1.16.00

    Magnolia, or otherwise titled Regret: What is it? How do you get it? How do you get rid of it?

    I think that line would either make P.T. Anderson (writer/director of) laugh or punch me in the face. What a great movie. I thought it was incredible. Tom Cruise was unbelievable and I think I have a big crush on John C. Reilly. It was full of simple but deep messages which maybe in another mood would have pissed me off but somehow struck me. I would say that it was full of clichès but they were so dischordantly done and each one through a desperate veneer that it didn't feel hokey. For every moment that was unbearably uncomfortable there was a moment of unbearable lightness. And, I'm still trying to sort out my thoughts on regret and forgiveness and the difference between "these things happen" being a thing of wimsy or a thing of mordant dread.

    The movie reminded me a bit of Night on Earth which is a great little flick. While Magnolia attempted to weave all these stories together, I didn't see the point in that. As a series of vignettes on a common theme it worked well. See it.