Slacker [Criterion Collection] [2 Discs]

Overview

In Richard Linklater's Slacker, a girl tells her boyfriend, "You're just pulling these things from the sh*t you read. You haven't thought it out for yourself. It's like you pasted together these bits and pieces from your authoritative sources. I don't know. I'm beginning to suspect there's nothing in there." Linklater caroms from one character to another in the college community of Austin, TX, moving through an unlinked assortment of people who like to hear themselves talk but don't like to listen very much. The characters include a cab fare (played by Linklater) who expounds to the cab driver about his theory of reality, a robber who ends up getting a tour of Austin from his victim, a man who suspects that one of the Apollo astronauts saw an alien spaceship, and a woman carrying around Madonna's Pap smear in a cloudy container. Linklater's relaxed and ironic tone depicts a collection of post-Reagan lost souls adrift in a sea of shallowness with no direction home. As one character asks a friend, "Do you ever just want to get out of this country?"

Product Details

Release Date:	09/03/2013
UPC:	0715515109710
Original Release:	1991
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Presentation:	[Color]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:40:00
Sales rank:	15,856

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Slacker
1. Should Have Stayed At the Bus Station [4:40]
2. Looks Like Some Guy Ran Over His Mom [6:49]
3. The Obsessiveness The Utterly Passive [1:55]
4. There's Not That Many Perverts Around [5:19]
5. You Boys Done Male Bonding Yet? [2:36]
6. Sometimes He Has Good Dreams [2:37]
7. You Could Say They Put Me There [1:41]
8. Closer To The Rock God Herself Than Just A Poster [3:53]
9. Terrorism Is The Surgical Strike Capability Of The Oppressed [1:19]
10. The Next Person Who Passes Us Will Be Dead Within A Fortnight [2:15]
11. You Should Never Traumatize A Woman With Sexual Intercourse [2:16]
12. It's Like Premediated Fun [2:10]
13. A Series Originating And Repeated To Infinity [3:47]
14. Bits And Pieces From Your Authoritative Sources [2:59]
15. Profiles In Cowardice Or Conspiracy A-Go-Go [3:58]
16. It's Practically A Big Block Now [3:48]
17. Dance On His Grave [2:10]
18. Every Single Commodity You Produce Is A Piece Of Your Own Death [2:14]
19. She Was In My Ethics Class [2:01]
20. There Was Such A Thing As Belief Put Into Action In Those Days [6:57]
21. This Dormant Potential [5:36]
22. A Total Recalibration Of My Mind [3:10]
23. They Don't Want Some Smurf Leaving The Hive Colony [2:40]
24. We're Always Trying To Enslave Ourselves [2:54]
25. Want To Make Somebody's Life Hell? [4:48]
26. Let's Put Squeaky Fromme On The One-Dollar Bill [3:09]
27. I'm An Anti-Artist [2:34]
28. Late Night Pickup [1:39]
29. This Instinct For Life Somehow Asserts Itself [1:05]
30. A Free Weapons Giveaway Program [1:09]
31. Die Grasskop Polka [2:39]
32. Strangers Die Everyday [3:04]
1. Color Bars [:01]
1. My Own Backyard [4:40]
2. Kitchen-Sink Movie [6:49]
3. Captain Quackenbush's [1:55]
4. Unaccredited Information [5:19]
5. Active Nonparticipant [2:36]
6. Jack Meredith [2:37]
7. Anti-Acting School [1:41]
8. Will Madonna Be Around? [3:53]
9. Bummer, Negative, Loser Types [1:19]
10. Always Take The Freebie [2:15]
11. "Is Everyone In Austin Crazy?" [2:16]
12. Anti-Chamber Of Commerce Piece [2:10]
13. Casting From Everywhere [3:47]
14. Secondary Sources [2:59]
15. Favorite Scene [3:58]
16. Eight Months [3:48]
17. Charles Gunning [2:10]
18. Seattle Film Festival [2:14]
19. Mackey And McCarty [2:01]
20. Loving The Mayhem [6:57]
21. Scary White Guy Who Snaps [5:36]
22. Crew In The Scene [3:10]
23. Drunk Actors [2:40]
24. Parallel Films [2:54]
25. About Structure [4:48]
26. Setting The Tone [3:09]
27. Ed Hall And Wammo [2:34]
28. Generation X [1:39]
29. Experimental Movie [1:05]
30. Commodity [1:09]
31. Psychic Minefield [2:39]
32. Music Of My People [3:04]
1. Color Bars [:01]
1. "Hey You, Slacker!" [4:40]
2. Having His Life [6:49]
3. Baton Pass [1:55]
4. Magic Carpet Ride [5:19]
5. Those Shorts [2:36]
6. Intense Interior Life [2:37]
7. Small Legends [1:41]
8. Big Yuppie Fuck [3:53]
9. Mark Mouth [1:19]
10. From My Life [2:15]
11. Happy Hawaiian Way [2:16]
12. Austin Film Society [2:10]
13. Editing Joyce [3:47]
14. Cher? [2:59]
15. Personal Best [3:58]
16. Gen X Mentality [3:48]
17. Doug The Slug [2:10]
18. College Town [2:14]
19. Film Scene [2:01]
20. Prim Enough? [6:57]
21. Techie Shit [5:36]
22. Denise [3:10]
23. "Oi As Fuck" [2:40]
24. Spirit Of Austin [2:54]
25. Free In California [4:48]
26. Not About Slackers [3:09]
27. "Hey You, Passed Out!" [2:34]
28. The Gorgon [1:39]
29. Stolen Beer [1:05]
30. Celebration Of The Underground [1:09]
31. How To Connect? [2:39]
32. A Scrapbook [3:04]
1. Color Bars [:01]
1. The Slacker Seven [4:40]
2. Pico De Gallo [6:49]
3. Self-Imposed Limitations [1:55]
4. So Professional [5:19]
5. The Co-op Scene [2:36]
6. Visual Rules [2:37]
7. Last-Minute Locations [1:41]
8. Fuck Art, Let's Dance! [3:53]
9. Out-Of-Date Images [1:19]
10. 120-Degree Day [2:15]
11. Clicking On All Cylinders [2:16]
12. Night-For-Day [2:10]
13. Ruins Of A Police Station [3:47]
14. The "Relationship" Scene [2:59]
15. Giving Away Secrets [3:58]
16. Car Talk [3:48]
17. Operating While Driving [2:10]
18. Café Scenes Cut [2:14]
19. Connecting Scenes [2:01]
20. Disaster Articles Collage [6:57]
21. Clark's Big Scene [5:36]
22. Jinxed Scene [3:10]
23. Editing For Pacing [2:40]
24. Drunk Actors [2:54]
25. Fast Film Stocks [4:48]
26. Dollying Down Guadalupe [3:09]
27. Skaters And Musicians [2:34]
28. Wedges In The Slot [1:39]
29. The Walkman Pro [1:05]
30. Citation For Compaigning [1:09]
31. Running With Cameras [2:39]
32. Leave Only Footprints [3:04]
1. Color Bars [:01]
Disc #2 -- Slacker
1. Letter Tape #1 [4:01]
2. Groceries, Laundry, ATM [2:12]
3. At Home [3:01]
4. Heading North [4:15]
5. First Stop [4:13]
6. Missoula, Montana [4:09]
7. Hiking [3:57]
8. Hanging Out [9:03]
9. Westward [6:12]
10. San Francisco [5:19]
11. Airport [2:33]
12. Homeward [5:52]
13. Austin [4:06]
14. Letter Tape #2 [1:19]
15. Road Trip [4:13]
16. Family Thing [3:10]
17. Down Town [2:40]
18. Mom's House [4:38]
19. Afternoon [7:40]
20. Another Day [3:08]
1. Starting Out [4:01]
2. Looking Back At The Film [2:12]
3. Stanley Kubrick Film School [3:01]
4. Obsessed With Banality [4:15]
5. Confidence Along The Way [4:13]
6. Anti-MTV Film [4:09]
7. The Viewer's Experience [3:57]
8. Composition [9:03]
9. A Writer First [6:12]
10. This Way My Thesis [5:19]
11. Documentary Style [2:33]
12. Crew Of Kids [5:52]
13. Editing In My Head [4:06]
14. Acting In Your Own Movies [1:19]
15. Tapes And Tickets [4:13]
16. Tolerant Family [3:10]
17. You Are The D.J. [2:40]
18. Getting The Most For The Least [4:38]
19. Dream Life [7:40]
20. Ending A Film [3:08]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Slacker
   Play Movie
   Chapters
   Commentaries
      Director Commentary
         Commentary: On
         Index
      Cast Commentary
         Commentary: On
         Commentary: Off
         Index
      Crew Commentary
         Commentary: On
         Commentary: Off
         Index
   Supplements-A-Go-Go
      No Longer Not Yet
      Showing Life
         Intro By Casting Director Anne Walker-McBay
         Cast Interviews
      Taco-And-A-Half After 10
      Les Amis
         Play Trailer
      Shooting From The Hip
Disc #2 -- Slacker
   It's Impossible To Learn To Plow By Reading Books
      Play
      Chapters
      Commentary
         Commentary: Off
         Commentary: On
         Index
   Woodshock
   The Austin Film Society
      The Austin Media Arts By Denise Montgomery
      Where The Magic Takes Place By Lee Daniel
      AFS History In Flyers
   Ain't No Film In That Shit
      Play All
      The Roadmap
      Index Of Scenes
   Original Theatrical Trailer
   Slack*er/'Sla-ker/
   "End Of Interview!"

Editorial Reviews

History may be written by the winners, but in movies like Slacker we learn that life's lovable losers often have a far more engaging story to tell. The spiritual anomie afflicting the generation of the then-29-year-old director Richard Linklater provides the backdrop for this meandering and essentially plot-less tale. These college-aged people in Austin, Texas have the freedom and resources to do just about anything, but they choose instead to do nothing. There is a morbid attractiveness to their subversiveness. In most cases, their non-participation in life is a well thought-out stance: "Withdrawing in disgust is not the same thing as apathy," as one of the slackers informs us. Like others before them (beatniks, hippies, punks), this generation of twenty-somethings need time to sort things out. The movie's titular characters represent America's subconscious; these are the midnight neuroses that we keep bottled up in our waking hours. Comparisons to such filmmakers as Luis Bunuel and Max Ophuls are apt, as Linklater's stream of consciousness direction follows a winding road that leads to no particular place at all. Ironically, this studied attempt to appear unscripted and spontaneous succeeds mainly because it is so carefully plotted. Thankfully, Linklater clearly identifies with his subjects, and celebrates their wackiness without resorting to a bitterly ironic pose that would have distanced us from the characters. The film's 97 minutes -- made for $23,000 -- provided more filmmaking bang for the buck than just about any film of the early 1990s; Slacker's no-budget breakthrough success prefigured other Sundance discoveries such as Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi (1992) and Kevin Smith's Clerks (1994).

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine