Clerks II

I've been doing most of the blogging here lately, but then again, I only have about one hour's worth of actual work to do a day, so I spend most of my days surfing espn, cnn, youtube, myspace, facebook, candystand, sportspickle, the onion, amazon, apple trailers, and club jenna jameson, and when I get bored of those, I blog. I figured I might as well use this space to launch my career as the next roger ebert once he croaks. But first, here's a west coast update:

Friday was my cousin Rob's birthday, so we decided to party it up in San Francisco. My cousin Sue asked me on Thursday to find a comedy club for all of us to go to. I was thinking there could be only a million comedy clubs in that city so I was kinda pissed that I was in charge of booking some shitty improv show. How the hell do I know what local comedians are good and which ones suck? So I did a google search and the very first link was to this place called Cobb's and on Friday there was a special guest comedian: DAVE ATTELL!! So I booked that. Sue rented a limo for eight of us. We piled into the limo and drank our faces off for the hour long trip into the city. The show was HILARIOUS! Afterwards we went barhopping and we all woke up the next morning in various states of disarray. My cousin Fernando woke up by the pool outside. It was a fun time.

Growing up on the Jersey Shore comes with choices. I guess it's kinda like growing up black in LA and deciding between the Crips and Bloods, or latino in LA and choosing between the five percenters and latin kingz, or growing up a Notre Dame fan and choosing between pitching or catching the cock. Our choices are a little less hostile (except during a Subway Series). You must choose between the Yankees or the Mets, Giants or Jets, Knicks or Nets, Rangers or Devils, Springsteen or Bon Jovi (although you can like both, you can only LOVE one), Seaside or Point Pleasant, boardwalk fries with or without garlic, salt or freshwater taffy, and Italian or everything else. Some things however are givens on the Shore. The luxury of not having to pump your own gas, Jack Nicholson and Frank Sinatra, hating Bennys, and of course Kevin Smith movies. Kevin Smith is yout typical local boy gone big. Jersey has its fair share of celebrities, but Kevin Smith keeps his roots in Jersey and is still that way at heart. Even Springsteen, who still lives in Jersey, has left Jersey in the sense that he so mega-famous that Jersey can't hold him. When Clerks hit in 1994, it was an indie sensation that has only been eclipsed by Pulp Fiction and The Blair Witch Project. The dialogue is unique, believable, and intelligent, not to mention absolutely hysterical. 12 years later, Kevin Smith releases a sequel and I was very apprehensive about it at first, but after seeing it, I say bravo to you Kevin Smith.
Sequels suck as a general rule (exceptions being Empire and Matrix 2 and Spiderman 2, all of which were better than the originals, and the latter two blowing the originals clear out of the water!). Clerks 2 starts with the Quick Stop burning down in a fire 12 years after the first movie with Dante and Randal still working there. Now they are working at Mooby's fast food, a fictional chain which made its debut in "Dogma." The movie starts out in black and white and then goes into color. Basically Kevin Smith took his characters and now gave them 30 year old problems rather than 20 year old problems. The dialogue is funny but it is also deep and reflects some intelligent criticisms about what it truly means to live your life happily. Dante, ever the brooder, feels that he NEEDS to get married because that's what life says he should do, meanwhile Randal feels life is what you make it and says many times how he misses the Quick Stop. The movie is filled with pop culture humor, especially a great argument over which is the "real" trilogy, Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. Raunchy sexual humor is of course a Smith trademark, and the stuff that comes out of these characters' mouths is incredible and hilarious. The movie is filled with in-jokes from Kevin Smith's universe, but is also funny for non-Kevin Smith fanboys. The ending scene is perfect. If you remember the first movie, you'll agree that Clerks 2 ends perfectly. I will also say that Rosario Dawson was amazing tits. Even though we don't actually see them, she wears a form fitting shirt which clues us in to their perfect size. Unlike Superman, spend the money to see this movie.



Tags: CLERKS