Boogie Nights 20th Anniversary Thread

[David H.]

If ya'll had to choose:

Boogie Nights or There Will Be Blood?

PTA announcing himself or him mastering the form? The latter, surely.

 

[Snakewise]

Maybe an unpopular opinion but this might actually be my favorite PTA movie.

It's definitely my favorite Heather Graham movie. t:

 

[JabarR]

It's definitely my favorite Heather Graham movie. t:

What about "License To Drive"?

 

[weezerspider]

This is definitely PTA's easiest film to digest and his most fun. I'd probably rank it third behind There Will Be Blood and The Master. I personally don't think you can call Boogie Nights PTA's main masterpiece simply because he's channeling Scorsese and Altman so much in it. He was still young, showing off every influence he ever had. You could easily see Scorsese or Altman making Boogie Nights. No one, but PTA makes There Will Be Blood. It's his own thing.

 

[Hurm...]

Very, very good point.

 

[Fallen Angel]

Weezy does speak the truth.

 

[Bobber]

This is definitely PTA's easiest film to digest and his most fun. I'd probably rank it third behind There Will Be Blood and The Master. I personally don't think you can call Boogie Nights PTA's main masterpiece simply because he's channeling Scorsese and Altman so much in it. He was still young, showing off every influence he ever had. You could easily see Scorsese or Altman making Boogie Nights. No one, but PTA makes There Will Be Blood. It's his own thing.

You know, I both agree and disagree with you.
I agree with you that There Will Be Blood and The Master, are two completely original masterpieces, that could only be sprung from the mind of Paul Thomas Anderson.

I don't agree that Scorsese and Altman could make Boogie Nights (at least not as well as PTA). It seems like a really personal story to me. About his neighborhood, his time of growing up, and about a young man with a very special gift, desperate to share it with the world.

I might say Blood and Master are more interesting and complex films, but Boogie Nights does bring me so much enjoyment.

 

[weezerspider]

You know, I both agree and disagree with you.
I agree with you that There Will Be Blood and The Master, are two completely original masterpieces, that could only be sprung from the mind of Paul Thomas Anderson.

I don't agree that Scorsese and Altman could make Boogie Nights (at least not as well as PTA). It seems like a really personal story to me. About his neighborhood, his time of growing up, and about a young man with a very special gift, desperate to share it with the world.

I might say Blood and Master are more interesting and complex films, but Boogie Nights does bring me so much enjoyment.

Obviously I don't mean EXACTLY the same film, but, as much as I LOVE Boogie Nights, everything that film did great was already done(better) seven years earlier in Goodfellas. It doesn't diminish the film itself and I have no issue if it is someone's favorite PTA film, but I can't call it his masterpiece. I feel like labeling a film as a director's "masterpiece" means it is the quintessential example of their craft and Boogie Nights is not that. There Will Be Blood is that. Half the stuff that makes Boogie Nights so enjoyable( whip pans, quick montage cutting, in-your-face-long takes) have long been abandoned by PTA.

 

[Bobber]

Obviously I don't mean EXACTLY the same film, but, as much as I LOVE Boogie Nights, everything that film did great was already done(better) seven years earlier in Goodfellas. It doesn't diminish the film itself and I have no issue if it is someone's favorite PTA film, but I can't call it his masterpiece. I feel like labeling a film as a director's "masterpiece" means it is the quintessential example of their craft and Boogie Nights is not that. There Will Be Blood is that. Half the stuff that makes Boogie Nights so enjoyable( whip pans, quick montage cutting, in-your-face-long takes) have long been abandoned by PTA.

Well, yes, going by your definition of the word masterpiece, I agree that the title should not fall upon Boogie Nights. I, for one, think that a director can have several masterpieces, but that's just me.

The method of Boogie Nights is pure Scorsese, but the heart and soul of the film is pure PTA.