A+, one of my favorite movies of all time. It's amazing how even though the film takes place in the 70s it's still so wildly identifiable. One of my three favorite movies about high school ever no question, I can watch this one non-stop and it doesn't get old.

BJs Grade:

A+

one awesome film

Odd how I just bought the flashback edition on dvd and this shows up... Hmmm. Makes you wonder if zingaling is spying on rusty!


But this movie rules. No question about it. It's easily in my top 5 movies of it's genre (stoner rock highschool movies).

A+

My Favorite teen film of all time.

A+

Amen, though I'd go so far as to say it's one of my personal favorites ever as well. Not nessecarily the best made movie, but just one of my very favorites. It absolutely nails high school, even though it takes place 30 years ago.

Was actually contemplating a blind buy of this earlier today (it's only $3.99 at Best Buy and Circuit City this week!) but decided against it due to being disappointed by several of Linklater's other movies. Will still see it soon via a free rental..

B

It's good, but no classic for me. I can identify with it, but it just seemed like the regular teenage party flick. Below Fast Times.

Supremely entertaining. Though perhaps not as well-made as American Graffiti, the obvious comparison, it's a lot more fun and certainly a lot funnier. Some of the characters get shafted a bit (Milla Jovovich - does she even speak? - and Joey Lauren Adams come to mind) and the freshman kids are incredibly annoying - especially the lead - but most of them are instantly likeable and just as developed. The story is pretty much non-existent, but this is all about the characters. Right up there with Ferris Bueller as one of my favourite teen films.

Favorite of mine too.

Matthew McConaughey's finest role, imho of course.

Classic Parker Posey as well.

Classic, instant classic. One of my all time favorites and it gets better as I get older.
Definate A+

What are the other two?

I thought it nailed high school cliches, but not the actual experience. It identifies the clicks and does a respectable job of deconstructing the expectations it at first meets. This immediately puts it leagues above something like The Breakfast Club which so desperately and empathically attempts to do so it literally hurt to watch. There were some obnoxious pieces of banality throughout but for the most part it has humor, heart, and warmth. A fun little flick if not deserving the acclaim and accolades it has received.

I think it's relatively mature attitude towards drugs and alcohol was quite pleasant, as were the surprisingly balanced characters. They maintained a humanistic mix of characteristics that felt possible, not unbelievably forced (ala breakfast club.) I'd watch it again but was hardly left drooling. One complaint is the movie had about 6 endpoints, so many montages concluded with what felt like the denouncement only to keep going. Then again, high school did often feel like that so perhaps it was intentional.

I think it's a great film.

Do you mean dénouement?

I don't mean to pick a fight, but if you are going to continue to review movies, you need to develop a less stilted writing style or I will be forced to skip your reviews. It is already slim-pickings here as far as reviewers who are interesting to read and who review somewhat regularly.

Argos, who is a better writer of English than 95% of college graduates in the English speaking world. He doesn't even bother to post detailed reviews because there is no one here to challenge him.

Trixster because he knows what he is talking about and keeps his thoughts brief.

Makeshift/Yoshue (whatever his name is now, I refuse to go and look) and maybe two or three others.

And Magnus because he can give both a humorous or in-depth review.

I do not want to place you, Michael A, in the category of TheGun, Mike, Gunslinger, Viperman (whatever the fuck his name is), and the 3-4 others who post lots of reviews which I never bother to read. I would also put my name in this category, but at least I (for reviews) keep it brief and rarely post.

Seriously! At least I proofread my banal, stiff reviews!

Poor Gunslinger. Haters gonna hate.

Any suggestions on how I should change it?
Also, libs should definitely be on the second list.

I'm not trying for world-class, overly analytical reviews. Don't read them if they're not faux-snobby enough for you.

You write articles for the main site that are meant to be full reviews. I write little blurbs and trains of thought on specific aspects of the movie. I don't mean to or try to be a real, legitimate critic in any way, so I don't care about organization or proof-reading or anything like that.

Not that I dislike you. You're one of the more enjoyable and down to earth people on the site. I just don't like your reviews. Jmovies and thompsoncory also belong there.

She is and you are not. Not because she is a bad writer, just that she has nothing to say--like most people. You are in the middle ground with potential to go into the first category if it wasn't so obvious you were trying to get into said category.

The best suggestion I can give is to read a lot and read a variety of things. I do not necessary mean film criticism, although that may help your technique, I mean read lots of books. Read King Lear, read Dostoevsky (at least for the themes, since I assume you cannot read Russian), read Ken Kesey, read Strunk and White for stylistic tips and then experiment with your own. Find good writers, read some of their work, and maybe mix-and-match their styles until you find your own voice.

Sometimes writing that is spare conveys more meaning than writing that is dense and filled with long words. These are perhaps some of the most meaningful and important lines in the Western Cannon, if not necessarily the most well-known:

And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!

I think saying I have nothing to say is kind of rude, and true to this website, hilariously pretentious? I never made the pretense that I was some awesome reviewer but I think a lot of people have enjoyed my thoughts on films over the years.

ok

Interesting reading all of the old posts on this film. What happened to Michael A?