What is the reasoning behind the number 82, and the raining frogs in the movie M!

What is the reasoning behind the number 82, and the raining frogs in the movie Magnolia?

Hi. This page is from Wikipedia.com, under "Magnolia"

The movie has an underlying theme of Fortean unexplained events, taken from the 1920s and 1930s works of American intellectual Charles Fort. Fortean author Loren Coleman has written a chapter about this motion picture, entitled "The Teleporting Animals and Magnolia," in one of his recent books. [2]The film has many hidden Fortean themes. The fall of frogs is merely one of them. One of Charles Fort's books is visible on the table in the library and there is an end credit thanking Charles Fort. [ISBN 1-416527-36-2 Mysterious America']

Another explanation could be the scene in which a boy named Dixon tells Jim that "when the sunshine don't work, the good Lord bring the rain in." A Bible verse frequently referenced and alluded to in the film, Exodus 8:2 (NIV), states that "If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs," (although in Exodus the frogs are described as simply crawling out of the "waters of Egypt"). Many of the film's other strange occurrences, such as quotes that seem odd or out of place, can be similarly explained (see the link to Cigarettes and Red Vines' Magnolia page below for more information).

There are various references to Exodus 8:2, like when the humidity is recorded to be 82%. At the very beginning, the man being hanged bears a sign reading '82'. The plane that kills Darion has '82' painted on the side, and at the poker table, the man asks for a two and gets an 8. In the "Jumping scene" of Sydney Barringer, to the left of Sydney along the roof border, "82" appears to be spelled out in some type of wire formation on the wall, his parents were arguing in room #682, and the forensics meeting is at 8:20. The phone number for Seduce and Destroy has 82 in it. At the beginning scene of the show "What Do Kids Know" a fan is seen carrying a sign reading "Exodus 8:2" before an usher removes the sign; one of the most concrete references towards that verse in the Bible. Also, the Officer Jim's voice mailbox says that his automated answering machine number is "82." Anderson did not originally include these allusions in his screenplay; after Henry Gibson brought the passage to his attention, he worked it into the script.[3]

Other repeated references to animal rain in the story include at least four different characters in different scenes using the cliche "It's raining cats and dogs." The only character in the story who seems to be unsurprised by the unusual meteorological event is the child prodigy, Stanley. He calmly observed the falling frog silhouettes, saying “This happens”. This has led to the speculation that Stanley is seen as a prophet, allegorically akin to Moses, and that the "slavery" the movie conveys alludes to the exploitation of children by adults. [4] These "father issues" persist throughout the movie, as seen with the abuse and neglect of Claudia, Frank and Donnie (as children), Stanley and Dixon (from the deleted scene).

I hope this helps.