Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Clerks 2: Open for Business!

Hey, have y'all checked out the trailer for "Clerks 2" yet? You can find it here. It's pretty cool (and stystically, a bold decision on Smith's part, to render it virtually without dialogue, perhaps his strongest suit as a director/writer).

Dante and Randal are back in action for the first time since 2001's Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and I appreciate how the trailer picks up visually where Clerks left off (in drab black-and-white; at the NJ convenience store), and then goes whole hog into glorious color for the stuff at Mooby's, the fictional burger joint of the View Askewniverse.

Keep your eyes peeled and you'll see My Name is Earl stars Jason Lee, and Ethan Suplee, as well as Mrs. Kevin Smith herself, the lovely Jennifer Schwalbach. Rosario Dawson looks to be the major guest star this time around. A good choice if you ask me. She totally redeemed Alexander, and was great - a revelation - in Rent.

I know some of the anti-Kevin Smith forces out there are ragging on the director for doing a sequel to Clerks, but personally, I think it's a great idea. Those characters still have something to say, and even over a decade later, Clerks is still a very funny and relevant movie. I mean, it's not like Smith went and spent 200 million dollars on a vanity project, right? More like he's returning to his roots after Jersey Girl, which, perhaps, wasn't what it could have been.

But then again, I tend to think that a brand of fan boys get a bit jealous over Smith because he's one of the bunch who's made good, where many...just haven't. These guys are envious, because they all think it's easy to make a movie, write a comic-book or the like, and thus sit around wondering why they haven't been plucked from obscurity for such fame. It's kind of the Wesley Crusher syndrome. (Why does he get to save the Enterprise?).

I wrote a book about Smith, obviously (An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith), but I have a rule that I only write books about filmmakers I really have a passion for, and Smith certainly fits the bill. I still argue Chasing Amy is a great film (and the perfect '90s movie), and I'd like to see the director tackle The Green Hornet after this.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous1:43 AM

    Well, Dante and Randal are the greatest characters in the Askewniverse. You should the trades of Clerks The Comic Book and the animated show for proof of that. I've been wating for this film for a long time.

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  2. Hey Lee!

    Thanks for writing. I've been waiting for Clerks 2 as well. I thought the Clerks Animated Series was brilliant. It went before its time (thanks to Who Wants to Be a Milliionaire and ABC's strategy to air it every frickin' night). If the network had shown some faith, it would be more popular today than Family Guy, for sure. I also think that the original Clerks is still damn funny today...

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