(Kevin Smith on his new film 'A Couple of Dicks')
I've always been a big Kevin Smith fan. Rather, I used to be a really big Kevin Smith fan and I haven't seen anything of his lately so I don't know if I like how he's evolved as a writer/director over time. I think my first KS movie was Mall Rats, which if you've been living in a cave for the last 20 years (or if you were born after 1995), is one of the quintessential 90's flicks around. It's got everyone's favorite anti-hero Brody, references to Star Wars AND 90210, a sail boat, a "stink palm", and even an edible third nipple. What's NOT to love?! I think once I fell for Mall Rats, I immediately sought out Clerks and fell in love with its dry humor and witticisms and black and white grainy imagery. "37 dicks?!" lives in infamy. Then I saw Chasing Amy, by far my favorite KS movie although it took me a few years to understand it as well as I do now (Chasing Amy will be deserving of its' own blog post soon enough.) Then we went through Dogma (awesome) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (my least favorite KS film thusfar - even though I am still a big Jay and Silent Bob fan.) I even actually liked Jersey Girl (hell, Jennifer Lopez dies in the first 5 minutes!) It was a sweet film and it was kind of KS's first "grown up" film. Not to mention the wonderful George Carlin (RIP) was in it, and he could turn anything into comedic gold. I recently re-watched Clerks 2 (it was the first movie Tony and I saw at the theaters together) and it was just as hilarious as the first time. There are scenes from that film that will forever be burned in to my brain (see: Jay's homage to Silence of the Lambs *shudder*)
I think my disillusionment with KS began when I drove to Orlando to see him talk. And holy shit can that man talk. And talk and talk and talk and talk. It was an awesome time, don't get me wrong, at least for the first 5 hours. But being stuck in a big room with no accessible food or water for 6 hours (after having stood in line for about 2 hours)... we all just began to lose it. We actually walked out before KS finished (god knows he probably went on for another 4 hours or so.) After that, I kind of had my fill and maybe it's dicky to say but I just didn't really feel the need to do any more KS searching for a while. I completely missed Zack and Miri Made A Porno (in part because of what I just said and for another - I'm reeeelly getting sick of Seth Rogen and fast.) However, I'm sure i'll finally get around to it eventually (especially since KS made a reference to it being like Chasing Amy part 2 and thus now I am intrigued.)
KS is now being accused of selling out. People were already miffed at him years ago for Jersey Girl, but I think they eventually got over it. However, this is his first time directing something he didn't write. And that's not all, it's a buddy cop film starring Bruce Willis. What. The. Fuck.
I haven't really made up my mind on how I feel about any of this. The buddy cop film genre has never really been my cup of tea (there were no Lethal Weapon marathons in my childhood.) And Bruce Willis is very hit or miss with me (although he was phenomenal in Twelve Monkeys... but maybe Terry Gilliam can make anyone look good.. both statements could be true.) However, I'm excited to see Adam Brody (my dear Seth Cohen of The OC/Dave Rygalski of Gilmore Girl fame) getting some work. And Jason Lee will be in it too, so a little semblance of the old KS will be in effect I hope. So maybe it won't be so bad. I'll have to wait for a trailer to decide if it's theater worthy. Until then, I think I'll finally go out and buy that copy of Chasing Amy i've been waiting on for 12 years...
PS. Oh, and to be honest. I don't think he's selling out. He's branching out. And while I might not be rushing to his next public talk, I hope he does well because I'd really like to see another flick written AND directed by KS soon.
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