It's About Time for This One. . . Clerks II

I had to think long and hard about how I was going to write this up, because I didn't want to put any stupid spoilers in the post, and I didn't want to do the strictly fanboy post either.

Yes, I loved it. I laughed so hard and so much, I wheezed through most of it. Just ask Matt.

The cameos, as usual, were superb.

Rosario Dawson is adorable and hot at the same time.

There's the obligatory roof scene, a possible tribute to the rooftop hockey game from the original film; there's enough Jay & Silent Bob in it to keep the stoners happy (and to get some cheap-ass laughs in the process) and, of course, all the rehab jokes that I think are HIGH-larious.

Is it as groundbreaking as the original film? Absolutely not.

You can't go back to where you started, especially after 6 films, several comics (including a wicked-good Green Arrow storyline) and a (failed) network cartoon show, despite being funny as all hell. Yes, when Kev gets sentimental, he's not the big, doofy stoner with the "dick-and-fart jokes", but he's gotten a TON better at doing the sentimental shit.

Did I like it as much as the original? Absolutely. I laughed even harder because of the "in-jokes" from the Askewniverse. And being from Jersey, loving the Shore and all the other "exras" you read into it if you are.

If you're a Kevin Smith fanboy, like me, go see this movie.
If you're in your 30's and still feel like you're waiting for your life to begin, go see this movie.


Anyone else can hang out with Kinky Kelly and the Sexy Stud. Especially Joel Siegel.

Damn You Oliver Stone!

I knew it was due out, but the commercial still took me off guard.

Oliver Stone's World Trade Center is coming out on August 9th.

Nick Cage is in it as a Port Authority Police Officer. For those of you who are completely ignorant, the PAPD suffered the greatest losses of all first responders on the scene when the Towers went down. I don't mean to diminish the contributions of the NYPD and NYFD, because those men and women suffered too and I can't remember the exact statistic for PAPD, but I think it was close to 80% of the force. I usually avoid all mentions of September 11th in newscasts, the 'net and elsewhere and I still have a packet of articles I collected about the structural collapse, the air quality and the chaos that led to the biggest losses of life for folks trapped inside as well as the valiant crews who went in to save them and never came home.

Nick Cage is often one of my favorite actors.
Oliver Stone is often one of my most loathed directors. He's got a habit of bloating things that don't need to be bloated.

I have a LOT of curiosity about the two big-screen September 11th films, but have a weird mix of "voyeur's guilt" from my fascination with the science behind the destruction (the way the Towers pancaked when they fell, the way the "bathtub wall" was constructed in the '70's, why the PATH tunnels didn't flood, etc.) and revulsion at the voyeurism promoted by the viewing fences, TV movies and, of course, Hollywood blockbusters.

That's not to say that I didn't find anything redeeming in either of them.

After all, United 93 premiered at this year's TriBeCa Film Festival. Which was created by Robert DeNiro to help the rebuilding and recovery efforts of Lower Manhattan. I repeatedly said that if a film like this was going to premiere anywhere, the most appropriate place would HAVE TO be TriBeCa.

Is it too soon? Are the emotions too raw? For those of us who've had trouble dealing with that day, yes and no. These are stories we need to hear again and again. They touch our darkest fears, while at the same time play to our vanity - if we were in their shoes, we'd do this, this or that because we're brave/bold/daring.

I'd like to think that, should I ever be in a situation like those passengers on ANY flight, I'd not only fight back like I was going to die anyway, but I'd try and take as many of the bastards out with me as I could.

On September 11th this year, I'll be at my local blood bank, making a donation in memory of two people I knew who didn't come home that Tuesday night.

As for the flicks. . .I'll wait for them to come out on TV. Paying for them still feels like blood money.

A.O. Scott Answers My Question About Caryn James

Avast, Me Critics! Ye Kill the Fun: Critics and the Masses Disagree About Film Choices

In this "Critic's Notebook" essay, Mr. Scott intelligently explains why critics do the things they do.

And this is why I respect his opinion. . .of course, to give him credit that he doesn't give himself, he appeared to have fun during his viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which is still on my "want to see" list, despite its critics' warning of bloat, bloat and more bloat. But, for this flick, I don't expect plot. Just lots of silliness and fire and more silliness.

Just don't expect me to pay full-price; this is matinee material ALL the way!

Favorite Romantic Comedies. . .

. . .I like screwball comedies.

Most of all, as Clo knows, I have a thing for Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedies, and pretty much anything with Cary Grant in it, but I can't pick just one today.

At the top of my list currently are, like Clo, Bridget Jones' Diary as well as Love, Actually, which also includes vignettes with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman (who I LOVE), Hugh Grant (who I tolerate) and Colin Firth (who is just so adorable, I want to put him in my pocket).

As for McConaughey, yeah, he had some AWESOME dramatic roles. Then he stepped into the niche-market with the "light comedy". . .Failure to Launch looked so bad from the commercials that I wondered what Sarah Jessica Parker was thinking. (Maybe it's residual baby-brain. . .or all that hair dye she's been hawking!)

Lastly, nobody likes Owen Wilson like I do. I think he's adorably flakey and he's gotten some great comic roles, as well as some severely irritating gross-out ones, but I think he's a lot of fun to watch.

For example, I loved him opposite Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon, and wanted to see the sequel, but I lost my movie channels before it came out on TV. I thought he was a great match for Ben Stiller's nervous energy in Starsky & Hutch, but everyone agrees that the real scene-stealer was Snoop Dogg.

Best Reasons EVER for Casting Keanu

The Blur: On the enlightened fuzziness of Keanu Reeves by Dana Stevens (at Slate.com)

She's a lot more philosophical than most critics in this particular essay, but I couldn't agree more that there's a certain "something" about Keanu that makes him perfect for the role in A Scanner Darkly that he was cast in. Whether you've read the novel (as I have) or just love his laid-back style (which I do in some instances), you can follow Dana's logic on why the K-man is perfect.

Of course, she also translates his (Hawaiian) first name as "the coolness". . .and that gives me a most excellent Bill and Ted flashback.

The Romantic Comedy Rant Continues....

Lately, I seem to be shying away from anything Owen Wilson, so it doesn't surprise me that this is not getting "rave" reviews. You're right, Lizzy, she is better than this.

It's just a shame, I think she topped out in her breakout role, and really hasn't seen the point of challenging herself anymore, because, let's be honest, she's just like McConaughey right now, she's found a nitch that sells, and she's capitalizing on it.

I remember when McConaughey first got big, and he was doing dramatic roles like in A Time To Kill, and U-571, then all of the sudden, The Wedding Planner started a spiral of, all be it sometimes entertaining, dribble! I picked up Failure to Launch recently, not worth it. Apparently I am not the only person that felt that way, either. I have seen similar threads on IMDB discussing this.

Don't get me wrong, I like Romantic Comedies sometimes, and they do have their place, but lately we are SOOO overwhelmed with them, they aren't as well written as they used to be and they are starting to go for the cheapest laughs around. Like in Failure to Launch, the "comedy" were these different accidents that happened to the main character, and it was so slapstick, I just groaned.

So, here's a question, what is your favorite Romantic Comedy. It doesn't matter if you know the story line is light or if the acting is substandard, you don't need to justify WHY you like it. I'll start...

Bridget Jones's Diary

Kate Hudson is Actually Better Than This

The previews for the new Kate Hudson/Owen Wilson/Matt Dillon romantic comedy You, Me, and Dupree didn't even look funny.

They looked painful. Really painful.

And full of gross-out jokes.

*yawn*

But, you know, Kate Hudson is better than this. I'm not saying she's an Emma Thompson by any stretch of the imagination, and nobody is Emma Thompson, but she's better than this film.

I enjoyed her turn in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, which included great roles for Matthew McConaughey and Bebe Neuwirth.

I thought that she was really adorable in Raising Helen, possibly because I have a soft spot for John Corbett and will watch almost anything that also includes Joan Cusack.

Yes, they're silly romantic comedies. Very silly. And very cutesy. But they're a lot of fun, especially because of the way they showcase Ms. Hudson's cutesy-ness. She's not talented; she's cutesy. Kind of like Sandra Dee. And everybody loves Sandra Dee, right?

Philip K. Dick Hits the Screen Again

Review: A Scanner Darkly (Manohla Dargis, NY Times; subscription required, basic is FREE)

Two big things about this film intrigue me:

(1) I am a HUGE Philip K. Dick fan, with a small selection of his novels currently gracing the bottom shelf of my bookcase, including A Scanner Darkly, which is truly one of the single most disturbing and unusual novels I have EVER read.
(2) I find that the film-versions of Dick's altiverse-unreality make inroads into even weirder ideas, and may not bring the drug-induced flashbacks that many of his stranger novels so disturbing to the screen.



Or maybe I just need to actually watch Blade Runner, which was inspired by Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? instead of Total Recall.

Who knows? But, being that this is one of my favorite novels, I'm curious to see the flick to see if it's as twisted and earth-shattering as it should be. The film style points to "possibly", which is, of course, tons better than "no."