Movie Review Last Flag Flying

Last Flag Flying (2017) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Richard Linklater, Danny Ponicsan

Starring Steve Carell, Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston

Release Date November 3rd, 2017

Last Flag Flying is a rare movie. It’s a daring depiction of the aftermath of death in a modern war. It’s an exploration of the hearts and minds of the people left behind. It’s also a movie that feels at times as if it isn’t going particularly anywhere and manages past fits and starts to reach a deeply affecting end. It’s the kind of mainstream drama that you expect Richard Linklater’s idiosyncratic style might render inert in the same neutered manner of his mainstream take on The Bad News Bears.

At times early on in Last Flag Flying, I found myself miffed at the trite nature of the characters. The ways in which Steve Carell’s sadsack Doc, Bryan Cranston’s obnoxious Sal, and Laurence Fishburne’s cranky priest Mueller fall so easily into sitcom type characters got on my nerves very early in the film and I prepared myself to write a review of the film that was not going to be fun to write. Then something began to change. Slowly but surely, the film began reeling me in and when it reached the end, I was a little teary-eyed as Bob Dylan’s warm tones flowed over the end credits.

Last Flag Flying tells the story of Doc, who attempts to reunite with his friends, Sal and Mueller. The three fought in Vietnam together and while Sal and Mueller remember taking on the much younger Doc, they also consider it a stretch of the term to call the kid a friend. Something happened near the end of the war that sent Doc to a military prison and prematurely ended their friendship, but Doc never forgot about his buddies. Now that he is facing the biggest crisis of his life with no family at home, his thoughts go back to his only friends.

For his part, Sal has been drinking away the memories of Vietnam for more than 30 years. Doc finds him at a bar in Virginia that he owns and somehow operates through his various stupors. Doc had already found Mueller and collects Sal to take him to see the sight of their formerly hellraising friend, now a Baptist Preacher. Doc soon after explains why he’s tracked down his army pals. His son was killed in action in Iraq, and he wants his only friends on hand to help him lay Larry Jr. to rest.

Find my full length review in the Geeks Community on Vocal. 

Classic Movie Review Dazed and Confused

Dazed and Confused (1993) 

Directed by Richard Linklater 

Written by Richard Linklater 

Starring Wiley Wiggins, Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, Parker Posey, Joey Lauren Adams, Ben Affleck 

Release Date September 24th, 1993 

Published September 25th, 2023 

Dazed and Confused captured a moment in time, a transition period for American culture. The last vestiges of the Baby Boom giving way to the start of Generation X. It's the end of the last great period of rock n'roll before it gave way to disco and eventually, pop music. The film is set just before AIDS arrived to rob the world of so many, many souls, both through the death of so many, and the many children who would never be born due to the fear of death by sexual activity. Dazed and Confused lives in this calm before the next storm. 

In 1976 we had a little distance from the turmoil of the 1960s and we hadn't yet seen the rise of the Evil Empire, a.k.a The Reagan administration. 1976 was a brief moment where we were allowed to breathe and relax and wait for the next trauma to visit the nation. Vietnam is a recent wound but one that we have a couple years distance from. Like I said, 1976 is a unique moment in time. Dazed and Confused reflects this moment by showing us a relatable but deeply disaffected group of young people, unmoored, exhausted, and just seeking a little break from the outside world via the various available intoxicants. 

The story, such as it is, of Dazed and Confused falls primarily on Randall 'Pink' Floyd (Jason London), the star Quarterback of his Texas High School. Pink is growing more and more disenchanted with the role of golden boy. When the Head Football Coach sends out a letter that is players must sign a drug and alcohol free pledge, Pink decides that he won't say it. This comes from two points of view, one, he just wants to see what the coaches reaction will be. The other point of view is that Randall doesn't want to play football anymore. Anyone with just a passing knowledge of High School Football in Texas knows that this is not decision that will go over well. 

The second track of story follows the incoming freshman of the school. Wiley Wiggins stars in Dazed and Confused as Mitch Kramer. Mitch becomes the prime target of the new senior class as part of an annual rite of passage in this small Texas town. Because Mitch has an older sister who is going to be a senior, the senior boys decide to punish Mitch extra hard. The tradition is such that new seniors, those going into the final year of High School in the fall, must spend the summer making sure to 'initiate' the incoming freshman. 

The initiation involves wooden paddles and spanking. It's a painful initiation into High School life and one the seniors relish as they've been through it themselves and are eager for the chance to become the aggressors. This is no more true for anyone as it is for now two time senior, O'Banion (Ben Affleck). The most loud and nasty of the senior bullies, classmates theorize that O'Banion failed his senior year just so he could come back and paddle freshman for one more year before he heads off to some dead end job. Ben Affleck invest O'Banion with a blank eyed stare that communicates both a depth of fear of the future and a deep sense of masculine insecurity that underlines the homo-erotic aspect of this bizarre rite of passage. 

Freshman girls don't get off easy either, though thankfully, they are free of spankings. For the incoming Freshman girls, the punishment appears to be voluntary. A group of girls who wish to be accepted as popular by the senior girls submit themselves to being forced to roll around on the ground and be covered in condiments before they are thrown into the back of a truck and driven thru a car wash. It's a different kind of ritual, for sure, one embodied by Sabrina (Christin Hinojosa), a freshman who was selected by one of the seniors and ends up being invited to travel with the Senior girls to various places and parties on this first night of summer. 

Find my full length review at Geeks.Media 

Movie Review: Bad News Bears

Bad News Bears (2005) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa 

Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Greg Kinnear, Marcia Gay Harden

Release Date July 22nd, 2005 

Published July 22nd, 2005 

Director Richard Linklater has cultivated the persona of a Director who can bounce between brilliant, artful indie films (Before Sunrise, Dazed and Confused) and mainstream stuff without compromising his vision. 2003's School Of Rock was a big studio comedy with a rising star, Jack Black, that studio execs were eager to exploit. Linklater delivered a film that was mainstream funny with just enough of a nod to his roots to keep it grounded in his vision as a Director.

School Of Rock allowed Linklater to make the far smaller film, Before Sunset, the sequel to his wonderful romance Before Sunrise , and the template for his career seemed set. In the indie parlance, Linklater was going to make one for them and one for himself. That seems to be the case with his latest studio film Bad News Bears which will be followed quickly by the experimental animated film A Scanner Darkly.

Unfortunately something got lost along the way and Linklater's nod to studio execs turned out messy and compromised. Bad News Bears is simply bad news for it's rising star Director.

Billy Bob Thornton, coming off his tour de force comic turn in Bad Santa, stars in the lead role essayed by Walter Matthau in the 1976 original, Morris Buttermaker. A former major leaguer, Morris is now a pathetic drunk working for beer money as an exterminator. His only connection to the sport he once loved is picking up a paycheck coaching a group of little league misfits.

The Bears, as they are eventually called, are only allowed into the league after the mother of one of the players, Liz (Marcia Gay Harden), sued to get them in. Other little league coach's like hotshot sports dad Roy Bullock (Greg Kinnear) had wanted the kids out of the league, mostly because none of the kids are any good. But, it's little league and everyone gets to play and it's up to Buttermaker to field a team that includes a kid in a wheelchair and two kids who can't speak English.

Not much has been changed from the original film which operates from nearly the same screenplay by Bill Lancaster as the one Lancaster wrote himself in 1976. Just like the original their is little Tanner (Timmy Deters) all blonde mop and anger, their is Ahmad the meek black kid, and Lupus the one who would rather pick grass than play ball. Each player virtually untouched from the original. The minor updates include an Indian kid, Prem (Aman Johal) who takes over for the original films Ogilvie as the teams stat geek and the aforementioned wheel chair bound kid Hooper (Troy Gentile).

Also in place from the original are the girl pitcher, Amanda (Sammi Kraft) and the wrong side of the tracks bad boy with the big bat, Kelly Leak (Jeff Davies). Gone from their relationship is the subversive sexual undertones, replaced with a more PG-13 puppy love. In fact, of the few changes to the original film are touches to make the film PG-13 where the original was a PG film that today may have been R-rated today.

The lack of anything new in the script reflects an overall laziness that permeates the entire film. Remakes are lazy enough by nature but Richard Linklater brings little to nothing new to Bad News Bears. Linklater seems quite content to translate the script to the screen with only a minimal amount of work on his part. That is not to say the material is not funny, the original film was plenty funny and remains so. This remake resembles the original so much you can't help but find something funny in it.

Also recycled in Bad News Bears is Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa bad boy. Thornton's Buttermaker is not exactly as bad as his Santa, but in his hard drinking, thoughtless, careless way he is certainly a close cousin to that far funnier character. Thornton still manages a few laughs from this retread character, a sign of his strong talent and charisma.

The less said about the child actors in Bad News Bears the better. Where in School Of Rock Linklater coaxed wonderful performances from his young cast to counterpoint Jack Black's comic tour de force, in Bad News Bears Linklater makes his child actors more functionary place holders for Thornton's comic lead. Needless to say, there is no Tatum O'Neal in this Bad News cast.

Bad News Bears is a shockingly lazy and sloppy film for someone of Richard Linklater's talent. No director of his caliber can get away with such a slipshod effort. The direction is not merely lackluster, it's lazy. Richard Linklater should be ashamed that he wasted his time slapping together such a waste of talent and celluloid. Remakes are a big enough waste on their own, when combined with a complete lack of effort on the part of those doing the remaking, they are an all out disaster.

Movie Review: A Scanner Darkly

A Scanner Darkly (2006) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Richard Linklater 

Starring Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane

Release Date July 7th, 2006

Published July 7th, 2006

The work of Philip K. Dick, the much revered sci fi Author,  has been adapted many times. Some, like Minority Report, have been quite successful. Others, like Paycheck, have been Hollywoodized disasters. Surprisingly only two of Philip K. Dick's full length novels have ever been adapted. Blade Runner , published under the original title "Do Robots Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", in 1981 and in 2006 A Scanner Darkly, Dick's dystopian drug tale from 1974, adapted in the highly unique fashion of director Richard Linklater.

For Dick, A Scanner Darkly was an examination of how the drug use of the sixties had taken so many of his friends and idols. For Linklater; this tale of drugs, corruption and paranoia is a jumping off point for a smart satire of modern paranoia and police state tactics. Keanu Reeves leads an awesome cast in A Scanner Darkly as Bob Arctor and Agent Fred. Bob is a drugged out loser living communally with other druggies in his former family tract home. Agent Fred is Bob's undercover cop alter-ego who is watching these druggies for possible trafficking in a drug called Substance D.

Fred's main target is a woman named Donna (Winona Ryder) who promises a major Substance D score but never delivers. She is supposedly Bob's girlfriend but she doesn't like to be touched so intimacy is unattainable. Bob/Fred's situation is worsened by his own growing addiction to Substance D which he has used to get close to his druggie pals. Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson round out the main cast of A Scanner Darkly as a pair of hopped up druggies. Given the well known, drug related, pasts of both actors the inside joke is obvious but still amusing. Downey gives a standout performance as a fast talking paranoid, conspiracy theorist who goes to extreme lengths to protect himself from unseen forces.

Paranoia is one of the many subjects of the broad satire of A Scanner Darkly. Paranoia, drugs, law enforcement, drug treatment; all are subjects of this highly literate animated head trip from director Richard Linklater. The universe of the film, set 7 years from now, is one in which a drug has conquered much of the United States. Police have set up elaborate surveillance systems and suspended many civil liberties in their attempts to curb the drug; with little success.

The organization used to rehab former users is corrupt and untouchable by even the cops. The paranoia in the film is most often drug induced but extends beyond that to a cameo by nutball conspriracy theorist and paranoia expert Alex Jones. Jones, who was also seen in Linklater's animated masterpiece Waking Life, has been good friends with Linklater for years which explains his inclusion in this film despite his many discredited conspiracies about 9/11, JFK and other such popular conspiracies.

The plot unfolds slowly because the focus of much of the film is the drug inspired verbal diarrhea of these literate but slightly askew characters. Once the film begins to develop a more cinematic form of storytelling the plot emerges almost mundanely. There is an element of police procedural beneath the head tripping rotoscope animation. Reeves' cop character under a mind bending disguise cloak does many of the things a cop in any other movie would do. He is slowly building his case for arresting his supposed friends.

If it weren't for his own drug dependence Agent Fred would be a regular cop gathering evidence for warrants and preparing a case against the criminals around him. Unfortunately, like Jason Patric's undercover cop in Rush, he gets sucked in and subsumed in his subject. If not for the animation and the minor sci fi conceits this could be a very typical plot. There is a twist at the end that gives the film a bit more of a kick than an average undercover cop flick, but that mundane element is still there.

Rotoscope animation under the direction of Richard Linklater is mesmerizing to watch. It's use in A Scanner Darkly lifts what could be an average movie up to the realm of something artful but not exactly art. The film is, at it's core to simple and far too detached to be art. There is no passion outside of a passion for the technology used in painting real life actors with the watercolor tones of rotoscope animation. Beyond the animation there is this unique collection of actors to enjoy and that goes a long way. Each of the four leads are like old friends and watching them interact with one another is a treat. We have watched these four actors for so long that it's odd to think they have never worked together in a film before.

Downey, as I mentioned earlier, is the stand out of this ensemble but there is something to be said here for the maturation of Keanu Reeves. Joke all you want about his dunderhead reputation, that slacker cred plays to his advantage in this picture and I think I see him really beginning to mature into a real actor. He's using his persona more to his own advantage in recent films and that is a smart decision. This is not Philip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly. What director Richard Linklater makes of Dick's novel is not really a sci fi exercise in metaphoric storytelling but rather, an often straightforward, if somewhat funky, detective story that is only sci fi in terms of its future setting and flashes of futuristic technology.

This version of A Scanner Darkly is fascinated by its own meandering rambles and meditations and especially its trippy visuals. That is not exactly a bad thing; the rambling is often funny and the animation eye catching but a little more of Dick's literate symbolism might have made for a meaty and interesting movie. As it is, A Scanner Darkly is attention grabbing but lackadaisical.

Movie Review: Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise (1995) 

Directed by Richard Linklater 

Written by Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy 

Release Date January 27th, 1995

Published June 10th, 2004 

Massively moneyed blockbusters are supposed to have sequels, not tiny independent romances with cult followings. Richard Linklater however has always been one to do things differently and thus there is now a sequel to his 1995 romance Before Sunrise. With that film set for release in America in July (it's already been seen in Germany where it premiered at the Berlin), I thought it was a good time to revisit the original and I’m glad I did.

On a train traveling through Europe, two twenty-somethings meet by chance and spend one romantic night in Vienna. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is an American who came to Europe to see his girlfriend and ends up heartbroken and wandering. Celine (Julie Delpy) is a French college student headed home from Budapest after visiting relatives.

Jesse and Celine bond over their mutual distaste with a couple loudly fighting in indecipherable German. They decide to hang out together in the dining car and what begins as a time-killing conversation becomes a series of smart, witty exchanges and real honest romance. He has to get off in Vienna to catch a plane the next morning, she is supposed to just go straight home but Jesse's charm tempts her enough to jump off the train for one romantic night in Vienna.

A more Hollywood style romance would fly off the rails at this point adding mobsters, thieves or something supernatural to the plot in order to give the characters something more to do than just walk and talk. Writer-Director Richard Linklater is more confident in his writing and especially his dialogue to need any Hollywoodized plot devices. His dialogue and his two amazing actors are all the devices he needs.

As Jesse and Celine laconically wander the streets of Vienna, their conversations twist and turn through such diverse topics as reincarnation (they both believe but Jesse has a unique theory), Feminism (Celine believes it may be a conspiracy to get woman to act more like men so they will have sex more), and the inevitable discussion of each other’s pasts which they handle in part with fake phone calls to best friends.

The conversations border on cuteness but the two actors are good at steering away from anything that might be considered cloying. Julie Delpy is a revelation. She looks like your classic French ingenue, the type of shrinking violet that could be blown away by a stiff wind. She changes that right from the start by jumping right into the heavy conversation with the sardonic and clever Hawke and matching him word for clever word. She also curses like a sailor, but an unbelievably sexy French sailor.

What a wonderfully romantic idea. Meeting a stranger on a train and falling in love in some far out foreign locale for only one night. I have always thought it would be amazing to go Europe with a backpack full of books and a laptop of my own writing and just wander until I find my muse. Before Sunrise allowed me to lose myself in that fantasy with two characters who's wit, intelligence and romance could be just the inspiration I would need.

The sequel, Before Sunset, hits theaters in July 2004 and though I haven't seen it yet, the idea of it evokes Claude Lelouche's masterpiece A Man and A Woman and it's sequel of the same title set 20 years later. Both films are romantic and smart, following strangers who fall in love only to separate soon after. Hopefully, Before Sunset will be a more successful follow up than Lelouche's follow-up, which damaged the first film’s legacy as a classic. I doubt that would happen to Linklater who has yet to make a bad film, at least from this critic’s perspective.

If Before Sunset can manage to be as witty, romantic and poetic as Before Sunrise, then those of us who enjoy movies without the aid of special effects and blaring soundtracks will have something to look forward to this summer.

Movie Review Tape

Tape (2001) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Stephen Belber 

Starring Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke 

Release Date November 2nd, 2001 

Published April 16th, 2002 

Someone once said that there are three sides to every story: Yours, mine, and the truth. This is the central theme of Richard Linklater's film Tape starring Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman.

Hawke is Vince, a low level drug dealer and a world-class fuckup. Vince is in Lansing, Michigan for the Lansing Film Festival where his friend John (Leonard) is debuting his first film. The two meet at Vince's rundown hotel room with John expecting to go to dinner, but Vince has another agenda. Thus begins a game of verbal cat and mouse with Vince attempting lead John to the conclusion that best fits what Vince wants to hear.

The disagreement is over Vince's high school girlfriend Amy and an incident between John and Amy that each remembers differently. Vince has a surprise for John in that Amy is in Lansing and on her way to the hotel as they speak. Amy (Uma) is surprised to see John and is obviously unnerved at seeing him again. Vince quickly steers the conversation to high school and the thing that happened between John and Amy.

What happened between John and Amy? Well that’s interesting you see, they aren't quite sure. Each character remembers it differently which leads to amazing bouts of verbal warfare, shifting alliances and childish name-calling.

Linklater, the man behind Dazed and Confused and Slacker, here crafts a story that would easily translate to a play. A single set three actors and a lot of very good dialogue. The actors are up to the challenge. With each line of dialogue they make their point while their faces and actions give the audience insight into who they are. There is some obvious improvisation going on and the improv makes the dialogue feel real.

Linklater shot the film on digital video, which allows him to use the room’s natural lighting and adds to the feeling of intimacy, of being there, witnessing this conversational warfare. As the film progresses, Linklater uses the DV camera to visually shrink the room with tight, claustrophobic, close-ups, magnifying the tension in each characters face.

Tape is a small but powerful film that, like Changing Lanes, is an insightful look at human nature and how right and wrong can at times be decided by what is perceived instead of what is true. Emotions, instincts, anger and self-preservation are all part of being human; it's how you deal with them that define you as a person. I may be over-intellectualizing this film, maybe it's just about three people and a misunderstanding. This review may be more of an insight into this reviewer than this film, but these are honestly all the things that went through my mind as I watched this magnificent film. 

I highly recommend Tape. 

Movie Review: Before Sunset

Before Sunrise (1995) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Richard Linklater 

Starring Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Release Date January 27th 1995 

Published June 15th, 2004 

Massively moneyed blockbusters are supposed to have sequels, not tiny independent romances with cult followings. Richard Linklater however has always been one to do things differently and thus there is now a sequel to his 1995 romance Before Sunrise. With that film set for release in America in July (it's already been seen in Germany where it premiered at the Berlin), I thought it was a good time to revisit the original and I’m glad I did.

On a train traveling through Europe, two twenty-somethings meet by chance and spend one romantic night in Vienna. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) is an American who came to Europe to see his girlfriend and ends up heartbroken and wandering. Celine (Julie Delpy) is a French college student headed home from Budapest after visiting relatives.

Jesse and Celine bond over their mutual distaste with a couple loudly fighting in indecipherable German. They decide to hang out together in the dining car and what begins as a time-killing conversation becomes a series of smart, witty exchanges and real honest romance. He has to get off in Vienna to catch a plane the next morning, she is supposed to just go straight home but Jesse's charm tempts her enough to jump off the train for one romantic night in Vienna.

A more Hollywood style romance would fly off the rails at this point adding mobsters, thieves or something supernatural to the plot in order to give the characters something more to do than just walk and talk. Writer-Director Richard Linklater is more confident in his writing and especially his dialogue to need any Hollywoodized plot devices. His dialogue and his two amazing actors are all the devices he needs.

As Jesse and Celine laconically wander the streets of Vienna, their conversations twist and turn through such diverse topics as reincarnation (they both believe but Jesse has a unique theory), Feminism (Celine believes it may be a conspiracy to get woman to act more like men so they will have sex more), and the inevitable discussion of each other’s pasts which they handle in part with fake phone calls to best friends.

The conversations border on cuteness but the two actors are good at steering away from anything that might be considered cloying. Julie Delpy is a revelation. She looks like your classic French ingenue, the type of shrinking violet that could be blown away by a stiff wind. She changes that right from the start by jumping right into the heavy conversation with the sardonic and clever Hawke and matching him word for clever word. She also curses like a sailor, but an unbelievably sexy French sailor.

What a wonderfully romantic idea. Meeting a stranger on a train and falling in love in some far out foreign locale for only one night. I have always thought it would be amazing to go Europe with a backpack full of books and a laptop of my own writing and just wander until I find my muse. Before Sunrise allowed me to lose myself in that fantasy with two characters who's wit, intelligence and romance could be just the inspiration I would need.

The sequel, Before Sunset, hits theaters in July 2004 and though I haven't seen it yet, the idea of it evokes Claude Lelouche's masterpiece A Man and A Woman and it's sequel of the same title set 20 years later. Both films are romantic and smart, following strangers who fall in love only to separate soon after. Hopefully, Before Sunset will be a more successful follow up than Lelouche's follow-up, which damaged the first film’s legacy as a classic. I doubt that would happen to Linklater who has yet to make a bad film, at least from this critic’s perspective.

If Before Sunset can manage to be as witty, romantic and poetic as Before Sunrise, then those of us who enjoy movies without the aid of special effects and blaring soundtracks will have something to look forward to this summer.

Movie Review School of Rock

School of Rock (2003) 

Directed by Richard Linklater 

Written by Mike White 

Starring Jack Black, Mike White, Joan Cusack, Sarah Silverman

Release Date October 3rd, 2003 

Published October 2nd, 2003

The premise is such a conventional sounding comic setup that it implies disaster. A slacker, wannabe rock star scams his way into teaching at a stuffy private school. However, when you look closer, you see that the story was penned by the brilliant Mike White, the mind behind The Good Girl and Chuck & Buck. It's directed by Richard Linklater who has already directed two masterpieces in this short century, Tape and Waking Life. Finally, the film’s star is that whirling dervish comic invention Jack Black. With this trio of brilliant minds behind it, the conventional comedy setup of School of Rock becomes the single funniest movie of 2003.

Dewey Finn (Black) has the dream of heavy metal guitar God, but not the talent. Thus, why his bandmates decide to oust him after a particularly bad show. Penniless and now jobless, Dewey is about to be kicked out of his apartment by his best friend Ned (Mike White) and Ned's harridan girlfriend Patti (Sarah Silverman). Then the phone rings, it's a private school calling for Ned to sub for an ailing teacher. Needing money to pay the rent Dewey steps in for Ned and begins teaching fifth grade.

Once in the school Dewey is clearly in over his head until he hears the kids in music class. What he discovers is that these are some very talented musicians who with his help could form a rock band to challenge his old band in a battle of the bands contest. So, telling the kids it's a class project, Dewey begins teaching the kids how to rock.

His teachings include rock history and rock appreciation, and homework is listening to Rush, Led Zeppelin and Yes. What's amazing is Black's passion for this music and his ease in communicating this passion to the kids. Using concert footage of classic drummers like Keith Moon and Neill Purtt and guitarists like Hendrix and Jimmy Page to teach the kids how to play. All the while playing out the conventional scenario of helping the kids overcome their problems with self-image and bullies. This inevitably leads to conflict with the school's uptight principal played by Joan Cusack and a Rocky style “overcoming the odds” ending.

However, in the capable hands of White, Linklater and Black this scenario never becomes trite. Black working from a script that White wrote specifically for him, has a passion for the material that comes blasting off the screen in bursts of comic genius. His interaction with the gifted child actors who played their own instruments is truly hysterical. Black carries the young actors over the rough spots that come to all young actors.

The music in the film is non-stop rock from AC/DC, Rush, Yes and a host of classic 70's rock tunes. What's really surprising is how good these kids are, and the songs written for them by Mike White and Jack Black. The songs, which have a vaguely Tenacious D sound are more than credible as is the playing by these gifted kids. The battle of the band's scenes at the end of the film showcases these talented young players playing well off of Black who is not a bad musician himself.

Richard Linklater directs with a perfectly relaxed camera and an eye for allowing his star to carry the day in every scene. Set the camera down and let Jack Black do something amazing. There is far more to it than that however, Linklater's style is present throughout the film but only in the softest of touches. He directs just enough to get exactly what he wants from each scene. This could be the mainstream hit that draws the indie director into the world of the big paycheck.

School Of Rock is clearly a showcase for Jack Black. It's the film that his fans have been waiting for him to make. The one that many people thought Orange County could be before MTV got a hold of it. This film should be enough to hold fans over till the Tenacious D movie is completed.

Movie Review: Waking Life

Waking Life (2001) 

Directed by Richard Linklater

Written by Richard Linklater

Starring Wiley Wiggins, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Nicky Katt, Adam Goldberg

Release Date October 19th, 2001 

Published December 25th, 2001 

I am a collector. I collect DVD's, sports memorabilia and movie collector cups, etc. But above all I collect intelligent opinions. I love to listen to and interact with intelligent people. Richard Linklater's breakthrough animated film Waking Life is a series of intelligent conversations set against one of the most visually striking backdrops I've ever seen.

The film is taken from the perspective of an unnamed character played by Wiley Wiggins from Linklater’s Dazed & Confused. (I'll explain the “played by instead of voiced by” credit later). Wiggins’ character is trapped in a dream, though he doesn't realize it right away. In the dream he interacts with a series of run-at-the-mouth philosophers who while at times obnoxious, actually do have interesting opinions.

The conversations are meaningful discussions of philosophy, religion and the meaning of life. None of the characters claim to have the answers to the many unanswerable life questions but they are at least brave enough to discuss topics like death and existence or nonexistence of a higher power. Questions that many people would prefer weren't asked.

While the film is, at times, aimless, the animation is so lively that you are at rapt attention throughout. Linklater and his team of animators did something very unique in Waking Life, first filming the movie with live actors, Wiggins, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy amongst others. Then the animators used computers to animate over the shot footage, which gives the film it's dreamscape and allows for visual experimentation that could never work in a live action feature.

You know how in dreams when you know where you are but it looks nothing like it does in real life? Waking Life seizes upon that dreamy feeling and uses it's dialogue to lead it's main character and the audience to a surprisingly satisfying open-ended conclusion. It's up to you the viewer to decide for yourself what happens to Wiggins’ character at the end of the film.

Richard Linklater is weaving an amazing career, from Slackers to Dazed & Confused to Tape and now Waking Life. Linklater has established himself on the new frontier of film as art.

It's a small, unnamed generation of young filmmakers like Linklater, Allison Anders, P.T Anderson and Darren Aronofsky who are championing filmmaking as art over mere commerce. They swim against the tide of Hollywood and attempt to say something. Film as sociological art. It's not merely about entertaining the audience but about inspiring them and touching them emotionally and intellectually. If only more filmmakers shared their vision and courage.