Viktor is entirely packed and ready to go, and yet unexplicably still very much here. Yes, him and his stupid Adult Contemporary radio station. Meanwhile, i think all of the negative energy i have been manifesting towards him (and all the non-effective passive agressiveness) has now backfired and made me sick. Yes, i feel sick. Ever since the middle of high school i stopped getting sick, but i started getting very sick every so often. This past Christmas i was couch-bound with a a fever that was over 103 degrees. I was hoping that my next near-death experience wouldn’t occur for at least another year, but i might be wrong. Either way, i try not to dwell on sickness unless i have to because that just makes it worse. I left the room to play guitar (i had been playing quietly in the room, but then he turned on the stereo and walked out) and suddenly found myself burning up. Back in the room, i feel under control. Either our air conditioner is working wonders, or i am literally making myself sick by not voicing my complaints. Just 24 more hours… 24 more hours… everyone, repeat after me, 24 more hours…
sorry for the pause, writing something:
where is the pretty face you put on for show i think you're hiding that saving grace for no good reason for later i'd hate you more if i didn't watch your every move and i will watch you put on anything you do where is that whimsied smile that you've had for years i heard all about it keeping away your fears i'd like a chance to see what those lips have wrought i think you'd owe me that if you just thought about it and i will watch you do anything you choose and i will wait for you to make your move will it ever come
I might add that the use of Aimee Mann’s music in Magnolia was spectacular. “One,” “Save Me,” and especially “Wise Up.” While it was an incongruous break in the film, it also served to show the similarities in each of the characters while setting a perfect mood across all of the various storylines. That and the frogs were two of my favourite points in the movie, by far.
Perhaps i am missing some vital piece of brain, but i think Magnolia was a movie with the utmost potential but zero payoff. Every actor and actress in the film was stunning, and each plot was riveting, but all of those elements threaded together made for a too-long mess of a movie in which you don’t ever really get a chance to sympathize with a single character. And maybe that was the point. However, some things seemed plain old extraneous. The William Macy plot could have been easily removed, especially since it seemed to drag the most. We didn’t need to see that much of Tom Cruise talking. Every monologue which spoke over a montage of scenes was lacking content, especially when given from a deathbed.
That said, some parts of the movie were absolutely fantastic. Julianne Moore’s frenetic soon-to-be widow was awesome, John C. Reilly’s bumbling cop proves that he is a character actor to be reckoned with, and Melora Walters coke-head was unbelievable (in the most believable way possible). I found myself glued to the all of Reilly’s plots and most of Moore’s, but Macy and his younger counterpart (who was a movie unto himself (and his monologues were awfu)) sent me running to the kitchen for more ice cream. I’d love to see a version of this movie with some of the long pauses in the slow plots edited down. However, long meaningful pauses with the better characters were nothing but sweetness, and i loved the frogs. I suppose you should decide for yourself, but i would have rather worked for 3 hours to pay for the amazing Aimee Mann soundtrack.
I caught myself crushing up Altoids with a spoon last night. Obviously i’ve got to stay away from those Paul Thomas Anderson movies.