BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997)— Deep Dives and Deeper Throats

Cinema of Cruelty (Movies for Masochists)

On this week’s annotated deep dive, The Cultists Present Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997). Jam-packed with star power and impeccable cross-decade production design, this retro-time period romp through the golden age of “porno chic” and it’s subsequent sharp decline, is one roller coaster of a tonal ride—Like basking in the warm peachy glow of the California sun followed by a swift cold punch to the face. London and Benji take that ride, driven to analytical fixation by the age old question: Is “young stud has a giant cock” all one needs for a high concept film pitch? Well, let’s find out.

(Deep dives include: tungsten lighting (or why 80s videos often looked so blue); our old friend The Miller Test; a look at the porn industry’s bright and fleeting “Golden Age” (1969–1984); Dirk Diggler’s real life counterpoint John Holmes; and, of course, the science of giant dicks.)

Episode Safeword: “8MM”