The Directors: Richard Linklater Quiz

Answer: Austin, Texas

Linklater has chosen to avoid the attraction to Hollywood. Or as Oscar Levant once said "Strip away the phony tinsel of Hollywood and you'll find the real tinsel underneath". Linklater has operated out of Austin, Texas giving him freedom to be creative and less bound to the formulas of the multiplex.

Many of his films have taken place within a day and were dialog driven rather than action. Several of his films have had an Austin locale.

Answer: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke

In "Before Sunrise"(1995) Jesse, an American, and Celine, a French girl, met on a train and began to feel a connection. On an impulse they left the train to spend the day together and share some adventures. They seemed to be on the brink of falling in love when circumstances required them to part but they made hasty plans to meet again.

Rotten Tomatoes gave it 100% on the critic's evaluation and 93% from audiences. It has received several nominations from smaller film societies and foreign countries but was not recognized by an Oscar nomination nor a Golden Globe.

Answer: Paris

"Before Sunset" (2004) found Jesse in Paris on a book tour to promote his novel. Celine, now an environmental consultant, had seen his picture and had read his book and been taken aback as the novel was based on their meeting nine years before. He spotted her but he only had a short time to catch a plane. They exchanged details of their lives and why they never got together as they promised as well as their views on life. Jesse missed his flight.

Again high marks from Rotten Tomatoes: 95% critics; 91% audience. It received an Academy Award nomination for screenplay and many independent film groups also praised it.

Answer: Kim Krizan

Ten years have passed in "Before Midnight" (2013) and Jesse and Celine have been married and have twin daughters. Jesse's fourteen year old son joined them for a family vacation before he returned to his mother in Chicago. Celine had decisions to make about her career. Their conversations now have become more pointed as through the years they have found each other's vulnerabilities. You are made to think they will survive their issues but with a tinge of doubt.

Kim Krizan did work with Linklater on "Before Sunrise" (1995) and on story development. The film again achieved critical acclaim polling on Rotten Tomatoes 98% with 81% audiences. The screenwriters received an Oscar nomination. Numerous film societies honored this film.

Answer: Dazed and Confused

Though it got off to a mediocre start, "Dazed and Confused" found the critics liked it and it found a home on cable networks aimed at younger audiences, video rentals, and an outstanding soundtrack release that featured a who's who of rock stars at the time.

It was 1976 and the last day of school at Lee High School in Austin, Texas. The first order of business was to find and paddle incoming freshmen, who apparently were there for orientation. From there the film proceeded to aimless driving around town, a keg party, and smoking dope on the school football field. The film gave the texture of life for teens in the 1970s through incidents rather than plot.

In a survey of teen-oriented films by web site "Pop Crunch", "Dazed and Confused" ranked fourth after "American Pie"(1999); "Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982); and "The Breakfast Club" (1985). The film established Linklater as a director.

Answer: Beavis and Butt-Head Do America

"Beavis and Butthead Do America" (1996) has been an enigma in that it was praised by many critics but condemned by others as tasteless and crude. None-the-less, its voices were a cadre of well known actors including Demi Moore, Bruce Willis, Robert Stack, Cloris Leachman, Greg Kinnear, David Letterman, and Eric Bogosian.

The 'so-called' plot of this animated film relied on a slim premise. Beavis and Butthead found that their television set had been stolen and they sought to recover it. On the way they met a cross-section of characters, often voiced by well known personalities, giving opportunities for crude adolescent humor.

Seeking opportunities to be both in front and back of the camera have served to make the director more sensitive to the needs of actors, a lesson learned and practiced by many directors. Linklater was seen purely as an actor in "Spy Kids" (2001), "Chelsea Walls" (2001), and "The Hottest State" (2006).

Answer: The Bad News Bears

Rotten Tomatoes site told the story. "Bad News Bears" (1976) 96%; "Bad News Bears" (2005) 46%. One critic said this: "This ... remake aims low for laughs...despite another irascible contribution by Billy Bob Thornton, it lacks the ensemble strength and originality of the 1976 version."

The plot, as a remake, followed the same line of a rag-tag little league baseball team headed by a less than reliable coach. Morris Buttermaker, an alcoholic former professional baseball player was recruited to coach a failing baseball team of little leaguers in trouble with its league. In the end it appeared only to bank on the comic talents of Billy Bob Thornton.

The film was not a typical Linklater movie and lacked the thought provoking response evident in films where he must have been more comfortable.

Answer: School of Rock

Black played a frustrated rock musician who connived his way into a teaching position. There he found a group of talented elementary school students that he began to mold into a juvenile rock and roll band. He entered them in band contests designed for adult bands.

The film grossed just under 20 million dollars opening weekend and over 131 million during its run. which at that time was the highest gross for a comedy/musical film. The soundtrack was also well received.

Answer: Waking Life

Rotoscoping involved first filming a scene in the traditional way with either camera or video recorder. Then animators drew over the images frame by frame using specially designed software. The result has been that you get a strange dream-like quality, a surreal effect, an enhancement of the photo image.

In "Waking Life" you were challenged by both the video images and the audio that merged into the message of the film that explored philosophical issues, the nature of reality, dreams, consciousness,and the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. It was a treatise on life in a 100 minutes of stunning filmmaking.

Wiley Wiggins was the protagonist although he was not seen until late in the film. Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy had cameos as Wiggins wandered through this dream world.

I saw Roger Ebert's glowing review and picked it up shortly after the VCR version was released. In 2002 I was 'dazed and confused' and began to question Ebert's tastes in movies. Fourteen years later I found it on a TV channel and recorded it. Only then did I realize it was a Linklater film. Only then did I appreciate its technology and its thought-provoking message.

Answer: It took twelve years to film.

In 2002 Linklater began creating a film that would trace one boy's life from age six to eighteen, using the same actors. It seemed like an overwhelming task to reassemble for periodic filming but none-the-less Linklater was able to do it. Each year of shooting was done for a few days with a 200,000 dollar budget annually. The actors had no contracts as the law allowed only seven years. Provision was made if any key person died or was unable continue. Lorelei Linklater, Linklater's daughter, made her screen debut.

Ellar Coltrane was six when he began the film and eighteen when he finished. Ethan Hawke's face began to show more character lines; Patricia Arquette developed a more mature beauty. The 2015 Academy Awards had six nominations but only Patricia Arquette won for Supporting Actress. Overlooked were three nominations for Richard Linklater for Best Picture, Best Director, and Screenplay. Sandra Adair was nominated for Film Editing. Perhaps a better measure would be how the film fared in a broader spectrum. Of 200 nominations it won 168.

Ethan Hawke, who was also nominated for his performance in "Boyhood", had this to say about his experience with the film: "It's Tolstoy-esque in scope. I thought "Before Sunrise" was the most unique thing I would ever be a part of, but Rick has engaged me in something even more strange. Doing a scene with a young boy at the age of seven when he talks about why do raccoons die, and at the age of 12 when he talks about video games, and 17 when he asks me about girls, and have it be the same actor-to watch his voice and body morph-it's a little bit like time-lapse photography of a human being".

Just another note--the original title was "Twelve Years" but it was changed just before release to "Boyhood" because "Twelve Years a Slave" (2014) had just been released to avoid confusion (and being dazed).