Going to go with a
Wildcard selection in this round.
Very happy to add to our stable, another of P.T. Anderson's great works... Already possessing his ode to Kubrick (There Will Be Blood) we will be adding his ode to Scorsese... A brilliant look at the rise, fall, and VHS-ization of the 70s porn industry... Presenting the principal characters as a family unit (a dysfunctional, incestuous and bizarre family, but a family none-the-less) Anderson added a human element to an industry and a part of American history that has rarely been addressed.
Boogie Nights!
So many great performances in this film. Mark Wahlberg's first starring role, and the role he was born to play, and a level of performance he will never attain again, I think that we can say for sure. Julianne Moore who is consistently fantastic, is beyond that in this film. Her tortured matriarchal figure is creepy, sympathetic, comforting, pathetic, simultaneously. A terrific supporting cast, included The Burt in his triumphant last hurrah, John C. Riley, Don Cheadle, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Luis Guzman, and more... A terrific blend of comedy and tragedy, one of my favorite films.
And that's not to mention PTA's visual eye in Boogie Nights, which is simply astounding. I am sure Scorsese was proud. Witness: