Statement: "Boogie Nights" was the greatest movie of the 1990's. Period.

[Taverner]

Now there were some fine movies that came out in the 90's. In fact I like to think of it as to movies what the 70's were to music.

However, even better than Pulp Fiction
Even Better than Forrest Gump
Even Better than Resivoir Dogs
Even Better than Slacker
Even Better than Bottle Rocket

...was Boogie Nights.

Excellent acting - I mean, come on - Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, AND John C. Reilly.

Excellent Soundtracks - Everything from Apollo 100's "Joy" to Eric Burdon's "Spill the Wine" and then off to Sister Christian???

And the filmmaking? Good Fellas only hinted at what films could become. Boogie Nights fulfilled them.

[ghostsofgiants]

1. Not even the best P.T. Anderson film of the '90s.

That would be Magnolia.

[Taverner]

2. Oh god - I fell asleep in Magnolia

If he wouldn't have cast Tom Cruise, it might have been watchable.

[HughBeaumont]

13. Seconded.

Tommy Scientology fucked that movie royally. Should have had more Bill Macy and John Reilly and less Tom Cruise.

I'm a slobbering Boogie Nights fan. Phil Seymour Hoffmann. Don Cheadle, for God's Sake. Burt Reynolds. Bill Macy. John Reilly. Al Molina. Thomas Jane. Heather Graham. Phillip Baker Hall. Julianne Moore. LUIS GUZMAN. All in one well written, well paced, well shot and well edited movie.

Even Mark Wahlberg was good in that one. Nina Hartley, the most classic ass in porn, even shined before Little Bill blew her away.

[MonkeyFunk]

3. agreed...

Magnolia is a masterpiece.

[terrya]

4. Absolutely agree.

"Magnolia" is just brilliant. Great acting throughout..lord almighty, even Tom Cruise was good. And Aimee Mann's score...superb.

[MonkeyFunk]

5. god...

Julianne Moore at the pharmacy.... William H. Macy and Henry Gibson at the bar... John C. Reilly when he loses his gun... and yes, even Ms. Cruise. Unbelievable acting.

[terrya]

9. Yep.

My favorite moment is the one where the actors all break out into song...it's just a great scene.

That reminds me to re-watch "Magnolia" again. I'll put it into my Netflix queue.

[MonkeyFunk]

11. I have it here... maybe I'll watch it tonight

it's been awhile.

Anderson is a fantastic actor's director. Boogie Nights had amazing performances, too. The scene with Julianne Moore and Heather Graham are coked up in the bedroom - amazing. Or when Philip Seymour Hoffman declares his love for Mark Wahlberg... heartbreaking.

Hell, he even made Burt Reynolds look like a good actor!

[NashVegas]

10. I Always Felt It Was the Only Gig Where Tom Cruise Didn't Play Himself

Basically. Method actors get tired.

[Nevernose]

6. You do a disservice to Mark Wahlberg

When you leave him off your list. Okay, granted: perhaps coked-up, low-IQ, white trash pornstar isn't such a far cry from the real man. I dunno, just maybe.

The wonderful writing and directing of that character were PTA's responsibility, but Wahlberg just made the character so AMAZINGLY sympathetic. So charmingly innocent and painfully earnest, all while wallowing in a world of perversion and addiction. So goddamned HUMAN.

It's that dichotomy between earnestness and addiction, innocence and perversion, that made the movie such a success. Take, for instance, that scene with Heather Graham and Julianne Moore, the one where they're high and making pornos and babbling about "I feel like you're the daughter I never had..." and other drug-fueled babble. Part of me wanted to go out and get an eight-ball, and part of me just wanted to cry for them.

[Taverner]

15. True true, my bad

I just thought the ones who just made that movie were all of the other folks...

But yeah, that scene where Heather Graham is all coked up with Julianne Moore and asking her "Will you be my mom?"
OMG
I don't think a more heartbreaking scene has ever been written

[Nevernose]

23. AGAIN you do a disservice to "Boogie Nights"

"I don't think a more heartbreaking scene has ever been written."

First off, the writing is just fifty percent. The directing is another fifty percent, and the acting is fifty percent. Only with all THREE do you get a hundred percent. Oh, er, waitasec :eyes:

However, the sincerity of the "actors" receiving awards for "Best Newcomer" struck me as painful;

The willingness of Wahlberg's character to (in his mind) to debase himself for ten dollars, and then getting the shit kicked out of him;

Phillip Seymour Hoffman's confession of love and subsequent rejection -- just AWFUL. I'm not gay, probably because I'm not physically attracted to dudes:), but even a straight guy can identify very strongly with that kind of rejection. And maybe it's just me personally, but that was the one moment (out of many) that resonated strongest with me. I know what it's like to feel insecure, or rejection, or unrequited love. To be human.

That's what I love about "Boogie Nights." It makes me feel something, and that, in the end, is the only purpose of art: to make people FEEL.

Damn, I'm going to have to go to the video store in the morning and pick up a copy...

[Taverner]

24. The rejection scene was harsh, but the Moore and Graham scene summed the movie up

That pretty much put every scene into perspective

The other scenes may have made you feel, but that scene did that and then spun the movie's message from there.

[Nevernose]

27. Good point.

Really good point. Like I said, I'm going to the video store in the morning.

[sniffa]

7. how much ya squat?

[NashVegas]

8. Unless You've Seen City of Lost Children

and Pulp Fiction.

[HughBeaumont]

14. I don't know what would be the best movie of the 90s,

but City of Lost Children would be in my top 10.

And surprisingly, Pulp Fiction wouldn't be.

[NashVegas]

20. It's Odd

On one hand, for Tarantino, I think Reservoir Dogs was the more engrossing film. But RD was to Pulp Fiction what Jane's Addiction was to Nirvana; one got its foot in the door, the other kicked it wide open - for everyone to follow.

[supernova]

12. Best movie of the 1990s would be "Dead Man"

from Jim Jarmusch.

Johnny Deep, Gary Farmer, Robert Mitchum (in one of his last appearances), Lance Henriksen, Iggy Pop as a female impersonator. (No. Really.)

Mild mannered accountant WIlliam Blake (JD) heads out west to accept a job as an accountant. When he gets to Machine, the job is nonexistant and he becomes a wanted man for killing a guy in a saloon. That's just the first 10 minutes. The rest of the movie is a travel-buddy, escape movie and commentary about the myth of the West, William Blake's poetry, and Native Americans.

Just awesome, talking about it doesn't do it proper justice, you have to see it to appriciate it.

[triguy46]

33. The Neil Young soundtrack is a must have for guitar freaks.

I play it all the time. In theory, he stood with his guitar, (the black les paul? or is it a gretsch?) in front of a screen with the movie running and kind of composed on the fly .

[supernova]

41. That's what I've heard

I have a couple of pieces of the soundtrack with Johnny's excerpts from the movie on my iPod. Cool when it comes up.

Dead Man is one of those movies that you have to watch multiple times. I can't watch it very often though, it stays with me for a week or two every time I see it. It's just so dense with allegory and meaning. There's not a moment of film that isn't symbolic.

[triguy46]

44. Its 'odd' in a good way.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

16. I like it, but Goodfellas was the best '90s film, IMO.

[Taverner]

18. Goodfellas always ranked 2nd

I dunno - somehow Boogie Nights captured the humanity, something I believe in...

Whereas Goodfellas, despite its attempt, still couldn't make anyone into something remotely human...

[JVS]

17. lebowski

[Taverner]

19. Don't get me wrong, Lebowski is the greatest Comedy of the 90's

But Lebowski is effective as a comedy, Boogie Nights just captures the human spirit

[JVS]

21. lebowski IS the human spirit

[EstimatedProphet]

22. Opposing statement: no it wasn't.

[Left Is Write]

25. It was a good movie. I'm not sorry I saw it.

However, I found it depressing, violent, and painful to watch. Sometimes that's necessary in a "good" movie.

I would not watch it again.

[Mojambo]

26. Yep. That's a statement alright. n/t

[Blue_Tires]

28. greatest? maybe

best? no

[Zomby Woof]

29. "Unforgiven"

Followed by "The Player", "The Shawshank Redemption", "The Silence of the Lambs", and "The Big Lebowski" (comedy is just as valid as drama for 'greatness').

Honorable mention: "Fargo", "Election", and "L.A. Confidential".


I would rank "Boogie Nights" as one of the two most overrated, pretentious films of the 90's, alongside "American Beauty" and "Fight Club". They make "Pulp Fiction" look like "Citizen Kane" in comparison, because Tarantino is the Orson Welles of overblown pretension and bandwagon hype.

I am a huge Scorsese fan, but never ranked "Goodfellas" as among his best. I like it, but it wouldn't make my top 10 of the decade.

[Taverner]

30. Although those were all awesome movies

(the 90's were a golden age for movies - coming out of the cookie cutter style of the 80's, they totally went whole hog in the 90's)

But Boogie Nights captured a time period perfectly. The acting was ALL top knotch, and it exposed us to newcomers like Reilly and Cheadle. It was the classic rags to riches to rags story, but with a twist - a realistic one at that.

And then the soundtrack - I can't hear "Machine Gun" or "Sister Christian" without thinking of that movie. It just burns certain scenes indelibly into your brain.

[Zomby Woof]

35. I agree the performances were outstanding

Julianne Moore did the best acting of her career. Hoffman is always entertaining and good. Wahlberg proved he was more than a pretty face. So I can agree with you from that standpoint.

And although it was a great period piece in its own way, I have to say the 70's were the golden age of film for me. The studio system was dead, and with Coppola, Scorsese, Spielberg, and others on the rise, it was a quite a remarkable era.

[MissMillie]

31. Unforgiven was BRILLIANT

:thumbsup:

[regnaD kciN]

37. ...and one of the most depressing films I've ever seen.

Personally, I think the ideal triple-bill would be Unforgiven, Sophie's Choice, and a large bottle of sleeping pills. :evilgrin:

[jobycom]

40. Until this post, this thread seemed satrical.

Boogie Nights was great, but come on. Hell, I like Titanic better. (Yeah, I know, everyone in the world saw it six times and cried their eyes out, but the moment it becomes popular people think it's cool to hate it. If it not become popular, every DUer would put it on their "best" list, and I don't believe yo if yo claim otherewise).

"Unforgiven" was brilliant on every level, and was flawless at every aspect. First, it was a good story. Unlike half the films I'm told are great, I really liked it, rather than feeling like I was taking a dose of cough syrup because it was good for me. Second, every aspect of the film-making--acting, directing, set design, costumes, cinematography, even music--complimented the story. One complaint about Boogie Nights to me was that it was showing off. The costumes were so outrageous you could almost feel the director jabbing his elbow into your ribs and saying "Hunh? Remember that? Cool, eh?" Very geekish. Nothing was distracting in "Unforgiven." Everything was perfect--it enhanced the story without drawing attention to itself.

The rest of your list, too. Shawshank hid its final twist better than any film I can think of, "Lambs" redefined the horror genre, or created a new genre by crossing horror and crime, "Lebowski" was brilliant satire not just of society, but of film making.

There's an almost unknown film I'd put way up on the list. John Sayles's "Lone Star," starring Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Matthew McConaughey, Kris Kristofferson. Best film ever about Texas.

[xchrom]

32. brilliant movie!

i loved everyone in that movie -- and i really thought wahlberg did just a magnificent job.

after all he's the locus in that film -- and he really did hold it together.

[triguy46]

34. Fargo is a no go? Not for me, its #1.

[regnaD kciN]

36. I don't know if I'd go along with "best of the DECADE"...

...but, for me, it was definitely the best of the year.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

38. Did you forget Shawshank Redemption??

I'm guessing you did.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

39. best 2000's movei, "Totally Awesome"

[devilgrrl]

42. What about 'Fargo'? That wasn't a great movie?

:crazy:

[NewJeffCT]

43. Schindler's List? Saving Private Ryan? Shawshank?

LA Confidential
Pulp Fiction
Goodfellas