Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Head to our streaming service, The Criterion Channel, to watch Richard Linklater's first film, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988), his 2004 director's commentary (excerpted here), as well as his breakthrough second feature, SLACKER (1991): criterionchannel.com/slacker
Shot on Super 8 for $3,000, Richard Linklater’s first feature follows the wanderings of a young man (played by Linklater himself) as he journeys the country by bus and train, encountering friends and strangers along the way in a series of quotidian encounters that signal the filmmaker’s interests in temporality and everyday human interaction. Linklater—who handled every aspect of the filmmaking process—has described the film as “primarily a visual experience,” an “oblique narrative” about alienation, communication, the banality of life, and the mindset of travel. Legendary outsider musician Daniel Johnston appears in a cameo.
From Christopher Nolan on FOLLOWING to David Bowie on THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, unlock the behind-the-scenes secrets of your favorite movies with more commentaries on the Criterion Channel: criterionchannel.com/commentaries
Enjoy the best moments from the over forty years of the Criterion commentary in this playlist, with new videos arriving weekly: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd0WKGexn9FAdCRP0pWcgC2BrYhwlYhZu
Head to our streaming service, The Criterion Channel, to watch Richard Linklater's first film, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LEARN TO PLOW BY READING BOOKS (1988), his 2004 director's commentary (excerpted here), as well as his breakthrough second feature, SLACKER (1991): criterionchannel.com/slacker
Shot on Super 8 for $3,000, Richard Linklater’s first feature follows the wanderings of a young man (played by Linklater himself) as he journeys the country by bus and train, encountering friends and strangers along the way in a series of quotidian encounters that signal the filmmaker’s interests in temporality and everyday human interaction. Linklater—who handled every aspect of the filmmaking process—has described the film as “primarily a visual experience,” an “oblique narrative” about alienation, communication, the banality of life, and the mindset of travel. Legendary outsider musician Daniel Johnston appears in a cameo.
From Christopher Nolan on FOLLOWING to David Bowie on THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, unlock the behind-the-scenes secrets of your favorite movies with more commentaries on the Criterion Channel: criterionchannel.com/commentaries
Enjoy the best moments from the over forty years of the Criterion commentary in this playlist, with new videos arriving weekly: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd0WKGexn9FAdCRP0pWcgC2BrYhwlYhZu
