Dazed and Confused

Posted on 21 januari 2024 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Richard Linklater
Written by: Richard Linklater
Cast: Jason London, Wiley Wiggins, Matthew McConaughey, Rory Cochrane

Year / Country: 1993, USA
Running Time: 103 mins.

Richard Linklater’s masterpiece about the last day of an Austin high school in 1976. ‘A time they would never forget’, the tagline states, ‘if only they could remember.’ Indeed, these are the days of aimlessly hanging around, getting wasted, performing vandalism, having sexual experiences, falling in love, and being genuinely confused about what to do next in life. The pointlessness is the point.

The whole movie plays like a seamless stream of magical summer moments experienced by kids who have just graduated and a group of freshmen, who also intermingle as the former perform hazing rituals on the latter, but also take some of them out to party and smoke weed. There is no plot or central conflict, it is just a collection of interconnected happenings and it all feels super real and not scripted at all. That is mainly because Linklater allowed the actors to bring their own experiences to their roles.

The casting is impeccable. With their authentic performances, these young actors really bring this era to life. They are also helped by the excellent production design and soundtrack, featuring songs by a.o. Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Licensing these songs raised the budget considerably, but it definitely adds to the authenticity. Many of the young adults are played by actors who would later become stars, most notably Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich and Matthew McConaughey (for McConaughey it was his breakout role).

Linklater and his crew have created the perfect time capsule. It is like the American Gravity for the next generation. Any time you feel like experiencing this era, but also relive your own confusing high school days, put on Dazed and Confused, and it takes you right there.

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Biography: Richard Linklater (1960, Houston) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He was among the first and most successful talents to emerge during the American independent film renaissance of the 1990s. Suburban culture and the passage of time are big themes in many of his movies, some of which are set during one 24-hours period, including his successful ‘Before’-trilogy with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. He is married to Christina Harrison and they have three children, including Lorelei who played a large part in Linklater’s much praised movie Boyhood.

Filmography (a selection): It’s Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988, short), Slacker (1990), Dazed and Confused (1993), Before Sunrise (1995), The Newton Boys (1998), Waking Life (2001), Tape (2001), School of Rock (2003), Before Sunset (2004), Fast Food Nation (2006), A Scanner Darkly (2006), Me and Orson Welles (2008), Before Midnight (2013), Boyhood (2014), Everybody Wants Some (2016), Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)

The Verdict: The Last Duel

Posted on 1 februari 2022 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

A movie set in the middle ages directed by Ridley Scott? That could work. Although the movie did poorly at the box office, it is actually quite masterful. The screenplay, adapted from a novel by Eric Jager, was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who are, don’t forget, Oscar winning screenwriters for Good Will Hunting. I think they – together with Nicole Holofcener – did an outstanding job. The Rashomon-like approach to the true story of a knight and a squire who battle over the love for a woman runs like clockwork. I am going to challenge Variety and say that the screenplay will be nominated for an Academy Award. It goes without saying that Scott is the right man to direct this type of film. He gets excellent performances out of his cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer and Ben Affleck are all superb. So are the sets, costumes and cinematography. This movie deserves to do a lot better on Disney than it did in cinemas. I agree with critics who said it’s Scott’s finest film since Gladiator. If Gladiator 2 doesn’t happen, this would be a great end for the career of the 84 year old maestro.

The Last Duel is now available on Disney Plus

The verdict: to stream or not to stream? To stream

Dungeon Classics #14: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Posted on 8 juli 2021 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon’s Chief Editor JK sorts through the Dungeon’s DVD-collection to look for old cult favorites….

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001, USA)

Director: Kevin Smith
Cast: Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck
Running Time: 104 mins.

The stoner comedy is a genre that I as an ex-stoner can definitely appreciate. Jay and Silent Bob, who before this movie were side characters in Kevin Smith’s four previous films (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma), are the perfect stoner buddies. The foul-mouthed Jay is hilarious, and Silent Bob provides not so subtle feedback through body language alone. The duo embark on a quest to Hollywood to prevent a film being made based on their comic book alter ego’s Bluntman and Chronic. On their way, they meet many weird characters played by well known actors, such as: Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Eliza Dushku, Shannon Elizabeth, Will Ferrell, Chris Rock and – most impressively – Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill. The movie is filled with dick-jokes, fart-jokes, gay-jokes, and movie references (especially Star Wars). Highlights include comedian George Carlin’s cameo as cock smoking hitchhiker and the confrontation with Mark – Luke Skywalker – Hamill as Cocknocker, the villain of the Bluntman and Chronic movie. Yes, this is definitely the Citizen Kane of stoner comedies.

Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Posted on 29 augustus 2008 by Jeppe Kleijngeld

‘May the best hitman win’

Directed by:
Joe Carnahan

Written by:
Joe Carnahan

Cast:
Ryan Reynolds (Richard Messner), Ray Liotta (Donald Carruthers), Jeremy Piven (Buddy Israel), Andy Garcia (Stanley Locke), Ben Affleck (Jack Dupree), Alicia Keys (Georgia Sykes), Taraji P. Henson (Sharica Watters), Vladimir Kulich (The Swede), Peter Berg (‘Pistol’ Pete Deeks), Common (Sir Ivy)

The Guy Ritchie formula can be and has been used to successfully create crowd-pleasing crime comedies. Smokin’ Aces comes across as such an attempt, but misfires badly in many ways.

In its setting, the US Cosa Nostra is nearly completely dismantled by the government. Two remaining fractions are entangled in an all-out war, while the feds are closing in on both of them. One fraction belongs to Vegas showman Buddy ‘Ace’ Israel (Jeremy Piven), who is about to spill the beans on the entire organisation of his former protégé, the dying mob boss Primo Sparraza.

To prevent Israel from talking, Sparraza puts out a million dollar contract on his head, which attracts every loony hitman- and woman from the country and beyond. They all head towards the coke snorting Israel, who is holed up in a Lake Tahoe casino-hotel, while two FBI agents (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta) want to get to him first and make him participate in the Witness Protection Programme.

This set-up ensures some fireworks, but a complete lack of character development takes away the impact that the many deaths could have had. Closest things to a main character is Reynolds’, whose agent has no background story whatsoever. When the ridiculous plot twist at the end establishes him as just a puppet on a string, he becomes another potentially interesting character that is hard to give a toss about.

Richie’s early films teach us that in order to make a film like this work, you’ll need more than just flashy camera tricks. For one thing, violence needs to serve the story or it becomes gratuitous like it does here. You also need humour and a light tone. It is unexplainable why director Carnahan uses such dramatic music all the time. It makes it seem as though there is a message. There is none.

Finally, all the different plot threads need to seamlessly fit in the greater whole. Smokin’ Aces leaves plots dangling or delivers unsatisfying outcomes. Not that you’ll care, since there are barely intriguing characters in this movie. It will just make you wonder who has green lit this thing and make such an impressive ensemble cast go to waste.

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