Magnolia

With his third feature, "Magnolia," Paul Thomas (P.T.) Anderson decided to finally hone in on his skills for refined cinematic plagiarism and produce a deeply involving and emotional work. P.T. ends up standing for P.T. Barnum as Anderson orchestrates a gargantuan cast featuring stand-out performances from all, especially Tom Cruise and John C. Reilly, a multi-faceted storyline and Aimee Mann's phenomenal soundtrack to create his most engaging work yet. \nNew Line gives "Magnolia" one of its best "platinum" treatments yet on this two-disc DVD set. Disc one features a pristine print with crisp sound that can be switched from stereo surround to 5.1 surround sound. Disc two features some deleted absurdity from the Frank T.J. Mackey seminar, a handful of trailers and the brilliant music video for Mann's "Save Me," directed by Anderson himself. Also included is an entertaining 90 minute documentary on the making of "Magnolia" and a mildly amusing sequence of outtakes that appears after the color bars feature on both discs. \nThe only piece missing from this immaculate DVD package is an Anderson commentary, which he did not find necessary. This minor flaw withstanding, "Magnolia" is still a standout DVD.