review by Rick Dabagian Patron
Boogie Nights 1997
Watched Aug 05, 2012
Rick Dabagian’s review:
If The Will Be Blood is 5 stars, and Punch-Drunk Love is 4 stars, then Boogie Nights is just below that. It's a good film but it overstays its welcome. The first half is great and it really shows off PTA's attention to detail and directing ability. But eventually the film starts to drag and veers off course, parallel to Dirk's own troubles. Maybe I just didn't like the mood/feel of that portion of the movie, but it felt weaker than the beginning.
I also thought the beginning was more fun and unique, while the rest felt like something I've seen before. And Punch-Drunk Love did so much better with the darker scenes that I didn't like as much here.
Next up is Magnolia and I'll be caught up on PTA in anticipation for The Master. Can't wait
Magnolia is brilliant. Incomparable
I didn't like Boogie Nights that much, didn't feel anything new about it, I think I liked the way he depicted the changes of time and the egoism in the people, but nothing beyond that.
I just watched this too and while I love it, the structure of it was more obvious and predictable than ever. I prefer his other works too
Good to know I'm not alone, I saw mostly 5-star ratings from my friends on here. I am stingy with my stars though. I think I appreciated Hard Eight more than this.
I loved the setup, the introduction of all the characters and the setting, but the rest wasn't too special. Perhaps it was just practice for TWWB.
Good to know about Magnolia, thanks Walter.
I agree with all of this! My stars are mostly, yes I recognize this is great, but I still don't love it. Nobody should pay attention to my stars though =) Walter, I'm with you, Magnolia is tops, I've been talking about it a lot lately but I love finding people who love it as much as I do. I hope you love it too, Rick!
I'll stop myself from going on another side rant about star values haha. I have Magnolia waiting on my DVR, hopefully I'll get to it soon
hah, I don't think I've seen you rant about it before. I know my ratings are shit, disclaimer is right there in my profile, hahah =)
My profile bio is excessively long in explanation, and I continue here:
letterboxd.com/rcd/film/blue-valentine/
ah, gotcha. I'm fast and loose with the high ratings, because I tend to watch movies that I am pretty sure I will like/think are good. But I can't think about them too much, I am way too anal to have comprehensive, even star ratings - once I start trying to compare and make sure this 4 star is actually better than that 3.5 star, I'm done. I respect anyone who does though.
Lol well I try, but I don't drive myself too crazy with it. But I know what you're saying, I try to only watch movies that *should* be good, so I felt the need to explain my grouped ratings
Gah, need to start my PTA marathon. I feel so behind. I do recall thinking this one was a bit long, but it's been ages since I last watched it. Looking forward to going through all of these.