10 Greatest Moments In Paul Thomas Anderson Movies

5. Frogs (Magnolia)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sWJuQD0cL8 The bizarre nature of this scene makes it immediately memorable but what also makes it so famous amongst discussions of Anderson's films is how well it actually fits into Magnolia. The entire theme of the epic film is really summed up by boy genius Stanley when he sees the frogs raining from inside the library and he says "This happens. This is something that happens." The entire film heavily foreshadows this moment with the opening narration, the occasional weather reports and the many, many occurrences of 8s and 2s that relate to the passage in the Biblical book of Exodus that discusses a rain of frogs. What makes the scene so amazing is the nature of all of the characters at the moment the frogs fall. They seem to accept that things like that just happen which causes the audience to go along with the film, too.