FILM 2198: SLACKER (1990)

TRIVIA: Was the movie that directly inspired Kevin Smith to become a filmmaker; inspired the movie Clerks (1994).

The average movie has 500-1,000 cuts in it. This movie only has 163. And almost a third of them come from the last five minutes during the super 8 film scene.

The woman who plays "Pap Smear Pusher", also on the movie poster and video covers, is Teresa Taylor, who was a drummer for Butthole Surfers.

There is a still from Eraserhead (1977) on the hit-and-run driver's wall.

REM reference Slacker in their song "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" The lyric "Richard said withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy" is a reference to the text written on one of the "oblique strategies" cards handed out by one of the film characters. However, the actual line from the film is worded slightly differently, as the card reads "Withdrawing in disgust is not the same as apathy".

The "Oblique Strategies" cards that appear in the movie were originally invented by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt in 1975.

The Conspiracy A-Go-Go book was actually published.

Picked by Entertainment Weekly magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Independent Films" in a special supplement devoted to independent films that was only distributed to subscribers in November 1997.

Someone offered Jerry Delony two hundred dollars for the Batman shirt he wears in the film.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…

You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…

I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!

Watch this here…