10s Movie Review - Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

Director: Kevin Smith
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Fred Armisen, Harley Quinn Smith, Shannon Elizabeth, Rosario Dawson, Chris Hemsworth, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Joey Lauren Adams, Justin Long

 Description: Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) inadvertently sign away their names and rights to the new Bluntman and Chronic movie. Now they head to Hollywood to stop the film from being made. Along the way Jay discovers that he is a father.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2022 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 18: A FILM STARRING YOUR CELEBRITY CRUSH
 
Review: Kevin Smith was once considered an up-and-coming talent. The American made such gems as “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy” with which he proved that coarse humor and obscene language could be combined perfectly with the pain of an unattainable love or hopeless job. These films were layered narratives about real-life problems. Smith grew increasingly famous and began to shift his field of work to include writing comic books and canning genre films.  

“Jay and Silent Bob  are character , played by Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, that kill time by smoking weed and hanging around. They first appeared in “Clerks” and later in “Mallrats”, “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma”, as side characters. In “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” they got their own movie. In “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” they hear that the comic book based on their lives, “Bluntman and Chronic”, will be turned into a movie. They decided to go to Hollywood to stop it.

I always love a film that mocks itself and is very self-aware, making meta-jokes and be self-referral. Kevin Smith takes it a bit too far and fills his movie with these types of jokes. This makes the film annoying at times and not really all that funny. I just didn’t enjoy it all that much. Sad, because I really like Jay and Silent Bob. And Kevin Smith.

Rating: 2 / 5

00s Movie Review - TMNT

Director: Kevin Munroe
Genre: Action/ Animation/ Adventure/ Fantasy
Runtime: 87 minutes
Year: 2007
Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Chris Evans, Mako, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart, Laurence Fishburne, Ziyi Zhang, Mitchell Whitfield, James Arnold Taylor, Mikey Kelley, Nolan North, John DiMaggio, Paula Mattiolo, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Tatasciore

Description: When the world is threatened by an ancient evil, the four adolescent turtles must reunite and overcome their faults in order to stand against it.  

Review: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first came to life in 1984, as a comic book. They were a parody of comic book heroes. It became a television series and gained popularity all over the world. They had a bunch of live-action movies in the early 90s, which were fun and in the 10s there were two more live-action movies that were entertaining, but mostly that. In between that, there was “TMNT”. A fully animated movie about the shelled heroes.
In the original cartoons, the turtles are two-dimensional, so it always takes some getting used to seeing them worked in in 3D. This is mostly visible with the people like April O’Neil and Casey Jones. But the turtles look really good and so these the scenery and environment.
The story is god enough, mainly because of the well-developed characters and their relationships. The story development could have been better, but it’s still alright. The story focuses mostly on Leonardo and Raphael. The other two turtles, Donatello and Michelangelo, feel more like side characters here. When they are actually my two favorites of the foursome.  
If you are a fan of the original cartoon series, you will probably like them. At least more than the live-action movies that came out later.

Rating: 3/ 5

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 106: Clerks

Director: Kevin Smith

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 102 minutes

Year: 1994

Starring: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Lisa Spoonhauer, Scott Mosier, Walter Flanagan, Scott SChiafo, Al Bekowitz, David Klein, Ed Hapstak, Pattijean Csik, Ernest O’Donnell, Kimberly Loughran

Description: A day in the lives of two convenience clerks named Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) as they annoy customers, discuss movies, and play hockey on the store roof.

Review: Director and script writer Kevin Smith filmed this movie in a convenient store, where he was working at the time. He could only film after hours. For the script he had years of stories that he could use from his own experience as a convenient store clerk. The movie basically has teen humor: almost every conversation is about sex. How many people have you slept with, how a blowjob isn’t having sex with someone, the best porn movies and women. Very juvenile, yet fun.

The film was financed with the ten credit cards director Kevin Smith has and the sale of his comic book collection. The film eventually cost him 27,575 dollars, basically half a second for making “Titanic”.

Smith was originally going to play Jay, the one with the most catchy lines. Eventually he choose Jason Mewes for this role and took on the part of Silent Bob himself. This character has been a cult figure since then. Although he only has one line in the film, he is the one that stays with you.

Besides an iconic character, the movie itself also gained a cult status. The movie has a large amount of fans. I’m not one of them, which doesn’t mean I don’t like “Clerks”. It’s a fun film, but to me it’s not more memorable then other 90s comedies.

Rating: 3/ 5