Hollywood is the film capital of the world; every year it generates hundreds of films and billions of dollars worth of revenue. Studio films are often supported with a ridiculous amount of funding, product placement and big names. Big names can attract a large audience along with box office hits. It is a business right? It is about making money. Sometimes it is nice to just sit down and enjoy a film that lacks a big budget, famous names and an abundance of advertisements plastered all over the screen. These are two films that were never block buster hits however they became what are known as cult classics.
Clerks was Kevin Smith's break out film. Its lead character was Dante (Brian O'Halloran) a convenience store clerk that was called in on his day off work. Most people can agree upon the claim that being called in to work on their day off is a drag. His friend Randal (Jeff Anderson) worked next door at a video store. Randal was a character that clearly did not care about his job. He would leave the store to hang out with Dante and gave guests horrible customer service. The film obtained a big following despite a small budget and no big names. What it had was the ability to speak to its audience. It was relatable, incorporated raunchy language and was just plain funny.
During the 80's, Amy Heckerling was one of the only females directing and her niche was teen comedies. In the 90's she directed her biggest hit, Clueless; the valley girl phrases and tag lines made it a teen classic. Before she experienced a block buster hit, she made the cult classic, Fast Times At Ridgemont High. The film was written by the legendary Cameron Crowe, who posed as a high school in the early 80's to see what kids were doing. The film was centralized around a group of kids experiencing things like their first jobs, struggling with relationships, the consequences of participating in unprotected sex and feuding with their teachers. At the time it did not have any big name actors in it however many of them went on to become very famous. Some of the actors included, Nicholas Cage, Sean Penn and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Cult classics prove that all some movies need is a great script, relatable topics and talented actors.
