It's not every week that you get a new movie from one of our greatest directors – but lucky you, this is one of those weeks.
We are of course talking about the extraordinary Richard Linklater, the visionary behind Oscar winning classic Boyhood and who now returns with an altogether lighter story of boozy 1980s college antics: Everybody Wants Some!!
It's already being hailed as the latest in a long line of masterpieces from Linklater – but if you're not acquainted with his career, then you seriously need to brush up. Luckily, we've done all the hard work for you...
Dazed and Confused (1993)
The spiritual predecessor to Everybody Wants Some!!, this nostalgic, rose-tinted look at the last day of school in summer 1976 has gone down as one of the most authentic depictions of teenage life ever put on film. Among the ensemble: the star football player who has pledged not to do drugs and a group of freshmen being harassed by the senior students.
Several estimable actors went on to enjoy successful careers off the back of Linklater's classic including, most famously, Matthew McConaughey. Quentin Tarantino even named it the 10th best movie of all time for Sight and Sound. Alright, alright, alright!
The Before trilogy (1995 – 2013)
Linklater, in his own words, loves to work with 'time sculpture', and one of his most staggeringly ambitious, heartfelt experiments in fact played out across three movies over nearly 20 years. Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and Before Midnight explore the ups and downs of the relationship between young American Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Frenchwoman Celine (Julie Delpy), from dewy-eyed, initial romance to estrangement to the eventual difficulties in their own marriage.
Never has a fictional relationship felt more palpably real, aided of course by the fact that the actors and director grew with these characters over the course of two decades.
School of Rock (2003)
There's more to Linklater than sophisticated dramas exploring the passage of time. Every so often he cuts loose with something truly hilarious, and they don't come funnier than this riotous Jack Black comedy in which the star plays a rocker impersonating a music teacher at a stuffy prep school. Teaching the classically-educated whippersnappers to cut loose with a bit of rock and roll, Black's character Dewey finds himself forming an unexpected bond with his young charges.
Don't expect anything sentimental though: working with the anarchic and energetic Black from a sharp script by Mike White, Linklater ensures that this is a heartfelt and head-banging treat that never resorts to mushy life lessons.
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Linklater also has the ability to jump between different styles, as this trippy and dreamy offering demonstrates. Based on the story by cult sci-fi writer Philip K. Dick (who wrote the novel on which Blade Runner was based), A Scanner Darkly utilises the rotoscope technique whereby animators draw over live-action film footage, resulting in a bizarre, hybrid visual style.
It's an intoxicating marvel, and the A-list cast including Keanu Reeves and Civil War's Robert Downey Jr. give terrific performances.
Me and Orson Welles (2008)
The director stepped back in time to the early 20th century with this charming, factual comedy-drama about the legendary Orson Welles' 1937 Mercury Theatre production of Julius Caesar.
Outside of his High School Musical wheelhouse, Zac Efron puts in an understated performance of quiet conviction as Welles' protege Richard Samuels, but the show is stolen by a truly uncanny Christian McKay as the great man himself. So accurate are McKay's vocal intonations and physical mannerisms that it really does seem like Welles has been resurrected for the purposes of Linklater's movie.
Bernie (2011)
Truth really is stranger than fiction in this sly mixture of mockumentary and black comedy, one centering on real-life Texan funeral director Bernie Tiede and the much-reviled elderly companion that he ended up murdering in an atypical fit of rage.
Linklater coaxes a career-best performance from School of Rock cohort Jack Black in this offbeat gem that continually plays with our expectations, exploring how the citizens of Carthage gathered around the hugely popular Bernie in support during his trial. Yet as Linklater expertly mixes up his own dramatisation with interviews of the town's residents, it's clear he's making a much deeper point about how reality and make-believe are often two sides of the same twisted coin.
Boyhood (2014)
Linklater's magnum opus (at least for the time being), this sprawling epic was 12 years in the making and is an unparalleled look at the intricacies of growing from childhood to young adulthood. Shot piecemeal style and utilising the same actors from start to finish, the movie is a living time capsule as central character Mason (Ellar Coltrane) ages in front of our eyes over the course of two and a half hours, along with his parents and sister.
Although growing up has made for a popular subject in the realm of documentary, never before have several years of one life been compressed into one staggeringly ambitious movie. The end result is one of the few movies of recent years that deserves to be described as profound.
Right, if you've lapped up all that Linklater knowledge, it's time to click here and book your tickets for Everybody Wants Some!! The movie is on release from this Friday, and if you want to check out the trailer again, here it is.
