Monday, June 13, 2022

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Magnolia (1999)

Jimmy Gator: Now I'm going to have our three whistlers... uh... please to present the next... um, the... um... musical... there were three... musical sections here, and this'll be the third... the third section... um... and they'll play a piece... it's very recognizable, it's... Chopin, actually... it's taken... it's, it's in the style of "March Militaire", which is a very... recognizable piece, so... if you please, just... listen to this, and I'm sure you can identify the... um, I'm sort of giving away the answer here, but that's... it's... Chopin... I don't mean to give away the answer... it's... please, just... you know... sing us a ditty, guys... a Chopin ditty.

Very sad news to hear that the resplendent actor Philip Baker Hall passed away this weekend -- I have probably called a different performance in Magnolia "my favorite performance in Magnolia" a dozen times over at this point, but it's hard not to be stunned by his work in that movie, which is so increasingly discombobulated and sweatily disorienting as the film progresses that I think he more than anyone truly drives the film straight up to its tragic, operatic ending. He's the film's crumbling heart, the self-authored poison which has seeped into the entire community's bones. It's devastating work and that's just one great performance of his out of so many. He will be missed.



3 comments:

joel65913 said...

I hadn't heard about his passing! 90 is a great run but still a loss to cinema. One of those fine character actors that when he showed up you thought in the back of your mind "Well there will be at least one good performance in this!"

Looking at his credits the man WORKED! He leaves behind a fine legacy.

mrripley said...

Always a reliable prescence and he's excellent in Magnolia.

John said...

I really like Boogie Nights. RIP