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+ Best Texas Movie of the Year
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| The poster for Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused is up front about its raucous teen characters |
It's 1976 on the last day of high school before summer break. Rites and partying is the name of the game for these confused, ecstatic youths.
Written and directed by Texan master filmmaker Richard Linklater (Boyhood (2014)) as his third feature, Dazed is his take on American high school life, which he has described as an inverse John Hughes film, in that no major dramatic event takes place, and the kids don't grow that much but rather keep doing the same things over and over again.
Wiley Wiggins (Computer Chess (2013)) is perfect as the 'little-shot' in the school hierarchy that we attach ourselves to. SPOILER Ben Affleck's (Argo (2012)) character finally gets humiliated in one of the film's highlights. It takes a bit to see what makes this film special, but once its magic kicks in - elevated by a killer soundtrack - it is a great feeling of recognition and entertainment that follows it through: Recognizing these different temperaments and personalities that are nevertheless all pretty much on the same road towards self-discovery and experience is a fun discovery that may well bring back some personal memories.
Dazed is reminiscent of American Graffiti (1973) but more fun and meaningful in my opinion. It's a hell of a youth picture, near plot-free and yet extremely well-driving.
Related posts:
Richard Linklater: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
Boyhood (2014) or, Colored Mirror
Before Midnight (2013) - Linklater, Hawke and Delpy's Before trilogy comes to a tender, incisive and chilling end
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
Bernie (2011) - Linklater, Black and Hollandsworth's incredible true-crime dramedy
A Scanner Darkly (2006) - Dick and Linklater's drug-infested vision of the future
1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Cost: 6.9 mil. $
Box office: 7.9 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown (very probably a big flop)
[Dazed and Confused was released September 24 and runs 102 minutes. The title is taken from a Led Zeppelin song, which Linklater did not gain permission to use in the film. The film, which stars many future superstars like Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey and Milla Jovovich, opened #14 in just 183 theaters to a 0.9 mil. $ first weekend in North America. It is not possible to guess the commercial result of the film's theatrical run without international figures, but it seems very probable that it should be counted as a big flop, though it later turned into a cult favorite. Three former students of Linklater's Huntsville High School sued him for defamation in the film in 2004, but the New Mexico court dismissed the suit. The film has become a youth classic, which Quentin Tarantino has named as his favorite film of the 90s, (probably barring his own films though.) It has inspired what Linklater calls a "spiritual sequel", Everybody Wants Some, which is set in college in the 80s and recently premiered at Austin's SXSW film festival. Dazed and Confused is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Dazed and Confused?
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