Dazed & Confused
Click Here to see where the film got its title.
Okay, so the movie is set in 1976, but it was filmed in 1993 (this blog has taught me that I am apparently obsessed with this year). Dazed and Confused combines my two favorite eras, and features one of my favorite soundtracks of all time. Even though it didn't garner much attention in 93, Dazed and Confused has become increasingly popular over the last 15 years, gaining cult status.
Soundtrack
The film opens with Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion," capturing the bliss that goes along with the last day of school, and closes with "Slow Ride" by Foghat as Pink, Wooderson, Dawson and Simone drive to get Aerosmith tickets. Other great songs in the film include Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" when Mitch is getting his beating, and the 'Nuge's "Stranglehold."
Breakout Roles
Ben Affleck (O'Bannion): Before Good Will Hunting and "Bennifer," (parts I and II), Ben Affleck was the fifth-year bully O'Bannion. Take a closer look at his paddle...FUH-Q.
Matthew McConaughey (Wooderson): Playing the slightly-older dropout, McConoughey landed himself the most memorable line from the film: "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older and they stay the same age."
Rory Chochrane (Slater): If you don't recognize his name, you probably didn't watch the first two seasons of CSI. He played the character Speedle, who is murdered pretty early in the series. In Dazed Slater is by far the most toasted character, my favorite line being "Behind every good man there is a woman, and that woman was Martha Washington, man, and everyday George would come home, she would have a big fat bowl waiting for him, man, when he come in the door, man, she was a hip, hip, hip lady, man."
Adam Goldberg (Mike): Goldberg has had small parts in several movies, (Saving Private Ryan, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days), and in some pretty popular TV shows, (Friends, Entourage), but self-described "geek" Mike Newhouse was his breakout role. "I'm just trying to be honest about being a misanthrope."
Milla Jovovich (Michelle): Jovovich has had a pretty extensive modeling career and a so-so acting career. Michelle was Kevin Pickford's girlfriend in Dazed, and seemed just about as out of it as Slater and Pickford were. She didn't have any memorable lines and mostly just stared blankly throughout the film.
Jason London (Randall "Pink" Floyd): What's not to love about Pink? The inexplicably lovable character conflicts throughout the film about signing a declaration not to drink or use drugs, eventually telling his football coach "I may play ball next fall, but I will never sign that." London and his twin brother Jeremy have both lead semi-successful careers, with small movie roles and a few television appearances.
There are thousands of other memorable characters and quotes that would make this post painfully long, so I'll spare you. Watch the movie! :) It now comes as a dual-disk set with the 80's cult classic Fast Times at Ridgemont High, another great movie.
Pop-Culture References
Family Guy has referenced Dazed and Confused on two occasions:
1) Brian, dressed as Wooderson, repeats the high school girls line outside an animated Emporium
2) Chris is afraid to start high school, and is eventually paddled to "No More Mr. Nice Guy."
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6 comments:
Well, I can't possibly let this one go without a comment since Led Zeppelin is my favorite group and I graduated from high school in 1976, the year in which the movie was set. Awesome soundtrack and I can attest the movie was very reflective of the time! As you pointed out, many actors got their start in the flick. Vince Vaughan was actually cast for a role, but was replaced. Renee Zellweger has an uncredited nonspeaking role. The film is close to the heart of Matthew McConaughy, who named his production company JKL Productions after his character's motto: Just Keep Livin. The beer drunk by most of the cast who were of age was actually beer. Yea, I know, I shouldn't know this much insignificant crap about a movie -- you should hear me when I talk about "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"!
I'm glad to hear that SOMEONE thought it reflected the times! My parents insist that it didn't (I know my dad is lying and my mom had a kid in 1976- not exactly a "hip, hip, hip lady" haha)
I happen to own the box-set of "Dazed" and "Fast Times," (aptly named "The Ultimate Party COllection") and on the bonus features are some retro commercials and an educational filmstrip-stle short called "The Blunt Truth" that is absolutely hillarious!
Maybe I was just running around with the wrong crowd . . . :p
My mom also didn't know a single Pink Floyd song until I developed an excellent taste of music during high school haha
Dazed and Confused has to be one of my all time favorite movies! Definitely in the top 3, I'm SO glad that you wrote about it! To me, however, th most memorable line is "You just gotta keep on living man- L-I-V-I-N'!" I saw the movie for the first time two years ago when I was a freshman here at Fredonia, and I just fell in love with it. I think me and my friends watched in on a weekly basis (or at least before we went out on the weekends, the movie makes for a pretty fun game). The soundtrack is what completes the movie, besides the all-star cast. Sweet emotion was a great track to kick off the movie, so thanks for linking to the youtube video! I've never seen fast times at Ridgemont high though, is it just as good?
"Fast Times" is definately worth seeing! Sean Penn plays the stereotypical California surfer-stoner, and his character is by far the funniest in the film. It doesn't compare to "Dazed," but I might just think so because I really hate the 80s haha!
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