The Scorsese films that are about crime or about high finance contain sexiness and irony that is implicit and seductive; this is not really the case in Boogie Nights. But still, this is a movie of such style and propulsive power.

Boogie Nights is the bomb, that jolt of energy that keeps you going to last call, then sends you prowling for something to sustain the rush. Don't bother. Nearly any other movie after this is certain to seem limply soft-core.

One of those breakthrough movies that leaves no doubt you are in the presence of a natural-born filmmaker. Like Spielberg's Sugarland Express or Scorsese's Mean Streets, Anderson's mesmerizing movie announces the arrival of a major career.

Boogie Nights stands not only as Paul Thomas Anderson's finest picture but also one of the great movies of the 1990s.