Magnolia

[Southpaw]

Just got finished viewing Magnolia. Top Ten on the personal list of movies made in last 10 years. That one , Requiem for a Dream and Usual Suspects came in my last order from Netflix.com. All good rewatches.

 

[jf-08]

what was with the frogs?

 

[Southpaw]

Originally posted by jkf296
what was with the frogs?

Everyone asks the same thing. It just like S$it happens. There is absolutely no significance to the frogs. If you ever come up with some explanation, let me know.

 

[Chaplin]

Originally posted by wallyburger
Everyone asks the same thing. It just like S$it happens. There is absolutely no significance to the frogs. If you ever come up with some explanation, let me know.

I always thought it had to do with the repetitive way that life is. Most of the characters almost just sleepwalk throughout their lives, but the monotony was broken by these raining frogs, which is so different than their boring lives. Just my opinion though.

I love movies that use the absurd to change tone and emotions. (Like Adaptation did as well)

 

[mdamien13]

My biggest problem with this movie is that the first five minutes shows situations of incredible coincidences, leading us to believe that the ensuing stories will be wrapped up with incredible coincidences. Instead, the stories just kind of come together, as if the writer ran out of ideas and just put frogs in there. What a ripoff.

PT Anderson has a great eye for direction but they guy needs to take a long class on story pacing before I see another one of his movies. Tom Cruise was awesome (the first time I've said that in a while) but this movie ranks high on my list of biggest disappointments.

 

[FischerKing]

Great movie - it's the first time I ever saw Tom Cruise act in a movie.

Good soundtrack too - Amie Mann did a great job on it.

The frogs - biblical reference - 10 plagues.

Shawn

 

[Southpaw]

Originally posted by jkf296
what was with the frogs?

P.T. Anderson explained the meaning of the frogs: "you get to a point in your life, and sh*t is happening, and everything's out of your control, and suddenly, a rain of frogs just makes sense. You're staring at a doctor who is telling you something is wrong, and while we know what it is, we have no way of fixing it. And you just go: "So what you're telling me, basically, is that it's raining frogs from the sky." I'm not someone who's ever had a special fascination with UFO's or supernatural phenomena or anything but I guess I just found myself at a point in my life where I was going through some poopy stuff, and I was ready for some sort of weird religious experience, or as close as I could get to one. So then I began to decipher things about frogs and history things like this notion that as far back as the Romans, people have been able to judge the health of a society by the health of its frogs: the health of a frog, the vibe of a frog, the texture of the frog, its looks, how much wetness is on it, everything. The frogs are a barometer for who we are as a people. We're polluting ourselves, we're killing ourselves, and the frogs are telling us so, because they're all getting sick and deformed. And I didn't even know it was in the bible until Henry Gibson gave me a copy of it, bookmarked to the appropriate frog passage".

 

[jf-08]

thanks, Wally

 

[Bada0Bing]

Blockbuster just sent this out to me. I kept running into the frog scene on my Scene It game, so I’ve wanted to see this for a while.

 

[Cheesebeef]

P.T. Anderson explained the meaning of the frogs: "you get to a point in your life, and sh*t is happening, and everything's out of your control, and suddenly, a rain of frogs just makes sense. You're staring at a doctor who is telling you something is wrong, and while we know what it is, we have no way of fixing it. And you just go: "So what you're telling me, basically, is that it's raining frogs from the sky." I'm not someone who's ever had a special fascination with UFO's or supernatural phenomena or anything but I guess I just found myself at a point in my life where I was going through some poopy stuff, and I was ready for some sort of weird religious experience, or as close as I could get to one. So then I began to decipher things about frogs and history things like this notion that as far back as the Romans, people have been able to judge the health of a society by the health of its frogs: the health of a frog, the vibe of a frog, the texture of the frog, its looks, how much wetness is on it, everything. The frogs are a barometer for who we are as a people. We're polluting ourselves, we're killing ourselves, and the frogs are telling us so, because they're all getting sick and deformed. And I didn't even know it was in the bible until Henry Gibson gave me a copy of it, bookmarked to the appropriate frog passage".

I've read this response from PTA and heard him talk about it interviews numerous times, but his movie undercuts his explanation. Watch throughout the movie for the 8:2 reference - it's EVERYWHERE - the chords on the building before the kid jumps off, the sing being held up in the audience for the game show, the temperatures 82 degrees and so on and so on. If it didn't occur to him that's a HELL of a coincidence that happened during shooting/writing. He knew what he was doing with the frogs.

Brilliant movie BTW.

 

[cynical_kitten26]

The frogs falling from the sky comes from the bible reference Exodus 8:2 (Old Testiment) which is mentioned or shown throughout the movie. It is about the 10 Plagues of Egypt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagues_of_Egypt
Frogs (7:26 - 8:11) צפרדע

The second plague of Egypt was frogs. God commanded Aaron to stretch his staff over the water, and hordes of frogs came and overran Egypt. Pharaoh's sorcerers were also able to duplicate this plague with their magic. However, since they were unable to remove it, Pharaoh was forced to grant permission for the Hebrews to leave so that Moses would agree to remove the frogs. To prove that the plague was actually a divine punishment, Moses let Pharaoh choose the time that it would end. Pharaoh chose the following day, and all the frogs died the next day. Nevertheless, Pharaoh rescinded his permission, and the Israelites stayed in Egypt.

Either way, this is one of my all time favorite movies. I think Tom Cruise's performance was one of his greatest. Anderson is also on my list of great directors. I like his scatter brained tales like Punch Drunk Love (Adam Sandler at his best) and Boogie Nights.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I just watched it. Wow, this just became one of my favorite movies. I agree with the other comments regarding Tom Cruise, excellent performance. Near the end, when it was raining heavily, it reminded me a little of American Beauty (the heavy rain, flashing back and forth between the different characters, and the music).

Paul Thomas Anderson said he was unaware of the biblical story of the frogs until someone pointed it out to him. After it was brought to his attention, he went back and added all of the 8:2 references. I’ll list them below.

Spoiler

The numbers 8 and 2 appear throughout the film:
weather forecast: 82% chance of rain
a gambler needs a 2 in blackjack but gets an 8
the coil of rope when the boy commits suicide
the first temperature reading
the poster in the TV show audience
the movie poster at the bus stop on Magnolia Blvd
the placard on the hanged convicts
Jim Kurring's box number at the date hotline
Sydney Barringer's mother and father's apartment number is 682
the forensic science convention starts at 8:20
Delmer Darion flips over a stack of cards to reveal the 8 through 2 of diamonds
right after Jim Kurring sees Donnie Smith climbing up the building, you can see a flash of a sign on the side of the road that says "Exodus 8:2" (it's visible again when the frogs fall and hit Kurring's car)
the number on the firefighter's plane.
in Marcy's mugshots, her criminal record number is 82082082082
in the bar scene there is a chalkboard with two teams, the frog and the clouds, the score is 8 to 2
spray painted on the cement as graffiti next to the boy.
member of the game show crowd holds a placard with Exodus 8:2 written on it
the kids were two days away from entering their eighth week as champions.
Quiz Kid Donnie Smith won his 100 000 dollars on 28 April 1968
The first two numbers of the Seduce and Destroy Hotline (1-877-TAME-HER) are 82.
one of the hanged men has the 82 on his clothes
Claudia proposes 8:00 for a date with Jim, but Jim says he doesn't get off work until 10:00, so the date is set for 10:00, 2 hours later than the original proposal 2 hours later for a date
At the police station in the beginning of the movie, the clock says 8:02.
When Jim Kurring notices Quiz Kid Donnie Smith climbing on the Solomon & Solomon building he drives past a luminous sign saying "Exodus 8:2".