i'm watching "Slacker" for the first time... (Houston: school, store)

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by atxcio

Yup, exactly. I moved into Austin in 1989, and things seemed slow as heck till at least '93, maybe '95. It took a while to recover from the 80's bust. Should have bought when I first moved here...

Summer '88 for me! Yep, WE shoulda bought and bet BIG!

[migol84]

You're welcome mayfair44! It's easily becoming one of my favorite films... at the very least I think this is Linklater's best film.

Originally Posted by mayfair44

It's cool to just watch and figure out the set locations.

Which reminds me, does anyone know where on 2nd st did that scene take place where that girl tries to sell Madonna's pap smear? I know its 2nd St because you could see the street sign behind them. The buildings don't look familiar at all to me, but it looks like downtown. I'm assuming those buildings have long since been torn down.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by migol84

Do you hang out often in the area now at this point? I moved from West Campus in 2010 and lived there for a little over 3 years. It may be much larger, but I still met a good portion of this vibe while I lived there. The "counter-culture" vibe will probably always be there... so needless to say there will always be strange folks with strange ideas living in this area so long as UT is there.

I see your point. Certainly I don't get down to the campus area as much as I used to, so I'm not in touch with the every day reality of the place like I used to be. But I have been a few times, including very recently.. and my feeling was that it was different. Not that it is worse now or anything, it's still a colorful place with interesting people. But it feels like now the students are smarter (used to be much easier to get in to UT in my day), they are richer (there were a lot of real dumps in west campus in '91, now every other building is upscale student housing), things are more dense and vibrant now, but also there are a lot more chain stores especially on the drag. The "gap" between those on the margin of society and those who are not seems bigger there now. Used to feel like everyone was on the margins. The Castillian or some paper-thin walled 80's complex was about as upscale as it got. From there it went down.

Ok, so enough of the "back in my day" stuff. I really, honestly can't say I know what it's like to live there now. If I were 20 again it would probably be the best place on earth again.

[scm53]

Originally Posted by migol84

Which reminds me, does anyone know where on 2nd st did that scene take place where that girl tries to sell Madonna's pap smear? I know its 2nd St because you could see the street sign behind them. The buildings don't look familiar at all to me, but it looks like downtown. I'm assuming those buildings have long since been torn down.

Just E of San Antonio, across the street from where the greatly missed Liberty Lunch stood.

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by migol84

You're welcome mayfair44! It's easily becoming one of my favorite films... at the very least I think this is Linklater's best film.



Which reminds me, does anyone know where on 2nd st did that scene take place where that girl tries to sell Madonna's pap smear? I know its 2nd St because you could see the street sign behind them. The buildings don't look familiar at all to me, but it looks like downtown. I'm assuming those buildings have long since been torn down.

Slacker, the Map: It's been over a decade since Slacker premiered at the Dobie Theate. Since then, the lifestyle it celebrated is largely gone, along with the locations it helped make famous. In this "Slacker map," we look at what's disappeared and w

[mayfair44]

Originally Posted by scm53

I think the difference, and also part of a large amount of current angst in the town, is that early '90s Austin was a MUCH easier place for people on the margins to make it. Rent was cheaper especially, but almost every element of the cost of living was less. The characters in Slacker were quite proud of their marginalization, because while their existence looked precarious, there had a pretty big net under them. Today, if you are on the margins, you are living on the edge, constantly.

Plus, I miss Capt Quack's!

About Quacks Bakery and Coffee Shop

Just watching that scene in Quacks of the guy making coffee made me think wow, prehistoric barista.

[migol84]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I see your point. Certainly I don't get down to the campus area as much as I used to, so I'm not in touch with the every day reality of the place like I used to be. But I have been a few times, including very recently.. and my feeling was that it was different. Not that it is worse now or anything, it's still a colorful place with interesting people. But it feels like now the students are smarter (used to be much easier to get in to UT in my day), they are richer (there were a lot of real dumps in west campus in '91, now every other building is upscale student housing), things are more dense and vibrant now, but also there are a lot more chain stores especially on the drag. The "gap" between those on the margin of society and those who are not seems bigger there now. Used to feel like everyone was on the margins. The Castillian or some paper-thin walled 80's complex was about as upscale as it got. From there it went down.

Ok, so enough of the "back in my day" stuff. I really, honestly can't say I know what it's like to live there now. If I were 20 again it would probably be the best place on earth again.

I see what you're saying now. Even when I first visited the drag circa 1998, it was so much different. A lot of record stores that are no longer there, plus the arcades like Einsteins and a number of them in the dobie, or in the UT Union (was it?). And I definitely can see that there have been a number of local shops that are no longer there... local boutiques like the one that moved next to Epoch on North Loop. speaking of which, wasn't Epoch once located on the drag as well?

[south side chap]

I saw Slacker for the first time just last year. I cannot comment on how accurately it reflects Austin during the period it was set, I didn't arrive until five years ago. I can say that there is a healthy dose of the spirit exuded by the characters in the film still around, although I'm sure it's a little less obvious now. Also, when I saw the film, I couldn't help but wonder if how many of those slacker types are now running the kooky little businesses that make the town so interesting.

As a side note, I went to see the remake of Slacker (Slacker 2011) last year. Besides the fun of sitting across the aisle from Mr Linklater and observing his reaction (he wasn't involved, artistically at least, in the remake), I enjoyed how the film was updated and how it represented Austin as it is now. The car-hits-pedestrian scene now involves a Prius! I believe you can get a DVD of the remake from the Austin Film Society website, if you're interested.

[OpenD]

Indeed, I think the present healthy Austin film production scene owes a lot to Linklater's pioneering work on "Slacker."

There are other contributors, obviously. But I think its arguable that this film put Austin on the map in many industry people's minds, and ultimately made a lot of other things possible.

[migol84]

Originally Posted by south side chap

I saw Slacker for the first time just last year. I cannot comment on how accurately it reflects Austin during the period it was set, I didn't arrive until five years ago. I can say that there is a healthy dose of the spirit exuded by the characters in the film still around, although I'm sure it's a little less obvious now. Also, when I saw the film, I couldn't help but wonder if how many of those slacker types are now running the kooky little businesses that make the town so interesting.

As a side note, I went to see the remake of Slacker (Slacker 2011) last year. Besides the fun of sitting across the aisle from Mr Linklater and observing his reaction (he wasn't involved, artistically at least, in the remake), I enjoyed how the film was updated and how it represented Austin as it is now. The car-hits-pedestrian scene now involves a Prius! I believe you can get a DVD of the remake from the Austin Film Society website, if you're interested.

A Prius! haha Clever.