From the writers of 500 Days of Summer (one of my favorites) comes The Spectacular Now. In order to gear up for the release of this new film, the writers have helped coordinate a screening series in certain theaters across America. This screening shows some of the films of the 80's and 90's that inspired Michael Weber and Scott Neustadter in the writing of The Spectacular Now.
This past Tuesday, I went to the screening of Dazed and Confused at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre. The theatre is small, but despite not having stadium seating and the multitude of snacks we are used to at places like the Grove, the Arclight, and the Landmark - the Los Feliz 3 has a certain charm, and the screen was high, so being height-challenged, wasn't a problem.
To begin the screening, they play the trailer of The Spectacular Now, which looks charming and sweet despite my distaste for romantic comedies, along with a short video (very poorly shot) of the writer's discussing this series and from where they draw their inspiration.
This was my first time seeing Dazed and Confused, and while I find the acting very naturalistic, and the characters fun to watch and easy to relate to, overall these 90's movies tend to be fairly un-cinematic and have too many main characters. I wasn't sure who to follow, who to empathize with, etc. Also, after learning much about structure, I found that this film was very much a slice of life. The characters didn't really change all too much, despite minor arcs, and I'm so used to stories that have concrete beginning, middle, and ends that watching something that seemed fairly slow paced was hard for me to get into. Probably doesn't help that my high school experience was much different than the one portrayed in this film (small private school in brentwood, CA in the 00's versus a lax public school in anywhere, usa in the 70's).
However, despite my ambivalence for the film, it was fun and I am happy that small theaters like this one still exist and participate in programs where you can watch classics on the big screen. Some of the other films in this particular series include Say Anything (which I managed to see half of), Almost Famous, and The Breakfast Club. Tickets are $9.50.
Learn more here: http://www.slashfilm.com/say-anything-dazed-and-confused-almost-famous-and-the-breakfast-club-screen-to-promote-the-spectacular-now/#more-183461
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