Dazed and Confused @ Damox.com

September 26, 2005 *** NEWS ***

Two months ago, I mentioned the Dazed and Confused references that keep popping up in Family Guy episodes. Well, there was another one this week. This time Chris, a high school freshmen, is the target of hazing. The mayor of Quohog, Adam West (yes, the guy that played Batman, voiced by the actual guy), joins in on the fun in the school lunchroom, paddling Chris in the same way that O'Bannon paddled Mitch after the baseball game, and they even had Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" playing in the background.

I should have posted an update a couple of weeks ago, because there was some big Dazed and Confused news that deserved an announcement. On September 18, AMC aired the full movie at 8:00pm, followed by "Making Dazed", a documentary about the making of Dazed and Confused. This is the piece that was supposed to come on the Flashback Edition DVD, but was scratched at the last minute. Following this airing, Wiley Wiggins (Mitch) wrote in his blog that the one-hour documentary would be included in... get this... the CRITERION COLLECTION DVD OF DAZED AND CONFUSED TO BE RELEASED IN JULY 2006 !!!

The Criterion Collection is the cream of the crop in the DVD world. They have standards for what must be included on their DVD releases. The documentary will not be the only extra, that's for sure. I would expect at least a commentary track from Richard Linklater, and probably much, much, more. The Flashback Edition had about 15 minutes of deleted scenes, but there was a working cut of the movie that was nearly 3 hours long. There should be many more deleted scenes in the CC edition, maybe even edited with some classic rock background music and added to the actual film. I can't wait.

July 26, 2005

I'm sure many people who come to this site are fans of Family Guy, the hilarious show that airs at 9:00 EST Sunday on Fox. Many of you probably caught the Dazed and Confused references in the new episodes that aired on July 18 and July 25. In the July 18th episode Brian (the Griffin family dog) appears at one point dressed as Wooderson (complete with a blonde-haired moustache) and recites the classic line about high school girls. In the July 25th episode Chris (the son) mentions that leaving home will give him a chance to get away from the evil monkey that lives in his closet. When Chris leaves, the monkey stops pointing at him menacingly and lays down in Chris' bed. He puts on a pair of headphones and lays back to the tune of Foghat's "Slow Ride." He then rolls a spliff. It's great to see that Dazed and Confused is finally being recognized as a part of American pop culture. I think people are starting to realize that this was not just another teen drug comedy, and that it deserves to be as much a part of movie history as American Graffiti.

On a side note, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane has also created another animated comedy on Fox called American Dad. Although I have not caught any Dazed and Confused references on that show, Richard Linklater was mentioned in one episode. Although the joke was at his expense, it would appear Linklater has a fan in the animated comedy business.

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I got the new Dazed and Confused Flashback Edition DVD in November 2004. The movie is still great, but the DVD is a little disappointing. Some of the advertised features were cut, even though the official website says they are included. There is NO director's commentary track from Richard Linklater, and the 9 deleted scenes do not reveal anything important. Both Linklater and Wiley Wiggins are unhappy with the end result, and both are hoping that Universal will sell the rights so the Criterion Collection can release a version. Linklater's first film, Slacker, was released on DVD by the Criterion Collection in August. If you do not already have Dazed and Confused on DVD, I would recommend buying the Flashback Edition.

Universal Studios has also put up a pretty cool site that showcases Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High to promote the "Ultimate Party Pack," released on November 2.