I can see where Siegel is coming from. In some sense it does sound extremely disrepectful and admittedly the whole industry that specializes in "that" is disgusting.

Yet after the "Dogma" and "J&SB Strike Back" controversies, I'm skeptical of anyone attacking Smith's films. Usually he has good reason to say what he does in his films, or at least he's making a point and has the bigot character saying his crude material. I reserve judgement until Friday when I see it at the stoners' theater.

Can't wait for Darth Randal to blast that flick on the internet though - neheh.

Just came back from it. Outstandingly good. Funny and touching - just like a good Smith film should be. Loved it. Made me feel old though

Kubo wrote:

...have been a little worried about it after Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Yeah, 'Clerks II' is definitely not a live action cartoon this time around. It's grimy, old, and lived in. For example, Mooby's actually looks like a real fast food joint. The paint's faded, the floor is dirty, etc. It's not shiny, plastic-y, or all around new looking like it was in 'Dogma' or 'Strike Back'.

Okay, there's a couple of cartoony moments, but what's a Smith film without these moments? Like Silent Bob sailing through the air of a mall, or Banky throwing trashcans through comic book store windows, or rubber poop monsters?

Syd Lexia wrote:

Second best use of Soul Asylum ever.

I'll bite, what's the first?

Sock wrote:

It was a fun movie, I really enjoyed it. But ya gotta admit, compared to the first, Clerks II is nothin'.

Nah, I disagree. I actually like the second more than the first. The message and emotional drama is better than the first (no kidding, that's a given). It's a more mature film. But mostly, seeing Dante and Randal at a particularly vulnerable point in their lives was quite poignant.

We've seen Dante and Randal in the first Clerks - basically a bunch of kids that don't know what they're doing with their lives.
Then again in the animated show - Cartoony counterparts of themselves making fun of the sitcom format.
Comic Book and Music Video - Just mentioning these for completeness sake.
In Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back - More of the same, but mostly Dante barely doing anything and Randal making his grand live action reappearance in a View Askew film (besides his brief cameo in Dogma).
There's also "The Flying Car" - which in all their appearances was the closest thing to a Clerk's sequel we ever got.

"Clerks II" feels like a true sequel, because the characters have not only grown since the first film (or any of the other times we saw them), but make another significant growth by the end of the film. It's not another "Lethal Weapon" where Riggs and Murtaugh are still alive by the end of the movie.

In terms of humor, Clerks was never the funniest Smith flick for me. I might be biased to the "Clerks II" humor because it's fresh Smith after I've watched so many of his works over and over again. Were little things like his Star Wars debate in Clerks better than the SW vs. LOTR skit in II? Yeah, but it still works.

And, hey, I actually have "The Snowball Effect" playing on the desktop RIGHT NOW as I'm typing this, so I know what is meant when people call "Clerks." a classic. It has many moments we can separate and reference and be hahaha... but those things take time, IMO. Clerks has been out for 12 years, of course its seeped into pop culture, but in another 12 years, I bet Smith fans will be referencing this new film as often as his other films (except probably "Jersey Girl" due to lack of referencable, standalone humor).

I'm also going to have to disagree with Jeebus on the rewriting. But I kinda know what he means, but compared to most rewritten sequels (Another 48 hrs.) it is far, far, far from being recycled or rehashed.

I haven't seen many comedies this summer... because they all look like crap... Click, Dupree, Break Up, Super Ex-Girlfriend, etc... I can easily say "Clerks II" is the best comedy of the summer... Fuck it, it's also the best dramedy or drama of the summer too. Not quite the best action or documentary film, but we'll work on that for next time.

Now to wait for "Snakes on a Plane".

And out of curosity - how does "Clerks II" rank up with you?
Tebor's View Askew Ranking (films NOT directed by Kevin Smith included):
Dogma
Chasing Amy
Clerks II
Mallrats
Vulgar
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Clerks
Jeresy Girl
A Better Place
Drawing Flies
And Good Will Hunting (though not View Askew) could probably be thrown up there for fun.

JWcolour wrote:

-I thought the movie was funny, but the writing took absoultely zero effort and relied almost completely on shock/disgusting humor. Don't get me wrong, i'm all about that shit...

...

JWcolour wrote:

The whole scene where Daunte or however you spell his name is staring at the little girl in the window...I know it was supposed to be like a nice moment where he realizes shit...but all i could think of was how creepy he looked gazing at her like a pedophile.

I was joking about that with the group I went with. It was kinda creepy. But not nearly as creepy after you've seen Vulgar. Matter of fact, Brian O'Halloran gives another creepy look and laugh to a small child in Vulgar. It's in the trailer if you're curious to compare notes.

BTW, it is Dante after "Dante's Inferno", Dante Alighieri, or "The Divine Comedy". Originally Clerks was separated into the nine levels of Hell, but Smith thought it was too 'on the nose', so he changed them to words out of the dictionary.

JWcolour wrote:

Recently took classes on Renaissance Literature and we focused alot on The Decameron among other things which has alot of reference to Alighieri's stuff. I'm sounding gay now though so later.

How the heck did that sound gay?

Syd Lexia wrote:

The only thing I didn't like was towards the end when Elias started (spoiler)ing while the guy was (spoiler)ing the (spoiler).

No one can ever live up to the awesomeness which is Judge 'Hamilton' Reinhold. Although I guess he didn't s*spoiler*k to an act of i*spoil-er*s e*spoiler*a, but rather that *spoil-surround*: "Mrs Film or Checking".