WATCH – Dazed and Confused: The Criterion Collection

Dazed and Confused: The Criterion Collection [Criterion – $39.95]

Dazed and Confused is a perfect movie. It flawlessly captures the spirit of the ’70s while arguing for a clear universality in the high school experience. It is a film that expertly illustrates that clichéd concept called ‘coming of age’ while wrapping the usual elements in the era’s cultural make-up within the typical teen dynamic of sex, drugs and rock and roll, all in furtherance of the adolescent art of maturation. Perhaps writer/director Richard Linklater said it best when he commented about wanting the movie to feel “like a camera had just dropped down in the middle” of this specific day at a typical Texas high school. Thanks to the inclusion of a true profusion of added content (commentaries, documentaries) what we end up with is a true motion picture masterwork. [Amazon]