Dazed and Confused

[Dan]

I just got the Criterion Collection edition of Dazed and Confused and have now decided that it is officially one of my favorite movies of all time. It's one of the only movies that actually makes me a little sad when it ends, just because it's over.

When I first saw it in middle school, I didn't like it all that much. I mean, it was okay, but for the most part, I didn't even know what marijuana was, so a vast majority of the movie sort of went over my head. I enjoyed it here and there throughout high school, but I really came to love it in college. I think a big part of that comes from the fact that this movie is ideally seen under some form of inebriation (there's even an essay in the DVD booklet by Chuck Klosterman in which he explains that this movie benefitted from the viewer being under the influence of THC more than any other in recent memory). Anyway, rewatching it now, there's almost a sense of sadness, knowing that I will never be able to do these wild things that I did in high school ever again. Which is probably a good thing, in the long run, but I'm kind of stuck between actually experiencing my wild youth and being nostalgic for those days.

Plus the soundtrack kicks frickin' ass.

 

[insein]

Soundtrack does kick ass.

I'd say this is just a good movie. Not my fav, but i watch it anytime its on.

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

this is like the thrid or fourth release of this movie on dvd having said that its a great flick. i've got it on tape twice and will most likely get this version of the dvd. if only you could get away with some of that stuff in the 90's it would have been a far better decade to grow up in.

 

[Dan]

Yeah, Criterion is usually the final word as far as ultimate collections go, so I finally broke down and bought it. It's packaged awesomely, the case looks like a 70s high schooler's notebook, it's got some great essays and notes from the director to the cast. The movie itself sounds better than I've ever heard it, the bass line of "Sweet Emotion" really rattles the windows! And if you're into supplements, there's a really good director's commentary, some deleted scenes, and a great documentary. Definitely worth the money, even though it is pricey.

As for not being able to get away with things, I actually did get away with a lot of the stuff depicted in this movie in high school. We played mailbox baseball a few times, never smoked a joint on the 50 yard line, but we did have a party oncampus the night before we graduated. We never had any hazings like in the movie, though.

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

i saw the doc on amc when it aired a few months ago. up here you couldn't play mailbox baseball since most people mailboxes are on their houses, you couldn't smoke a joint on the football field since the police station is right there about 100 yards away from the high schools front door. there was no rec center ,bowling alley, or movie theaters to hang out at. no mall. no nothing.

people up here partied but it had to be small enough to fit inside someone house other wise here come the cops and we have some real nasty ones as well. there was a party albeit brief and small that roamed through town the night before the last day of school for the seniors but how good can a party get when its on a tuesday night/wednesday morning and finals start thursday? it was a party that probably only 1/4 to at most half the senoirs attended since most seniors had to be in class that wednesday and not join in senoir skip day.

 

[Dan]

i saw the doc on amc when it aired a few months ago. up here you couldn't play mailbox baseball since most people mailboxes are on their houses, you couldn't smoke a joint on the football field since the police station is right there about 100 yards away from the high schools front door. there was no rec center ,bowling alley, or movie theaters to hang out at. no mall. no nothing.

people up here partied but it had to be small enough to fit inside someone house other wise here come the cops and we have some real nasty ones as well. there was a party albeit brief and small that roamed through town the night before the last day of school for the seniors but how good can a party get when its on a tuesday night/wednesday morning and finals start thursday? it was a party that probably only 1/4 to at most half the senoirs attended since most seniors had to be in class that wednesday and not join in senoir skip day.

I should know this, but you're from upstate NY, right?

I was lucky enough in that I went to high school in a sort of backwoods town, meaning it was very easy for us to just go around and do whatever we wanted and never be seen by anybody. We had parties in fields two miles deep into the woods. It's a wonder some of us ever found our way out, we were so far in there. And our parties were big, ranging from 50 to 150 people some nights.

The thing that's not really so great, but worked out in our favor is that Orangeburg is a town that's still very much segregated. There is definitely a black half of town and a white half, and as much as I hate to admit it, there was always a ton of crime to occupy the cops on the black side that were way more pressing than a bunch of high school kids having a party. So, we were lucky as far as that goes.

Also, my graduating class had 40 people in it. Of those 40, I can only think of two people who never went out to any parties or anything. There was more of a sense of community among my class than I guess there would be in a bigger school.

And, yeah, it's a lot easier to do mailbox baseball when the mailboxes are a half acre from the house.

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

I should know this, but you're from upstate NY, right?

I was lucky enough in that I went to high school in a sort of backwoods town, meaning it was very easy for us to just go around and do whatever we wanted and never be seen by anybody. We had parties in fields two miles deep into the woods. It's a wonder some of us ever found our way out, we were so far in there. And our parties were big, ranging from 50 to 150 people some nights.

The thing that's not really so great, but worked out in our favor is that Orangeburg is a town that's still very much segregated. There is definitely a black half of town and a white half, and as much as I hate to admit it, there was always a ton of crime to occupy the cops on the black side that were way more pressing than a bunch of high school kids having a party. So, we were lucky as far as that goes.

Also, my graduating class had 40 people in it. Of those 40, I can only think of two people who never went out to any parties or anything. There was more of a sense of community among my class than I guess there would be in a bigger school.

And, yeah, it's a lot easier to do mailbox baseball when the mailboxes are a half acre from the house.

i was born in nyc and moved up here to massachussetts in 90. the town that i went to hs in and am currently living in again is what i would describe as a small town although there are 15,000 or so people in it. if you drove throught the town you would never think there are that many people. if you've ever visted lexington or concord to see the historic sites you would have driven through this town since it is right between the two.

there are woods around here but nothing far off the road to party in so it was at someone's house or nowhere. the cops for a such a small force (around 35 total) seem to be eveywhere. most of the time kids would just get high before school and hit the denny'sin Lexington or during a break they would get toasted or during field trips. baby sitting a bunch of you freinds while they are high at a modern art musuem is an adventure to say the least!

my graduating class was pretty big by this town modern standards. we had 140 kids where as back in the 70's there would be around 500 kids in one class. there were barley 600 in my entire school and that would vary because of the air force base with kids coming and going.

 

[Dan]

You posted that last message at 4:20. Weird!

 

[Lefty Wilbury]

You posted that last message at 4:20. Weird!

i didn't even realize that!

Marijuana on one. Reefer on two. Pink