Boogie Nights (New Line Home Entertainment)

This movie is to the porn industry what Goodfellas is to the mob. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, it’s a sprawling epic that takes us through the rise and fall of porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), a fictitious character based loosely on real-life porn star John Holmes. The newer, two-disc New Line Platinum Series release beats out New Line’s original one with better picture and sound quality, more extras, and a nifty foldout package.

Pulp Fiction (Miramax Entertainment)

What more can be said about the most influential film of the 1990s? Not much, so I’ll stop while I’m ahead. I’ve seen Pulp Fiction more than two dozen times and still haven’t tired of it.

Kingpin (MGM Home Entertainment)

This, the best film by the Farrelly Brothers, keeps the laughs coming one after the other and hardly ever misfires. Roy Munson is the hottest bowler in town -- until a mishap causes him to lose one hand, and the tragedy triggers a downward spiral in his life. Woody Harrelson is marvelous as Munson, keeping him a likable loser right to the end. The DVD looks great.

Requiem for a Dream: Director’s Cut (Artisan Home Entertainment)

Based on a novel by Hubert Selby Jr., Requiem for a Dream is a drug-infested spiral to hell. For some, it’s too grim a story to see more than once, but I’ve watched it repeatedly because I find it uplifting. Writer-director Darren Aronofsky turns his back on Hollywood-type formula to create an unflinching vision of the destruction caused by drug abuse. It’s relentless, powerful, and unforgettable -- that’s why I love it.

Apocalypse Now Redux (Paramount)

Only slightly more upbeat than Requiem for a Dream, Apocalypse Now is another descent into hell, both for the film’s main characters and for writer-director Francis Ford Coppola (as chronicled in Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, the documentary by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper). The original theatrical release of Apocalypse was great, but the re-envisioned and reedited version, Apocalypse Now Redux, is longer, more cohesive, and even more powerful than what we first saw in theaters in 1979.

Leaving Las Vegas (MGM Home Entertainment)

This is another downer film (sensing a trend here?), this time with a love story thrown in. Nicolas Cage plays Ben Sanderson, an alcoholic who’s lost his family and his job. He burns his belongings, then sets out to Las Vegas with one goal in mind: to drink himself to death. There he meets Sera (Elisabeth Shue), more or less the stereotypical "hooker with a heart of gold," and the two fall in love. Director Mike Figgis shot the film on a bare-bones budget and coaxed wonderful performances from Shue and Cage (Cage won an Oscar for his). Leaving Las Vegas is tragic, touching, and unforgettable.

Lost and Delirious (Lions Gate Home Entertainment)

A little-known, Canadian-made love story about two girls at an all-girls boarding school who fall in love. The highlight of the film is Piper Perabo’s performance. She plays Paulie, who is first abandoned as a child by her mother, then abandoned by her lover, Victoria (Jessica Paré), when the rest of the girls at the school discover their affair. Lost and Delirious teeters toward melodrama, but is saved by Perabo’s realism in the lead role.

Badder Santa (Miramax Home Entertainment)

Badder Santa is the extended DVD version of Bad Santa. It will treat you to one of the darkest, crudest, funniest comedies in years. Billy Bob Thornton plays an alcoholic store Santa who takes the job for the Christmas season only to steal from his employers. Warning: This is not a typical Christmas-type film, and it’s definitely not for children. For grown-ups with a warped sense of humor who aren’t easily offended, Badder Santa is a comic gem.

Out of Sight (Universal)

At the time of this film’s release, the public didn’t seem to think either George Clooney or Jennifer Lopez had the star power to carry a feature film. Those who didn’t see it in the theater missed out, because Out of Sight really is out of sight -- a superbly entertaining crime caper that’s witty, sexy, and gripping until the end. As for the naysayers, Clooney and Lopez are perfect in their roles. The Boston Society of Film Critics had the smarts to recognize Out of Sight as the Best Film of 1998. They were right.

American Gigolo (Paramount)

Richard Gere plays Julian Kaye, a male prostitute whose clientele includes wealthy Los Angeles-area women. When one of his clients is murdered, all the evidence points to Kaye -- she was what he called a "rough trick." But did Kaye do it, or was he framed? I first saw American Gigolo at the drive-in when I was 17. As my friends drank beer and partied around the car, my eyes were glued to the screen -- for whatever reason, I needed to find out what would happen to Kaye. I loved every minute of this film. It’s the only movie I ever bought on VHS tape, and I bought the DVD version the day it was released. By no means a great film, American Gigolo is my No.1 guilty pleasure.