Richard Linklater penned and directed the comedy "Dazed and Confused," a film about the last day of school in 1976 through the eyes of upcoming freshmen, graduating seniors and soon to be seniors, among other classmen. The comedy looks at the rituals of welcoming Junior High School students into High School and a huge party to say goodbye to the school year. With an absolutely amazing Rock and Roll soundtrack, "Dazed and Confused" nicely captures the mid-Seventies era through music, clothing, hairstyles and the lingo of the times. "Dazed and Confused" was filmed in 1993, but it is one of the quintessential films to time capsule the Seventies and a classic teen comedy that rivals any of the John Hughes 80´s pictures with believable characters and a lot of charm.
There are a lot of characters and a lot of minor plot lines in "Dazed and Confused" that mix together to form a detailed and entertaining story. One of the plot lines involves Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) and his torment over having to sign an agreement that states he will not partake in any drugs, alcohol or other unacceptable activities in the eyes of his high school football coach. He is the teams upcoming star quarterback and it will be his senior year, but signing the paper is enough to have him not want to return to the team. Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane) goes through the film looking for a great buzz and reasons to party. He has taken a little too many hits of pot, but Cochrane has nailed the "Stoner" character in the film.
Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) is an upcoming senior that is attacked by the departing seniors and beaten with paddles in a ceremony that strikes fears into all Junior High School students, but Mitch´s sister Jodi (Michelle Burke) asked the seniors to take it easy on him, which means a harder beating. Fred O´Bannion (Ben Affleck) is the leader of the seniors looking to spank him with their various beat sticks. David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) is the graduated young man who remains in his home town and continues to hang out with High School students and offers friendship and advice to anybody willing to listen and is always looking to score with any of the pretty young girls, especially red-haired Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi). There are at least a dozen other supporting characters and almost as many sub-plots; all of which make "Dazed and Confused" a solid film.
Another important character in the film is the smashing rock score. I have two Compact Discs that were culled from the musical selections contained in the film. They are two of the best compilations of Seventies rock and roll that I own. "Dazed and Confused" has certainly succeeded in part to the strength of its soundtrack offerings and all for good reason. Aerosmith´s "Sweet Emotion," Alice Cooper´s "School´s Out," War´s "Low Rider," Bob Dylan´s "Hurricane," KISS´s "Rock & Roll All Nite" and ZZ Top´s "Tush" are just a few of the two dozen or so songs that are used by the film and help drive its story along. This is a rare film where you want to sit down and watch it just to hear the songs and I can´t think of another film that can step toe-to-toe with "Dazed and Confused" when it comes to soundtrack strength. It bests anything Quentin Tarantino has done.
"Dazed and Confused" is wonderful entertainment. The film combines a great number of believable characters who portray the various stereotypes associated with teenage high school years and the various classes of characters one meets on their way through their last four years of education. There are hip students and there are geeky nerds. McConaughey drives around in an old Camaro and has his cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. If that isn´t a perfect embodiment of the gear-head high school cruiser, I don´t know what is. "Dazed and Confused" also succeeds because of the age of the actors. The film uses actors and actresses who do not look far off of their ages. There was a trend in the late Nineties where it seemed every ´Teen Film´ featured thirty-something actors and the student body looked too old to even be in college. "Dazed and Confused" tries and succeeds at realistically recreating the period its story takes place in.
There are a lot of characters and a lot of minor plot lines in "Dazed and Confused" that mix together to form a detailed and entertaining story. One of the plot lines involves Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) and his torment over having to sign an agreement that states he will not partake in any drugs, alcohol or other unacceptable activities in the eyes of his high school football coach. He is the teams upcoming star quarterback and it will be his senior year, but signing the paper is enough to have him not want to return to the team. Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane) goes through the film looking for a great buzz and reasons to party. He has taken a little too many hits of pot, but Cochrane has nailed the "Stoner" character in the film.
Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) is an upcoming senior that is attacked by the departing seniors and beaten with paddles in a ceremony that strikes fears into all Junior High School students, but Mitch´s sister Jodi (Michelle Burke) asked the seniors to take it easy on him, which means a harder beating. Fred O´Bannion (Ben Affleck) is the leader of the seniors looking to spank him with their various beat sticks. David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) is the graduated young man who remains in his home town and continues to hang out with High School students and offers friendship and advice to anybody willing to listen and is always looking to score with any of the pretty young girls, especially red-haired Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi). There are at least a dozen other supporting characters and almost as many sub-plots; all of which make "Dazed and Confused" a solid film.
Another important character in the film is the smashing rock score. I have two Compact Discs that were culled from the musical selections contained in the film. They are two of the best compilations of Seventies rock and roll that I own. "Dazed and Confused" has certainly succeeded in part to the strength of its soundtrack offerings and all for good reason. Aerosmith´s "Sweet Emotion," Alice Cooper´s "School´s Out," War´s "Low Rider," Bob Dylan´s "Hurricane," KISS´s "Rock & Roll All Nite" and ZZ Top´s "Tush" are just a few of the two dozen or so songs that are used by the film and help drive its story along. This is a rare film where you want to sit down and watch it just to hear the songs and I can´t think of another film that can step toe-to-toe with "Dazed and Confused" when it comes to soundtrack strength. It bests anything Quentin Tarantino has done.
"Dazed and Confused" is wonderful entertainment. The film combines a great number of believable characters who portray the various stereotypes associated with teenage high school years and the various classes of characters one meets on their way through their last four years of education. There are hip students and there are geeky nerds. McConaughey drives around in an old Camaro and has his cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. If that isn´t a perfect embodiment of the gear-head high school cruiser, I don´t know what is. "Dazed and Confused" also succeeds because of the age of the actors. The film uses actors and actresses who do not look far off of their ages. There was a trend in the late Nineties where it seemed every ´Teen Film´ featured thirty-something actors and the student body looked too old to even be in college. "Dazed and Confused" tries and succeeds at realistically recreating the period its story takes place in.
Richard Linklater penned and directed the comedy "Dazed and Confused," a film about the last day of school in 1976 through the eyes of upcoming freshmen, graduating seniors and soon to be seniors, among other classmen. The comedy looks at the rituals of welcoming Junior High School students into High School and a huge party to say goodbye to the school year. With an absolutely amazing Rock and Roll soundtrack, "Dazed and Confused" nicely captures the mid-Seventies era through music, clothing, hairstyles and the lingo of the times. "Dazed and Confused" was filmed in 1993, but it is one of the quintessential films to time capsule the Seventies and a classic teen comedy that rivals any of the John Hughes 80´s pictures with believable characters and a lot of charm.
There are a lot of characters and a lot of minor plot lines in "Dazed and Confused" that mix together to form a detailed and entertaining story. One of the plot lines involves Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) and his torment over having to sign an agreement that states he will not partake in any drugs, alcohol or other unacceptable activities in the eyes of his high school football coach. He is the teams upcoming star quarterback and it will be his senior year, but signing the paper is enough to have him not want to return to the team. Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane) goes through the film looking for a great buzz and reasons to party. He has taken a little too many hits of pot, but Cochrane has nailed the "Stoner" character in the film.
Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) is an upcoming senior that is attacked by the departing seniors and beaten with paddles in a ceremony that strikes fears into all Junior High School students, but Mitch´s sister Jodi (Michelle Burke) asked the seniors to take it easy on him, which means a harder beating. Fred O´Bannion (Ben Affleck) is the leader of the seniors looking to spank him with their various beat sticks. David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) is the graduated young man who remains in his home town and continues to hang out with High School students and offers friendship and advice to anybody willing to listen and is always looking to score with any of the pretty young girls, especially red-haired Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi). There are at least a dozen other supporting characters and almost as many sub-plots; all of which make "Dazed and Confused" a solid film.
Another important character in the film is the smashing rock score. I have two Compact Discs that were culled from the musical selections contained in the film. They are two of the best compilations of Seventies rock and roll that I own. "Dazed and Confused" has certainly succeeded in part to the strength of its soundtrack offerings and all for good reason. Aerosmith´s "Sweet Emotion," Alice Cooper´s "School´s Out," War´s "Low Rider," Bob Dylan´s "Hurricane," KISS´s "Rock & Roll All Nite" and ZZ Top´s "Tush" are just a few of the two dozen or so songs that are used by the film and help drive its story along. This is a rare film where you want to sit down and watch it just to hear the songs and I can´t think of another film that can step toe-to-toe with "Dazed and Confused" when it comes to soundtrack strength. It bests anything Quentin Tarantino has done.
"Dazed and Confused" is wonderful entertainment. The film combines a great number of believable characters who portray the various stereotypes associated with teenage high school years and the various classes of characters one meets on their way through their last four years of education. There are hip students and there are geeky nerds. McConaughey drives around in an old Camaro and has his cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. If that isn´t a perfect embodiment of the gear-head high school cruiser, I don´t know what is. "Dazed and Confused" also succeeds because of the age of the actors. The film uses actors and actresses who do not look far off of their ages. There was a trend in the late Nineties where it seemed every ´Teen Film´ featured thirty-something actors and the student body looked too old to even be in college. "Dazed and Confused" tries and succeeds at realistically recreating the period its story takes place in.
There are a lot of characters and a lot of minor plot lines in "Dazed and Confused" that mix together to form a detailed and entertaining story. One of the plot lines involves Randall "Pink" Floyd (Jason London) and his torment over having to sign an agreement that states he will not partake in any drugs, alcohol or other unacceptable activities in the eyes of his high school football coach. He is the teams upcoming star quarterback and it will be his senior year, but signing the paper is enough to have him not want to return to the team. Ron Slater (Rory Cochrane) goes through the film looking for a great buzz and reasons to party. He has taken a little too many hits of pot, but Cochrane has nailed the "Stoner" character in the film.
Mitch Kramer (Wiley Wiggins) is an upcoming senior that is attacked by the departing seniors and beaten with paddles in a ceremony that strikes fears into all Junior High School students, but Mitch´s sister Jodi (Michelle Burke) asked the seniors to take it easy on him, which means a harder beating. Fred O´Bannion (Ben Affleck) is the leader of the seniors looking to spank him with their various beat sticks. David Wooderson (Matthew McConaughey) is the graduated young man who remains in his home town and continues to hang out with High School students and offers friendship and advice to anybody willing to listen and is always looking to score with any of the pretty young girls, especially red-haired Cynthia Dunn (Marissa Ribisi). There are at least a dozen other supporting characters and almost as many sub-plots; all of which make "Dazed and Confused" a solid film.
Another important character in the film is the smashing rock score. I have two Compact Discs that were culled from the musical selections contained in the film. They are two of the best compilations of Seventies rock and roll that I own. "Dazed and Confused" has certainly succeeded in part to the strength of its soundtrack offerings and all for good reason. Aerosmith´s "Sweet Emotion," Alice Cooper´s "School´s Out," War´s "Low Rider," Bob Dylan´s "Hurricane," KISS´s "Rock & Roll All Nite" and ZZ Top´s "Tush" are just a few of the two dozen or so songs that are used by the film and help drive its story along. This is a rare film where you want to sit down and watch it just to hear the songs and I can´t think of another film that can step toe-to-toe with "Dazed and Confused" when it comes to soundtrack strength. It bests anything Quentin Tarantino has done.
"Dazed and Confused" is wonderful entertainment. The film combines a great number of believable characters who portray the various stereotypes associated with teenage high school years and the various classes of characters one meets on their way through their last four years of education. There are hip students and there are geeky nerds. McConaughey drives around in an old Camaro and has his cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve. If that isn´t a perfect embodiment of the gear-head high school cruiser, I don´t know what is. "Dazed and Confused" also succeeds because of the age of the actors. The film uses actors and actresses who do not look far off of their ages. There was a trend in the late Nineties where it seemed every ´Teen Film´ featured thirty-something actors and the student body looked too old to even be in college. "Dazed and Confused" tries and succeeds at realistically recreating the period its story takes place in.
No comments:
Post a Comment