November 8, 1999

Archived update from Cigarettes & Coffee, run by Greg Mariotti & CJ Wallis from 1999-2005

1st Magnolia Interview

Here's a great interview with John C. Reilly from the Sunday Edition of the LA Times. There is quite a bit about Magnolia as well as John's entire career. Some funny stories are shared about Paul and John and some of the wacky things they do. Check it out. 

Trailer Talk

A very funny and sarcastic take on the Magnolia trailer from my local paper, The Seattle Times: 

We don't really know what this is about, but it's got the director and the cast of Boogie Nights and one raggedy-looking Tom Cruise. He's grown out his hair - does this mean he can act? The camera spins from character to character, and each says, "I'm (fill in the character's name)." What they really should say is, "I'm (fill in character's name) from Boogie Nights, but now I have more facial hair." Except for Julianne Moore.

The Farrelly Brothers?

Entertainment Weekly recently concluded their Online Poll to coincide with the unveiling of their 100 Greatest Entertainers (1950 -2000). These online polls should be taken with a grain of salt (Seth Green from Buffy the Vampire Slayer won best TV actor), but I was interested in how the Best Movie Director category would shake out. Without further adieu, here's the results:

1.  Kevin Smith, 18.9%
 

2.  Quentin Tarantino               16.7%
 

3.  Tim Burton                           14.3% 


4.  Bobby & Peter Farrelly         7.3% 

5.  Andy & Larry Wachowski     5.0% 


6.  Paul Thomas Anderson        4.2% 

7.  John Singleton                       3.9% 


8.  David Fincher                        3.8% 


9.  Sam Mendes                         3.5%
 

10. M. Night Shyamalan             3.3%

Magnolia the Underdog 

Ten Underdog fall movies you shouldn’t miss by Peter Travers

1.  Magnolia - 
Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights) wants to keep this personal drama under wraps until it opens, but here’s what to expect: Anderson tracks 10 characters over one day in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley, crafting an intimate epic that exposes the emotional highs and lows of life at the end of the century. And look for an unbilled Tom Cruise to win the best reviews of his career as a sleazy motivational speaker.

Courtesy of US Magazine - November 1999 Issue

PTA on Cruise

An interesting quote from PTA on Mr. Cruise which was also found in EW's 100 Greatest Entertainers issue (Tom was #52).

"He's like an animal for information. He was always asking questions. Really interesting, technical stuff about what sort of lens I was using, or what I was thinking when I wrote a particular scene. He's ferociously curious."

PTA Alums at the Box Office

Philip Baker Hall turns in another great performance in Michael Mann's new film The Insider. Hall plays a 60 Minutes executive producer and goes toe to toe with Al Pacino. As usual, he's not given enough screen time, but he energizes the film whenever he shows up.

Luis Guzman has a critical (but small) role in the #1 film this past week, The Bone Collector. He gets most of laughs in this thriller in the vein of Silence of the Lambs and Seven (it doesn't hold a candle to these two movies). 

It's good to see these great actors get some screen time in major studio films.