Too friggin wierd!
Guess what vid Mrs. Dinsdale and I rented last night? And my comment afterwards was, what was the deal with the frogs? Glad to celebrate this type of synchronicity with my 300th post!
Another thing that bothered me was, did any of you catch the kid’s rap about the killer’s identity? I assume it was the mysterious figure in the brown coat. Were we supposed to know who it was?
Liked the movie. Yeah, it was a bit too long, but really well filmed and edited. Afraid Mrs. D. couldn’t get over how terrible Tom Cruise’s hair looked! And Macy sure looked sweet after diving off that pole! Ouch!
If you notice, at one point (I dont remember exactly, as I saw it when it was first released in the theatre and not since then) on the street there is an ad on the side of a bus stop waiting area that also reads “Exodus 8:2”.
And for more frog foreshadowing check out the books the kid is reading. You’ll find one by Charles Fort.
As for Dixon’s rap, I’ve been puttering around on usenet again and from what I hear the rap gives us plenty of info about the murder. Unfortunately, all later scenes regarding the murder were edited out. Therefore the only part of the rap that still has any meaning are the last two lines: When the sunshine don’t work./The good Lord brings the rain in.
Im surprised that noone has mentioned that this is not just “something that could have hapened” but something that quite often has. I believe that not too many years ago North Carolina saw just such an occurance. Apparently an entire pond and contents had been lifted by a hurricane/tornado some miles away and a a whole hell of a lot of frogs were bounced around.
Cecil should know more about this.
I hate frogs [see boogyman thread] and I didn’t read this thread until just now - minutes after seeing Magnolia. I was really enjoying the film until WTF??? was that a FROG??? Oh Christ on a crutch… it’s raining frogs the size of fucking CATS!!! Oh God where is the remote control? I freaked out for about 30 seconds, but then I had to watch the rest of the video to see what happens.
Well, frankly, I liked the film - perhaps one of the few better films I have seen recently. I also greatly appreciated reading this thread afterwards; there were some thoughts that I hadn’t realized and some others that confirmed what I was thinking. Sorta combination of shit happens meets six degrees of Kevin Bacon? I especially like the 8:2 references; I have to watch this again. But the most weird thing is that I sat thru and watched a halestorm of Hong Kong size frogs or toads.
Friedo’s take:
At this point in the film, each of the characters is beginning to realize that a) They need to take control of the things in their lives which they can (coke-head, abused daughter, quiz show kid), and b) some things Just Happen, and you can’t control them (cop, quiz show adult, tame-the-cunt guy).
Because of this revalation, none of them particularly give a shit that an otherwise extraordinary thing is happening.
Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I felt a need to respond to a post in this thread
In the other thread I said I hated Magnolia, stating that it should have been named Corpse Flower after the plant that takes seven years to bloom, and then it just stinks. (Someone else moninated it as the “worst movie”.)
I have to disagree with the poster who said that Magnolia is an example of great filmmaking. My complaint was not that I was expecting one movie and got another, but (as I stated in my post) that Magnolia was utterly predictable and that the director seemed to think he was throwing in “twists” – “twists” that were telegraphed well in advance. A great filmmaker knows how to surprise the audience. Magnolia did not surprise. It insulted the intelligence of the audience.
That’s my opinion, and you’re welcome to it.