Boogie Nights… Goodfellas ripoff

Was watching Boogie Nights and it hit me that it's a total Goodfellas ripoff. Look, I think Boogie Nights is easily one of the 10 best movies of the last 20 yrs, but if you want to call it an homage, fine but there's many aspects that scream Goodfellas.

1. Camera movement and fast zooms. Almost identical cinematography

2. Similar time period. Yeah I know Goodfellas starts on the 50s, but the bulk of the movie takes place in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Boogie Nights is all 70s and 80s. But both are total period pieces that exploit roughly the same point in time with clothes, music, houses, etc. All add to the atmosphere and overall tone of the movies and are basically a character on it's own.


3. Almost exact same story arc.
Young, poor kid gets involved in a shady industry with wild and crazy exploits and characters all while making huge sums of money. Ultimately, drug addiction, excess, and paranoia lead to huge downfall.

4. Seemingly fun, entertaining, movie on the outside is actually a dark cautionary tale at it's core. "You want this life, this is what happens."


I guess it's because I saw Goodfellas a week ago and I couldn't get it out of my head while watching. Both are fantastic films…