Saturday, October 29, 2005
Weekend I Adore Thee
Yet another weekend. Finally. Today I had two classes, and two tests - Philosophy and Calculus. Philosophy was easy, and Calculus made me want to jam a pencil in my eye. But hey, that's life.
Saw my mom, went to eat Mexican, stocked up on soda...then just chilled. I went with Aaron and Jim to eat dinner, then we went to Best Buy so Aaron could buy some video games. I browsed the DVD section, and all I have to say is: great armadillos of tofu, I can't wait until November. I've decided that even though I have plenty of money in my account, I'm only going to buy DVDs once a month. That's it. I've got to control myself. When I do buy them, I can spend as much as I want, but it can only happen once a month. I already bought two movies this month, so I've got to wait to buy more. It drove me crazy. All these awesome horror movies were on sale, I guess for Halloween. I could have gotten Evil Dead I and II for $20. Or The Shining and The Exorcist for $16. Knowing my luck, those deals will be gone when I return. Grrr. Stupid willpower.
After that we went to Aaron's place and played video games for a few hours. Then I came back to my room and saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with Jim and Mason.
That is one seriously funny movie. Being a Kevin Smith film, it's naturally filled with tons of profanity and enough sex jokes to make Freud blush. It's more in the vein of Clerks and Mallrats, in that it doesn't really have a deep moral or message. It's all about fun.
It's also brilliant. As in, smart. I think I remember hearing that this was supposed to be Smith's last film in his little "Askewniverse," and I can see how that might be true. This movie is basically a giant reunion for all the characters we've come to know and love from his previous four movies. I found myself realizing, "Those are the guys from Clerks! And that's Banky from Mallrats! And there's the restaurant from Dogma! And there are all those people from Chasing Amy! Sweet!" I loved how Smith manage to find space for all these characters, even the ones that were played by the same actor. Nicely done. This movie also has some of the best. Cameos. Ever. And spoofs a ton of other movies, which is probably why I liked it so much.
This would have been the perfect finale for the Askewniverse movies. Perfect. We learn why Jay has to swear every time he opens his mouth, and why Silent Bob never speaks unless he absolutely has to (and even then he doesn't like it). We meet our old friends from previous movies (with the exception of Dogma, since most of those characters weren't actually human). We finally learn what "Snoogans" means. And instead of referencing Star Wars, which is one of his trademarks, Smith goes the extra mile, and has some hilarious cameos from Star Wars actors themselves. It's great. What makes things even funnier is that he makes fun of his own movies, including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. For example: there's one scene with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck playing themselves in which they criticize each other about making Dogma. It's hilarious. This movie was not meant to be seen by anyone who hasn't seen the previous four films. A whole lot of the jokes are inside ones that only people familiar with those others movies will understand. That's what makes it such a perfect little Askewniverse ending.
Seriously, Smith should have just left his little universe alone after this movie. But now he's doing Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks, probably because his most recent movie (and first to be set outside the Askewniverse), Jersey Girl, was so poorly received by fans. I still need to get around to seeing that one. I was actually looking forward to Clerks 2, since I was hoping it would end up being a whole lot better than the original. But after seeing Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I wish it wasn't being made. Let the Askewniverse end on that perfect note. I can only see one solution to this conundrum: Smith must make a sequel to all of his Askewniverse movies. That's right. In order to make things perfect, again, he's going to have to go ahead and make Mallrats 2, Chasing Amy 2, Dogma 2, and then Return of Jay and Silent Bob, which should once again be a perfect finale. Then he should just leave it all behind and move on to something new, which he should have done in the first place.
But now, on to other things.
Sylvestor Stallone is going to make Rocky 6 and Rambo 4. Pardon me while I simulateously laugh and vomit myself into another plane of existence.
For those of you who likes movies: I highly recommend that you subscribe to the podcast of The Movie Blog here. For those of you who don't know, the recent Internet fad is called "podcasting." Basically, it's audio programs that can range from anything to personal blogs, to music stations, to political commentaries, to religious sermons, etc. In other words, it's like radio for a computer. To subscribe, first get iTunes, then go to Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast and enter the URL. I highly recommend The Movie Blog Audio Edition pocast. It's informative, interesting, and often funny. It's a great way to get a dose of movie news every 1-2 days.
I feel happy now. All is right with the world. I'm scheduling my weekend around sleep, movies, Calculus, and writing an English paper. I'm in the mood for some twisted and disturbing Halloween fun, so I'm going to go see Saw II tomorrow afternoon (or rather, this afternoon) with Mason. No doubt he'll love it - he's quite possibly the most sadistic person I've ever met. We watched Se7en and he was like, "I want to see the body of the dead girl! That's so cheap!" Aaron and I were kinda like, "Dude, after what happened to her, a shot of the body would get the film an NC-17. I don't want to see a shot of the body after what happened to her. That's just wrong." I won't be surprised if tomorrow he ends up laughing like a maniac as characters are killed off in gruesome ways. Sometimes I wonder about him.
Farewell. It's 3 AM, and I go on to a better place: clean sheets.
Quote of Da Moment:
"Oh, 'Chasing Amy'? That would never work as a movie."
--Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Saw my mom, went to eat Mexican, stocked up on soda...then just chilled. I went with Aaron and Jim to eat dinner, then we went to Best Buy so Aaron could buy some video games. I browsed the DVD section, and all I have to say is: great armadillos of tofu, I can't wait until November. I've decided that even though I have plenty of money in my account, I'm only going to buy DVDs once a month. That's it. I've got to control myself. When I do buy them, I can spend as much as I want, but it can only happen once a month. I already bought two movies this month, so I've got to wait to buy more. It drove me crazy. All these awesome horror movies were on sale, I guess for Halloween. I could have gotten Evil Dead I and II for $20. Or The Shining and The Exorcist for $16. Knowing my luck, those deals will be gone when I return. Grrr. Stupid willpower.
After that we went to Aaron's place and played video games for a few hours. Then I came back to my room and saw Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back with Jim and Mason.
That is one seriously funny movie. Being a Kevin Smith film, it's naturally filled with tons of profanity and enough sex jokes to make Freud blush. It's more in the vein of Clerks and Mallrats, in that it doesn't really have a deep moral or message. It's all about fun.
It's also brilliant. As in, smart. I think I remember hearing that this was supposed to be Smith's last film in his little "Askewniverse," and I can see how that might be true. This movie is basically a giant reunion for all the characters we've come to know and love from his previous four movies. I found myself realizing, "Those are the guys from Clerks! And that's Banky from Mallrats! And there's the restaurant from Dogma! And there are all those people from Chasing Amy! Sweet!" I loved how Smith manage to find space for all these characters, even the ones that were played by the same actor. Nicely done. This movie also has some of the best. Cameos. Ever. And spoofs a ton of other movies, which is probably why I liked it so much.
This would have been the perfect finale for the Askewniverse movies. Perfect. We learn why Jay has to swear every time he opens his mouth, and why Silent Bob never speaks unless he absolutely has to (and even then he doesn't like it). We meet our old friends from previous movies (with the exception of Dogma, since most of those characters weren't actually human). We finally learn what "Snoogans" means. And instead of referencing Star Wars, which is one of his trademarks, Smith goes the extra mile, and has some hilarious cameos from Star Wars actors themselves. It's great. What makes things even funnier is that he makes fun of his own movies, including Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. For example: there's one scene with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck playing themselves in which they criticize each other about making Dogma. It's hilarious. This movie was not meant to be seen by anyone who hasn't seen the previous four films. A whole lot of the jokes are inside ones that only people familiar with those others movies will understand. That's what makes it such a perfect little Askewniverse ending.
Seriously, Smith should have just left his little universe alone after this movie. But now he's doing Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks, probably because his most recent movie (and first to be set outside the Askewniverse), Jersey Girl, was so poorly received by fans. I still need to get around to seeing that one. I was actually looking forward to Clerks 2, since I was hoping it would end up being a whole lot better than the original. But after seeing Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I wish it wasn't being made. Let the Askewniverse end on that perfect note. I can only see one solution to this conundrum: Smith must make a sequel to all of his Askewniverse movies. That's right. In order to make things perfect, again, he's going to have to go ahead and make Mallrats 2, Chasing Amy 2, Dogma 2, and then Return of Jay and Silent Bob, which should once again be a perfect finale. Then he should just leave it all behind and move on to something new, which he should have done in the first place.
But now, on to other things.
Sylvestor Stallone is going to make Rocky 6 and Rambo 4. Pardon me while I simulateously laugh and vomit myself into another plane of existence.
For those of you who likes movies: I highly recommend that you subscribe to the podcast of The Movie Blog here. For those of you who don't know, the recent Internet fad is called "podcasting." Basically, it's audio programs that can range from anything to personal blogs, to music stations, to political commentaries, to religious sermons, etc. In other words, it's like radio for a computer. To subscribe, first get iTunes, then go to Advanced -> Subscribe to Podcast and enter the URL. I highly recommend The Movie Blog Audio Edition pocast. It's informative, interesting, and often funny. It's a great way to get a dose of movie news every 1-2 days.
I feel happy now. All is right with the world. I'm scheduling my weekend around sleep, movies, Calculus, and writing an English paper. I'm in the mood for some twisted and disturbing Halloween fun, so I'm going to go see Saw II tomorrow afternoon (or rather, this afternoon) with Mason. No doubt he'll love it - he's quite possibly the most sadistic person I've ever met. We watched Se7en and he was like, "I want to see the body of the dead girl! That's so cheap!" Aaron and I were kinda like, "Dude, after what happened to her, a shot of the body would get the film an NC-17. I don't want to see a shot of the body after what happened to her. That's just wrong." I won't be surprised if tomorrow he ends up laughing like a maniac as characters are killed off in gruesome ways. Sometimes I wonder about him.
Farewell. It's 3 AM, and I go on to a better place: clean sheets.
Quote of Da Moment:
"Oh, 'Chasing Amy'? That would never work as a movie."
--Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 10/29/2005 01:45:00 AM 
