RICHARD LINKLATER

a very erratic filmmaker but always dear to my heart for A Scanner Darkly and Dazed and Confused

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

wow this is kinda tough.

guess I'll go with before sunset, edging out dazed.

― ryan, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

He's only gotten erratic lately actually. This is tough. There are a lot of good movies on this list, but there isn't one that just pops out at me as okay that's the BEST.

― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

Can safely eliminate FFN, WL, BNB though.

― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

Slacker. or,

slacker

― wanko ergo sum, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

he achieved everything he couldve wanted to with dazed & confused & he'd probably admit as much under influence of truth serum

― deeznuts, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

I wish they'd release subUrbia out on DVD.

― milo z, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

i kinda wish he had ended up doing Friday Night Lights.

― ryan, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

wow i really dont like most of his movies. never seen them all in a list together like that but ugh, just not for me.

― BLACK BEYONCE, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

ok with the exception of SubUrbia, which i have a bizarre soft spot for.

― BLACK BEYONCE, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

A few years ago I would have called him my favorite working director (because of Dazed and the Before movies, mostly), but I just don't have much interest in seeing whatever he comes out with now.

― milo z, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 22:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

i wrote a chapter about him a few years ago and limited it to his original screenplays, which makes him seem a lot more coherent. (i included scanner darkly because he adapted it by himself and i think the finished thing feels very linklater-y in its methods and content.) anyway, i think dazed and confused really is his best. i really like the sunrise/sunset movies, and slacker and waking life have a bunch of great moments. scanner darkly is kind of a mess, but the woody harrelson/robert downey jr. scenes are good. woodshock is pretty entertaining, but it's impossible to learn to plow... is a great big student-film bore.

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

― gr8080, Thursday, 24 July 2008 01:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

dazed and confused, but i love sunrise/sunset.

― horseshoe, Thursday, 24 July 2008 04:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

Haven't seen some of the well-thought of ones here (Waking Life, Before Sunset) but look, barely anybody ELSE has ever made a movie as good as Dazed and Confused so I figure Linklater hasn't either.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

i think the politics of dazed and confused get overlooked a little, it tends to get talked about like it's just a feel-good period piece. it's really about that moment, the total collapse of authority in america, the particular kind of freedom it promised, the reactionary pushback. all in 24 hours.

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

you just convinced me that I need to rewatch it.

― sleeve, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

it's also about that gto easing into the parking lot and "sweet emotion"...

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

Oh, and how many times the one kid touches his brow in the course of that one single scene.

― kingfish, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:39 (4 years ago) Permalink

dazed & confused, slacker, the before movies, all pretty much untouchable. school of rock quite good. scanner darkly major letdown and pretty lame. bad news bears and everything else pretty much whatever. but fast food nation i liked a lot.

― s1ocki, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tape is as good as Waking Life is terrible.

― Nhex, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm torn in great part between D&C and Waking Life and Slacker on historical grounds but actually my vote is going toward underdog School of Rock on behalf of the rare category of Favorite Movies My Son And I Share.

― nickalicious, Thursday, 24 July 2008 05:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

fast food nation i liked a lot.

it was better than i expected. the immigrant storyline was really good, i sort of wish the whole movie had been that. the anomic high school kids and morally conflicted corporate lackey seemed more pro forma.

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 24 July 2008 06:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

fast food nation was prety weak, i thought the kinnear/willis part could have been the basis for a good comedy if fleshed out a lot. the ethan hawke part was one of the most embarassing things i've ever seen.

― velko, Thursday, 24 July 2008 06:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

I really admire his erraticness. I'll go with Before Sunset

― baaderonixx, Thursday, 24 July 2008 08:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

D&C, but a vote for anything but the Befores is OK with me. Even The Newton Boys.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 24 July 2008 13:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tape has Ethan Hawke's best performance. Voted for D&C over Before Sunrise.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 24 July 2008 13:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

i'm surely way out on my lonesome here, but I've never understood the hard-on people have for this dude. Slacker and D&C had a couple of chuckles in them, and he's uh, technically competent...
but really?

― will, Thursday, 24 July 2008 13:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

I really enjoyed Tape; would screen again.

And Slacker is just one of my favorite films ever, art's best defense of Texas -- but I D&C never clicked for me, at all.

― wanko ergo sum, Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

How busy was he 2001-2006? Wow, didn't realise he was that productive then. Well, I did, but I've never looked at titles and dates and considered it before.

― Scik Mouthy, Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

Arguably a little too busy.

D&C did click for me, in part, cuz apparently Texas was just like how I remember New Jersey being in 1976.

― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:20 (4 years ago) Permalink

D&C is the only movie yet made that I can watch ad infinitum. Such a fun, easy-going flick.

― Granny Dainger, Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

Before Sunset, easily.

― Eric H., Thursday, 24 July 2008 15:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

PARTY AT THE MOON TOWWER

― 404 Error: Page Not Found, Thursday, 24 July 2008 22:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

Dazed and Confused is one of my favourite movies ever. So, um, yeah.

― I know, right?, Thursday, 24 July 2008 22:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

I haven't seen very many of his films. A Scanner Darkly was extraordinary, though.

― chap, Thursday, 24 July 2008 22:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

I wish they'd release subUrbia out on DVD.

Oh yes. Warners were supposed to have it out last fall.

Linklater came down to Houston last year to introduce a screening of Minnelli's Some Came Running at the MFA. He did a Q & A about the film afterward. After that he signed some autographs and chatted with fans. Nice fellow. There was funny moment during Q & A when this one prick kept asking about A Scanner Darkly and his usage of Keanu Reeves. A real pain in the ass. Linklater finally told him that Keanu was a good guy and easy to work with.

― C. Grisso/McCain, Thursday, 24 July 2008 22:45 (4 years ago) Permalink

Before Sunrise. Obv.

― SeekAltRoute, Friday, 25 July 2008 12:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― ILX System, Monday, 28 July 2008 23:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Waking Life is a mess, but I love it.

D&C is very good, but I don't really love it.

Before Sunrise is his best and I like it a lot.

Voted Waking Life.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 28 July 2008 23:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

saw part of FFN today. BO RING.

― El Tomboto, Monday, 28 July 2008 23:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― ILX System, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 23:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Waking Life (2001) 4

!!!

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 23:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

nono

The School of Rock (2003) 4

!!!

― milo z, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 00:00 (4 years ago) Permalink

The School of Rock >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Waking Life

― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 00:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

I want to like totally revolt in this poll thread omg

― Mackro Mackro, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 00:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

Worthiest winner ever.

― sonderangerbot, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 00:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

most accurate poll results ever

― deeznuts, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 04:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

Waking Life is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. (BOGUS is the worst.)

― Abbott, Wednesday, 30 July 2008 05:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

*makes poutine joke*

― who sharted?! (s1ocki), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 17:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

well, I'm guessing quite a few changes were made in the adaptation then. This is to some degree a horny 1930s teenager movie.

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 18:09 (3 years ago) Permalink

it's a young man coming-of-age movie—he's like 18, but as a 12-year-old i would have loooooooooved this so much

― who sharted?! (s1ocki), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 18:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

There was a guy in front of me last night who laughed at EVERYTHING... shots of the marquee, Brutus's orations, you name it.

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 18:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

also, I did not recognize any of the 4 company logos that preceded the credits, I guess that's why I didn't get any info about screenings.

― Rage, Resentment, Spleen (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 30 December 2009 18:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/06/richard-linklater-says-dazed-confused.html#more

depressing, the two fallen-through films sound awesome

didn't know M&OW didn't really open in the US. played multiplexes here.

― sites.younglife.org:8080 (history mayne), Saturday, 12 June 2010 10:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

when's subUrbia coming out on dvd?

― Sunny came home with emissions (Stevie D), Saturday, 12 June 2010 12:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

when the economy picks up.

― Ned Rag & the Evil Olive Gardens (Drugs A. Money), Monday, 27 December 2010 10:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

Texas true-crime black comedy... "Jack Black as a gay mortician" does something to my kishkes, but we'll see.

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 15 April 2012 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

nephew of the murder victim seems OK with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/magazine/how-my-aunt-marge-ended-up-in-the-deep-freeze.html

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 16 April 2012 15:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

I guess Shirley MacLaine playing a high-maintenance Texas dame who gets offed could've been titled Debra Winger's Revenge.

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 16 April 2012 15:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think I read somewhere that Linklater is related to Marge, too?

― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Monday, 16 April 2012 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

dunno, i'm seeing this tnite so trying not to read too much

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Monday, 16 April 2012 18:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

i keep being ABOUT to rent me & orson welles ten i spot something else.... i guess i can't work up much enthusiasm about it? but i'd like to see. and this new one.

no way is D&C his best film BTW. oh well.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Tuesday, 17 April 2012 00:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

So I'm in the minority so far, but after 20 cute minutes Bernie deflates like a balloon. Jack Black doesn't have to do any *actual* gay stuff besides mince, and sing "76 Trombones."

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 14:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

A roundup:

http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/richard-linklater-and-bernie

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

curious what gay things Morbz wanted to see Jack Black do

― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

haha damn, all kinds of gay stuff, probably.

― these pretzels are makeing me horney (Hungry4Ass), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

Well, if they worked, the film could've made the next horror poll.

xp

Point is the character apparently had tons of sex with local men, something that's only referred to comically by McConaughey's asshat DA. If yer gonna tell a story, tell it. OTOH, singing showtunes is much more reliably audience-friendly.

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

ah well ok that makes sense

still wanna see this tho. bummed it isn't opening in SF just yet

― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

on a related Jack Black genital note, my friend Jim did the new Tenacious D album cover art (likely NSFW, tho Jay Leno held it up the other night):

http://www.toogoodforradio.com/comedy/stream-tenacious-ds-new-song-album-out-in-may/

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

a new Tenacious D album is really not something that needed to happen

― heavy is the head that eats the crayons (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 27 April 2012 16:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

seeing Bernie tonight

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 20:37 (11 months ago) Permalink

shoulda read me, I am absolved

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 22:05 (11 months ago) Permalink

I did read it, still gonna see it

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 22:09 (11 months ago) Permalink

this was pretty enjoyable. lack of Jack Black bjs didn't bother me.

― Roger Barfing (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 15:32 (11 months ago) Permalink

bernie owns

― Hungry4Ass, Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:10 (11 months ago) Permalink

weak tea

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:12 (11 months ago) Permalink

yeah I enjoyed it. I like movies where the surrounding community is as much a central part of the narrative as the main characters

― retro-shittified (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:13 (11 months ago) Permalink

keeping Bernie offscreen wd've been better.

― World Congress of Itch (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 7 June 2012 20:21 (11 months ago) Permalink

so I lost my hopes that Bernie would be uproarious but uneven like I Love You, Philip Morris in the first ten minutes.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 21 August 2012 22:14 (8 months ago) Permalink

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Ethan-Hawke-Julie-Delpy-Shooting-Sequel-Sunrise-Sunset-31409.html

We’re also doing a follow-up to Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, so that will be fun. We’re going to shoot that this summer,” Hawke reveals. “I’ve gotten into trouble, so I’m sworn to secrecy [about where it will take place]. The biggest change between this one and the last one is the Internet. The first time we did it, we didn’t have any pressure; nobody gave a shit.

― piscesx, Tuesday, 21 August 2012 22:21 (8 months ago) Permalink

omg I hope for good things, I love those 2 movies!

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 22 August 2012 01:07 (8 months ago) Permalink

When I heard they were doing Before Sunset, I thought, "that is a TERRIBLE idea."

I feel the same way now, despite really loving Before Sunset.

― Legendary General Cypher Raige (Gukbe), Wednesday, 22 August 2012 01:19 (8 months ago) Permalink

Finally saw Bernie. Thought it fantastic, but that's perhaps owed to, you know, the TEXAS thing. He didn't get talked up as much as Black did, but McConaughey absolutely NAILED the lifelong small-time/big ideas Texan Politico ("Let me show you what I like to call my 'Wheel of MIS-Fortune'."), from the hand movements down to the cowboy hat and half-full bottle of Big Red on the table in the courtroom (that part I guess was really up the props department).

Was moved by the dedication to Lou Perryman and Eagle Pennell at the end of the credits.

― Hut Stricklin at Lake Speed (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 6 September 2012 20:40 (8 months ago) Permalink

i was crestfallen to find out at the end that Rick Dial had died

― Hungry4Ass, Thursday, 6 September 2012 20:45 (8 months ago) Permalink

bernie was great. i thought shirley maclaine was just fantastic (jack black too, but her performance was so smart). especially after how much i disliked her on downton abbey.

― Author ~ Coach ~ Goddess (s1ocki), Thursday, 22 November 2012 00:01 (5 months ago) Permalink

i loved this. Morbs is probably right in that it does deflate a little. for that happened after the murder.

townspeople the real star (and maybe even subject) of the film, which almost reads like an ethnography of small town east texas. particularly loved the sense in which it was obvious (to me anyway) that many of the interviewees were cutting up not only for the camera but for each other--you get the sense this kind of performance in front the community is a part (and pleasure) of daily life in a town like that. this is like sitting in church and listening to gossip. Bernie is a hero because he played that game, because he performed so well. the "reality" of what he did is incidental.

― ryan, Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:27 (5 months ago) Permalink

*for me that happened after the murder.

― ryan, Thursday, 20 December 2012 00:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

I just watched Bernie, that shit was great!

― "poop floats" starring sandra buttock (Stevie D(eux)), Thursday, 20 December 2012 05:04 (5 months ago) Permalink

Me too! McConaughey /is/ Texas as much as any of the folksy old people.

― mh, Friday, 21 December 2012 00:14 (4 months ago) Permalink

yeah, totally.

― ryan, Friday, 21 December 2012 00:22 (4 months ago) Permalink

Before Midnight getting rapturous reviews.

― Zero Dark 33⅓: The Final Insult (Eric H.), Monday, 21 January 2013 13:42 (3 months ago) Permalink

This guy disagreess: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2013/jan/21/before-midnight-first-look-review

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 21 January 2013 13:45 (3 months ago) Permalink

the film it most closely resembles is not either of its predecessors but Abbas Kiarostami's Certified Copy, an ironic, metatextual take on cinematic love stories that somehow, and most unfortunately, feels much more genuine than this.

Somehow this doesn't dampen my enthusiasm.

― Zero Dark 33⅓: The Final Insult (Eric H.), Monday, 21 January 2013 13:48 (3 months ago) Permalink

uh ya haha

― zero dark (s1ocki), Monday, 21 January 2013 15:17 (3 months ago) Permalink

end of cinema

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 21 January 2013 15:26 (3 months ago) Permalink

go back to bed

― zero dark (s1ocki), Monday, 21 January 2013 15:30 (3 months ago) Permalink

xp sign of enema

― Zero Dark 33⅓: The Final Insult (Eric H.), Monday, 21 January 2013 15:31 (3 months ago) Permalink

― saltwater incursion (Dr Morbius), Monday, 21 January 2013 15:43 (3 months ago) Permalink