Singles (1992)

[Edgy MD]

Xavier McDaniel stars in Cameron Crowe's tale of the dating scene in Seattle among young scenesters with earnest careers and terrible taste.

[Guest themetfairy]

Meh. OK but self-important.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Nice soundtrack.

Best athlete cameo ever.

[Edgy MD]

Best parts of the soundtrack were non-Seattlian.

[metirish]

I was 18/19 when it came out , remember liking it a lot , great tunes, I had that Matt Dillon hair back then , shit , I still have it.


4 stars

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: Best parts of the soundtrack were non-Seattlian.

You keep swayin'. What are you sayin'?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

One of those flicks that I always watch when it comes on, partly in horror for the douchy railroad guy ("Good coffee and good tunes"). STFU.

[TransMonk]

Captured "grunge". I liked it when I was 19. It's horribly dated now.

[Willets Point]

Is that the one with the mime who talks too much or was that Reality Bites.

Edited February 28, 2011 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: One of those flicks that I always watch when it comes on, partly in horror for the douchy railroad guy ("Good coffee and good tunes"). STFU.

It's a great theme of literature: "Coming of age, marked by destroyed illusions." And the huge zoom-in on Tom Skerritt's (a pretty big-shotty supporting player for a one-scene part) oily smile as he says NO really underscores the explosion of the illusions in the young man's soul.

Campbell Scott also has this monologue where he says, "My dad left home when I was eight. He said to me, 'Have fun. Stay single.' I was eight!"

I can't watch the scene without picturing George C. Scott, shaved head and all, walking out on his family to command some army with his riding crop.

It has a talking mime, but I'm sure there are others in filmdom.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The aggressive talking mime he's thinking of (Eric Stoltz?) was indeed in this one.

Most people who like to play the this-film/album/moment-sums-up-our-generation game seem to use this or Reality Bites as the sorta-flagbearer for this period, no? As for me? Kicking and Screaming strikes me as a smarter, funnier version of the same.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, that was Stoltz.

I have a little trouble accepting this as a watermark for "my generation," even though the characters were about my age. Though I liked a lot of grunge, I never fully trusted it or gave myself to it, as much as folks three or four years younger. It makes sense that Seattle folk were early adopters of course, but for that reason, these folks kind of stand apart from representing a broader cross-section of their national peers at the time.

They are caught here as earlier adopters of gourmet coffee also.

My brother was convinced he saw me in the Ethan Hawke-portrayed solipsistic slacker of Reality Bites. When I saw the film, I wanted to punch him in the face for the comparison. Probably before I saw the film, even.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: My brother was convinced he saw me in the Ethan Hawke-portrayed solipsistic slacker of Reality Bites. When I saw the film, I wanted to punch him in the face for the comparison. Probably before I saw the film, even.

Punching him in the face would be polite.

That she ends up with him in the movie neatly encapsulates everything that's wrong with Reality Bites.

[Vic Sage]

probably my least favorite of the Cameron Crowe ouevre, but i still liked it overall. I posted a lengthy discussion of Crowe's films (focusing on ALMOST FAMOUS) somewhere in the black pit of the Pool.

[Edgy MD]

Vic Sage wrote: probably my least favorite of the Cameron Crowe ouevre ...

Then you've wisely spared yourself an evening with Elizabethtown.

[Vic Sage]

yes, some survival instinct kicked in an prevented me from ever seeing it.

[Vic Sage]

I found my Cameron Crowe article:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=9063&p=221459#p221459