Tuesday, September 29, 2009
LINKLATER FEST
I am going to be looking at a lot of films by
Today's film was his first feature
This DVD was a restored version by Criterion. He and it have hit the classic spot. He has an oeuvre.
Linklater is, perhaps, the only director who I have seen from his beginning through a relatively successful career. And liked his stuff from the beginning. A fan.
Tom and I saw Slacker when it was first out and playing at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline. Not even in downtown Boston or Cambridge. I had read a review and it rang a bell. I wanted to see it.
I loved it. So I watched for him and he has had a real reel career. He has gained the stature of one who can do "one for them and one for me" or even "one for them and two for me" meaning he gets his rep and the nut from some popular films and then makes more intimate films that he wants to see.
Me too.
Slacker is made up of episodes linked together linearly. The people we see never come back. They have their scene(s) and then they pass the baton to the next person or passerby. Actually less than that. They usually do not even notice the next in line who strides into our view and carries us to the next station.
All these people are "slackers". They don't do much. They have opinions on everything. The opinions run from small obsessions to wild ass conspiracy theories.
All of Linklater's personal, small films are based on talk. This is a good introduction to his work.
Up coming are the two matched films, Before Sunrise (1995) and Before Sunset (2004).
Today's film is a 5 out of Netflix5 by definition.
