The ensemble drama focuses on a
group of people living in the San Fernando Valley.
Writer-director Paul
Thomas Anderson went to a different level with his filmmaking with his
third film Magnolia (expanding on the ensemble idea crafted and grown in Hard Eight and Boogie Nights). The style of
Anderson’s directing and his fantastic writing give the film so much emotional
depth and resonance. It is an experience all cinema fans should have. Anderson
has made six films to date, and while There
Will Be Blood and The
Master (his two latest) might be is best, Magnolia is his first great film.
Anderson worked with many of his
frequent collaborators on the film, including composer Jon Brion (three Anderson
films), cinematographer Robert
Elswit (five Anderson films) and production designers William Arnold (two Anderson
films) and Mark Bridges (all
six Anderson films).
The great and diverse cast
features Anderson frequents Julianne
Moore, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Philip Baker Hall, Alfred Molina, Melora Walters, Luis Guzman, Ricky Jay, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, as well
as stars like Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, and Felicity Huffman. Also, look out
for cameos from Patton Oswalt,
Thomas Jane, Clark Gregg, and Jim Beaver.
The 1990s featured a few
brilliant ensemble films that changed filmmaking (The Player, The Thin
Red Line, Boogie Nights, Glengarry
Glen Ross, Heat,
and Reservoir Dogs), but two
stand out above the rest: Pulp
Fiction and Magnolia. The film was nominated for three Oscars including
Best Supporting Actor (for Tom Cruise) and Best Writing. It is among the films
that are mandatory viewing for those looking to have a strong working knowledge
of film history/aesthetics, auteur filmmakers and the great films of the 1990s.
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