‘Boogie Nights' Was Released 15 Years Ago Today

Everyone has one special thing.

"Boogie Nights" was released on October 10th, 1997 shortly after premiering to raves at the Toronto and New York Film Festival's. The sophomore feature by the then little-known Paul Thomas Anderson arrived less than 9 months after his debut "Hard Eight" had been quietly released into a handful of theatres. But things were different this time. The buzz which had been building since the film went into production had reached a fever pitch by the time it was released. Reviews were ecstatic and many compared the young filmmaker to Martin Scorsese and Robert Altman. Everyone wanted to know just who was this 27 year old that had made such a brilliant film which went on to rack up 3 Oscar nominations including Best Original Screenplay for Paul Thomas Anderson.

To celebrate "Boogie Nights" 15th Anniversary, take a stroll down memory lane on our "Boogie Nights" info page. There you can find interviews, production notes, posters, deleted scenes and more.  We'll be posting some archival bits and pieces throughout the day on Twitter so stay tuned.



I first saw "Boogie Nights" in 1997 when I was in high school. All my friends worked at the local theatre so we basically saw everything that came out. We probably went in expecting something a little bit risqué but were totally unprepared for what we saw. I remember stumbling out of the theatre afterwards. My mind was blown. It was hilarious, heartbreaking and unmistakably confident. When the film was re-released for Oscar consideration I saw it a 2nd time in the theatre and subsequently many more times on VHS (!) and DVD. I knew then that Paul Thomas Anderson was my favorite filmmaker at that moment. But what I didn't know was that a decade and a half later he would make such a good case for being the very best filmmaker of his generation.

Where did you first see "Boogie Nights"?
What are your favorite moments from the film?
Leave a comment below or use the hashtag #BoogieNights15 on Twitter.

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Interview: Total Film

Cult movie 
Source: Total Film

Click the image once to view larger, then right-click it and select View Image to view at full (readable) size.

(Scans courtesy of Madisen Beaty Online)

Thomas Jane Talks ‘Boogie Nights' At The New Beverly

The New Beverly Cinema in LA is currently in the middle of their Paul Thomas Anderson retrospective showing all 5 of his films prior to "The Master." (Which we could've sworn we posted about but it looks like we've only been talking about it on Twitter.) Over the weekend the theatre screened a double-feature of "Hard Eight" and "Boogie Nights" with a special Q&A inbetween with Todd Parker himself, actor Thomas Jane. Reader @westernwilder was kind enough to tape the full Q&A for us where Jane where he discussed being a broke actor in LA, auditioning for the film and getting kicked in the balls by Burt Reynolds. Watch the videos below:

Interview: Washington Post

Paul Thomas Anderson on ‘The Master’ and going big for the wrong reason

By Ann Hornaday | September 21, 2012
Source: Washington Post

Perhaps the most useful way to describe “The Master,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s hotly anticipated film that opened Friday, is to say what it isn’t: It’s not a docudrama expose about the invention of Scientology, as many movie industry observers had assumed it would be. It’s not a sprawling study of a tribal subculture in the way that most of Anderson’s previous films — especially “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia” — have been. In fact, it’s not like any other movie currently in theaters. It’s a weird, often wonderful, occasionally confounding portrait of mid-20th century America that has garnered critical raves and festival awards but that just as likely will leave some viewers befuddled and bemused.

Talking to Anderson, who sat down for a brief interview after “The Master” made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, one gets the sense that even he isn’t entirely sure what he’s done with it. Soft-spoken and sweet-natured, the 42-year-old writer-director, hailed by many as the finest filmmaker of his generation, often stumbles for words as he talks about making his movie, which stars frequent Anderson rep player Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in galvanizing performances.

Interview: Empire Magazine

Weird Science
Source: Empire Magazine

Listen To 2 Brand New Interviews With PTA On NPR & CBC

The press tour for "The Master" continues and both NPR and CBC have posted excellent audio interviews with PTA which you can listen to in their entirety at the links below.

At Fresh Air Paul talks about the origins of "The Master" and how the first thing he wrote was the processing scene.

"Well, it's inspired by the actual questionnaire that's out there as relates to Scientology, but I had changed it and switched it around. And I came to that many years ago, and actually found it was a great way to just start writing. Forget any implications of making a film or story about this — it was really just writer's block and sitting around. The best way for me to start writing a story is to get two characters talking to each other. And if you got questions from one, you're gonna have to get answers from the other, and you can start to find out who is coming out of you when you're writing, if you know what I mean."

Listen to the 45 minute interview with Fresh Air.

At CBC Paul spoke about his career evolution and how he is determined to keep pushing himself to doing something different (something I spoke about recently).

"I have no game plan except to try to keep making this interesting for myself & try to keep moving forward. To never stay in the same place creatively too long. And keep being nervous and scared and all the rest and not get too comfy. That's what I've tried to do all along. And it always feels better that way to go to work and be on a tightrope and not be so sure. That's a great thrill and a great privilege and I hope we can keep scaring ourselves."

Listen to the 18 minute interview with CBC.

#THEMASTER70MM

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Interview: NPR

Paul Thomas Anderson, The Man Behind 'The Master'
Source: NPR

TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. My guest, Paul Thomas Anderson, wrote and directed several films I love: "Hard Eight," "Boogie Nights," "Magnolia" and "There Will Be Blood." And now he has a new film to add to that list, "The Master." New York Times film critic A.O. Scott described it as imposing, confounding and altogether amazing.

The film won top awards at the Venice Film Festival and had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. "The Master" is mostly set in 1950 after a World War II veteran, Freddie Quell, played by Joaquin Phoenix, returns to America. Quell is mentally unstable and having a hard time fitting in anywhere.

He stumbles onto a party being held by a cult-like group called The Cause and is taken in by them. Their leader is the charismatic Lancaster Dodd, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. His wife, Peggy Dodd, played by Amy Adams, is suspicious of Quell and afraid he'll be a disruptive force, but Lancaster Dodd welcomes the challenge of taming Freddie's animal instincts.

Let's start with a scene from "The Master." The members of The Cause are at a party where a skeptic challenges some of Lancaster Dodd's teachings, like his claims about reincarnation and how he can lead followers through their past lives through a technique he calls processing.

Interview: CBC

Director Paul Thomas Anderson on this fall's most buzzed-about film, "The Master."
Source: CBC

PTA's answers transcribed by Martin Cohen

Cigs & Vines Discusses ‘The Master' With The Auteurcast; More Podcasts

Chances are, if you've seen "The Master" by now you've done a fair bit of reading about the film as well. From the reviews to the interviews to the 'what-does-it-all-mean' pieces (like this excellent one from Vulture), the film has become a hot topic of conversation and should prove to be for some time to come. We've read probably 50+ reviews of the film and continue to check them out on Twitter as our readers send them in. We've also been enjoying listening to a few podcasts for more in-depth analysis. We recommend checking out Slate's Spoiler Special for a great hour-long discussion of the film and Grantland's Hollywood Prospectus podcast as well. Our friends over at The Auteurcast have been doing a series on the films of Paul Thomas Anderson and were kind enough to invite 1/2 of the Cigs & Vines team (me) on to discuss "The Master." The 90 minute conversation was barely enough time to scratch the surface of the film but hopefully will be an entertaining listen nonetheless.*

You can download The Auteurcast podcast on "The Master" here.
Subscribe to The Auteurcast on iTunes.

#THEMASTER70MM

Enter our Gone To China Contest to win a copy of the soundtrack!

Stay tuned to Twitter and Facebook for the latest news and updates.

*Please excuse the trailing off, 'ummm's and describing everything as 'great.' I missed my podcast training class.