The Star Tribune has an article on Napoleon Dynamite, the best movie about high school in at least 25 years. I'd put it right up there with Say Anything (and yes, Say Anything actually takes place right after high school graduation, but close enough, right?). For me, the fascinating thing about Napoleon Dynamite is that it breaks this high school genre wide open. The high school movie usually centers around the conflict between the cool kids and the losers, with the losers secretly wanting to be like the cool kids (Some Kind of Wonderful does this nicely). But Napoleon is a kid with no interest in being cool. He is sui generis. He just does what he does, and the film spends precious little time on the cool kid/loser kid conflict. It also helps that the movie is quite funny with lots of quotable lines ("Do the chickens have large talons?"). My one concern is that it appears that Napoleon Dynamite is really popular amongst the younger crowd. Does this mean all my efforts at being un-cool have gone for naught? Have the sweater vests and argyle been a big waste of time? By really digging this movie, have I lurched into coolness? Ahhhh!!!
I just found a whole website dedicated to "Tina, you fat lard!" products. Just in case you're wondering, Tina is a llama.
Recent Comments