There are movies and there are films. I have said this before and I will say it until I am blue in the face. Movies are there to entertain, films are there to enlighten. Magnolia is one of those films that does more than it's main requirements, in fact this film is life changing. It changed mine. Forever. The 1999 brilliant film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (yes, the guy that directed Mark Walhberg in a film about porn and Daniel Day-Lewis with that kick ass mustache screaming for milkshakes), marked a key moment in film making and story telling. Interweaving nine separate story lines from an all-star cast featuring, Tom Cruise, Julian Moore, Luis Guzman, William H Macy, Phillip Baker Hall, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and more shows modern life in California, but in actuality, this could have taken place right down the block from your home. Words cannot describe this perfectly paced, three-hour epic of Americana, all I can say it watch it and it will change how you look at films and life again. Nominated for a slew of Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Cruise), Magnolia was a critical favorite, but was released the same year as another critical smash, American Beauty. Backed by one of the greatest soundtracks in history, featuring an original score by the multi-talented Jon Brion and original music from Aimee Mann as well as a great cover of "One is the Loneliest Number," Magnolia will have you thinking and staying with you for days.
