Boogie Nights (1997)

Country: USA
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenwriter: Paul Thomas Anderson
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Burt Reynolds, William H. Macy, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham

Don't worry, you don't have to watch this at 1 a.m. with the volume down low. It's a movie about the porn industry, but it doesn't play into the smuttier areas as much as you'd think. Boogie Nights follows one man's up and coming (pun) career in the porn industry and the people he meets there. That includes a vet (Julianne Moore), a tycoon (Burt Reynolds), and Rollergirl (Heather Graham) who never takes her skates off, not even when performing.

The movie's greatest surprise (besides the size of the main character's penis) was Marky Mark, Mr. Calvin Klein Undies himself, in the starring role as famed fucker Dirk Diggler. Wahlberg brought a grounding all-American appeal (with a dash of innocence) to the what would otherwise be a risky sell to the general public.

If you've ever wondered what the Golden Age of Porn must've been like, slap this on your Netflix queue. —TA