A movie with great actors or the movie that made great actors? Alright Alright Alright! Dazed and Confused for the win!
Victor K Thompson - 6 years ago
Silence of the Lambs is a fine thriller for its time, but Dazed and Confused is for all time. It tells a story specific to the '70s like only an indie from the '90s could, and this trick of time travel specificity paradoxically highlights the timeless humanity of living in a particular place in a specific and fleeting time. Dazed and Confused understands that we're subject to time, and that, despite our most Wooderson-esque delusions, we cannot resist the tyranny of the passing seconds and hours and years. This implacable ride of time should be more horrifying than a dinner invite from Hannibal Lecter, but Linklater asserts that it's a slow ride, and that we should take it easy.
Silence of the Lambs doesn't actually make me fear death; but every time I watch Dazed and Confused, I feel like I'm L-I-V-I-N in the face of my limited time in this place.
----How's this for a weird metric on which to base voting: Of the original 64 films I have 12 of them in my DVD collection. Of those 12 films 8 are left in the competition. I'm defending my DVD of Silence of the Lambs here... I don't want to have to dumpster it and go buy a copy of Dazed and Confused. I mean, I'm sure that would be fine... but... I DON'T WANT TO! ----
^^Oh I forgot to mention, I just upgraded to the new Criterion Edition... so I REALLY DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GET RID OF IT ALREADY. OK??
How's this for a weird metric on which to base voting: Of the original 64 films I have 12 of them in my DVD collection. Of those 12 films 8 are left in the competition. I'm defending my DVD of Silence of the Lambs here... I don't want to have to dumpster it and go buy a copy of Dazed and Confused. I mean, I'm sure that would be fine... but... I DON'T WANT TO!
I hope this match-up leaves “Dazed & Confused” feeling dazed & confused after Hannibal Lector gets his hands on it.
Evan Wilcox - 6 years ago
I'm just going to keep voting for Linklater, because he makes movies from the outside in - engaged with the world as it is and humans as they are, not with fantasies of charming killers and the FBI agents driven to defeat them. For an adrenaline rush or a lesson in cross-cutting, I'll watch Silence of the Lambs. But for a good time, it's got to be Dazed and Confused.
Erin Teachman (Washington, DC) - 6 years ago
Richard Linklater has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring characters alive in his films, especially through quality dialogue. You could argue that no one talks better than a Linklater character. Dazed and Confused is absolutely stuffed with characters with great dialogue, it's a film that speaks eloquently of its time and place. But there is just no question at all that Jonathan Demme and Tak Fujimoto created a much more profoundly visual experience with The Silence of The Lambs. If Silence offers slightly less insight into everyday experience, it more than makes up for that in its visual examination of trauma and survival. It hurts me a bit to vote against the languid summer Texas days and nights that Linklater conjures for us in Dazed and Confused (and I lived in Texas for 6.5 years), but it's a small price to pay for holding onto Demme's masterful and exquisitely visual psychological thriller.
Sure, it takes place in the '70s, but no movie reminds me of the '90s more than this one. No movie better captures this time of life.
The Silence of the Lambs is perfect in every way, and I'm sorry to see it go, but Dazed and Confused means so much. It's the most purely enjoyable movie in Madness, but in many ways, it's also the most personal.
Jessica in Somerville, MA - 6 years ago
Silence of the Lambs is a solid thriller and impeccably made, but ultimately, it’s not something that makes me think or feel. It’s the kind of movie that only needs to be seen once. I was disappointed the first time I saw Dazed and Confused, because it was not at all what I expected (especially the first third of the film - WTF?). However, its characters and dialogue stick with me more than anything in Lambs and it’s the one I would prefer to rewatch.
As much as I respect Silence of the Lambs, I'm cruising with Dazed and Confused in my sweet 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle for as long as this party is going.
Chad Hill (Monticello, AR) - 6 years ago
I'm sticking with the film I have to resist putting on again as soon as the credits roll. You gotta keep on livin'. L-I-V-I-N.
Mike H. - 6 years ago
Did you vote for Dazed and Confused? It'd be a lot cooler if ya did.
Hannibal Lecter is a timeless character, but I don't think Silence of the Lambs is a timeless film. It's very much of its time, which is a polite way of saying I rewatched it last year and it didn't really hold up that well for me outside of a few memorable classic scenes.
As for Dazed and Confused, I think it goes without saying that it obviously holds up, earning its place as one of the most rewatchable films of all time.
There are very few movies that even attempt what Dazed & Confused does, let alone manage to work. I think of American Grafitti, and . . . I'm sure there are a few others, but I certainly can't get to them.
There are a lot of movies that attempt what Silence of the Lambs does, and many do it pretty well. The thing is, I'm not sure any do it AS well. I am constantly stunned, when I re-watch Lambs, at how immediately I'm pulled in, how quickly I respect the characters and the situations, and how propulsive this intelligent, adult movie is. I recently started Dazed again, and boy, did it seem to have a rough start. My father, who liked it when we came in at the middle (he even bought the soundtrack) actually asked me to turn it off. Now, I'm nowhere near where he is on that, but I felt it too.
Lambs vs. Grafitti might be a tougher one, but this battle of greats isn't.
Joel Edmiston (Toronto) - 6 years ago
Although it's dressed up like an oscar movie, Silence of the Lambs is the last horror movie on this list (Don't let anybody tell you Se7en is a horror movie... or a good movie for that matter! I SAID IT!). Although the 90s were a strange time for the genre, it had it's highlights and Silence of the Lambs is a huge one. I would have like to have seen Candy Man or Scream on the bracket, but that's not important. Anyway, I hope Silence of the lambs keeps repping horror through this round, but Dazed and Confused may be more of a crowd-pleaser. Interesting thought though: Who would win in a fight; Ben Affleck with a paddle or Anthony Hopkins wearing a flesh-mask? Might be a fun cross-over ala Freddy vs Jason.
Dave - 6 years ago
As much I like Silence of the Lambs, Dazed and Confused says so much more about the human condition, in my opinion. Yes, Clarice's struggle to both enlist Hannibal's help with her murder case and avoid being played is very interesting (otherwise it wouldn't have made it this far, would it?), but that pales in comparison to Linklater's masterful storytelling of one night at the end of the high school year. Even though I can't for the life of me remember any of the character's names, the characters themselves (the nerdy, yet cool young boy, the freshman girl, the bitchy senior girls, the troublemaking fun-loving athletes, the super-high strung geek, the stoner, etc.) all come across as sympathetic young kids just trying to fit in and be themselves at the same time. Maybe it's because my high school experience in the 90s was like this and what I'm feeling is nostalgia when I watch this film, but Dazed and Confused is one of my favorites with its fantastically witty dialog and loveable characters.
Handy Barker - 6 years ago
I'm sure "Dazed and Confused" will get its Frosh hazing and fry like bacon, take one for the team, get no free pass from mom after a night at the Moon tower, and sign its own death match contract from the coach in this round, but as one who lived through the last day of school, 1976, losing this one forever is not "all right all right all right". I'm struck by how sentimental and Murican my choices are, perhaps revealing the troublesome times of this era that make me cling to familiar and promising films like "Dazed and Confused". Let's get this straight: It is the single best high school film in history, because, as every generation has said since, and will ever after, "Hey, we had a stoner just like that kid in our school." If only we'd had a film like that in Shakespeare's time, in Jefferson's. In Jesus' or Buddha's or Socrates' high school. Linklater tapped into his Frank Capra, his Breughel, and caught brilliant young performers with an invisible camera. It will lose, and you deserve every freshman double swats coming to you for making it happen, but I will keep my copies forever, because an amazing thing happens with this film and the characters in it: as I get older, they stay the same...
Stephen - 6 years ago
To get a no-brainer this late in the game is frankly miraculous. It has to be the brilliant Silence of the Lambs. Dazed and Confused is great, and I will miss Matthew McConaughey's brilliant performance, but the prosecutor in me must hang onto Silence.
Trevor Wallace (Queens) - 6 years ago
My favorite part of Filmspotting Madness is when a matchup teaches me what type of film watcher I am. Here Linklater's relaxed and dreamy style is harshly contrasted with Demme's more complex and precise filmmaknig choices. Comparing the two is a perfect showcase for why movies are so incredible; one medium can produce two completely different stories told in wildly unique ways. What I learned about myself is I will always favor the film that calls more attention to its style. Demme demands we engage with his uses of close up, crosscutting action, how editing and camera angle are building the haunting feeling growing in the pit of our stomachs. Dazed and Confused is always a good time, but Silence of the Lambs is the type of film I will never stop learning from, and it gets my vote.
Kevin Kiley - 6 years ago
Dazed is a great movie that I remember fondly
Silence is a movie that haunts me and I think always will.
A movie with great actors or the movie that made great actors? Alright Alright Alright! Dazed and Confused for the win!
Silence of the Lambs is a fine thriller for its time, but Dazed and Confused is for all time. It tells a story specific to the '70s like only an indie from the '90s could, and this trick of time travel specificity paradoxically highlights the timeless humanity of living in a particular place in a specific and fleeting time. Dazed and Confused understands that we're subject to time, and that, despite our most Wooderson-esque delusions, we cannot resist the tyranny of the passing seconds and hours and years. This implacable ride of time should be more horrifying than a dinner invite from Hannibal Lecter, but Linklater asserts that it's a slow ride, and that we should take it easy.
Silence of the Lambs doesn't actually make me fear death; but every time I watch Dazed and Confused, I feel like I'm L-I-V-I-N in the face of my limited time in this place.
----How's this for a weird metric on which to base voting: Of the original 64 films I have 12 of them in my DVD collection. Of those 12 films 8 are left in the competition. I'm defending my DVD of Silence of the Lambs here... I don't want to have to dumpster it and go buy a copy of Dazed and Confused. I mean, I'm sure that would be fine... but... I DON'T WANT TO! ----
^^Oh I forgot to mention, I just upgraded to the new Criterion Edition... so I REALLY DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO GET RID OF IT ALREADY. OK??
How's this for a weird metric on which to base voting: Of the original 64 films I have 12 of them in my DVD collection. Of those 12 films 8 are left in the competition. I'm defending my DVD of Silence of the Lambs here... I don't want to have to dumpster it and go buy a copy of Dazed and Confused. I mean, I'm sure that would be fine... but... I DON'T WANT TO!
I hope this match-up leaves “Dazed & Confused” feeling dazed & confused after Hannibal Lector gets his hands on it.
I'm just going to keep voting for Linklater, because he makes movies from the outside in - engaged with the world as it is and humans as they are, not with fantasies of charming killers and the FBI agents driven to defeat them. For an adrenaline rush or a lesson in cross-cutting, I'll watch Silence of the Lambs. But for a good time, it's got to be Dazed and Confused.
Richard Linklater has consistently demonstrated an ability to bring characters alive in his films, especially through quality dialogue. You could argue that no one talks better than a Linklater character. Dazed and Confused is absolutely stuffed with characters with great dialogue, it's a film that speaks eloquently of its time and place. But there is just no question at all that Jonathan Demme and Tak Fujimoto created a much more profoundly visual experience with The Silence of The Lambs. If Silence offers slightly less insight into everyday experience, it more than makes up for that in its visual examination of trauma and survival. It hurts me a bit to vote against the languid summer Texas days and nights that Linklater conjures for us in Dazed and Confused (and I lived in Texas for 6.5 years), but it's a small price to pay for holding onto Demme's masterful and exquisitely visual psychological thriller.
Sure, it takes place in the '70s, but no movie reminds me of the '90s more than this one. No movie better captures this time of life.
The Silence of the Lambs is perfect in every way, and I'm sorry to see it go, but Dazed and Confused means so much. It's the most purely enjoyable movie in Madness, but in many ways, it's also the most personal.
Silence of the Lambs is a solid thriller and impeccably made, but ultimately, it’s not something that makes me think or feel. It’s the kind of movie that only needs to be seen once. I was disappointed the first time I saw Dazed and Confused, because it was not at all what I expected (especially the first third of the film - WTF?). However, its characters and dialogue stick with me more than anything in Lambs and it’s the one I would prefer to rewatch.
As much as I respect Silence of the Lambs, I'm cruising with Dazed and Confused in my sweet 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle for as long as this party is going.
I'm sticking with the film I have to resist putting on again as soon as the credits roll. You gotta keep on livin'. L-I-V-I-N.
Did you vote for Dazed and Confused? It'd be a lot cooler if ya did.
Hannibal Lecter is a timeless character, but I don't think Silence of the Lambs is a timeless film. It's very much of its time, which is a polite way of saying I rewatched it last year and it didn't really hold up that well for me outside of a few memorable classic scenes.
As for Dazed and Confused, I think it goes without saying that it obviously holds up, earning its place as one of the most rewatchable films of all time.
There are very few movies that even attempt what Dazed & Confused does, let alone manage to work. I think of American Grafitti, and . . . I'm sure there are a few others, but I certainly can't get to them.
There are a lot of movies that attempt what Silence of the Lambs does, and many do it pretty well. The thing is, I'm not sure any do it AS well. I am constantly stunned, when I re-watch Lambs, at how immediately I'm pulled in, how quickly I respect the characters and the situations, and how propulsive this intelligent, adult movie is. I recently started Dazed again, and boy, did it seem to have a rough start. My father, who liked it when we came in at the middle (he even bought the soundtrack) actually asked me to turn it off. Now, I'm nowhere near where he is on that, but I felt it too.
Lambs vs. Grafitti might be a tougher one, but this battle of greats isn't.
Although it's dressed up like an oscar movie, Silence of the Lambs is the last horror movie on this list (Don't let anybody tell you Se7en is a horror movie... or a good movie for that matter! I SAID IT!). Although the 90s were a strange time for the genre, it had it's highlights and Silence of the Lambs is a huge one. I would have like to have seen Candy Man or Scream on the bracket, but that's not important. Anyway, I hope Silence of the lambs keeps repping horror through this round, but Dazed and Confused may be more of a crowd-pleaser. Interesting thought though: Who would win in a fight; Ben Affleck with a paddle or Anthony Hopkins wearing a flesh-mask? Might be a fun cross-over ala Freddy vs Jason.
As much I like Silence of the Lambs, Dazed and Confused says so much more about the human condition, in my opinion. Yes, Clarice's struggle to both enlist Hannibal's help with her murder case and avoid being played is very interesting (otherwise it wouldn't have made it this far, would it?), but that pales in comparison to Linklater's masterful storytelling of one night at the end of the high school year. Even though I can't for the life of me remember any of the character's names, the characters themselves (the nerdy, yet cool young boy, the freshman girl, the bitchy senior girls, the troublemaking fun-loving athletes, the super-high strung geek, the stoner, etc.) all come across as sympathetic young kids just trying to fit in and be themselves at the same time. Maybe it's because my high school experience in the 90s was like this and what I'm feeling is nostalgia when I watch this film, but Dazed and Confused is one of my favorites with its fantastically witty dialog and loveable characters.
I'm sure "Dazed and Confused" will get its Frosh hazing and fry like bacon, take one for the team, get no free pass from mom after a night at the Moon tower, and sign its own death match contract from the coach in this round, but as one who lived through the last day of school, 1976, losing this one forever is not "all right all right all right". I'm struck by how sentimental and Murican my choices are, perhaps revealing the troublesome times of this era that make me cling to familiar and promising films like "Dazed and Confused". Let's get this straight: It is the single best high school film in history, because, as every generation has said since, and will ever after, "Hey, we had a stoner just like that kid in our school." If only we'd had a film like that in Shakespeare's time, in Jefferson's. In Jesus' or Buddha's or Socrates' high school. Linklater tapped into his Frank Capra, his Breughel, and caught brilliant young performers with an invisible camera. It will lose, and you deserve every freshman double swats coming to you for making it happen, but I will keep my copies forever, because an amazing thing happens with this film and the characters in it: as I get older, they stay the same...
To get a no-brainer this late in the game is frankly miraculous. It has to be the brilliant Silence of the Lambs. Dazed and Confused is great, and I will miss Matthew McConaughey's brilliant performance, but the prosecutor in me must hang onto Silence.
My favorite part of Filmspotting Madness is when a matchup teaches me what type of film watcher I am. Here Linklater's relaxed and dreamy style is harshly contrasted with Demme's more complex and precise filmmaknig choices. Comparing the two is a perfect showcase for why movies are so incredible; one medium can produce two completely different stories told in wildly unique ways. What I learned about myself is I will always favor the film that calls more attention to its style. Demme demands we engage with his uses of close up, crosscutting action, how editing and camera angle are building the haunting feeling growing in the pit of our stomachs. Dazed and Confused is always a good time, but Silence of the Lambs is the type of film I will never stop learning from, and it gets my vote.
Dazed is a great movie that I remember fondly
Silence is a movie that haunts me and I think always will.
Silence of the Lambs.