JL21 wrote:
I re-watched it 4 or 5 months ago and I'm leaning towards it being the best film, IMO, made in the 90's. Or at least the best non-Goodfellas film made in the 90's (cue ghostrunner's dissent in 3... 2....).
Boogie Nights is a damn good movie, but that's a bit of a stretch.
I'd put it behind Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Shawshank, Fargo and Se7en for sure. Lots of others are arguably better.
JL21 wrote:It's a killer, killer film in just about any way you want to judge it. You know the incredible tracking shot at the beginning of Goodfellas? There's a tracking shot in Boogie Nights that I'd put right up there with it.
And, yes. It has a lot of boobs. So even if you think I'm crazy and the movie sucks... there's still a lot of boobs.
I re-watched it 4 or 5 months ago and I'm leaning towards it being the best film, IMO, made in the 90's. Or at least the best non-Goodfellas film made in the 90's (cue ghostrunner's dissent in 3... 2....).
JL21 wrote:It's a killer, killer film in just about any way you want to judge it. You know the incredible tracking shot at the beginning of Goodfellas? There's a tracking shot in Boogie Nights that I'd put right up there with it.
And, yes. It has a lot of boobs. So even if you think I'm crazy and the movie sucks... there's still a lot of boobs.
I re-watched it 4 or 5 months ago and I'm leaning towards it being the best film, IMO, made in the 90's. Or at least the best non-Goodfellas film made in the 90's (cue ghostrunner's dissent in 3... 2....).
Boogie Nights? Like the one with Mark Wahlberg?
Yes...that movie is excellent. I wouldn't put it as high on my list as JL21 or omaha, but it's definitely a Top 10 for me.
And Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Don Cheadle and Alfred Molina and Julianne Moore and Phillip Baker Hall. That's a hell of a list of acting talent. But, that's not even why it's so great.
JL21 wrote:
I re-watched it 4 or 5 months ago and I'm leaning towards it being the best film, IMO, made in the 90's. Or at least the best non-Goodfellas film made in the 90's (cue ghostrunner's dissent in 3... 2....).
Boogie Nights is a damn good movie, but that's a bit of a stretch.
I'd put it behind Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Shawshank, Fargo and Se7en for sure. Lots of others are arguably better.
I conceded Goodfellas. Shawshank was entertaining- very entertaining- but wasn't a well-made movie or anything. Se7en's sort of in the same boat. Very entertaining, and mostly well-made, but nothing ground-breaking. I'll give you Unforgiven and Fargo, but I'd put Boogie Nights right there with them.
It's really easy to dismiss it because it's funny and it's about porn. But as a film, it's exceptionally well-made. PT Anderson takes about 8 character arcs and brings them all full-circle. The acting talent is very good. As a 70's and early 80's period piece, it's a grand slam. The tracking shot in the pool at the beginning is iconic. The Molina/Thomas Jane scene towards the end is brilliant in pacing and in the way it builds tension.
JL21 wrote:And Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Don Cheadle and Alfred Molina and Julianne Moore and Phillip Baker Hall. That's a hell of a list of acting talent. But, that's not even why it's so great.
I'm sort of kidding. At least at the time it came out, I remember that I liked Magnolia a lot more.
I think Boogie Nights was a lot goofier than I expected, for lack of a better word. It's serious subject matter, but the parts with Diggler and John C Reilly's characters almost come off like an SNL skit. I've only seen it once, so I should probably go back and revisit at some point.
JL21 wrote:
I re-watched it 4 or 5 months ago and I'm leaning towards it being the best film, IMO, made in the 90's. Or at least the best non-Goodfellas film made in the 90's (cue ghostrunner's dissent in 3... 2....).
Boogie Nights is a damn good movie, but that's a bit of a stretch.
I'd put it behind Goodfellas, Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Shawshank, Fargo and Se7en for sure. Lots of others are arguably better.
I conceded Goodfellas. Shawshank was entertaining- very entertaining- but wasn't a well-made movie or anything. Se7en's sort of in the same boat. Very entertaining, and mostly well-made, but nothing ground-breaking. I'll give you Unforgiven and Fargo, but I'd put Boogie Nights right there with them.
I'd flip Seven and Boogie Nights around. I felt like I'd sort of seen Boogie Nights before. It owes a lot to Altman (who I'm less fond of than most), though I like it better than his stuff, and it's got a little Pulp Fiction flavor too.
I thought Seven had a lot of technical innovations, and it had a huge influence for the next ten years over the look of movies and television. That whole bleach bypass process (the faded, washed out look) was popular for a long time afterwards. And not just that specific process, but there was a lot of similar experimentation in mainstream films (in terms of film manipulation) going forward. Storywise, I suppose not so groundbreaking, but I thought it was refreshingly dark and pessimistic for a major studio film. I'm betting Chris Nolan was a big fan.
The only new movie I've watched since the end of March has been Coraline, which was awesome. I'm really slacking here. I'll be glad once I get my last final and my two papers in - about 30 hours until I'm free...
The Third Man wrote:The only new movie I've watched since the end of March has been Coraline, which was awesome. I'm really slacking here. I'll be glad once I get my last final and my two papers in - about 30 hours until I'm free...
The 7 y/o really enjoyed Coraline (I didn't see it) -even though she heard from Grandma and numerous people that it was bad and too weird for kids. She been a fan of several movies this way (new Alice and Wonderland, that Scrooge movie with Jim Carrey, Fantastic Mr. Fox etc). She still likes the sugary kids movies and the romantic comedy stuff that the wife likes, but it does provide hope for the future.
