DAY TWENTY - MAY 20 - 1999 - MAGNOLIA

I was just complaining about a movie (yesterday's "The Thin Red Line") that was too long and slow for my taste. So imagine how I felt when I looked at the running time for "Magnolia" and discovered it was a whopping three hours and eight minutes long. I almost swapped it out for another 1999 pick, but decided to give it a shot. Imagine my surprise then when I got through the movie in one sitting...awake. Not only did I get through it, I absolutely LOVED (almost) every one of the 188 totally necessary minutes.

This movie is like two of my other favorites mashed together - "Crash" and "Mulholland Drive". Basically it's a warped drama about a bunch of messed up people that are all interconnected in some normal and some unconventional ways. It's hard to explain more than that. William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and best of all (believe it or not) Tom Cruise - in a performance that is so bizarre any movie fan should check it out. Near the end the movie goes out of control...complete with an odd musical moment and one other twist that's really popular but if you haven't heard about it, don't try and find out before/if you watch.

My only complaint it that the movie goes a little over the top in it's vulgarity - even for me. I had to put the volume way down during some scenes as I didn't want the neighbors who were sitting outside to wonder what the heck was going on in my apartment! Other than that though, this movie is a trip! 9 out of 10.