Magnolia (1999)

Not only is this Veronica and Eli’s last episode, it’s our fourth annual Cruisemas. With the release of One Battle After Another, we revisit Paul Thomas Anderson’s blank check big swing Magnolia (1999), and get into: young PTA and the New New Hollywood, sincerity and good listening, Phil Parma made Chad become a therapist, Fiona Apple as PTA’s Polly Platt, we desperately want a Tom Cruise coconut cake, life imitating art with Cruise’s Oprah interview, Melora Walters’ enigmatic smile, Magnolia trying to understand the same things as the Bible, the bleak prescience of ‘Seduce and Destroy,’ how to pace a 3+ hour runtime, and more.

Further reading: Roger Ebert’s “ecstatic” review, Lynn Hirschberg’s profile “His Way,” Steven Hyden on PTA and Fiona Apple for Grantland, and books from friends of the pod Adam Nayman (Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks) and Ethan Warren (The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson).

The Bright Wall/Dark Room Podcast has been co-hosted since 2021 by Veronica Fitzpatrick and Chad Perman, and produced by Eli Sands. Our theme music is composed by Chad. Find every issue of Bright Wall/Dark Room at brightwalldarkroom.com, and thanks for listening.

Note: This episode was recorded days before the December 13 shooting at Brown University. Our thoughts remain with Veronica’s students and the entire community at Brown and beyond.