This week’s film was Dazed and Confused written and directed by Robert Linklater. This 1993 film starred Jason London, Matthew McConaughey, and Wiley Wiggins. These adventures of high schoolers on the last day of school in 1976 are crazy. From hazing freshman, to parties, to knocking down mailboxes, and to “stealing” beer. This intense coming of age story follows rowdy teenagers in a Texas town. We watch as the seniors phase out and the incoming freshman are initiated in. The entire thing feels like a sorority/fraternity house initiation, which is kinda cool and makes me really glad I never joined one.

Watching some of these older films really makes me question fashion of the decade. I watch different patterns and styles dance across the screen and I compare them to today’s fashion. The drastic difference and similarities in just wardrobes is phenomenal. If you compare that to the change in ideals and society’s rules you see the progression of our culture and some changes are better than others. In everything going on today with the pandemic raging though our country it was nice to watch a group of teenagers with no cares in the world. I was even a little jealous. But all in all, their journey, albeit not the one I expected to see, was an interesting one.

Now, my favorite part of this film. The soundtrack. Just a few examples of the amazing hits they played in this film are “School’s Out,” “Low Rider,” and “Sweet Emotion.” There are very few films I have been able to witness that had such a great variety of songs that I grew up listening to and loved. I’ve also played all of them on Guitar Hero on a loop, just as an example of how embedded these songs are into my life. I could go on for hours about “Slow Ride” by Foghat and “Hurricane” by Bob Dylan, but I will save you all from more appraisal on Jeff Charbonneau, Eeda Kitto, Art Ford, and Harry Garfield’s work in the music department for this film.

This week we had a great selection of readings. The one I am going to talk about is by Donna de Ville. Her piece, “Cultivating the Cult Experience at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema,” shows the essence beyond just a simple cinematic screening. She brings in the audience participation and exhibitionism that the Alamo portrays in several different ways. This “full immersion” that the Alamo Drafthouse tries to do, and succeeds in doing is amazing. Everything from the retro gimmicks of a drive in theater to some great food make the Alamo successful. However, the part that really stuck out to me was the owners involvement. They work so hard to make the Alamo Drafthouse a unique and amazing experience to bring people coming back for more. The Alamo gives a variety of cult followings a place to call home, keeping its doors open to just about anyone. “in the case of the Alamo, a contingent of fans embrace an exhibition site and viewing experiences counter to, and even in resistance against, popular mainstream culture.” In every way the Alamo exhibits its own little world. They don’t conform it to what’s most popular, and they don’t let the world dictate how they run their cinema and that in itself is worthy of praise.