Clerks II (Kevin Smith, 2006)

[exte]

Here's the teaser! http://www.clerkstwo.com/teaser/clerks2teaser.mov

[Christian]

The road into oblivion is a long and hard one.

[Noir of the Night]

Clerks II got an 8-minute standing ovation at Cannes:

http://www.newsaskew.com/includes/featu ... yle=single

[Joe Buck]

Well, this certainly grabbed my attention. I was ready to write this thing off as a cheap cash in gimmick. Could be something real going on here.

I just saw Jersey Girl for the first time about a month ago, shamefully, and much to my surprise I enjoyed it tremendously. My Affleck-phobia must be cured. I owe Kevin $8. I should have stuck with him. But Jay & Bob Stike Back sucked so hard I didn't think he had anything left to offer.

[Noir of the Night]

Don't worry, I was a big fan of Jersey Girl as well. I really can't explain why, because there was so much in that movie that should have failed miserably. Maybe it was the spirit behind itl it felt like a genuine story, as opposed to a cheap cash-in.

[Noir of the Night]

Video of the 8-minute applause (and Smith's arrival and pre-screening speech):

http://198.64.150.18/movies/thebigo560.mov

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Don't worry, I was a big fan of Jersey Girl as well. I really can't explain why, because there was so much in that movie that should have failed miserably. Maybe it was the spirit behind itl it felt like a genuine story, as opposed to a cheap cash-in.

I really enjoy this film as well. I think that what works for me is that not since Chasing Amy did Smith finally have something personal to say. He was able to tone down the dick and fart jokes and actually make a pretty entertaining and engaging movie. It's a shame it was the victim of the whole Bennifer thing.

[Antoine Doinel]

[montgomery]

Clerks II got an 8-minute standing ovation at Cannes:

Well, there it is. Cinema is dead.

[skuhn8]

Well, this certainly grabbed my attention. I was ready to write this thing off as a cheap cash in gimmick. Could be something real going on here.

I just saw Jersey Girl for the first time about a month ago, shamefully, and much to my surprise I enjoyed it tremendously. My Affleck-phobia must be cured. I owe Kevin $8. I should have stuck with him. But Jay & Bob Stike Back sucked so hard I didn't think he had anything left to offer.

had to quit Kevin Smithing after that piece of crap Dogma. Not since a college bud tried to turn me onto the philosophic musings of Henry Rollins spoken word vomit have I experienced so much "hey, philosophy for Gen X! Cool!" shit. But I might have to check out Clerks II since the first one was so charming. Shouldn't judge prior to viewing (hahahahahahahh!!!) but I can't imagine that self satisfied huckster has come up with anything worthy of 8 minutes of applause ....or heckles

[tavernier]

Caryn James in the New York Times on Clerks II:

For Kevin Smith, the View From the Convenience Stores Is Still Askew
By CARYN JAMES
Published: June 25, 2006

"DUDE, if I'm wearing the Silent Bob coat when I'm 40," Kevin Smith once told his old friend and producing partner, he should be shot. The producer, Scott Mosier, recalls this in the DVD extras for "Jersey Girl," which Mr. Smith wrote and directed, his first attempt at a grown-up mainstream movie and a commercial fiasco. Never, never mention such deadlines, because two years later here is Kevin Smith wearing his ankle-length overcoat again to play the chain-smoking, pot-dealing sidekick Silent Bob in "Clerks II" (set to open July 21). Nearly 36 now, he seems to be violating the spirit, if not the number, of his own cutoff date.

The sequel to the no-budget Sundance discovery that started his career a dozen years ago, "Clerks II" sounds like a desperate retreat after "Jersey Girl." But it turns out to be a shrewd career move, in which Mr. Smith takes his characters into the present and even ratchets up his own forward-looking marketing skills. He has been cultivating fans on the Web for years, using his production company's site and his own online diary. In an ingenious new ploy, he has recorded a commentary for "Clerks II" that will be available for free download on iTunes, encouraging viewers to take their iPods to the theater for a second viewing. (Eventually the commentary will also be available on the official movie site, clerks2.com.)

He hasn't let go of the juvenile wardrobe that so often reflects his humor; he even wore his trademark short pants to the opening of "Clerks II" at this year's Cannes Film Festival. But the film itself, and the extended standing ovation it got after that midnight Cannes screening (preserved, naturally, in a video clip on the "Clerks II" site), suggest that his movies are not just for adolescent boys, and never were.

The original "Clerks" offered a distinctive new voice — lackadaisical but distinctive — and is still surprisingly funny. Dante and Randal (Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson), two unambitious convenience-store clerks in New Jersey, fritter away their day talking about women, sex and movies, while the stoners Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob stand outside, and outrageous disasters occasionally intrude. (A man dies in the darkened restroom, and Dante's ex-girlfriend mistakenly has sex with the corpse.) Shot in gritty, cheap black and white, the film has a meandering story, unprintable dialogue and low-key attitude that pointed toward later cult hits like "Office Space" and "South Park."

In the six films Mr. Smith has made since, his gifts have become clearer: he is terrific at irreverence, as in the "Clerks" movies and the underrated "Dogma" (1999); he can be awful at emotional sincerity, as in "Jersey Girl" and the weaker parts of "Chasing Amy" (1997).

It's not enough for the new "Clerks" to be irreverent, though, or to mark a return to safer low-budget filmmaking ($5 million to make, compared with $35 million for "Jersey Girl," which took in just a bit more than $25 million). The sequel feels fresh because Mr. Smith is not simply recycling. He does recycle and refer to his own work, a lot. Main characters from one film pop up in small roles in others, and Jay and Silent Bob appear in every one except "Jersey Girl." Together Mr. Smith's films constitute their own little world known to fans as the View Askewniverse, after his production company, View Askew.

Even in this off-kilter universe, adolescence can't last forever. In the new film Dante and Randal, played by the same actors as before, are 33 and look it. They still work at the Quick Stop and the adjacent video store, but when a fire destroys the building, they get jobs at a burger place called Mooby's, the elaborately cow-themed fast-food chain glimpsed in earlier Smith films. "Clerks II" acknowledges right away that this is pathetic, because we see Dante (always the more responsible) about to move on. He is heading to Florida to get married, even though he is in love with another woman, his Mooby's manager (Rosario Dawson).

The trick, as in all sequels, is to nudge the characters forward without actually making them different. So the film places its slightly evolved heroes in the familiar "Clerks" world, where history means old girlfriends, and culture is old movies. A new character, Elias (Trevor Fehrman), is a Mooby's employee as young and unambitious as the original clerks used to be. Holding up an onion ring, he announces, "One ring to rule them all," which sets off a typical Smith conversation about the original "Star Wars" trilogy versus "Lord of the Rings."

Mr. Smith has cooked up even more Web-based schemes to promote the sequel. He is running a contest to see who can place the "Clerks II" banner on the most other Web sites; the winner gets a walk-on role in a future View Askew movie. The site includes behind-the-scenes videos and interviews under the rubric "Train Wreck." He even changed the film's working title, "The Passion of the Clerks," because Web feedback told him fans thought it was a one-note joke (as if Silent Bob isn't, but that's another question).

Dante's romantic predicament is resolved in "Clerks II," but that doesn't get in the way of Mr. Smith's unique voice. For one thing, this route to happily-ever-after moves through a scene about sex with a donkey. It was the absence of his irreverent attitude that doomed "Jersey Girl," not some post-"Gigli" curse of Bennifer. (Remember Bennifer? The old Brangelina?) Ben Affleck plays a man whose wife — played by Jennifer Lopez , then his fiancée — dies early in the film, leaving him to raise their daughter. He moves back to New Jersey, where Mr. Smith's heart so clearly is, to live with his father (George Carlin).

Mr. Smith had married and had a daughter by the time of "Jersey Girl," and has often suggested that the film is a valentine to family life. O.K., if he says so. But that personal attachment to the themes didn't translate; the film is so generic, it could have been made by any writer or director for hire. It's good that he has gotten the sincere family-man stuff out of his system, at least on screen.

A more blatant family dynamic feeds into "Clerks II." Mr. Smith's wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, plays Dante's fiancée, and their nearly 7-year-old daughter has a cameo as a girl looking out a restaurant window, wearing the same red-ribboned pigtails that Silent Bob wears in one scene. Their daughter is named Harley Quinn (also the name of a harlequin-costumed villain from the Batman comics), so you have to hope she has inherited a sense of humor. (Mr. Smith was ahead of his time in oddball baby naming, though, beating the Apple-Suri-Shiloh phase by years.)

In earlier works too when Mr. Smith came at emotions directly, the effect was artificial. In "Chasing Amy" Mr. Affleck's character falls madly in love with a lesbian, only to flee when he discovers she has also had a wild sex life with men. "Chasing Amy" still offers a window onto the way men talk about women, and men and women talk to one another, with blunt dialogue rarely heard in movies. But the film falls apart whenever the conversation turns sincere.

"Dogma," his most ambitious and idea-driven film, may be a better indication of where Mr. Smith can go. Mr. Affleck and Matt Damon play angels trying to get back into heaven, and they are surrounded by other deliciously unlikely characters who descend on New Jersey, including Alan Rickman as the voice of God, Alanis Morissette as God Herself and Chris Rock as Rufus, the 13th apostle, who was cut out of the gospels because he's black. The film even has a proto-"Da Vinci Code" moment when an ordinary woman named Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) learns she is the descendant of one of Jesus' siblings. "You make it sound like there's some church conspiracy to cover up the truth about Christ," she says suspiciously. Steeped in faith but skeptical of organized religion, "Dogma" proves that Mr. Smith — who regularly and unironically puts God at the top of his thank-you list in his films' closing credits — is often best when laughing about the things he loves.

He has gotten past early misfires, like "Mallrats" (1995). And "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (2001), in which the pair travel to Hollywood, is for Smith cultists only; for anyone else a little Jay and Bob is plenty. A more recent bad sign is Mr. Smith's stint appearing in "Roadside Attractions," a series of supposedly wacky on-the-road segments on the "Tonight" show. You can't get more conventional or middle-aged than "Tonight"; next thing you know he'll be wearing long pants. But for now the voice and spirit behind "Clerks II" are as brash and unmistakable as ever.

[Antoine Doinel]

Apparentally, the DVD is already slated for December 5th.

[Cinesimilitude]

saw it twice, I loved it. If it is truly the end of the characters involved, I can't think of better way to finish it. but ofcourse, I would never say no to another movie with Randal Graves in it. he is by far my favorite Kevin Smith created character. I think smith has really matured as a storyteller, who has no reservations of putting fucked up shit that some people only think about in a feature film. the donkey show I think went a bit farther than it needed to, it went from funny to awkward (if you watch it with someone) for about 30 seconds, which pulled me out of the movie, but other than that, I laughed through the whole thing, and got a little teary eyed at the ending, cause it's just fucking beautiful.

my highest recommendation to anyone who's seen all of smith's movies, and/or silence of the lambs... trust me.

[Antoine Doinel]

From The Onion:

[Antoine Doinel]

Kevin Smith Named Guest Critic on 'Ebert & Roeper'

Writer-director-actor Kevin Smith, who famously tangled last week with ABC-TV critic Joel Siegel after Siegel showily walked out on a screening of Smith's Clerks II, is set to become a film critic himself next week. Smith said on his MySpace.com space Tuesday that he had been invited to substitute for the ailing Roger Ebert on the syndicated Ebert and Roeper movie-review show, where he'll be offering his opinions of the upcoming movies Miami Vice, The Ant Bully, Talladega Nights, Barnyard, and possibly World Trade Center.

As much as everyone was ragging on Shyamalan for his "self-centered" press prior to Lady In The Water, at least it ended after the movie was released and at least focused on his film. I'm frankly exhausted and slightly nauseated by the constant barrage of Kevin Smith both on TV, print and the internet the past few weeks. I don't care if Joel Siegel is a jerk (who takes him seriously anyway?) and I don't care if Kevin Smith thinks most critics are terrible. Dude, stop reading your own press and stop trying to control what's written about you by talking to (or barring) every media outlet possible. You can't win.

It pains me that someone like Richard Linklater - who has two wildly different films coming out this year, and who can shift genres without batting an eye - doesn't get this kind of attention.

[rs98762001]

It pains me that someone like Richard Linklater - who has two wildly different films coming out this year, and who can shift genres without batting an eye - doesn't get this kind of attention.

I couldn't agree more. Perhaps it's because Linklater makes intelligent, thoughtful, sometimes difficult movies, while Smith makes puerile, amateurish shit that requires checking your brain and taste at the door.

Console yourself, though, with the thought that nobody remembers or gives a fuck about his films once they come out and the hype dissolves. Aside from the original CLERKS, I can't imagine ANYONE even wanting to watch one of his movies again, not even his useless, nepotistic wife or his dozen remaining fans. DOGMA? JERSEY GIRL? He didn't direct GIGLI, but he may as well have.

This guy has to be in the running for the worst track record of any recent director. He makes Uwe Boll look underrated. As the Onion accurately suggests above, Smith wouldn't even get work were it not for his brother-in-rotundity Harvey.

[tryavna]

He makes Uwe Boll look underrated.

I never thought I'd see that sentence written ever!

[Fletch F. Fletch]

It pains me that someone like Richard Linklater - who has two wildly different films coming out this year, and who can shift genres without batting an eye - doesn't get this kind of attention.

This guy has to be in the running for the worst track record of any recent director. He makes Uwe Boll look underrated. As the Onion accurately suggests above, Smith wouldn't even get work were it not for his brother-in-rotundity Harvey.

Hey, I've got to hand to Smith, he knows how to market himself. He's a shameless self promoter 'cos he knows that's what sells... well, that and dick and fart jokes.

[montgomery]

I couldn't agree more. Perhaps it's because Linklater makes intelligent, thoughtful, sometimes difficult movies, while Smith makes puerile, amateurish shit that requires checking your brain and taste at the door.

Better watch out, if Smith finds out your real name, he'll send someone out to kick your ass, or at the very least, he'll tell you to fuck yourself on his myspace page.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stand him - I honestly think he is the least talented filmmaker in the history of cinema. For reasons I can't fully justify, I've seen nearly all his films (up to Jay and Silent Bob), and I would honestly rather be kicked in the balls than have to sit through any of them again. The fact that each one is critically acclaimed (to some extent), performs well at festivals--elite European festivals--and worshipped by a cult that seems to span the globe makes it all the horrifying.

[exte]

Saw this last night and must say I laughed my ass off. Quite enjoyable, though the beginning was a little slow, especially with the use of Smith's wife...

[Antoine Doinel]

Saw this and I'm kind of baffled at some of the positive notices here. Fifteen years since the first film, and the only think Clerks II shows is how out of touch Kevin Smith is and how horrid is screenwriting can be.

Whereas the original Clerks was fresh, funny and written by someone with an distinct voice, the sequel is that same voice trying to still prove he is hip and cool. The film's vulgar mouth feels ridiculously forced, particularly the ass-to-mouth sequence which goes from funny to tired really fast. Worse, the "mature" sideplot is unbelievably cloying, sentimental and poorly written. I shudder to think what Jersey Girl is like. All of this underlined by some awful musical choices, headlined by a teary montage set to the Smashing Pumpkins. WTF!?

That said there are some funny bits, particularly the "porch monkey" sequence and Randal's assertion that the LOTR trilogy is nothing but three movies of people walking ("even the trees fucking walk!").

The only part of the film that actually resonated with any true dramatic weight and seemed to come from a geuine place was the last twenty minutes, from the end of the donkey show (much written about, but entirely stupid and unfunny) to the end of the film. This where the real heart of the film is but it's too bad it takes a hugely uneven 1 hr and 15 minutes to get there.

[jbeall]

I want to add my voice to the haters. I thought Clerks was hilarious, and watched it numerous times, but Smith has since proved himself to be a one-trick pony whose idea of humor, in addition to the dick and fart jokes, is having a character say something stupid, and then having that stupid sentence come up again 20 minutes later (for example, the girl who has a heart attack after swimming 700 laps) and on into subsequent films.

It works great with the Jersey crowd, because with their massive inferiority complex, they take all Kevin Smith jokes, even his incredibly lame in-jokes, as evidence that they somehow "get" his genius more than other people who actually see his work for what it is. Kevin: I got it already, and my sense of humor has evolved since I was 16!!!! It doesn't take a comedic genius to figure out that a guy named Silent Bob will speak once during the movie.

I've also read Kevin Smith's comic work for Marvel, and I have to say, it abuses all the fanboy stereotypes to the point that his comic writing is even more formulaic than his screenplays.

I almost want to give Smith credit because he seems fairly warmhearted toward the everyday slobs and its nice to see someone paint them (at times) as people, rather than dumb stereotypes, but then he turns around and judges the hell out of everybody who isn't a lazy f#%king slob. You can't have it both ways, Kev! In this regard, his big F-U to all his critics at the end of Jay and Silent Bob shows just how insecure he is.

Credit the man for trying to get away from the dick and fart jokes for all of one film, but when it tanked critically, he once again sought out the warm embrace of the (Jersey-centered) dick-and-fart-joke crowd who love him for nothing other than the fact that he's from Jersey, and made Clerks II. Apparently he prefers being a big fish in a small (and fetid) pond.

[exte]

I almost want to give Smith credit because he seems fairly warmhearted toward the everyday slobs and its nice to see someone paint them (at times) as people, rather than dumb stereotypes, but then he turns around and judges the hell out of everybody who isn't a lazy f#%king slob. You can't have it both ways, Kev! In this regard, his big F-U to all his critics at the end of Jay and Silent Bob shows just how insecure he is.

Wow, you're spot on about him being a total judge when he sees fit, and in the oddest of cases. I still can't get over how he came out of nowhere and attacked Magnolia. He said it was a case study of everything he never wanted in a film... wtf? Not trying to hijack the thread, but the last time I felt something truly heartfelt from Smith, and people here will stone me for this, was Chasing Amy. To me, Magnolia is all heart.

Anyway, I saw Clerks II again recently and absolutely hated his wife in it. God, what an ass he is for casting her... And you're right, he tried for all of one film. A pure lazy ass...