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The Motorcycle Boy, latter-day Christ, who instead of preaching to sinners, merely smiles and shakes his head at people's foibles. Rusty-James (the real Jesus had a brother named James) is the younger brother-teenage wastrel who idolizes him. Everyone is magnetized by the aura the Motorcycle Boy gives off. The M. B's first words of dialogue are, "Is this another battle for the kingdom?" Another character says of him, "Isn't there anything he can't do?" His miracle in that scene: playing pool better than anyone. His poolroom opponent says, "He's a prince; he's like royalty-in-exile".

No one knows what the Motorcycle Boy is thinking. He wanders through the streets with Rusty-James in tow, Rusty-J wondering if his big brother is crazy - or is he the Pied-Piper?. At one point they stop by a huge clock while a cop (death) warns him to get out of town. Time is running low, and the Motorcycle Boy seems to know what's in store for him in the end. His one dream is to get people to stop hating & fighting one another (symbolized by Siamese fighting-fish at the pet store).

All this is filmed stylishly in film-time that seems to speed-up and slow-down, amidst fogs, steam and smoke, while humans drink, have sex, fight and preen their vainty. The film is not a bit preachy or holy, only if you watching for the similarities of the Christ-story does it "make sense". Or it can be simply a coming of age story if that's your thing. The images, sounds and music are almost perfectly matched to the incomparable visuals.

The Good: Some nice visuals of Saladin's siege of Jerusalem. A likeable hero-figure. Some attempt (for a typical Hollywood Product) at period authenticity. In the end, if you understand, the message of the film is correct.

The Bad: Makes the Crusades into a soap opera. They were much more complex than that. Most of the Crusaders who were nobles were in it for riches and lands to conquer. They were far tougher and better warriors than is shown in the film.

The poor were in it for salvation. The whole area had changed hands every 500 years previously, so anyone claiming to be the 'rightful owner' was in jeopardy. The Muslims were just the latest tide that had come in. Now the Crusaders wanted some of the action.

Kingdom of Heaven is an action movie at the beginning and the end, with the large middle section a lot of talking in dark rooms. The inevitable story of a commoner who becomes a prince and of course gets the girl who is a princess is shallow. The plot seems borrowed from Gladiator, and a few other classics.

A first film in Paul Thomas Anderson's California Suite (all taking place in California). It shows that the director has studied Scorsese carefully: long tracking shots, period disco music, but the characters seem to come with the laid-back California lifestyle. More than that if conveys the mentality of the era.

What could be more interesting than a film about the porn industry; but it's really about the film industry, with it's star behavior, drugs, bored, behind the camera people going through the motions and its share of misfits hoping for a bit of glamour. Its a comedy until toward the end it isn't, and the butchers bill comes for people who play meat on camera.

The film skillfully evokes an era and a time (starting with the mid-seventies) when making porn was almost a family affair, and those who came to Hollywood seeking their fortunes find that paying the bills leads them to the productions of Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds in his best role) a pornographer. It'd a transitional period in which the standard sex scene are still played, not the hard core stuff that goes nowadays.

One of the best scenes shows Jack Horner's girlfriend, a porn performer, gets it on with a boy she really wants to make love to, and does it on camera right before Horner, who thinks it's a wonderful 'performance'.

Boogie Nights also interweaves the lives of dozens of characters, who try to communicate things they can't articulate, so that even the most obvious double-entendre is taken seriously. They're way over their heads, playing with fire, and don't know it.

Unless your older, you won't remember eight-track tape, HI-FI systems, bell bottoms, disco, Corvettes as status symbols, coke on everyone's coffee tables, or a dozen other period artifacts.

I think the film is great if you've not seen it before. I tried watching it a second time and fount it a bit confining, as almost all the action takes place at Jack Horner's home or a disco named 'Boogie Nights'. The few scenes that don't seem shoehorned in, and don't work.

If the acting seems bad, remember that the film wants the characters to be stupid... like the characters in a porn movie. The length of the film (you won't be bored) promises larger ideas than the film finally delivers, and that is that. No big message, and maybe that's a good thing.

I recommend it highly if you haven't seen it. Just remember this is deeply ironic and humorous film - don't take anything seriously and you'll have a good time.