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Clerks II (2006)
A Fantastic Return To The View Askewniverse
Kevin Smith; creator of Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, Dogma, Mallrats and Chasing Amy had only just literally closed the book on the View Askewniverse; or the fictional world that the majority of his movies had been set in, before announcing the arrival of Clerks 2. It had been no secret that Smith was planning to return to the View Askewniverse; he had gone so far as to announce in the ending credits of Dogma, (1999) that Jay and Silent Bob would return in Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin'. Smith delayed the film for seven years due to a number of reasons, primarily because he lacked a script good enough to revive the series; until early 2006. After putting it off 11 Years, people had doubts, many including myself, believed the second Clerks would completely ruin the original, expecting a tragic attempt to revive Smiths fading career. Luckily this was by no means the case.
Clerks 2 kicks off with Dante (Brian O'Halloran) finally opening the shutters of the Quick Stop, his place of employment for over a decade, only to see that his slacker Hetero-Life partner Randall, (Jeff Anderson) had left the coffee pot on overnight, causing the store to burst into flames. The film then jumps one year ahead, where Dante and Randal are still working in a dead end job, only now it is at a Mooby's restaurant, and they are joined by two new slackers Elias (Trevor Fehrman) and Becky (Rosario Dawson). Dante however, is getting out. He has a rich fiancée, and has a new job lined up, along with a father-in-law who is promising the two a new house. But as in tradition in the View Askewniverse things don't ever go to plan. Randall is back to his old tricks, leaving Dante to clean up after him, Elias creates a sense of awkwardness and Dante falls for Becky. It wouldn't be Clerks without Jay and Silent Bob, the usual explicit banter and the vulgar themes which come in to play, only this time less crudely.
The film is highly predictable, mostly because it does not focus on anything in particular, and is only meant to be a day in the life of two men who are stuck in a dead end job, who sit around bludging, having vulgar conversations and serving customers with a negative attitude. This does not take away from the comedy of the film, and the film was never intended to keep one "guessing", in suspense, or have a "shocking twist" as many films set out to achieve. Rather this film is designed for the viewer to sit back and have a laugh at their favourite characters one last time before they solve their problems and no longer dealt with in Kevin Smith's upcoming films.
The cast is yet again played by many of Smith's friends, only now some of his friends had made names for themselves, appearing in other Kevin Smith films. Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith are the only actors reprising their original roles. The introduction of new characters including Trevor Fehrman, Rosario Dawson of (Sin City fame), Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee (Both of My Name Is Earl fame), Ben Affleck, Wanda Sykes and Kevin Smith's Mother, Wife, and Daughter all have roles in the film. Due to the nature of the film, many characters can easily be written in and out of the script as customers, and many cameos did not stay longer than a three or four minute scene. Many fans were upset with some of Smiths friends not appearing, but this was mainly focused at Matt Damon, who could not cameo due to other commitments. Other than this minor disappointment, the cast was perfect and each character was played superbly especially Elias, Randall and Jay.
The Cinematography was brilliant, especially the very beginning and ending, where the film slowly deteriorates to black and white, allowing the viewer to reminisce over the previous film which was shot completely in black and white. The use of cranes and expensive camera equipment where used in the dance sequence, and detailed shots of the camera panning over the roof of the Mooby's restaurant prove far superlative to the roof shot of the original, which was filmed from a cheap camera on a ladder.
The Soundtrack includes artists such as Talking Heads, Smashing Pumpkins, Alanis Morissette (a good friend of Smiths), Soul Asylum, Q. Lazzarous, and The Jackson 5. Most songs are used in a joking manner, for example Jay recreates Buffalo Bob's Strip Dance from Silence of the Lambs, using the Goodbye horse's song, and the entire cast perform a mock dance sequence to ABC by The Jackson 5. Soul Asylum is used to recreate the ending from Clerks 1, as it also closed with a song from this band.
All in all the film is an excellent one for anyone looking for a cheap laugh at society's expense, and for anyone who does not mind somewhat blunt and extremely explicit conversation topics. The film is a must for anyone who enjoys pop-culture references, and is jam packed full of quotes and send-ups to any number of films especially the likes of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Transformers, other View Askew films, and especially the original Clerks. The DVD is packed with over three hours of extras, all of which is both interesting and amusing. I particularly enjoyed the film, as any other View Askew Fanatic would, and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality, detail, and justice paid to the original. I would give the film a Ten Out Of Ten, and recommend anyone who enjoys filthy conversation, slackers and those who refuse to participate in the Rat Race that is today's society, and those who enjoy cameos, pop culture references, or any other View Askew Film, to check it out.
Dead Rising (2006)
awesome game
i had an xbox 360 with several games and the whole lot got stolen. dead rising is the only one of all 5 games that i will re-buy. dead rising is truly the first next gen game and being made for hi def widescreen TV is where its all headed. i do not have a HDTV but i got over the small writing. it ain't even that small. and anyone who cannot stand the save system isn't that good a gamer because there is one in every single part of the mall. its not that hard to realise your low on health and go save. the game is awesome and its different every time making it very good game to replay. whoever it was that criticized the game because he had to restart over and over probably should get a wii because it might be easier for a one handed gamer. unless you are just plain crap at it. and the aiming is perfect, by perfect i mean if you want to aim somewhere it isn't hard to do it. i am disappointed with the people who give it a low ranking because it is a superb game, even if the story line may be boring the sheer amount of ways to kill shits all over any minor problems this game may have.