Wednesday, January 13, 2010

10.2 ~ #18


"Clerks" (1994)


From Netflix: "Made on a shoestring budget by director Kevin Smith, this classic indie comedy won awards at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Convenience and video store clerks Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) are sharp-witted, potty-mouthed … and bored out of their minds. Between serving nonstop shoppers, the overworked counter jockeys play hockey on the roof, visit a funeral home and deal with their offbeat love lives."



I love all things Kevin Smith.



EVERYTHING he's ever written, directed, starred in...is GOLD.



Except Jersey Girl, but I love him enough to forgive him for that.



I've only seen Clerks a handful of times...it's a little more grown-up than a lot of the movies Kevin Smith did later on in his career, mostly because it's so verbose. The whole thing takes place inside a convenience store, and is completely dialogue-driven. It's also completely in black-and-white, a trait that they play homage to in the opening of Clerks 2...which I own and have PLAYED OUT. And of course, you can always count on Silent Bob and his one line that seems to wrap up the whole movie in a nice, neat, philosophical package...



Great movie, but maybe I'm biased because I watched movies like Dogma & Mallrats before I watched this one for the first time, so I was already used to the style, plus I already liked a few of the characters. I don't know how I'd feel about this film if I had watched them all in the order in which they were made. This is the first film featuring recurring characters from the View Askewniverse, a badass world that our friend Kevin Smith created.



Great film, though I'd love to discuss it's merits with someone who sees it with new eyes, before being exposed to other works of Kevin Smith...

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