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Directed by: Kevin Smith Starring: Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonhauer This was the second of my Smith movies, the first having been Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It was interesting seeing that one without any Smith background, but that's for another review. Dante Hicks is a clerk at the Quik Stop convenience store, called in on his day off and very unhappy about it. His buddy, Randal Graves, works at the adjacent video store. The movie takes place over the course of one day in their lives. During that one day, we see Dante's romantic life shaken and stirred. Randal is there to provide sarcastic commentary on the goings-on. Along the way, we see the first of Smith's signature monologues about geek culture in a debate about the merits of the last two Star Wars movies. The movie was made for a very, very low budget. Far from being a stylistic choice, it is filmed in black and white for sheer budget reason: B&W film is cheaper. Smith pawned his comic book collection to finance this movie. The cracks show through at times because of this. The actors were taken from local theatre companies and colleges, and the quality of the acting reflects it. Much of the time, it seems the actors are simply playing themselves. This fails to detract, however, from a thoroughly entertaining film experience. While Smith's dialogue does not please everyone, it made me laugh out loud. The "dumb customer" sequence is one of the most hilarious things ever put to celluloid. This film spawned both a catchphrase ("I'm not even supposed to be here today!") and two recurring characters (Jay and Silent Bob, drug dealers played by Jason Mewes and Smith himself). I heartily recommend this movie to fans of slightly weird, low-budget comedy. Here, Smith achieves a level of comic mastery that he would not see again until Dogma. RATING: 4 PROS: First glimpse of Smith's hilarious dialogue, great movie for the budget he worked with CONS: Horrendous acting ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109445/ zakharov fucked around with this message at 17:15 on May 4, 2004 |
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May 4, 2004 17:07
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Tater Love 
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Clerks is quite the interesting movie. While workers of convenience stores experience all of the jerkbag customers depicted (and more) generally their dialog isn’t very intelligent. Kevin Smith did an excellent job in writing and directing this movie. The number of film students with similar projects that copy Smith’s style help to prove this. Not a bad movie, I like it. Toadsoup fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Feb 27, 2010 |
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May 4, 2004 20:44
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Not bad for the small budget, but I thought the dialog was a little unbelievable at times, and a little washed out. Suffers from trying to be too hip. 2.5/5
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May 4, 2004 21:20
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I loved Clerks because it just seemed like such a genuine, honest film that didn't try to be anything but what it was- a couple of dudes working crappy jobs and bullshitting. The acting was pretty assy though. I give it a 4 out of 5.
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May 5, 2004 09:14
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Bodybuilding Virgin 420 fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Oct 27, 2012 |
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May 5, 2004 09:15
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Good movie for its time but not a film that you can rewatch 20 years from now and still have a good time. 2.4/5
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May 5, 2004 09:55
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My favorite film ever besides A Clockwork Orange. I watch this at least once every week or two. 5.5/5
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May 6, 2004 07:49
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One of my favorite movies. The acting, at best, isn't great, but I am able to enjoy it nonetheless and in fact I am going to watch it again right now. 4.5
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May 6, 2004 09:02
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One of my favorite movies, and although Kevin Smith has been OVERLY discussed on the internet it still ranks as a very good independent film. A great movie for sitting around with friends quoting it. 5/5
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May 6, 2004 18:52
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Best movie ever, if you were born between 1966 and 1970. I was.
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May 6, 2004 18:53
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I enjoyed the movie, and I still do. The dialogue isn't going to be anything mind-stimulating but it's funny (the contractor discussion). It's something you should watch at least once. 4/5
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May 6, 2004 19:13
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Ech. I think it was just too damned hyped that by the time I actually saw it I was expecting something good. 1.5/5
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May 6, 2004 19:15
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I didn't like Chasing Amy, and a friend lent me this to try and prove that Smith can make the funny. And he can. For the most part I enjoyed it, despite the budget and the poor acting. I thought the ending really let it down, though. The last 10 - 15 minutes just felt very drawn out, and kind of monologue-y. 2.5 / 5
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May 6, 2004 20:35
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quote:Remulak came out of the closet to say: I was born in 1986.
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May 7, 2004 00:00
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I'd give this movie 37 stars.
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May 7, 2004 00:29
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quote:Syn came out of the closet to say:
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May 7, 2004 04:06
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I loved this movie the first time I saw it..despite thinking my LD player was broken  I still love it, it's definately in my top 10 favourite movies.
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May 7, 2004 04:23
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Gee I wonder what I am rating this movie. My username says it all. 5
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May 7, 2004 06:41
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Easily one of my favourite movies. The characters are fantastic, and the dialogue is pure, unfiltered awesome. Unrealistic, sure, but who the gently caress goes to a movie to see REAL convenience store clerks? Jeez. 5 / 5
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May 8, 2004 05:26
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Please refer to my avitar for any further questions. #1 favorite movie of all time. 5.5/5
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May 8, 2004 07:47
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great movie, 5
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May 8, 2004 12:45
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quote:Syn came out of the closet to say:
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May 11, 2004 17:25
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Easily one of the best comedies every in my opinion. I can't really point out any flaws in the movie other than the low budget and some parts that didn't seem too realistic. 5/5
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May 11, 2004 21:13
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This movie is pure genious! Voted 5
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May 11, 2004 22:42
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quote:The Architect came out of the closet to say: I was inspired to watch the movie by the cartoon. Complete enjoyment. 4.5/5
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May 11, 2004 23:41
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My least favorite of kevin smiths movies, something about it just dident pull me in like his other flicks. I only really laughed once. 2.0/5.5
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May 12, 2004 00:54
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My second Smith movie, Dogma being my first. I loved this movie from the second I heard Dante's whiny voice. Granted it being Smith first movie it isn't the best it could be, but that just adds to the whole feel of the movie. It made me a devout Smith fan. 5.5/5
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May 12, 2004 01:02
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The idea is good, some scenes aren't bad, but good lord is the acting terrible. Listening to the whining and bitching is even worse when it sounds so forced.
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May 12, 2004 08:34
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I don't like Kevin Smith movies in general. I just don't find overanalyzing everyday issues no one cares about entertaining, which is exactly what Clerks is: An hour and a half of pointless, poorly written, poorly acted overanalyzation. Every movie he makes is crammed with references to his other movies, as if to say "hay guyz remember taht lol" I find him to be unprofessional and self glorifying. So, 1.
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May 12, 2004 11:42
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One of my favorites. along with the animated series. 5/5
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May 12, 2004 13:13
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5. The best $ for fun ratio in the history of entertainment industry ever.
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May 12, 2004 15:58
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Probably my favourite Kevin Smith movie. Excellent dialogue, funny enough to make the terrible acting matter very little. The dialogue between Randal and the woman who wanted to know if a movie was any good is one of my favourite scenes in any comedy movie. Really scathing delivery without even looking up from his newspaper. Not to mention pre-walking catchphrase Jay is loving hilarious. 4/5
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May 12, 2004 16:49
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quote:Shooter McGavin came out of the closet to say: In a row? The characters were so unlikeable that it ruined the whole experience for me. I hate each and every one of those selfish whining crybabies. I also hate that this movie made every other minimum wage earning butthole think s/he is doing the world a favor by showing up for work and then treating customers like poo poo. Voted 1.
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May 17, 2004 07:30
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Said snappy dialog between Randal and the lady: "I don't appreciate your ruse ma'am - your cunning attempt to trick me." "I was just saying that you weren't listening!" "And I hope it feels good." "You hope WHAT feels good?" "I hope it feels so good to be right. There's nothing more exhilarating than pointing out the shortcomings of others, is there?" (Hope I got it all right)
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May 18, 2004 06:50
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Voted 5. It's funny yet really deep at the same time. This is what movies are all about (OK, SHOULD be all about) and I encourage it.
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May 18, 2004 08:51
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It's like Dante setup a gimmick e/n thread in GBS, that was well thought out! It's not often a movie with hardly any plot, no effects, no name actors and no color film will keep my attention for more than 30 minutes. This one has kept my attention at length over 20 times. It's a really hilarious movie, with some great situations (sup snowball). 3/5
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May 18, 2004 18:00
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Its hard to like a movie when you hate all the characters in it. I especially hate Randal. He's the kind of guy you punch in the street if you should ever cross paths. But I still liked this movie. Oddly enough this movie was still very entertaining and funny despite my said hatred for the characters and their ways. The dialogue was dead on and the story is simple yet complex at the same time with a classic ending. 4/5
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May 19, 2004 09:12
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excellent movie. I saw Chasing Amy, then Mallrats, and finally Clerks. Terrible acting by the females mainly. Dante and Randall (no the actors don't have real names to me) were good. Randall is doing his own movies now from what I read on https://www.viewaskew.com 11/5
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May 19, 2004 22:21
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I loved this movie. For years I'd heard about 'oh man you gotta see clerks, its the awesome!' and never got around to watching it. Then, a few weeks ago, my dad and I had just finished watching a movie and he went on the computer. Well, to pass the time I decided to flip through the channels. Then I found clerks, it was about 10 minutes into it, but I decided this was going to be the only time I'd ever see it. Having no idea what to expect, I watched it with an unbiased pov. I ended up loving it. Dante's rants about his love life, and Randal's attempts to help and bring comedic relief provided me with extreme enjoyment. I felt I had really missed out not seeing it sooner. 5/5
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May 19, 2004 23:45
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I was really hoping to enjoy this movie, as I enjoyed the cartoon but found it really didn't appeal to me. I felt that the acting was so bad that it did indeed distract from the humor (especially in the dumb questions customers ask scene), the jokes were thin and far between and I couldn't associate with any of the characters. Some of the actors at some points looked really uncomfortable in their roles, almost to the point of awkwardness, and others (by which I mean Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson) over acted. There were some very good humoress sections in the film, however they wern't all in my opinion, well delivered meaning that they didn't work to their full potential. The romance part of the story also didn't appeal to me in any way, and was tiring. Therefore id say that while not being a great film and underserving of its hype, it was a good film for its budget, and gave Kevin Smith (who is a great film producer and along with Jason Mewes the only half decent actor in the film) the finacial support to produce some far greater material 2.5/5 edit: also the starwars analogy is bullshit, since the contractors would either all be robots or forced into their careers by the Empire, meaning no danger pay The Great Catsby_ fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Jun 29, 2004 |
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Jun 29, 2004 00:36
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