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Watching Mallrats again was an interesting experience, I've been thinking about Kevin Smith a lot lately because he was just a guest on Blank Check. OP gets into it a bit but you can't really separate this movie from your feelings on Smith himself. It's weird how I've gone from loving him to hating him to being solidly okay with him. I still remember in 2011 when he went off on how he hates critics and refused to screen Red State for them, making a big stunt out of it. I remember these here forums turning on him around that time. In my teens, it was cool that Smith didn't seem to put in effort and was just making bullshit with his friends. In my 20s, I was pretty pissed at him for being a lovely director on a hypocritical anti-critic rant who had to learn about camera lenses from Bruce Willis. Now I'm 35 with a job and a mortgage and I just don't care if he ever grew as a filmmaker and he just makes movies for his dumb cult following. Whatever. He seems like a nice enough guy and people seem to like working with him and that counts for something, I guess. He's a locker room guy. So, Mallrats. The funny stuff is funnier than I remembered, the bad stuff is way way worse than I remembered. I think the writing is pretty good in parts but there are just bizarre decisions all around that make it a rough watch. The best parts are Jay and Silent Bob doing a Looney Tunes schtick in the background. Jason Lee is a delight to watch as he plays a wretched character in a likable way. But there's just something sort of flat about this movie to me. It's hard to recreate the slacker angst Smith captured in Clerks, especially when we're no longer dealing with characters who are working. Dante in Clerks is tragic because he wants to have a better life, but Brody and T.S. have no interest in growing and they're basically rewarded for it. This movie feels like Smith saying "this is as good as I'm getting" on movie #2. Ultimately I still like Mallrats but OP is wrong, it's not Paul's Boutique. Paul's Boutique deserves a critical re-evaluation and Mallrats... doesn't. I think they were right about it the first time.
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Mar 13, 2024 04:07
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Meaty Ore posted:Also, maybe it's just me, but Claire Forlani seems to be trying to do some sort of accent with half her lines and it isn't working, so her delivery comes off as extra-stilted. You're halfway there, Forlani is English and trying (and failing) to hide her accent, it's really noticeable in the game show scene.
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Mar 18, 2024 00:07
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