We might be through with the past, but the past ain’t through with us.

Luke, Matt and Westy tell the story behind Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 masterpiece Magnolia. Anderson was fresh off Boogie Nights, armed with final cut and Francis Ford Coppola’s advice to “do it now”, and he set out to make the all-time great San Fernando Valley movie. What he delivered was nine interlocking lives, one rain-soaked day and an ending that left audiences reaching for their umbrellas and their Bibles in equal measure.

We go from the secret cassette tape that inspired Tom Cruise’s Frank T.J. Mackey to the seduction guru who watched the film with his lawyer, then liked it too much to sue. We cover Julianne Moore’s operatic Linda, John C. Reilly’s big-hearted Officer Jim, and Jason Robards’ devastating deathbed confession in his final feature film. On the music side, there’s Jon Brion’s relentless score and Aimee Mann’s songs, which Anderson adapted almost like a novel. And yes, we talk about the Wise Up singalong, where Julianne Moore went first so nobody else dared back out.

Then the frogs arrive. We dig into where they really came from: Charles Fort, Exodus 8:2 and a real-life frog storm that Philip Baker Hall swears he drove through. From there it’s on to a Golden Bear win, three Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe for Cruise. Whether you’re a PTA devotee, an ensemble drama obsessive, or someone who has spent three hours on New Year’s Eve wondering what you just watched, we’ve got the stories and opinions you won’t find anywhere else.

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