Adventureland (2009)
Written by Greg Mottola
Directed by Greg Mottola
Produced by This Is That Productions/ Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Running time: 107 minutes

So, What’s This About?
In the summer of 1987, Oberlin College grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is notified by his parents (Wendie Malick, Jack Gilpin) that money he was depending on to help pay for a European [...]

[Read more →]

Dazed and Confused (1993)
Written by Richard Linklater
Directed by Richard Linklater
Produced by Detour Filmproduction/ Alphaville Films
Running time: 103 minutes

What the *&#! Is This About?
On May 28, 1976 – the last day of the school year at “Lee High School” somewhere in Texas – quarterback Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) faces an existential crisis over whether [...]

[Read more →]

The following was originally published 17 August 2008. This lazy attempt at recycling is my contribution to Ibetolis’s “Counting Down the Zeroes” series at Film for the Soul, in which he compels the Internet to rhapsodize on the best films of the ’00s. one year at a time.
High Fidelity (2000)
Screenplay by John Cusack & D.V. [...]

[Read more →]

Wattstax (1973)
Directed by Mel Stuart
Produced by Stax Records/ Wolper Productions
Running time: 102 minutes

Synopsis
Sunday, August 20, 1972. Memphis-based Stax Records descended on the L.A. Coliseum with most of their recording roster – Isaac Hayes, The Staple Singers, The Bar-Kays, Rufus Thomas and many more – for an eight hour concert to benefit the annual Watts [...]

[Read more →]