The Magnolia Theory

Did PT Anderson invent a new style of storytelling in 1999 when he made the film Magnolia? That might be giving him a little too much credit, but the movie at least exposed a larger audience to this style. Films with "magnolia-style" usually contain multiple storylines either hardly related or related only by a singular big event. They also convey with music and images an existential or postmodern worldview (often accompanied by a lot of sad people.) Such movies include: Magnolia, Amores Perros, Happiness, American Beauty, Crash, 21 Grams... There are a pantload of these now. You know the type: there's no dialogue, One is the Loneliest Number is playing, and someone is crying, but you're not quite sure why until you're shown all of the horrible things surrounding him or her. Despite the depressed characters, the unique perspective still allows you to enjoy the movie. Some are better than others but this style includes some of the best examples of contemporary postmodern art. Yeah that's right I said it. What's cool is you can actually get a good idea of what that is when you watch these movies.