Licorice Pizza is a 1973 film set in the San Fernando Valley that follows Gary Valentine, a kid actor and hustler, and his sweetheart Alana Kane as they try to make their way in life and maybe, just maybe, discover love. It’s easy to see why so many people are falling in love with the film, which features a large supporting ensemble that includes Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, and Benny Safdie, as well as a casual tone and Anderson’s devoted direction.
Of course, Licorice Pizza has sparked debate, with some critics questioning the central relationship between a 15-year-old child and a 25-year-old lady, but similar stories have been told before. These films have a lot in common with Anderson’s latest feature, whether it’s portraying a certain nostalgic age, an unusual relationship, or painting an honest portrait of youth.
Below are some films to watch if you liked Licorice Pizza.
1. Harold and Maude (1971)
Director- Hal Ashby
Harold is a miserable 20-year-old man/child who spends his leisure time attending funerals and feigning suicide in front of his mother. Harold encounters Maude, a 79-year-old woman with a zest for life, at a funeral. She and Harold spend a lot of time together, and she teaches him about life’s wonders and possibilities. Harold announces his engagement to Maude. After rejecting his mother’s three attempts to match him with a potential wife and executing false suicides in front of them all. Maude, on the other hand, has a surprise for Harold that will forever transform his life.
2. Deep End (1970)
Director- Jerzy Skolimowski
Harold is a gloomy 20-year-old man/child who spends his free time attending funerals and pretending to commit suicide in front of his mother. At a funeral, Harold meets Maude, a 79-year-old woman full of life. Harold and she spend a lot of time together, and she teaches him about the wonders and possibilities of life. After rejecting his mother’s three attempts to match him with a potential wife. Also, committing fake suicides in front of them all, Harold announces his engagement to Maude. Maude, on the other hand, has a gift for Harold that will change his life forever.
3. Dazed And Confused (1993)
Director- Richard Linklater
In a small Texas community, the end of the 1976 school year is cause for celebration of the summer break. But initially, the Seniors are eager to pursue the newcomers, whom they may subject to ruthless hazing. Which for boys takes the shape of hard, scorching spankings. Attempts to flee are undertaken. But they are worthless for the players of the baseball team who have to play that evening, before the celebration. When the alcohol will anaesthetize their seat-sting. Mitch Kramer becomes the ideal prey after his oblivious sister requests the lads to be gentle with him. Which only senior quarterback Randall “Pink” Floyd agrees to. While senior year-repeater Fred O’Bannion adds frustration to his reputed zeal for flogging profoundly remorseful.
4. American Graffiti (1973)
Director- George Lucas
On the last evening of summer break, four high school friends—Curt, Steve, John, and Terry—say their goodbyes to their carefree life as teens against the backdrop of early 1960s Modesto, California. The long-time pals on the verge of maturity will take their first steps into the real world over the course of one long and hot September night; experience the overwhelming sentiments of want, disappointment, and love—and, ultimately, view the world in a new light. The boys tour the town’s colourful streets in their magnificent vehicles, pivoting around Mel’s brilliant Drive-In and Wolfman Jack’s nonstop Rock ‘n’ Roll disc-jockey show, as an elusive blonde vision in a white 1956 Ford Thunderbird adds to the excitement of this very memorable night. When the morning comes, though, nothing will be the same.
5. Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Director- Amy Heckerling
A group of adolescents at Ridgemont High School in California are looking for something as part of their life’s discoveries: the perpetually stoned pothead Jeff Spicoli dreams of becoming a great surfer in Hawaii. Mr. Hand, his history instructor, is giving him a hard time. Stacy Hamilton, a fifteen-year-old virgin, wants to have sex, and her friend Linda Barrett is her mentor. Brad Hamilton, her brother, works at a fast-food restaurant and pays for his Cadillac. He wants to break up with Lisa now that he is older and can date other women. Mark ‘Rat’ Ratner is smitten with Stacy, and his mentor is his friend Mike Damone. They are surprised and learn about friendship and love during the semester.
6. Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
Director- Richard Linklater
Jake Bradford, a hotshot pitcher in high school, moves into an off-campus residence with other members of the college baseball team in the fall of 1980 in Texas. He meets a number of teammates, including his roommate Billy, who has earned the moniker “Beuter” due to his deep Southern drawl. He joins Finnegan, Roper, Dale, and Plummer in their search for women on campus via car.
7. Ghost World (2001)
Director- Terry Zwigoff
Enid and Rebecca are close friends who are having trouble dealing with other people’s social attitudes. They plan to seek jobs and rent a house after graduating from high school. Enid, on the other hand, needs to go to Arts summer school in order to graduate, but her antisocial behaviour causes her to lose her job. Meanwhile, Enid and Rebecca perform a practical joke on Seymour, a middle-aged record collector who also has marital issues. Seymour and Enid become friends in the end. Enid matures and gains a new perspective on life as time passes.
8. What Do We Do In Shadows (2014)
Director(s)- Jemaine Clement, Take Waititi
Four nocturnal flatmates, Vladislav, the Lord Byron want tobe; Viago, the frilly dandy; Deacon, the rebellious youth; and Petyr, the ancient blood-sucking devil, are prowling the streets of Wellington, New Zealand, and invite a documentary team to capture their daily life. As if adjusting to modern society isn’t difficult enough, the pack’s chemistry will be disrupted when the human victim, Nick, is turned into a new vampire, with unintended repercussions.
9. The Sandlot (1993)
Director- David Mickey Adams
Scotty Smalls is the new boy in town, and all he wants to do before summer is make friends. Benny “The Jet” Rodriquez, the best baseball player in town, takes him under his wing. Scotty Smalls gets The Sandlot lads into a big jam during the summer when he hits a Babe Ruth-signed baseball into the Beast’s backyard, where no one has ever gone over the fence for fear of being devoured. Benny overcomes his concerns and defeats the Beast after having a dream about Babe Ruth asking him to go over the fence to get the ball. Benny became a local legend, and The Sandlot boys all lived happily ever after.
10. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Director- Lasse Hallstrom
The storey revolves around Ellen and Amy Grape, as well as their two brothers Arnie and Gilbert, and their morbidly obese widowed mother Bonnie Grape, who are attempting to survive and cohabit with the loss of a father figure, low-wage work, and seventeen-year-old Arnie’s serious mental illness. Gilbert, who works at the town’s slowly fading convenience store, is forced to continuously look after his younger brother Arnie in this awkward and exceedingly one-sided relationship. Gilbert’s life, his future, is jeopardised, but it is in this guardian angel that his love and link with Arnie can’t and won’t be broken. That is, until Becky, a free spirit, arrives in town and finds herself stranded for a week while waiting for components for her vehicle. Something new is devouring Gilbert Grape, and this understanding brings with it new feelings, thoughts, and hope for the beleaguered Gibert.
