The Rise & Fall of Kevin Smith, in my opinion Part 2

If you haven't read part 1 yet, you should go back and read it before you read this.

I really enjoyed Zack and Miri Make a Porno, it was a classic Kevin Smith style movie, but it was in this movie that Smith meet Seth Rogen who introduced him to marijuana.  As in Smith knew about it and played a petty drug dealer as Silent Bob but he didn't start smoking marijuana with regularity until he met Rogen.  In my opinion, marijuana has ruined Smith's career.

Zack & Miri came out in 2008, followed by Cop Out in 2010, Red State in 2011, Tusk in 2014, Yoga Hosers in 2016 and most recently Jay & Silent Bob Reboot in 2019.  Smith has stayed plenty busy with movies, comic books, appearances, podcasts, and acting in several films.  I'm sticking to the movies he has written and directed.

Cop Out starred Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, this is the only movie Smith has directed that he did not write.  He took on directing duties to work with Bruce Willis which he later regretted.  Smith claimed Willis was difficult to work with and Willis claimed that Smith smoke too much pot and was anti-social and left the actors to fend for themselves.  Smith rants about this in his 4th Q&A special.

Red State was Kevin Smith's art film where he wanted to get back to making an non-studio independent film.  I didn't care for Red State, the film was some sort of social commentary that apparently was lost on me.

After screening the movie at Sundance film festival Smith decided not to auction the rights of the film and distribute it himself.  It caused quite the controversy and many studio's felt lied to and insulted.  It should be noted that to date Cop Out was Smith's last film that was given a wide theatrical release.  From Red State on he self distributed the films touring them around the country himself.

Tusk was the first of his True North Trilogy, horror movies taking place in Canada.  Justin Long is the star of the film, his character is a podcaster who flies to Canada to interview a kid that accidentally cut of his leg.  Upon arriving in Canada he finds the kids has killed himself.  Long meet's another man who essentially kidnaps Long and transforms him into a walrus.  It's wicked fucked up and the scene at the end I found really disturbing.

The second of the Trilogy was Yoga Hosers.  Smith's daughter Harley and her friend Lily-Rose star in this film as the Colleen's, two girls who work at a convenience store.  They had a cameo together in Tusk and were the stars of this.  This film features Nazi's, yoga guru's and other nonsense.

Johnny Depp is in it, he was in Tusk too because Lily-Rose is his daughter.  This film is tied to Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back because in the film Smith's wife Jennifer plays one of the cat burglars, Missy Mackenzie, in these films his daughter Harley plays Missy's daughter Colleen Mackenzie.

The third film has yet to be filmed.  This movie titled Moose Jaws is about killer moose on the loose in Canada, like Jaw in the ocean off Martha's Vineyard.  It's confirmed that the Colleen's will star and that Smith and Jason Mewes will appear as Jay & Silent Bob.  Johnny Depp is also slated to return.

Instead Smith went back to the beginning with Jay & Silent Bob Reboot.  This movie brought back almost all his characters from Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Strike Back.  Also Justin Long reprises his role of Brandon St. Randy from Zack & Miri Make a Porno playing an attorney at the beginning of the film.  This, essentially, makes all of the movies Smith has written all part of the View Askewiverse.  Except Red State.

I can't say I enjoyed this film, it didn't feel like a Kevin Smith movie.  Once scene, with Holden McNeil have a heart to heart about being a father with Jay is excellent.  I actually got emotional and it showed that Smith could still write that way, he just doesn't.

It feels like Smith wrote these films while he was high.  The jokes of lower brow, there is no meaningful dialogue, and everything about his style that I fell in love is simply not there.  He's been talking for the last couple years about making Mallrats 2 and Clerks 3, I'll watch them but I have no hope that they will be good.

Smith has another film slated to come out in 2020, Kilroy Was Here, set to be released this fall.  It is a horror anthology that is based around the graffiti Kilroy Was Here.  I'm don't have high hopes.

Until Next Time

My son's introduction to Kevin Smith

This past weekend was my weekend with the kids.  My son Canaan asked me if on Saturday night after Kate goes to bed if I wanted to watch a movie or play some Xbox, I went with movie and he chose wanted something funny.  Then it became what to watch, I mean he is 14 years old and he's at the right age to start sharing him with what I think are fantastic classic movies.

In what can only be called a rite of passage I busted out my Clerks 10th anniversary edition.  The first time I watched Clerks was, ironically, when I was working at a video store, Movie Gallery, when I was 20 years old.  I fell in love with the flick and became a huge fan of Kevin Smith.

I quickly rented and later bought Mallrats and Chasing Amy his then named Jersey Trilogy.  I loved how different each movie was and how they all tied together.  It was unique and long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe became a thing and other companies started doing it, Kevin Smith had created his own cinematic universe.

My son's first reaction was "is this whole thing in black and white?"  I answered yes but explained why, how Smith had financed the movie himself and how black and white film was cheaper than color.  At the end he laughed at the right moments, got the long winded jokes, and loved the movie!  Mission accomplished.

He's excited to check out Smith's other movies and I have the good ones for us to watch!

Until Next Time