Magnolia (1999)

On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.
Magnolia Movie Poster 1999

Magnolia Quote: “What am I doing?…” – Frank “T.J.” Mackey

Shat The Movies listener Ash ‘TJ’ Partridge is better to us than we deserve. When we’re stumped by a movie, she explains it in the context of literature and history. When we’re perplexed by a TV show, she’s there to save the day. Ash is a die-hard Shatter, and even made us the godparents of her child.

So when she asked us to do “Magnolia” for her husband, Tom, we jumped at the chance. Even though our recording setup stopped working, and Gene caught a sinus infection, and Rog felt too dumb to understand the movie.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic tale of intersecting lives and compassion was the result of a studio being wise enough to say, “Boogie Nights was dope. Do whatever you want, and hire all the badasses in Hollywood.” But does it focus too much on the woes of the privileged or rely too heavily on death as an emotional catalyst?

Hear why Roger and Gene are afraid of parenthood, why the film’s enigmatic rap makes little sense, why Persian moms hate long movies, why Big D thinks bad people make good movies, and how Osama Bin Laden’s treachery may have led to Shat The Movies’ creation.

Plot Summary: “Magnolia” On one random day in the San Fernando Valley, a dying father, a young wife, a male caretaker, a famous lost son, a police officer in love, a boy genius, an ex-boy genius, a game show host and an estranged daughter will each become part of a dazzling multiplicity of plots, but one story.

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