366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 346

The Date: September 10

The Movie: Magnolia (1999)

What Is It?: Paul Thomas Anderson populates his tale of bad families, bad TV, and bizarre phenomena with an Altman-esque collection of deeply troubled characters right on the cusp of tumbling into the abyss, including dying TV exec Jason Robards, his pill-popping trophy wife Julianne Moore, game show host Phillip Baker Hall, his coke-head daughter Melora Walters, and misogynistic, hyperactive dating-seminar dickhead Tom Cruise. The way Anderson ties all of his characters together is masterful, as is the way he is able to sustain an unbelievably taut tension that does not alleviate for the entire first hour. This is an incredibly daring film that takes great chances, and more often than not, succeeds. Whether or not you like Magnolia, there’s no way you’ll be able to anticipate its flights of madness. Those who are able to give in to it all will find this to be one of the most rewarding movies they’ll ever see.

Why Today?: On this day in 1931, Philip Baker Hall is born .

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 192

The Date: April 9

The Movie: Boogie Nights (1997)

What Is It?: Like yesterday’s Spider Baby, Boogie Nights is another rather unconventional story of family love. These folks aren’t actually related, which makes their porno business less grotty. As much as I appreciate stuff like There Will Be Blood and The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson is at his grooviest when he’s at his most playful, and despite all the scenes of murder, suicide, drug abuse, and Julianne Moore weeping, Boogie Nights is one of his most playful pictures. Marky Mark’s prosthetic penis is Hollywood’s greatest star.

Why Today?: Today is Name Yourself Day, but keep in mind that Dirk Diggler, Rollergirl, and Chest Rockwell have already been taken.

Review: The Criterion Edition of 'Safe'

The late eighties/early nineties was a boom time for young visionary directors, but your Steven Soderbergs and your Quentin Tarantinos and even your Lars Von Triers had nothing on Todd Haynes. His first film starred a Barbie and Ken doll as Karen and Richard Carpenter. Despite the silly premise and the offensive blandness of The Carpenters’ music, Superstar not only wasn’t a joke but it was legitimately disturbing, depressing, and moving. His second film, Poison, fell in line with his AIDS-awareness activism but did so with fearless originality, interpreting the writings of Jean Genet as a shuffled up portmanteau of horror, documentary, and prison mini-movies. Haynes’s activism became a lightning rod for some viewers, particularly those in the LGBT community, when he made his next and biggest budget (still under a million dollars) film to date. Because Safe dealt with disease, and featured implicit and explicit references to AIDS, other activists felt Haynes was selling out by making his main character a woman and her illness something other than AIDS.