10 essential high school comedies

8. “Dazed and Confused” (1993)

Richard Linklater’s laid back dramedy has been a bit overrated as a vehicle for future stars (Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck and Parker Posey are the biggest names in the cast, and there’s an uncredited split second appearance by Renée Zellweger), but its status as an authoritative portrait of ‘70s high school life has rarely been questioned. The soundtrack, the attitude, the weed—it all adds up to an appropriately non-judgmental celebration of a decade diminished by history but reclaimed by an artist who lived it.