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Reviews
Dazed and Confused (1993)
Here comes the story of the hurricane
There are two aspects of Dazed that make it a phenomenal film experience: 1) It's just a great film, with great direction, dialogue, and acting. 2) It has become The Outsiders of this generation. Screw the Kevin Bacon game, play the Dazed and Confused game!
I will address the latter first, because that's the kind of crazy gal I am.
Let's start at the top:
Jason London (Pink), half of the London twin duo.
Joey Lauren Adams (Simone): of Chasing Amy, Michael, Second Noah, and of late, Big Daddy fame.
Rory Cochrane (Slater): Empire Records' gambling beatnick.
Sasha Jenson (Dawson): hasn't done much lately, but he was in Buffy (the movie).
Ben Affleck (O'Bannion): megasuperstar!! (also an appearance in Buffy)
Cole Hauser (Benny): Good Will Hunting's other drunk.
Michelle Burke (Jodi): Coneheads.
Adam Goldberg (Mike): Chandler's weird roomate, and one of the eight in Saving Private Ryan.
Deena Martin (Shavonne): the lovely, if fast, Vegas waitress in Swingers.
Christine Harnos (Kaye): the ex-Mrs. Mark Greene on ER.
Matthew McConaughy (Wooderson): another superstar.
and my personal fave::::Anthony Rapp (Tony): skyrocketed to fame as Mark Cohen in the Broadway smash, RENT!! Just finished the title role in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, also on Broadway.
Okay, now that I've got that out of the way, I can actually talk about the film. There is so much that is so phenomenal about this film, that I don't know where to begin. The accuracy in the portrayal of high school life is probably accurate for high school in the seventies, but in a modern context, it is more like college. Initiation, humiliation, random hookups, all night beer benders, WAAAAAAY too much weed everywhere...sounds like college to me!!
Something else that many people miss is that this portrayal of high school life is sooooo Texas that it's scary. The way people talk. The way people live for beer. The way people are totally in love with their cars and all of their "f*****g muscle." The fact that driving to Houston to buy concert tickets isn't an entirely outlandish idea.
The so obscenely high school parts are beautifully done. The eighth-graders (AKA freshmen) playing paper football on the last day of school made me giggle, because this film was released not long after I got out of junior high. I loved how just hanging out at the Emporium LOOKED so cool, but to the people there, life was boring. (this device was used later in Swingers. At every kickin bar, the ubiquitous phrase of "this place is dead anyway' resonates.)
Speaking of the Emporium, we come to my favorite scene: the entrance of Mitch, Pink, and Wooderson into the Emporium. Watch this scene carefully, and for the lucky ones, you will feel a kinship to the characters. As they're driving up in W's chickmobile, Melba's Toast, Bob Dylan's "Hurricane" begins. The doors burst open into the hangout, and suddenly everything is in slo-mo. Wooderson's gestures, Pink's aknowledgements, Mitch's cool uneasiness, all make us realize that they OWN the place. This is their Cheers, this is their Dresden. Everybody knows them, or at least who they are. They are at home. The shot ends abruptly with Pickford's placing of a football on the table, in another delicious shot. This is some of the best directing, storytelling through pictures, that I have ever seen.
Needless to say, I have seen this film WAY too many times (61 at press time). In fact, I did this entire review from memory at work in about 15 minutes!!
See this film. You will laugh, you won't cry, maybe you'll yawp!!
Chasing Amy (1997)
What's a Nubian?
THE best line in the film is the title of this little diatribe...
Fantastically acted by Joey Lauren, Ben, and Jason, Chasing Amy is definitely one of my top 15 films.
The reality and crunch of the dialogue is what makes this film pure gold, not to mention sly little references to the other two NJ3 films. (Rick Deris was a patron at Quick Stop in Clerks; I'm not even going to touch the Meow Mix conversation; and we all remember the Jones sister's "book" from Mallrats; and Julie Dwier makes a posthumous appearance in all 3 films)
Chasing Amy is oh, so very un-PC, because it deals in the arena of love, and who is ever PC in love? I am a college student majoring in women's studies, and I have heard many of my collegues and professors bash this film for living up to the male pornographic fantasy, well maybe it does, but it is also a love story. And for those that prescribe to the Banky-SeriousDeepDickin' school of thought in reference to this issue, they obviously went to get popcorn during Alyssa's explanation of why she chose Holden. This is a story that strengthens the reasoning of homosexuality, the reason being that Alyssa didn't want to discount half of the world's population to find her soulmate, because of their gender. She had bad experiences with men, so she switched to women. Simple as that.
Things that I love about this film: The Chasing Amy speech w/ Jay & Silent Bob The opening standoff with Hooper and Banky the Archie conversation (which reminds me of old high school lunch table conversations: Bert & Ernie are gay, and the Smurfs were Communists!) the "explanation" on the swings and ... the sign language conversation at the end
*for Good Will Hunting fans: notice Matt Damon as the other executive (that's not Dante) notice Casey Affleck in the opening "tracer" bit...
Swing Kids (1993)
Footloose in the Thirties
Whoever said that Swingers started this trend of swing needs to rent this little film.
While SK does have some weak points, it offers endless oppurtunities for discussion with your friends, and even a learning experience (for DANCING!! I'm not THAT much of a dork!!). I, in fact, learned to swing dance from this film, and giggled when everybody else jumped on the bandwagon.
Anyway, I digress, the point that I was trying to make is that this is the Footloose of the '90s, set in 1939. They danced for expression, joy, and rebellion. The point of the film was that in Nazi Germany, where there was no freedom in your choices, for the Swing Kids, the only time they felt free was in their zoot suits, dancing on the hardwood floors to Benny Goodman!
Say Anything... (1989)
I am searching for my Lloyd Dobler
This is the most wonderfully sweet love story ever. I usually hate love stories, for they are usually so sweet and simpering that I need to projectile vomit directly afterwards, but Cameron Crowe's masterpiece is a delightful exception.
This is his third step in his series that chronicle the maturity of love and infatuation. Fast Times at Ridgemont High: meaningless sex and puppy love; Say Anything: first true love; Singles: maturing and finding yourself and someone to love along the way; Jerry Macguire: holding on to a meaningful relationship while attempting to raise a child.
While this film is supposed to be about an ordinary guy and an extraordinary girl in extraordinarily ordinary situations, it ends up being about an amazing guy...no, a man.
Lloyd Dobler is what every man in a relationship should be. He should be consumed by his adoration and the object of his affection. He is romantic, devoted, "basic", and attentive. He realizes the meaning of everything that happens between the two of them. He realizes that he is only as good as Diane believes him to be. "In Your Eyes" is a perfect song for him.
Every male over the age of seventeen should be required to watch this film -- and take notes!
However, Lloyd is who he is because of the way he is portrayed by the incomparable John Cusack. In the hands of a lesser actor, Lloyd would have been a directionless, goalless, stalking loser. Cusack, in his portrayal of Lloyd, couldn't make this further from the truth. Lloyd is everything that Crowe wrote him to be, and more. Cusack did such a great job, that he has caused me to search for Lloyd Dobler with the eyes of Paul McCartney!
Fantastic for everyone!! 15 out of 10!!
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the Cheeky Fab Four!!!!!!!!
Why do we all love the Beatles? Is it because of their music? That is a huge part of it, 65-70% at least, but the remaining is stolen by their cheeky senses of humour. We have the incomparable John "You're Him!" Lennon, the perennial eight-year-old-but-still-sexy Paul "No, actually we're just good friends" McCartney, the jovial puppy that is Ringo "window rattler" Starr, and the deadpan intellectual humor of George "Arthur" Harrison.
A Hard Day's Night encapsulates all of the charm of the Beatles, along with their fantastic music to make a great ride! But, if this film were just fun and music, we would have HELP!, not HDN. So what makes this better than any band musicals? It is the artistic direction and minimalist writing. The absurdist bicycle/train scene...the light shining directly into the camera during "And I Love Her"...Ringo's walkabout...the ketchup on the sleeve...the obvious Beatleisms peppered throughout ("you're a swine")
All in all, a classic that will be watched by my grandchildren!!
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
My favorite film, full of sizzle and mendacity!!
This is my all-time favorite film, ever ever ever ever!!
How can I describe the fabulousness?? Paul and Liz are so hot and beautifully frustrating together as Brick and Maggie, that the TV nearly explodes...Gooper is perfectly portrayed as a good man, financially independent, but still seeking Big Daddy's approval, and a prime example of a man being "whipped"...we hate Sister Woman, and rightly so -- for she is a despicable character...Big Momma is stronger than anybody thinks, and Big Daddy holds the whole family and story together with his massive strength and faith in himself.
The relationship between Brick and Maggie is the most fascinating ever recorded on celluloid. We think it's all about sex, but if it were, they would have jumped each other long ago (My GOD, LOOK at them!! It's Newman and Taylor). This is a relationship full of confusion, betrayal, honesty, dishonesty, love, desire, and trust. The phenomenal symbolism of Brick's crutch is beautifully represented.
The play was wonderful, and the movie was wonderful, but it is important to remember that they are two separate entities. A mistake that I believe that many people make while watching adaptations, is that they are exactly that -- an ADAPTATION! They are not meant to be the same. They should be judged each on their own merit!!
On Cat's own merit, it is a magical film