Holy shit. So, i found myself in a hotel room bored one night. Not knowing what channels were associated to what network, I found myself flipping through the low 20s when i came across a particular scene. It wasn't any specific events that were occurring within the scene that were particular to me .. hell, i don't think i really had time to grasp WHAT was going on before the realization that the more i watched .. the more actors i knew, showed up on screen.

Burt Reynolds stood out right away and allowed me to identify a period of the films creation. Then Mark Wahlberg and Julianne Moore show up and i'm blown away by how young they look. Followed by John C. Reilly .. Philip Seymour Hoffman .... The list goes on, and on. 10 of them, in total.

After the confusion of not knowing what movie this is, and beginning now to see the events that were transpiring in the film, i was ever more enticed by Boogie Nights.

Eventually i wen't to Google, and was surprised to see it's a Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) film. Now, I know of PTA's films .. and i've seen a few. However, not all. The Master I've been holding onto, as everyone praises it. That leaves me having prior seen (with only one viewing each) for Magnolia, Inherent Vice and There Will Be Blood.

I have nothing to do this weekend, and thus a PTA marathon will be had. I feel i should pace myself, but i was to take in all that this wonderful director and writer has created.

....

I loved the character developments, the scene setups per camera shots (a dinner scene with people sitting at a booth and the camera moves from each individual speaking - with only them in frame - flawlessly, as if you're sitting on the other end of the dinner table with them.

Also, lets not begin with the intro scene .. I was in awe 5-8 seconds into the film.

Yikes, but was there fuss around this when it was released? A film about porn, yes, but a film about men in porn - and with the ribbed and toned "Marky Mark" too! What will we see? What will he show? I remember the general interest in this hitherto rather unsavoury topic was insatiable. Well, what we do get is a rather interesting and lively exposé of just how the porn industry might have worked in the late 1970s. Experienced producer "Horner" (Burt Reynolds) spots hunky waiter "Eddie" (Mark Wahlberg) in a restaurant and next thing, the young man is the hottest of properties. With the timeless moniker of "Dirk Diggler" (try finding that on PornHub!) he is soon a true star with money and girls and drugs galore. Fame is a fickle friend, however, and the writing is soon on the wall for our emotionally ill-equipped young man who never for a moment considers that this escalator can go down as well as up. This story is filled with engaging and enigmatic characters - ranging from the stoic "Amber Waves" (a cracking effort from Julianne Moore) who seems to try and instil a sense of proportion and responsibility to the gorgeously stereotypical "Reed Rothschild" (an unlikely casting, I thought, in John C. Reilly). It's Mark Wahlberg who proves to be the revelation here, though. He works quite naturally with the on-form, and entirely plausible, veteran Reynolds and for quite a while, their roller-coaster of sex and success is compelling and quite enjoyable to follow. Is anything real in that scene at the end? Well who knows - but 2½ hours peppered with some great disco just flew by in a cinema that was packed to the rafters.