysmal despair.

I gather quite a bit of that happens in real life, too.

Well yeah of course. I was once a defender of Magnolia but today I just can't get past the first quarter of the film. Certainly there is a ray of hope in the form of the cop but at least two hours of misery beating on your head is no longer "my teacup" (I just felt the urge to steal the words from Lynn Redgrave in Gods and Monsters). Magnolia came out in the perfect time of my life, when I was sorting out my "baggage" so I instantly connected to some of the characters. But today I'm so way over that "baggage" shit of my life, revisiting the film no longer feels cathartic or personal any more and also find the film doesn't really have much to offer on repeated viewing, the riches of Magnolia lessen more and more over the years for me.

I now prefer a more subtle film of the similar themes and model that is really an "old soul", that film is Yi Yi which I revisited last Sunday. As zedz breathtakingly elaborated in the Edward Yang thread, Yi Yi covers just about every stage of life and I agree with zedz that it's a wonderful film to grow old with. Yang trusts you enough to allow you the space to observe the characters while PT Anderson kicks you off the diving board into the pool of swarming depression. There is so much wisdom, beauty, sadness and joy all interwining in Yi Yi, blossoming more and more on repeated viewings.

I didn't like Magnolia at all. I honestly didn't see why Short Cuts needed to be remade so soon.

aox wrote:I didn't like Magnolia at all. I honestly didn't see why Short Cuts needed to be remade so soon.

Magnolia's like Short Cuts?! What an original, insightful jab! Zzzzzzing!

mfunk9786 wrote:

aox wrote:I didn't like Magnolia at all. I honestly didn't see why Short Cuts needed to be remade so soon.

Magnolia's like Short Cuts?! What an original, insightful jab!

did I make fun of a film you like? Sorry.

Honestly, I found Magnolia emotionally empty and overly tedious. But to be fair, I will admit I actually liked the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes; I found them very creative. I just thought the middle five hours of the film was the most laborious exercise of viewership I have encountered.

EDIT: Just so there is no confusion, I find all of PTA's other work to be absolutely brilliant. He is an amazing artist. Magnolia just didn't work for me. But as they say, "you have to break some eggs...."

It has nothing to do with what I think about the film, it's just that [in this thread alone] every other post references Magnolia being just like Short Cuts, and it's become overwhelmingly repetitive and tired. It's the "Take my wife, please!" of anti-PTA arguments.

aox wrote:I just thought the middle five hours

But seriously, folks, seriously!

Doesn't matter. It's a valid criticism.

and lighten up, Francis. My comment on the running time was a joke.

seriously

#-o I need to learn not to be remotely sarcastic here, however good-naturedly.

aox wrote:Just so there is no confusion, I find all of PTA's other work to be absolutely brilliant. He is an amazing artist. Magnolia just didn't work for me. But as they say, "you have to break some eggs...."

Here, here!

Morbii wrote:

Cold Bishop wrote:

hot_locket wrote:Reilly's performance in said film is the first I ever saw of him, and I just assumed he was an ultra-serious dramatic actor...

He was

Yeah, I kind of experienced it the opposite of hot_locket also

Huh. Even his other PTA roles are pretty silly. I guess his part in Hard Eight's a bit more of a serious role, but it's still not entirely straight.

When you look and sound like John C. Reilly, there isn't much you could do about a litte goofiness, but go to IMDB, and compare his filmography pre- and post-2005. Outside a few bit character roles in a few Hollywood comedies, the résumés are like day and night. You go from De Palma/Anderson/Malick/Scorsese/Allen to Will Ferrel films in the last three years.

I think it's neat that he's well-known enough to be headlining movies now, he seems like a genuine guy

Which is of course the only way he'd be headlining. Someone like Reilly, as talented as he is, was never going to be a dramatic leading man. I just wish he wouldn't do just these silly lightweight films. Since working with Altman, and walking off set of Manderlay, he hasn't done any serious dramatic work. Maybe that donkey was a Horse of Turin sort of moment. Who knows?

I guess I'm pretty ignorant of a good portion of his work. I should hit the rental place. Oh no, I guess I do remember seeing him in Gangs of New York... not too much about the actual performance, though.

Cold Bishop wrote:Which is of course the only way he'd be headlining. Someone like Reilly, as talented as he is, was never going to be a dramatic leading man.

PTA said straight up in the Sydney commentary that Reilly was his first pick for his role in the film, and with that I suppose his personality is much like Seth Rogen's, in that he needs desperately to write or have a writing partner in order to seem palatable and to hit a viewing audience with everything he's got. I know that Dewey Cox wasn't the movie it should have been, for him or anyone else, but given the right script, even if it were as marginal as a Stranger Than Fiction type of vehicle, or even a screen version of True West (which he and Philip Seymour Hoffman have staged switching roles on and off again in the glory days of Y2K), the world would believe!

Reilly's doing some of the best comic work of anyone right now, but not in the movies - it's his portrayal of Dr. Steve Brule on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.

Oedipax wrote:It's his portrayal of Dr. Steve Brule on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.

His forthcoming spinoff Check It Out! will hopefully have as strong a run as Good Times did via Maude, erm All In the Family - for your wiiiiine!

domino harvey wrote:I think it's neat that he's well-known enough to be headlining movies now, he seems like a genuine guy

Not really. Walk Hard, his one true headlining film, tanked at the box office, while The Promotion had a virtually non-existent run. And I'm pretty sure most people going to see Step Brothers are going to see because of "Will Ferell and that other guy".

I don't think we're going to see Reilly headlining anything without another a larger name attached to ensure the money.

Michael wrote:Maybe it's because I've just turned 40 and that I'm sooo over movies that beat on your head on how miserable life is. Magnolia is about nothing but people fucking up, being left in abysmal despair. Its tone is very ugly and dreary, there is no humor of any kind for balance, the exact thing that makes its grandpa Nashville such a superior and lasting achievement. The humor, as bitter as it gets, gets you a lot closer to the heart of the people in Nashville, IMO

You've arrived at exactly the same spot I started with this film (which will likely cause you to rethink your presence there.)