tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post946854671348273922..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: KEVIN SMITH MAKES A DOODYDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-69911182242829573302009-03-02T00:19:00.000-08:002009-03-02T00:19:00.000-08:00His characters always seem to get away with being ...His characters always seem to get away with being a bit dicky just because you automatically want him to be your friend.<BR/><BR/>In Zack and Miri this is pushed to its absolute extreme. Zack is a largely irredeemable bastard. It’s hard to forgive a lead character who forces his best friend into porn because he spent the money for utilities bills on a hockey stick.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-53456563810186999402008-11-12T19:00:00.000-08:002008-11-12T19:00:00.000-08:00FWNN: By the time The Way of the Gun came out I ha...FWNN: By the time <I>The Way of the Gun</I> came out I had already grown tired of all the Tarantino knockoffs and, as occasionally clever as the movie was, it still seemed very tired in its attitudes and its easy bestowal of cool on anyone brandishing a weapon in a sleazy, burnt-out motel room somewhere near the border. I'm not saying that Christopher McQuarrie isn't talented, and after that movie I would have expected to see more from him right away-- more that hopefully featured a voice or two that didn't sound like so many other voices rattling around the various wings of American cinema at the time. But both <I>TWOTG</I> and <I>The Usual Suspects</I> wear their influences a bit too obviously on their sleeves for my taste. (Obviously AMPAS doesn't agree.)<BR/><BR/>And I have to say too, on a personal note, that I saw the movie, which was released in 2000, three years after a calamitous event in my own life, and I just didn't much care to be subjected to the movie's concluding scene featuring the dangling fate of the pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis?) delivering her baby amid a shower of gunfire. Frankly, I don't recall whether she and/or the baby survive (I believe they do), but whether they did or not it wasn't worth putting me through the agony of experiencing that scenario done up with bucket-loads of extra peril and agony. That's a personal point of view that many undoubtedly won't share, but it colored my perception of the movie negatively well beyond my objection to it as an overly stylized and obvious piece of writing.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-86203705625834252622008-11-12T16:51:00.000-08:002008-11-12T16:51:00.000-08:00Dennis...waht's wrong with WAY OF THE GUN? I found...Dennis...waht's wrong with WAY OF THE GUN? I found it pretty unique aomongst all of the Tarantino "bastard stepchildren"...!?!!<BR/><BR/>TED!!!The Fan With No Name!!!https://www.blogger.com/profile/05853698858679938211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-73272023287961686132008-11-09T14:12:00.000-08:002008-11-09T14:12:00.000-08:00Kevin Smith was overrated from Day One... it just ...Kevin Smith was overrated from Day One... it just took 15 years for people to finally acknowledge it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-28736371933821814982008-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:002008-11-09T13:21:00.000-08:00Movieman0283: I absolutely agree. The terrible mov...Movieman0283: I absolutely agree. The terrible movies written in the hopes of scoring another <I>Pulp Fiction</I>, or <I>Clerks</I>, or at least seeming as literary/hip as a typical Tarantino or Smith project, are far too many to count, and mostly best left forgotten. I'm not sure I'll ever forgive Tarantino for bastard stepchildren like <I>The Way of the Gun</I> or <I>Truth or Consequences, New Mexico</I>. (Stubbornly resisting forgiving Keifer Sutherland too, of course!)Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-64460831125890048782008-11-09T09:30:00.000-08:002008-11-09T09:30:00.000-08:00"Clerks had a profane jauntiness that influenced a..."Clerks had a profane jauntiness that influenced an entire generation of film writers, in much the same way that Quentin Tarantino did."<BR/><BR/>Not a very good thing, in my opinion. In fact Pulp Fiction may have the greatest ratio of quality to malign influence ever.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-43594076623080475342008-11-06T11:10:00.000-08:002008-11-06T11:10:00.000-08:00What do you want from me? I thought Jersey Girl w...What do you want from me? I thought <I>Jersey Girl</I> was funny (for the most part) and sweet (ibid). I'm with you on George Carlin -- I never liked him much anyway -- but I think people kick Affleck around way too much. It's fashionable to do so, but he's a perfectly decent actor.bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-140069483105431052008-11-06T08:43:00.000-08:002008-11-06T08:43:00.000-08:00First off, I agree on ZACK AND MIRI. I've been hi...First off, I agree on ZACK AND MIRI. I've been hit and miss with Smith over the years, only really liked CHASING AMY, mainly admire him for how he has built his fanbase, even if I haven't loved his films. I WANTED to like ZACK, but pretty much hated it. I didn't even have the energy to write a full review of it. <BR/><BR/>As for JERSEY GIRL, how is that film underrated? If anything, it SHOULD be my favorite Smith film, as I have longed for him to make a PG-13 film, as I'm not a big fan of his vulgarity, but it turned out to be a bad Lifetime movie. <BR/><BR/>Ben Affleck gave a career worse performance (was there a more embarrassing scene in recent cinema than his crying to the crib scene?). George Carlin just growled through it. And I'd say that Liv Tyler gave a career worse performance, but I guess I'd just have to say it was a career average performance. Her role can be used as evidence by those that said Smith can't write roles for women.<BR/><BR/>And I don't think it was rated the way it was because of JLO's appearance. I may be in the minority, but I thought GIGLI was underrated. Not a good film, but a masterpiece when compared to JERSEY GIRL.<BR/><BR/>JERSEY GIRL may be the only film that ZACH AND MIRI is better than.TALKING MOVIEzzzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11621046844665110326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-12185836224111840752008-11-06T05:19:00.000-08:002008-11-06T05:19:00.000-08:00Jesus, Dennis, give us a chance to respond to one ...Jesus, Dennis, give us a chance to respond to one post before writing another one!<BR/><BR/>Anyway...I'm with you on several points here: <I>Jersey Girl</I> is not only underrated, but its by far my favorite Kevin Smith film. I've laughed here and there while watching his other films, but by and large you can keep the rest.<BR/><BR/>I really think he has nothing left to offer. Maybe he would, if <I>Jersey Girl</I> had been given a fair shake, I don't know, but I now find Smith and his films to be absolutely insufferable, even though there was actually a time when I found the first <I>Evening with...</I> DVD pretty entertaining. But then I watched the second one, which made me want to rip out my eyes and shove them in my ears, and I decided that the first time around I must have been hallucinating. His brand of defense regular-guy arrogance is simply too much for me to bear.<BR/><BR/>I did have some hope that <I>Zack and Miri</I> might be reasonably fun, but you do make it sound pretty tired. So I'd be cool if Smith just quit.<BR/><BR/>But I really liked <I>Forgetting Sarah Marshall</I>...bill r.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17748572205731857892noreply@blogger.com