The Kevin Smith movie topic

DuoTheShinigami02 · Post by **DuoTheShinigami02** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:51 pm

During my time in Iraq, I've watched all of Kevin Smith's movies, and out of his collections, his movies I liked the most are Clerks and Chasing Amy.

I was first introduced to J & SB Strike Back (I'm just tired right now to write the full title), and before I left, I got almost all of the DVDs (except Mallrats, which I got later).

I've also enjoyed Jersey Girl, but what I don't get is that many people didn't see (or like) it, because of the fact that they still got that whole Bennifer crap in their minds (more likely), or because there it's not a Jay & Silent Bob movie. Smith even said that JG was based on raising his baby daughter.

Chime in your two cents.

Post by **Tiff** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:54 pm

My favorite has to be Dogma...it's great, and has such smart humor in it. ^_^

I've also seen Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back..all very amusing.

I can't bring myself to watch Jersey Girls just yet...looks too damn corny. But who knows? Maybe someday.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:06 pm

I've only seen Clerks and Dogma. In fact, I saw Clerks again recently on the Independent Film Channel.

Now, Clerks was very funny and had the appeal of being a cheaply-made film. You get the feeling that by liking it, you're validating your standards because it's not a "mainstream" movie.

I did not like Dogma. Some of the stuff was funny, but Ben Affleck and Matt Damon were their typicial crappy selves, and the way they ended the film was gratuitous and over-violent.

But in both cases, I strongly disagreed with the message of the film. I did think that Dante got a raw deal in Clerks because he wasn't supposed to be there, and if he wants to make his life about a dead-end job and indecision about girlfriends, that's up to him. But since it was funny, I let it pass.

In Dogma, I was unhappy with the way it seemed to lambaste anyone who is devout, whether devout in a religion or a committed atheist like myself. The "right" answer, according to the movie, seemed to be staying noncommittal and just trying to be good. Which seems a cheap theme to me.

ParaKiss_Groupie · Post by **ParaKiss_Groupie** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 9:28 pm

Dogma is one of my absolute favourite movies. I have to disagree with Sailorasteroid about it. I didn't think it attacked anyone who believed in things. If there was a message in the movie (and Smith has said repeatedly that it wasn't meant to be offensive, just comedic), it's that fanatasism is bad. Loki and Ben Affleck's character (both of whom I find splendid in that movie) were fanatics about their beliefs. The main chick (again, I forgot her name) was fanatic about her disbelief in God. In the end, they all achieved a sort of moderation, and were better for it.

Jersey Girl....I hated that movie. And Duo, I've never met anyone who hated the movie because of "Bennifer" or because it wasn't Jay and Silent Bob. I hated it because it was just a bad movie. The characters were abysmal, the acting sub-par at best...The only good scenes, IMO, were Liv Tyler crying, and the camera zooming to show all the porn titles behind her; and the Sweeney Todd scene in the end. They were nice juxtapositions. Also, there's a line in the movie that really touched a chord with me, and the main character was, in my eyes, unreedemable. When he said [spoiler]"I hate you too, you little shit! You and your mother ruined my life!"[/spoiler], the break was final. Nothing he did after that could bring him to a likeable status.

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:09 pm

ParaKiss_Groupie wrote:Dogma is one of my absolute favourite movies. I have to disagree with Sailorasteroid about it. I didn't think it attacked anyone who believed in things. If there was a message in the movie (and Smith has said repeatedly that it wasn't meant to be offensive, just comedic), it's that fanatasism is bad. Loki and Ben Affleck's character (both of whom I find splendid in that movie) were fanatics about their beliefs. The main chick (again, I forgot her name) was fanatic about her disbelief in God. In the end, they all achieved a sort of moderation, and were better for it.

Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say. I think that when it comes to religion or philosophy, moderation is not a good thing. You should figure out whay you think is true and then believe it 100% based on facts, not allow anyone else's opinions to sway you.

ParaKiss_Groupie · Post by **ParaKiss_Groupie** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:15 pm

Sailorasteroid wrote:
ParaKiss_Groupie wrote:Dogma is one of my absolute favourite movies. I have to disagree with Sailorasteroid about it. I didn't think it attacked anyone who believed in things. If there was a message in the movie (and Smith has said repeatedly that it wasn't meant to be offensive, just comedic), it's that fanatasism is bad. Loki and Ben Affleck's character (both of whom I find splendid in that movie) were fanatics about their beliefs. The main chick (again, I forgot her name) was fanatic about her disbelief in God. In the end, they all achieved a sort of moderation, and were better for it.
Yes, that's exactly what I was trying to say. I think that when it comes to religion or philosophy, moderation is not a good thing. You should figure out whay you think is true and then believe it 100% based on facts, not allow anyone else's opinions to sway you.

I see. When you said "non-commital," I was thinking not claiming religion at all, and just not believing anything.

KoiNoVash · Post by **KoiNoVash** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:01 pm

Dogma is one of my all time favorite movies, I love the underlying message. I think my favorite character from the movie was Alan Rickman's character, especially when he makes comments about society.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike back is my other favorite Kevin Smith movie. I found it incredibly funny.

I did not like Jersey Girl. Not because it wasn't part of the Jersey Trilogy or because of the Benifer or lack of Jay and Silent Bob, but because I found it incredibly cheesy.

DuoTheShinigami02 · Post by **DuoTheShinigami02** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:31 pm

The only new thing about Smith was that he's now in the process of working on the long-awaited sequel of Clerks, called "Passion of the Clerks".

Speaking of Clerks, how was the animated series? Is it worth buying on DVD?

Jumbled Thoughts · Post by **MarioKnight** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 8:54 pm

Yes, be sure to buy the uncut version of course. It has all six episodes (only two aired) and is uncut. One of my housemates owns it, and you can be sure that I'll buy my own copy after we move out of here.

As for the movies, all of his that I've seen so far I've loved. I have yet to see Chasing Amy or Jersey Girl. Clerks was the first one I saw way back, and can't wait to see the extra stuff packed into the 10th anniversary set, I own it but haven't been able to watch it yet and left it in my brother's room. -_-;;; Dogma was a great movie, and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was fucking awesome. I finally saw Mallrats a couple years ago and loved that as well, I wish my mall were a little more like that so I can try to recreate those things as well as have some fun of my own there. Though having the arcade job is a step towards that direction.