To close out the year, we're taking a look back at some of our favorite movies of 2016. Check out what's in theaters now in our Film section, and go here for movie times!
Over the course of two hours, Everybody Wants Some!!, Richard Linklater's "spiritual sequel" to 1993's Dazed and Confused, goes from detestable to damn near loveable—it's an eventually enjoyable movie that I almost walked out of. It's broad and cheesy and kind of porny, but eventually you come to realize that it's not "college" porn, but a very specific porn based on an idealized version of Linklater's own college experience. College hijinks have been done to death, but there's something endearing and slightly universal about a middle-aged man looking back on his college years and only remembering the parts that were super awesome(!!).
The story's set in 1980, in the days before classes start at a Texas college. As in Dazed and Confused, the protagonist is once again a baseball pitcher (Jake, played by Blake Jenner); the themes once again are hazing and finding yourself; and, once again, everyone is trying to get laid. The opening scene, with Jake driving his cool muscle car to "the baseball house" to meet his new teammates/roommates, is set to the Knack's "My Sharona" (ugh), which soon gives way to "Rapper's Delight,"which the cast sings along to (ugh x 10). It feels a little like a musical theater production of Debbie Does Dallas.