BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
(FOUR) ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO
This is the most recent Smith movie. Yeah, he directed “Cop Out”, but this was HIS movie. I’m a big fan of it. Everything about it shows how Smith is evolving and growing as an artist and undoubtedly a person. The story between Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks is relatable to many and is adult as adult can be, but still wrapped in a slacker package that Smith’s known for. When I first saw it, I had this whole conspiracy theory that Jeff Anderson really directed it. Smith has never been known for his visual direction, but Anderson did very nicely in his directing work. None the less, it just looks great and the story is perfectly done. It’s as sweet as it is vulgar, an accomplishment for a movie about making amateur porn.
(THREE) DOGMA
Growing up Catholic, the bizarre aspects of the religion are hilarious in this movie. It’s as vulgar as anything he’s done, but it still manages to show Catholicism in a respectable and positive light. FAR more respectable than how I’d present it. I enjoyed the twists here. The 13th “black apostle”, the abortion clinic, the vengeful angels, and all the points of interest here made for a great movie. I don’t get why this one doesn’t get more love. Is it really because of the strip club “poop monster”? It was silly, but not THAT bad. There’s far more “good” to this movie than “bad”. The protestors had it all wrong. When I went with Matt Hicks to see this in high school we came out to his van to find a religious pamphlet on under the window wiper. It was a very well crafted full color tri-fold and I’m sure they printed thousands to spread their words of hate (against the movie). For like $5(at least at that time) they could of went in, paid for a ticket, and saw that this movie had much more heart and respect for the content than they wanted to believe.
(TWO) CLERKS
I had to be just about in junior high when my uncle brought over a stolen copy of this from Blockbuster. From the depth of my memory, it has to be my first knowing exposure to independent comedy. This movie means a lot. It means a lot to Smith because he took a chance, followed his dream, and it paid off. It put him, Mewes, Mosier, Jeff, Brian, and the entire main cast on the map. It was a huge impact. At the time, the big independent film festivals still showed real independent movies and this movie owned that shit. It’s a cult classic and the lines from it will leave my mouth until the day I die. “I’m not even supposed to be here today”, “37 Dicks!”, the porn title order in front of the mother and child, and just about every line in this movie is now part of the cult culture and dare I say a good portion of pop culture’s eternal lexicon. This movie is what independent filmmaking is all about. No budget, shitty schedule and chasing a dream with friends and like minded people. Of course, it’s a HUGE influence on what we do here at Digital Lizard. Without Clerks, who knows what I’d be doing right now.
(ONE) CHASING AMY
While Clerks means a lot in regards to influence and getting Smith’s foot in the door, Chasing Amy shows he’s the real deal. The very best monologue in movie history is when Holden spills his heart in the car during a heavy rain. Yes, I’m going THAT far. It IS the best monologue of all time merely because it’s my own personal favorite. It has the indie charm of Clerks, the coolness of Mallrats, and a conflicting love story that would leave Woody Allen perplexed. While not many would share the same exact story, the sentiment of the story and the emotion is more relatable to humankind than anything Smith has done. I like movies about “human nature”. This flick has “human nature” coming out of its scarred kneed ass. We got a Clerks 2, and I enjoyed it as well, but I’d love to find out what happened to the three main characters in this movie afterwards. Does the friendship ever mend or cross bridges outside of Holden selling Banky the rights to their comic? Does Alyssa ever cave in and reach back out to Holden for companionship or even reconsidered love? It’s been thirteen years, that’s a lot of time for their lives to take on a whole new shape. I’d love a peek at that.
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