FILM VAULT TUESDAY

While I was on my blog break several interesting things happened that made me say “hey I want to write about that when I get back”… but alas, I can’t remember any of those things right now.

One thing that does stand out was a betrayal by Moe Greene of Judas proportions… You see, about 2-3 weeks before I took my break I went out and dropped a serious amount of $ on a 30GB Mp3 player.

Of course, Moe went with me to make the purchase… I had been researching players for weeks and the one I liked the most is the Phillips Go Gear… It’s gotten mixed reviews on sites like Amazon which freaked me out, but after doing some digging I was able to determine that it’s actually a good player… the one draw back being that it doesn’t do videos… Which was fine with me (or so I thought) because I just can’t see myself watching video’s on one of those tiny screens.

Anyway, we headed over to Best Buy to make the purchase… I looked at the Phillips and a Creative 30GB player that was like $30 more because it had video capabilities- which I determined I did not need. Both Moe and I agreed on the Phillips, so that's what I bought.

I was very pleased with my decision until about 2 weeks ago when I got a call from Moe saying he just bought the Creative player... you know, the one that I passed up… So now he has a player that’s just as good as mine- but a little better.

He actually hasn’t downloaded any videos yet- and isn’t in a rush to do so… but just the knowledge that he can do it, and I can't is bugging the hell out of me- which is probably the only reason he bought the damn thing in the first place!?

Just thinking about it makes me want to throw a fit worthy of one of those rich girls on MTV’s Sweet 16 show (by the way, I challenge you to watch 10 minutes of one of that show and NOT get totally sucked in… even though I've never seen a likable person on the show I can't stop watching.)

I know that my envy of Moe's Mp3 player is sad, childish, materialistic, and borderline pathetic- I don't care... I want- I want- I want- I want… and I might just hold my breath until I get it!

But enough of my rant- it’s time for Film Vault Tuesday!

Title: Magnolia (1999)

Cast: Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, John C Reilly, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Jason Robards

Why: This is movie #2 of Paul Thomas Anderson’s main 3 movies… The first being Boogie Nights which I have already used, the other being Punch Drunk Love which I’ll probably use sometime soon.

Magnolia features almost the exact same cast as Boogie Night’s with a few notable exceptions (Marky Mark is gone but Tom Cruise is in) so you know the acting is top notch… The movie tends to jump around from story line to story line a bit more than Boogie Nights, and where Boogie Nights was mainly centered around Dirk Diggler, Magnolia doesn’t really have that one main character…

...but what it does offer along the lines of Boogie Nights is the in depth character development that is unique to a Paul Thomas Anderson film… He loves to take a bizarre and eclectic characters who seem totally unlikable on the surface and make you care about them in very personal way.

Remote Scene Stopper: This category is a no brainer… my friends all call this particular scene the “What the Fuck!?” scene… Anytime you introduce this movie to someone who’s never seen and you get to that scene- their immediate reaction (without exception) is: “What the fuck!?”

If you’ve seen the movie, you know what part I’m talking about… if not, watch the movie and you'll understand.

Tear/Goosebumps: I get Goosebumps as soon as I hear the Narrators voice for the intro to the movie… I get teary at several parts of the movie- most notably the final Tom Cruise with Big Earl scene… and while we’re on the Tom Cruise subject- I want to share an observation that I noticed a few months back… When Tom Cruise began revealing his true side (crazy, couch jumping, placenta eating, cult member, Katie Holmes kidnapper) it occurred to me that he had become his character in Magnolia… which leads to this question: Has Tom Cruise become his character from Magnolia or was his character from Magnolia just him being him? The world may never know.

Overall: It’s hilarious, offensive, obscene, touching, and bizarre all at once. It’s a freak show- it is a work of art… it’s also really fucking long, (a little over 3 hours) so you have to be in the right mood and be willing to commit an entire evening to watch it.

To me, it’s not quite on the Boogie Nights level… it’s a bit too ambitious and too long, it feels a bit more forced when compared to Boogie Nights- but it’s still a solid 8/10.