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Three things come to mind when watching a Richard Linklater film: characters, dialogue and experimentation. Linklater is known for crafting memorable characters, emphasizing character development over plot. It’s how you get David Wooderson in “Dazed and Confused” or Bernie Tiede in “Bernie.

” In Linklater’s dialogue, every word makes sense for the characters. Nothing feels scripted. The best example is in the “Before” trilogy, which features Linklater’s most naturalistic and conversational scripts.



Then there’s Linklater’s experimentation. Linklater has never been one to shy away from taking risks or making films without a major studio behind him. “Boyhood” was filmed for over a decade with the same cast.

“Waking Life” used a rotoscoping animation technique. And “Hit Man,” Linklater’s latest film starring Glen Powell, was written on spec with no distributor. After a strong festival run, Netflix scooped up the rights to “Hit Man,” which streams on June 7.

It’s too early to decide where “Hit Man” will fall on the director’s resume. However, we did rank Linklater’s seven best movies below. Groundbreaking is a word often attributed to things that are not that innovative.

In “Boyhood,” it’s the perfect word to describe Linklater’s coming-of-age drama. Shot over 12 years, “Boyhood” follows the life of Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from age 6 to 18. The film captures several influential moments in Mason’s life, from birthdays a.

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