By Fred Topel | Image property of respective holders
Boogie Nights
These are two must have movies for your high definition collection. One is a colorful visual journey through a period of our underground pop culture history. The other is a stark drama that gives you perfect clarity to see for three hours.
Boogie Nights and Magnolia on Blu-Ray
Boogie Nights is a little grainy and fuzzed up, but only in a way that seems intentional. It’s ‘70s footage so it looks like that. It’s still totally clear and man, those ‘70s colors are bright. You’ll see some gritty details in a few close-ups, certainly of all that tacky ‘70s deco, but the first section of the film is about glamour.
When it shifts to the ‘80s, then you see it crisp up real good. That’s where you see all the gritty detail. It’s totally intentional and totally noticeable. Somehow, the 16mm porn footage looks awesome too, and the videotape footage looks awful, as it’s supposed to because it’s just not as classy as film.
Magnolia is totally clear and gritty the whole way through. It’s rainy, it’s dark, it’s mundane and full of detail in all the sets and locations. Even the bright studio set of the game show looks a bit somber as it is in the story.
The lighting is so deliberate, on Blu Ray the dark scenes hold up nicely. The stage lighting of “Seduce and Destroy” frames Tom Cruise starkly, and the dark silhouettes of John C. Reilly and Melora Hardin still hold up. The post-rain glow of the frog littered streets is awesome.
Boogie Nights and Magnolia are now available on Blu Ray from Warner Home Video.
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