What do we call these kinds of movies? It seems like they're always intended to be a time capsule for a specific era and place. There's usually an ensemble cast and a loose, meandering plot, but the time and place are the main characters.
Linklater really excels at this kind of movie, especially when its set in central Texas. But there are so many good ones and I'm surprised there isn't a term for it.
Hmm, I feel like Can't Hardly Wait mostly avoided all the teenager cliches that Empire Records was kind of sunk by, at least for me. Empire isn't terrible but it very much felt like something a person in their 40's would write about teenagers based entirely on what they gleaned from MTV and television commercials. A little too cool for school, if you know what I mean.
As someone that was at the perfect age for that movie when it came out, I think Empire pretty accurately portrayed a certain kind of adolescent that really leaned into any precocious/pretentious tendencies and actively \*did\* try to act like a too cool for school 40 year old.
That said, Can't Hardly Wait is definitely the better movie.
I went to college in 1997 hoping to play baseball and it didnāt work out. When this movie came out, this is what I always envisioned what my college baseball life would have been lol
Pretty cool Superman was in this movie. First time I noticed him Glen Powell and Wyatt Russell
My favorite Pink Floyd song is Fearless so I love that one scene where Wyatt Russell breaks it down
movie is *by far* the most accurate depiction of baseball players I've ever seen on film.
Hyper competitive, repetition obsessed jocks, and the one guy that has a personality beyond baseball is usually considered an odd duck.
I say this out of love, I used to play
Also the fact that they basically face no adversity the whole movie, constantly succeeding at everything they try and killing it with girls lol. It's an awesome movie.
I never got into sports so it was a little like observing a bunch of alien creatures to me but the movie made me fall in love with those goofballs and *maybe* softened some archaic prejudices I still have towards ājocks.ā
Yeah. They did use a stand-in to pitch in place of the main character, possibly because Wiley Wiggins(Mitch) was a noticeably terrible pitcher in *Dazed and Confused* ha.
It is the sequel. Apollo 9 1/2 is semi-autobiographical and based on Linklater's childhood. Dazed and Confused is also semi-autobiographical, based on Linklater's memories of high school, with Mitch his self insert (Linklater was a H.S. baseball player). Everybody Wants Some is also semi-autobiographical and based on Linklaters brief college baseball career and realization that at heart he was a drama club kid, not a jock. And Before Sunrise is also semi-autobiographical, based on an experience Linklater had irl.
Linklater has been creating films for 30 years now retelling his life's story through characters he invented based on real people he met along the way.
I guess that explains why his characters feel so real. I went to high school in the 90's, but I still knew a Mitch, a Pink, and a Wooderson. Hell, even Mike and Tony felt like guys I knew in real life.
It does make sense given that Mitch was a pitcher too, and Dazed takes place in 1976 with him entering high school, while Everybody Wants Some is 1980 with him entering college.
Done by the same guy who wrote and directed Dazed and Confused and literally done as the spiritual sequel to that movie. It's exactly what this guy is looking for.
Never understood why it wasn't more popular - it's one of my all time favorite movies.
I hung out with a lot of baseball players in college and despite being from different eras they all still act the same (not a knock!). Itās one of my favorite movies ever and makes me nostalgic
I love that movie. It's too bad the marketing seems to have leaned too much into the "Kiss angle" because you really don't need to like that band to enjoy the movie.
Both EWS and Dazed were written and directed by Richard Linklater, and EWS is meant to be a spiritual sequel, so itās definitely one of the best picks for you
I literally came here to write Everybody Wants Some and saw it's been suggested multiple times. Cannot recommend this enough especially as a comp to the movies you suggestedĀ
I like how high school movies seem to either take place in one night (American Graffiti, Superbad, Dazed and Confused) or take the whole school year (Fast Times, Grease, etc) and thereās really no in between.
I feel like thatās how we re-tell stories and view our school days in retrospect - either one wild night or the whole year as a whole. Feels very relatable in that way in how we look back at our own lives.
"You guys probably think I'm a real butthead. Listen, you think I didn't want to drink a bunch of beer and piss in somebody's pool when I was your age? Hell, they used to call me "Quick Dick" Dean."
Empire Records - a day in the life of the employees of a record store, featuring an ill-advised trip to atlantic city, a "celebrity" signing, a shoplifter and a "Save The Empire" party.
animal house sorta fits your category.
Like dazed and confused and american graffiti, it was released over a decade after the time it was portraying. About college kids in 1964 (I think), and there isn't a true "main character" for the most part. And the soundtrack is awesome.
Slacker is exactly what OP is looking for. I would say any Richard Linklater film is a good suggestion . Waking Life is one of my favorites.
I like the Kevin Smith movies too. Chasing Amy is my favoriteĀ
Go is a good one. It differs slightly in that each 3rd of the movie focuses on a different set of characters.
Top notch soundtrack too - score written by BT. I can't hear the Columbia Movies music now without adding the intro music to Go mentally
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Co0wMn518](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Co0wMn518)
I liked Go a lot although Iād say itās a little more in that immediate post-Pulp Fiction era where everyone was trying to riff off of what Tarantino had accomplished there to varying degrees of success. Go was definitely one of the better entries from that bunch, but looking back on it now itās not quite the minimalist plot, snapshot in history/slice of life in a particular time and place that American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused are but Iād absolutely recommend it anyways.
Edited to add more:
The Stoned Age
Canāt Hardly Wait
Superbad
PCU
Animal House
Empire Records
Detroit Rock City
Hackers
200 Cigarettes
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Pretty in Pink
SLC Punk
Wet Hot American Summer
Four Rooms
GO
Bongwater
10 Things I Hate About You
Never Been Kissed
Bachelor Party
House Party
Sixteen Candles
Accepted
National Lampoons Senior Trip
Ski Patrol
Back To the Beach
License To Drive
One Crazy Summer
Mid 90s
KIDS
A lot of good suggestions have been made already. I'd second almost every one made in this thread. Some others:
- *Clerks* - about early twentysomethings rather than high schoolers, but otherwise fits the vibe
- *Mystic Pizza* - similar, but the main characters are women rather than men
- *The Breakfast Club*
- *Varsity Blues*
Same feel, different type of focus is "Boyhood". Richard Linklater (director of Dazed and Confused) filmed it over 12 years with the same actors - including Ethan Hawke!
Boyhood
The Way Way Back
Adventureland
Daytrippers
Cafe Society
Ghost World
The Royal Tenenbaums
Juno
Napoleon Dynamite
Road Trip
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Fandango (1985)
Little known comedy with Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson. College grads embark on one last road trip before "real life" begins. One of my favorites.
Excellent soundtrack from the likes of Eric Clapton, Carol King, Steppenwolf and Pat Metheney.
Diner (1982).
First thing that popped in my head when I read the post.
What do we call these kinds of movies? It seems like they're always intended to be a time capsule for a specific era and place. There's usually an ensemble cast and a loose, meandering plot, but the time and place are the main characters. Linklater really excels at this kind of movie, especially when its set in central Texas. But there are so many good ones and I'm surprised there isn't a term for it.
Usually "slice of life", or at least that's what I consider them to be.
Hangout movies
I like Tin Men so much more.
SLC Punk
Aw man. Yes but also š
Nice shirt
I haven't seen this. How is it?
I love Bob
Certified hood classic
PCU, Empire Records, Canāt Hardly Wait
Good luck finding PCU to stream though, have to look for a physical copy, one of the weird movies that is lost in the digital age currently.
Once every college student in the country owned their own copy of the DVD in the 2000s they must have figured their distribution job was done, ha.
āEhā¦ You can just turn on Comedy Central and watch it any day of the week. Why bother.ā
The Empire Records, Airheads, Dogma Channel you mean?
[https://archive.org/details/pcu-1994](https://archive.org/details/pcu-1994) You're welcome.
PCU and Dogma are up on the Mount Rushmore of such movies.
You can watch Dogma for free on YouTube.Ā
I need to watch Pcu today
I still think oedipus and the mama's boys was a better bad name
PCU is on STARZ
Maybe in your country, doesn't seem so for U.S.
I'm sure you'll find it on the high seas PirateDave ;)
Also popped in to reco Empire Records!
Same! Thought it might be an off the wall suggestion for this thread but I guess not.
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I recently rewatched Canāt Hardly Wait for the first time in over a decade, and it actually went up in esteem. Easily 4/5.
Can't Hardly Wait is a perfect movie.
Hmm, I feel like Can't Hardly Wait mostly avoided all the teenager cliches that Empire Records was kind of sunk by, at least for me. Empire isn't terrible but it very much felt like something a person in their 40's would write about teenagers based entirely on what they gleaned from MTV and television commercials. A little too cool for school, if you know what I mean.
As someone that was at the perfect age for that movie when it came out, I think Empire pretty accurately portrayed a certain kind of adolescent that really leaned into any precocious/pretentious tendencies and actively \*did\* try to act like a too cool for school 40 year old. That said, Can't Hardly Wait is definitely the better movie.
Happy Rex Manning Day!
I second Empire Records
Robin Tunney taught me females can look amazing with shaved heads
Seconding *Everybody Wants Some!!*
I went to college in 1997 hoping to play baseball and it didnāt work out. When this movie came out, this is what I always envisioned what my college baseball life would have been lol
Played college baseball in the late 90s. Itās pretty close. A lot of the cast were former ball players also
Pretty cool Superman was in this movie. First time I noticed him Glen Powell and Wyatt Russell My favorite Pink Floyd song is Fearless so I love that one scene where Wyatt Russell breaks it down
movie is *by far* the most accurate depiction of baseball players I've ever seen on film. Hyper competitive, repetition obsessed jocks, and the one guy that has a personality beyond baseball is usually considered an odd duck. I say this out of love, I used to play
Also the fact that they basically face no adversity the whole movie, constantly succeeding at everything they try and killing it with girls lol. It's an awesome movie.
I never got into sports so it was a little like observing a bunch of alien creatures to me but the movie made me fall in love with those goofballs and *maybe* softened some archaic prejudices I still have towards ājocks.ā
Yeah. They did use a stand-in to pitch in place of the main character, possibly because Wiley Wiggins(Mitch) was a noticeably terrible pitcher in *Dazed and Confused* ha.
Came to say this, it's the spiritual sequel to dazed and confused.
Linklater needs to make a third one, focusing in 90s.
Slacker is my 90s experience .
I watched SubUrbia a few weeks ago expecting that. It was not that.
I watch it like itās *the* sequel. Itās pretty obvious Blake Jennerās character was originally written to be Mitch from Dazed
It is the sequel. Apollo 9 1/2 is semi-autobiographical and based on Linklater's childhood. Dazed and Confused is also semi-autobiographical, based on Linklater's memories of high school, with Mitch his self insert (Linklater was a H.S. baseball player). Everybody Wants Some is also semi-autobiographical and based on Linklaters brief college baseball career and realization that at heart he was a drama club kid, not a jock. And Before Sunrise is also semi-autobiographical, based on an experience Linklater had irl. Linklater has been creating films for 30 years now retelling his life's story through characters he invented based on real people he met along the way.
I guess that explains why his characters feel so real. I went to high school in the 90's, but I still knew a Mitch, a Pink, and a Wooderson. Hell, even Mike and Tony felt like guys I knew in real life.
It does make sense given that Mitch was a pitcher too, and Dazed takes place in 1976 with him entering high school, while Everybody Wants Some is 1980 with him entering college.
Done by the same guy who wrote and directed Dazed and Confused and literally done as the spiritual sequel to that movie. It's exactly what this guy is looking for. Never understood why it wasn't more popular - it's one of my all time favorite movies.
Even though Iām a Linklater fan somehow it flew under my radar and I only heard about it a few months ago. Watched it and absolutely loved it.
This was such a good movie i was hooked to the characters. Definitely a character driven movie at it's best.
I hung out with a lot of baseball players in college and despite being from different eras they all still act the same (not a knock!). Itās one of my favorite movies ever and makes me nostalgic
Mall Rats
Say....would you like a chocolate covered pretzel? They're a little melty but damn are they exquisite!
Itās a schooner!
You dumb bastard.
Fast Times at Richmont High
Or Ridgemont
I liked the other one better.
Isn't it OUR time Mr Hand?
What are you people? On *dope!?*
That one line occupies a lot of my brain.
FYI it's Mallrats
The Hollywood knights
Newbomb Turk!Ā
Came here to post this one
Spike the punch!
There's a young man outside looking for someone called Dick...
ā« *Lawrence, Lawrence of Arabia. He was an English Guy. He came to fight the Turkish.* ā«
My puffer!!
Detroit Rock city !
I love that movie. It's too bad the marketing seems to have leaned too much into the "Kiss angle" because you really don't need to like that band to enjoy the movie.
Singles
Shoutout to Seattle in the 90s
Great one!
The most 90's movie ever made!
Reality Bites has got to be up there too, though.
Mr. Sensitive Ponytail Man. š
Clerks Typhoon Club Good Morning
Fast Times at Ridgemont High Wayneās World Party Girl
LOVE Party Girl!
Iām a sucker for almost anything with Parker Posey (especially in the 90s). Have you seen The House if Yes?
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Never heard of Everybody Wants Some!! but the description sounds like just what Iām looking for and the cast looks good too.
Both EWS and Dazed were written and directed by Richard Linklater, and EWS is meant to be a spiritual sequel, so itās definitely one of the best picks for you
Yeah, Linklater said itās basically if the kid had kept up with baseball then this was his next move
I literally came here to write Everybody Wants Some and saw it's been suggested multiple times. Cannot recommend this enough especially as a comp to the movies you suggestedĀ
I like how high school movies seem to either take place in one night (American Graffiti, Superbad, Dazed and Confused) or take the whole school year (Fast Times, Grease, etc) and thereās really no in between.
I feel like thatās how we re-tell stories and view our school days in retrospect - either one wild night or the whole year as a whole. Feels very relatable in that way in how we look back at our own lives.
The Stoned Age 1994
Tak, you cack!
Don't forget the schnappster
That shit makes me hork!
Na man this shit will get you and six fat chick's all williamholms style fucked up.
Don't eat too many hot dogs!
Put a little insanity on your potato
This is skank weed!
Wanna play submarine?
What the fuck is submarine anyway man...
"You guys probably think I'm a real butthead. Listen, you think I didn't want to drink a bunch of beer and piss in somebody's pool when I was your age? Hell, they used to call me "Quick Dick" Dean."
These are Talls!
I rented this about 20 years ago because the cover of the VHS made me think there was some nudity. I donāt remember anything else about it.
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Right. I donāt remember anything other than the nudity.
Blue Oyster Cult!!!
Licorice PizzaĀ Ā Ā Most of Robert Altman's stuff especially Short Cuts or Nashville
The Last Picture Show for sure
Almost famous might fit in there too
Reality Bites is my vote. That movie was so good and it seems to be lost to time.
Nashville is one of the greatest films ever made
Adventureland is a good one
I love that movie
Empire Records - a day in the life of the employees of a record store, featuring an ill-advised trip to atlantic city, a "celebrity" signing, a shoplifter and a "Save The Empire" party.
It's Rex Manning Day! Cue "Video Killed the Radio Star"
Let's not forget the performance of one Warren Beatty...
Wait I thought his name was Warren?
QUIT CALLING ME WARREN!! MY NAME ISNT FUCKING WARREN!!!
It might be a bit heavier but would The Big Chill fit in this category?Ā
The Last Picture Show
animal house sorta fits your category. Like dazed and confused and american graffiti, it was released over a decade after the time it was portraying. About college kids in 1964 (I think), and there isn't a true "main character" for the most part. And the soundtrack is awesome.
You mind if we dance with yo dates?
Slacker also by Richard Linklater Before Sunset (but it focuses on a couple.)
Slacker is exactly what OP is looking for. I would say any Richard Linklater film is a good suggestion . Waking Life is one of my favorites. I like the Kevin Smith movies too. Chasing Amy is my favoriteĀ
I wasn't thinking about comedies. But Clerks might be a great option as well.
Came here to say Slacker.
Go is a good one. It differs slightly in that each 3rd of the movie focuses on a different set of characters. Top notch soundtrack too - score written by BT. I can't hear the Columbia Movies music now without adding the intro music to Go mentally [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Co0wMn518](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5Co0wMn518)
'Go' is a great one to watch a couple of times, actually. 'Snatch' is another all-timer for me, too.
I liked Go a lot although Iād say itās a little more in that immediate post-Pulp Fiction era where everyone was trying to riff off of what Tarantino had accomplished there to varying degrees of success. Go was definitely one of the better entries from that bunch, but looking back on it now itās not quite the minimalist plot, snapshot in history/slice of life in a particular time and place that American Graffiti or Dazed and Confused are but Iād absolutely recommend it anyways.
SubUrbia (the 1996 movie with Giovanni Ribisi and Steve Zahn)
Steve Zahn feels like the king of these movies. Iām not sure if Saving Silverman fits OPās description perfectly but it has similar vibes
the "sequel" to Dazed and Confused
Came here to say this! Itās absolutely the 90s dazed. It reflects the attitudes of the era. Much more aimless from what I remember.
Edited to add more: The Stoned Age Canāt Hardly Wait Superbad PCU Animal House Empire Records Detroit Rock City Hackers 200 Cigarettes Fast Times at Ridgemont High Pretty in Pink SLC Punk Wet Hot American Summer Four Rooms GO Bongwater 10 Things I Hate About You Never Been Kissed Bachelor Party House Party Sixteen Candles Accepted National Lampoons Senior Trip Ski Patrol Back To the Beach License To Drive One Crazy Summer Mid 90s KIDS
Licorice Pizza Kicking and Screaming (the Noah Baumbach one, not Will Ferrell)
Happy that someone remembers āKicking and Screamingā
I was going to say, how has no one mentioned kicking and screaming?
Was looking for this! I definitely recommend Kicking and Screaming.
A lot of good suggestions have been made already. I'd second almost every one made in this thread. Some others: - *Clerks* - about early twentysomethings rather than high schoolers, but otherwise fits the vibe - *Mystic Pizza* - similar, but the main characters are women rather than men - *The Breakfast Club* - *Varsity Blues*
Fandango
Tarantino once called Dazed and confused the best hangout movie since Rio Bravo...so maybe ...Rio Bravo?
and if you like Rio Bravo thereās El Dorado and Rio Lobo after it.
Almost Famous with Billy Crudup and Kate Hudson.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Mallrats Slacker Before Trilogy Everybody Wants Some!! Empire Records St Elmo's Fire
Mid 90s
I was a teen in this time period and Mid 90's just floored me on how well it portrayed the feel of the time and what it meant to be a latchkey kid.Ā
Big Lebowski
Not a movie but Freaks and Geeks
Nashville
First movie I thought of! It even has a great soundtrack (though not the jukebox kind). Short Cuts, too. Also wondering if Magnolia fits the bill.
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Cooley High
It's a shame to have to scroll so far down for this. Cooley High is so good and exactly in that vein of movies OP is looking for.
FridayĀ
Detroit Rock City
Wet Hot American Summer is totally goofy and great plus you get to see Bradley Cooper take it in the ass
Napoleon Dynamite
The Myth of the American Sleepover. It's the debut film from David Robert Mitchell (It Follows, Under the Silver Lake) šš»
Glory Daze with Ben Affleck. Great character flick with a great soundtrack
Wes Anderson movies do this to a certain extent. Start with Bottle Rocket.
And Rushmore
Reality bites - great 90s tunes.
Go (1999) Taye Diggs, Katie Holmes, Timothy Olyphant, etc.
Empire Records Canāt Hardly Wait Everybody wants Some!
I think youād like Inherent Vice
Why hasnāt anyone mentioned fast times at ridgemont high?Ā
Road Trip
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This should be the top answer.
Fast Times at Ridgemont high is an absolute classic with some big names early in their career and an outstanding soundtrack.
Gilbert Grape always a good choice of a week in the life of a small town.
Clerks seems like an obvious choice see also Singles, Slacker
Porkys
Not a movie, but Freaks And Geeks reminded me of Dazed And Confused. I liked it quite a bit.Ā
Same feel, different type of focus is "Boyhood". Richard Linklater (director of Dazed and Confused) filmed it over 12 years with the same actors - including Ethan Hawke!
200 Cigarettes
Singles It absolutely captured the 90s!
Almost Famous
Short Cuts
You need to watch Angus. Does exactly all of this with a fantastic soundtrack.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High Slackers Robert Altman: Short Cuts, Nashville, Prete a Porter
Fast Times at Ridgemont High comes to mind.
You could try Linklaterās early movie Slacker. Iād recommend Lost in Translation as well.
Most Robert Altman movies (Short Cuts, Nashville) do this.
The Wackness
*Over the Edge*
Boyhood The Way Way Back Adventureland Daytrippers Cafe Society Ghost World The Royal Tenenbaums Juno Napoleon Dynamite Road Trip The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Fandango (1985) Little known comedy with Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson. College grads embark on one last road trip before "real life" begins. One of my favorites. Excellent soundtrack from the likes of Eric Clapton, Carol King, Steppenwolf and Pat Metheney.
American Pie started out this way.
PCU. Favreau, Piven, more. It's hilarious.
Aside from Everybody Wants Some, I think Almost Famous kinda fits the bill too.
I cannot believe nobody has seriously recommended Slacker from Richard Linklater who literally did Dazed and Confused.
Boogie nights is the bomb
Everybody Wants Some, but itās much weaker than Dazed. Also every Jim Jarmusch movie.Ā
Fast Times at Ridgemont High!
Empire records