Meow... tsk tsk.... Meow... Sorry folks, Harry here, just communcating with a lusted one in the native sandy tongue of her beloved Skyscrapered town... hiss hiss... Anyways, I was filling her in on the interesting review below by Benjamin Lesbian, who seems to have really dug the film, but felt that the movie could use some tightening here and there... And since Kevin Smith told the audience he planned on clipping an additional dime out of the film... well, seems like we'll be left with some high grade stuff when he's done... There are some spoilers, but not too many... and well.... enjoy.... Meeeeow meOOOWWW...
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If you're going to go out, go out with a bang. If Kevin Smith wants to get all of the silliness of dick and fart jokes, pop culture references and the connections of the Askewnaverse behind him so he can become a more mature filmmaking, he sure found a way to exorcise his demons. Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back featured more dick/fart/blow job/homosexual jokes per capita than any one of his previous films. It also has the most references (both self-referential and pop culture-related) of any film. Some were funny, like Affleck and Damon bitching about all the crappy movies they have made and how they are obligated to pay back a filmmaker who gave them their start (wink, wink). Other ones were pretty hammy and predictable, like the Scooby-Doo parody.
It was also felt odd that they referred to the films from within their own Askewniverse, such as when Damon bitched to Affleck about how he forced him into appearing in Dogma. Mallrats is even mentioned as film. Maybe I'm reading into this too much, but it still stuck out. While everything was plenty funny, it also felt as though Kevin took all the most crowd-pleasing aspects of his film (vulgar humor, references, catchphrases and Jay/Silent Bob) and subtracted the realistic dialogue and storylines from the other films. Well, maybe not Mallrats, which had that Hughesian charm that Kevin wanted it too. Maybe that's why I felt J&SBSB is more akin to Mallrats than any other film in the series. Like my brother-in-law said when the flick was over, "it was like a typical Kevin Smith film, just not as cerebral." Not that there's anything wrong with that. I really liked it and felt that the flick was Kevin Smith's version of a mindless comedy/parody, a la Scary Movie/Airplane, just like the Clerks cartoon series was his version of The Simpsons and Mallrats was his version of Sixteen Candles or Pretty in Pink.
Anyway, like Kevin had said, the people giving out the passes weren't telling people what the film was that was being screened. However, if you were a crafty person - such as myself - you had heard that Viewaskew/Miramax was going to be running a test screening of the flick in the area and happened to be in the right place at the right time, you could get a pass to the flick. Lo and behold, as I was leaving my summer school class on Monday, a woman was standing outside my class building asking people if the wanted to see "a movie." If you said yes, she showed you a small card with a list of films on it such as American Pie, There's Something About Mary, Road Trip, Scary Movie and Dogma. If you liked those types of movies and wanted to go to the screening, you got a pass and were told to go to the Arizona Mills Mall on Wednesday at 6:30pm. The pass said they were looking for people aged 17 to 34.
So as Kevin said, it was sort of a "cold screening," where people did not know what movie they were seeing, but they apparently knew who their audience was going to be and tried to get as many of them as possible. When we got to the theatre, we waited in line and were given another small card asking us if we connected to the media and if we posted info on movies on the Internet. I of course said no. There was a small disclaimer saying we couldn't reveal any info on the movie, but we didn't have to sign it, which I didn't. Once inside, we were kept waiting while they tried to fill as many seats as possible. Based on the list of films they asked us about, people were thinking we were seeing Scary Movie 2, but I held on to my faith. After they announced the film and the screams went up, some people were clueless about the film and said things like, "Jay and Silent Who?"
The temp-credits that they said were tacked onto the film consisted of "View Askew Productions Presents" in the same font used on the Internet trailer and then the Empire-esque logo we've seen on the website and such. While I'm sure this will make it into the final cut (as it was CGI-rendered), there might be some last-minute objection by Lucasfilm or something.
Sighting of Viewaskew Regular: John Willyung (Kevin's cousin/Cohee Lundin in Chasing Amy/Dante's killer in Clerks) plays a rude Quick Stop store patron in the 70's flashback.
The opening scene in present day with Dante and Randall behind the counter still was funny, but the interaction between the two seemed threadbare it felt had seen and heard their jokes before in both Clerks and the cartoon series. It's also odd that there is no mention in the flick of the events in Dogma, save for when Jay refers to God as a 'she.' It's almost as if the flick never happened. Alanis Morrisette/God is also nowhere to be found in the flick. She must have been cut out as she is listed on the IMDB. Also MIA is Judd Nelson and Adam Corrola.
Sighting of Viewaskew Regular #2: Ernie O'Donnell (Rick Derris in Clerks) plays the cop who hauls Jay and Silent Bob away for dealing in front of the store.
When we see Brodie in his new Secret Stash, he also uses his well-worn catchphrase that's seen in the trailer and after six years, is still wearing the same outfit. For the temp sound mix for this version of the film, there were a few placeholder songs from other Viewaskew films, such as using Sponge's Seventeen from Mallrats for Brodie's scene in the Stash. In the next where, Jay & Silent Bob meet Holden, the opening song from Chasing Amy plays. The score that's used in the trailer was used at several points throughout the film, particularly in the action scenes. I'm assuming that these will all be replaced with the actual score and soundtrack. Probably, the only song that was used in this temp sound mix that will probably make it into the final cut is Prince's The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, which was used when we see Shannon Elizabeth.
The film was 102 minutes long and Kevin said he will be chopping off 10 more minutes, and boy was it needed in some parts. At the end of Brodie's appearance, him and Jay do some kind of weird air-guitar type pantomime. There are also dead parts in the middle, such as when Marshall Willoughby does the "hard target search" speech from the Fugitive (one of many parts involving the character which drag down the film). Speaking of that film, there are also several other references to that, as well the requisite Star Wars mention, where Jay and Silent Bob engage in a lightsabre duel with Mark Hamill (using a double-bladed bongsabre of all things).
I can't wait to see what the final version looks like!
Benjamin Lesbian
