336 Dazed and Confused

[justeleblanc]

I could just be me. I never got into American Graffiti as much as other people, and D & C always reminded me of that.... well, that mixed with Nashville.

[PfR73]

There won't be a Criterion of Saraband except by divine intervention. It is being distributed by Sony Classics here in the US, who don't deal with Criterion.

[Cinesimilitude]

yeah, I knew of Marriage and Saraband, but I think I want to attempt something like Doinel, but take it further. follow a single being from childhood to old age. a Film every 6-8 years.

[Simon]

yeah, I knew of Marriage and Saraband, but I think I want to attempt something like Doinel, but take it further. follow a single being from childhood to old age. a Film every 6-8 years.

Well there is Michael Apted's Up Series, although it is a documentary it's exactly what you describe.

[Cinesimilitude]

cool, I'll look into that.

[blindside8zao]

I am somewhat surprised that anyone would group My Own Private Idaho and Chasing Amy together. I believe there is little merit to Chasing Amy and a world of goodness to be found within My Own Private Idaho. If you did not find MOPI an enriching film the first time through give it another chance. I would put MOPI very high on my list and Chasing Amy very far down.

[skuhn8]

I am somewhat surprised that anyone would group My Own Private Idaho and Chasing Amy together. I believe there is little merit to Chasing Amy and a world of goodness to be found within My Own Private Idaho. If you did not find MOPI an enriching film the first time through give it another chance. I would put MOPI very high on my list and Chasing Amy very far down.

Here here. I rank MOPI as a beautiful art film....and Chasing Amy as a piece of pedestrian crap.

[davida2]

If you were in high school when D&C came out, what you can't appreicate is how Linklater's film absolutely nails the experience of attending a red neck high school in the 1970s (an experience I myself survived).

Although it has other merits, too (not the least of which being that it is at times side-splittingly funny), for me the main attraction with D&C is how vividly it recreates its period and setting. The only other film I can think of that evokes the "feel" of the 70s with as much verisimilitude and emotional resonance is Ang Lee's THE ICE STORM.

Precisely - the two films are brilliant recreations of the era, additionally working as commentaries upon the current era, with the backdrop of both films a politically confused and divided nation, in which the value systems of both adults (The Ice Storm) and their offspring (both films) were flailing around for some kind of foundation. Neither film is exactly Kurosawa, but both are far better than their detractors would admit. The somewhat delayed trendiness of D&C (if memory serves, it did rather lousy box office upon its' immediate release) has unfortunately turned off many to it's legitimate virtues, but those virtues are there nontheless.

[Gordon]

I have only seen Dazed and Confused once - back in 1999 on TV. I laughed all through the film. But what struck me about the film was it's unpredictability, something very, very rare in 'high school' or 'teen' movies. Linklater presents a very real, but also very out of control world of jocks, chicks and nerds.

The news that Criterion are to release a SE is very surprising, though. I heard that the Universal DVD was decidedly medocre, so I never bothered revisting the film, but I will now. It will be interesting to see what kind of extras Criterion provide, aside from the obligatory commentary and interviews. The Slacker set is beautifully put together in every way.

In addition to The Ice Storm, I would add Paul Schrader's, Auto Focus to the short list of recent films that captures the social malaise of the 70s very well.

[Cinesimilitude]

that poster is too like the flashback edition cover. criterion will make it very unique.

I'd like them to follow the "Freaks and Geeks" Yearbook cover style. Give the yearbook a hard cover, and when you open it up, the digipak for the discs folds out from behind the front cover, and the booklet is right behind it, yearbook style, with essays, and class photos and all that cool stuff.

[oldsheperd]

I think that Dazed and Confused image was used for the flashback box when it came out with Fast Times at Ridgemony High. Please, I hope they don't do any 70's pot or happy face references. Just have the cover show blurry images of Carter and Ford or something about the Bicentennial.

[Narshty]

Wow. Just wow. I can't imagine Criterion will put out anything else in 2006 that will make me remotely as happy.

Please, one and all, welcome to the collection the best picture ever made about being young.

[cafeman]

Please, one and all, welcome to the collection the best picture ever made about being young.

That place belongs to Streets of Fire. And Flashdance.

It`s a tie.

[oldsheperd]

No way, Footloose, get Loose, Kick Off Your Sunday Shoes!

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Please, one and all, welcome to the collection the best picture ever made about being young.

That place belongs to Streets of Fire. And Flashdance.

It`s a tie.

Wow, someone on here referencing Streets of Fire. Very cool.

[Cinesimilitude]

Tape was excellent. but the dialogue is nowhere near as good as before sunset/sunrise.

[chaddoli]

Tape maybe my favorite Linklater also, I absolutely love it and I've seen it so many times...But the most underrated Linklater film goes without question to Suburbia, a wonderful, amazing film.

[Mental Mike]

Isn't anyone getting annoyed with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy yet? I don't think they will get together because they would get on eachother's nerves - they are certainly getting on mine!

...I loved Before Sunrise years ago but there is nothing worse than two neurotics talking for a whole movie with no point or end to their intellectual bullshit! - they are not getting anywhere with their stale jokes and rambling stories...I feel like I've grown out of them...

[BWilson]

I like Dazed and Confused very much, and I will admit to contributing to the reputation of the film as being a bit "played out", since I did watch it every single day for a year during my sophomore year of college.

I think the film is fantastic, but one thing has always bothered me about it, and that is its similarity to American Graffiti. The cars, the multiple story threads, comical incidents while trying to buy liquor under age, etc. Combined with the distinction that one film is about the first day of summer and the other the last.

I guess I feel the film has great characters and dialogue, but a totally unoriginal story.

[oldsheperd]

Criterion could always release a special edition of the D&C knockoff Stoned Age. What could be worse?

[Gregory]

There are numerous superficial similarities between American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused but I think each film is a distinct project, each with very different results. AG is light and nostalgic, while Dazed and Confused is to a great extent sinister and disturbing. Of course, it is not uniformly so. There are bittersweet touches and moments of brightness that would have to be part of nearly any account of life experience. But Linklater has confirmed that he intended it to be a sort of horror film. Many miss this, but I think this intention comes through clearly in the film and for me it's one of the main things that makes it interesting and successful.

[BWilson]

Yes, but AG is pretty "sinister" as well. Watch the scene where Richard Dreyfus talks with the high school teacher outside the dance.

[Mental Mike]

I think it is o.k. to release Dazed and Confused in the next year or so...but please not that awful animated feature he did! I hate being called an ape compared to Nietzche!

[PfR73]

Waking Life? I love that film...it's totally Criterion worthy, but Fox has already released a pretty great DVD of it. The only way I can think of it being improved is to add the whole digicam/pre-rotoscoped version of the film instead of just select scenes.

Did you like Slacker? I view Waking Life as a companion piece to Slacker and it's also an interesting compendium that references most of Linklater's previous films.

[Mental Mike]

I do like Slacker, but that film was innocent. Waking Life insults the intelligence of the audience and Linklater's fans. It was like he was trying to alienate his fans, proving he was a genius and feeling he had to educate us. I would have stopped seeing his films altogether had I not seen his commentary on Fassbinder's 'In a Year of 13 Moons'...Yes, Linklater's a genius, but he can show it by making a movie we want to watch, rather than one in which he boasts how much more graceful he is than the rest of us.