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Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back 310

Posted by JonKatz from the what-the-Net-is-really-for dept.
What the Internet is really for, explains one sage in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the latest in Kevin Smith's continuing series featuring the two drug-dealing, sex-obsessed slobs from central New Jersey, is so kids can slander other people anonymously. In his previous movies -- Dogma, Chasing Amy, Clerks -- Smith chronicles work, sex and blasphemy. This time the sub-theme is the Net and the waves of brainy but obnoxious adolescent jerks who have helped set its sometimes nasty tone in recent years. Many readers of this website will especially love the ending, one of the few Hollywood got right this summer. Spoilage warning: plot is discussed, but not ending.

In a way, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a series of inside jokes, albeit some very funny ones. Smith gets that movies are a universal experience of his young audiences. Still, only attentive, die-hard movie buffs will get them all. The cast, plots and references are closely tied to other Smith films, lines, scenes, actors and plots, along with some that aren't his. (There is a hilarious spoof of Good Will Hunting which Ben Affleck and Matt Damon good-naturedly join in.) Smith's studio Miramax is continuously ridiculed (Bob Hope also used to poke fun at Paramount in some of his road-trip comedies with Bing Crosby). Chris Rock pops up with some riffs on race.

The movie's director, Gus Van Sant (CT:Good Will Hunting, not J&SBSB of course), has a funny bit part, and Smith parodies Charlie's Angels, The Fugitive (so specifically he includes a reference to Provasic, the drug that nearly destroyed Richard Kimble's life), Scooby-Doo,Hannibal, and even Star Wars (Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill appear, the latter in a loopy take-off on the mythic brawl between Darth and Luke.

The Net figures heavily in this sometimes hilarious if uneven movie, yet another comedy that self-referentially uses pop culture as humor, reference point and plot line. Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) are outraged to learn that kids online are flaming the movie based on the comic book -- Bluntman and The Chronic -- that the pair inspired. Besides, they're not getting a dime out of any of it. Jay, who's never even heard of the Net, is astonished to learn that people can call you names online, and he flames them back, urging them to lick his private parts. He and Bob set out for Hollywood to stop the movie's production and end the besmirching of their alleged reputations. They have various misadventures along the way, including dust-ups with a nun, the Utah State Police, animal rights activists, federal wildlife officials, and nasty child geeks.

There is, of course, the inevitable moment when Bob speaks -- as always, finally provoked by the genial stupidity and crudity of his "hetero-life mate" Jay. This movie backs off from the controversial religion-bashing of Dogma, which triggered some boycotts and threats on Smith and the movie's producers. If the movie is frequently gross in the now-standard scatalogical way of studio films aimed at the hip and the young, it is good-natured and easy-going, not even remotely controversial. Jay is still obsessed with getting laid and with his and everybody else's masculinity, but this round is much more relaxed about it.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is less of a coherent movie than a series of one-liners, set gags, set-ups and cultural in-jokes and spoofs. There are moments of genius and of stupidity, also flashes of satire and comic genius. It works best if you've seen a substantial chunk of the Smith canon. If you haven't, a lot of it will sail over your head. But it will still probably be the funniest movie you've seen all summer.
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Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back More

Review: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

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  • I have my Katz filter on, but then he appears under a different category, like "Reviews." Is there any justice left in the world?

  • Askew-niverse (Score:3, Informative)

    by SuiteSisterMary ( 123932 ) <slebrunNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:04AM (#2218038) Journal
    This movie is mainly a continuation of Chasing Amy, and tries to tie up the rest of the movies; Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma.

    It will also be the last live-action movie featuring these characters. There is, however, a new animated movie on the way, supposedly. Clerks: Sellout, the story of Dante and Randall being offered lots of money to make a movie about a day in their lives.

    As with a lot of Smith stuff, you'll either love it or hate it, and a lot of it is fan service for people who've seen his previous movies.

    • Re:Askew-niverse (Score:3, Informative)

      by Wonko42 ( 29194 )
      This movie is mainly a continuation of Chasing Amy, and tries to tie up the rest of the movies; Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma.

      I think you may have seen a different movie than I did. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is most definitely not a continuation of Chasing Amy, nor does it wrap up all Smith's other films. Although you do have a point, in that this movie does get most of its plot from the characters and events in Chasing Amy.

      SPOILERS BELOW. STOP READING NOW IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH.

      .

      .

      .

      .

      .

      At the end of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, we see Alyssa Jones talking to her friend/lover and we also see Hooper LaMont talking to Banky Edwards, who we learn is his friend/lover (!!!). This wraps up Chasing Amy to some extent, but what little we saw of Holden McNeil in the beginning of the movie still doesn't wrap up his character. Furthermore, Mallrats, Clerks, and Dogma were not at all wrapped up in this movie, except that we learn that Dante and Randal are still working at the Quik-Stop and that God has closed the book of the View Askewniverse and done a little dance for us.

  • Breaking Expectations... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Lawen ( 251989 )
    Wow, a jonkatz review that I agree with...hope Satan is enjoying the day and making a snowman.

    From the test screening of Jay&Silent Bob I saw a month ago, as well as the final version I saw last week, I'd compare this movie more to Mallrats than any of Smith's other flicks...lots of dick adn fart humor, and even more rhetoric. A formula that has only been pulled off successfully by the New Jersey "Trilogy".

    If anyone's really interested, go check out the "Chasing Dogma" comic book graphic novel, published by Oni press (and written, of course, by Smith). About half of the movie is ripped, or at least inspired, by the comic.

    And go see the movie, so that Miramax will throw more money at View Askew, and Smith can keep churning them out.

    Lawen

  • You know what's REALLY sad? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Guppy06 ( 410832 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:12AM (#2218051)
    "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is a better movie name than "Attack of the Clones."

  • Gus Van Sant? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by b0r3d ( 517821 )
    The movie's director, Gus Van Sant

    WTF?

    You obviously aren't one of those aforementioned fans of movies, especially Kevin Smith's. He's the writer/DIRECTOR.

    • Re:Gus Van Sant? (Score:2, Informative)

      by R-66Y ( 150658 )
      It was indeed a terrible reference, but in his own little world, Katz was probably referring to the "director" of the Good Will Hunting spoof, who indeed was Gus Van Sant.

      Later,
      Patrick

    • Re:Gus Van Sant? (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I know everyone loves to hammer Katz, but hammer him for the right thing. If you read carefully, the problem is that the reference to Good Will Hunting is so weakly made that it is easy to miss. It is the weakness of Katz's writing that you see working here -- it doesn't appear that he thinks that Van Sant is the director of Jay and Silent Bob...he just writes in a way that would make you think so.

  • Misinformation (Score:5, Interesting)

    by shanek ( 153868 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:14AM (#2218056) Homepage
    Kevin Smith directed the film, not Gus Van Sant. The latter directed Good Will Hunting and that's why he's in that area of the film.

    The pair is called Bluntman and Chronic, not Bluntman and The Chronic.

    Of all the times Silent Bob speaks, this is the only time it's provoked by Jay's stupidity. In Clerks, he speaks to Dante to convicne him that Veronica loves him. In Mallrats, he delivers his Jedi line. In Chasing Amy, he tells the story of Amy to Ben Affleck's character. And in Dogma, neither of his two lines are delivered to Jay; one is to an extra, the other Chris Rock.

    Isn't there something that requires movie reviewers to actually know something about the movie they're discussing?

    I saw it on the sneak preview and laughed my ass off. There were some people there who hadn't seen any Kevin Smith movies and they laughed their asses off. It's just a funny movie. Go see it.
    • Umm, no, he didn't speak to Chris Rock's character.
    • You tell him, pal. Of course, being Katz, he's unlikely to listen -- he's more interested in being cool and edgy than in being correct. It's why there are so many people who filter Katz out.

      And yet, like a demon bent on possession, he manages to claw his way into our minds nonetheless. I filter Katz -- I've got many better things to do than spend my energy on being irritated by his writing. And yet this story showed up, presumably because of the whole Kevin Smith thing. I love Kevin Smith's movies. But showing Jon Katz' writing about something I love when I've asked not to see anything from him ever is sort of like offering me the opportunity to watch a porn video of him and my mother. Bleargh!

      • Re:Misinformation (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Syberghost ( 10557 )
        You tell him, pal. Of course, being Katz, he's unlikely to listen -- he's more interested in being cool and edgy than in being correct.

        That's funny; he's responded to every email I've ever sent him.

        Perhaps you're just not saying anything worth listening to.

    • Re:Misinformation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by szcx ( 81006 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @03:21PM (#2218925)
      I saw it on the sneak preview and laughed my ass off. There were some people there who hadn't seen any Kevin Smith movies and they laughed their asses off. It's just a funny movie. Go see it.

      Fight the MPAA! [ampcast.com]

      Is that your way of "fighting" the MPAA? Recommending that people go and see a Disney-owned film?

  • Smith Ain't Hollywood (Score:4, Insightful)

    by well_jung ( 462688 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:14AM (#2218057) Homepage
    "..one of the few Hollywood got right this summer. "
    Smith isn't Hollywood. He's New Jersey. And BTW, is there anything you read/see Mr. Katz, in which you don't infer some type of "'net" related subtext?

    • Hey, you got your causality backwards... If he doesn't see a "net" subtext, he doesn't write about it.
  • The talk in the theater after i saw the movie last night is that this is the last View Askew production - with various quotes at the end of the movie (as us cult followers knew there would be) and the closing of the View Askew Book by "god".... Why i haven't heared anything directly saying that this is the last one, it would be sad if it was.

    Other than that - J+SBSB is the best of all of them! Go Jersy Trilogy! (5!)
    • The talk in the theater after i saw the movie last night is that this is the last View Askew production

      Not entirely true. What JSBSB represents is the end to the Jersey series, in live action form. There is a cartoon movie version of Clerks, in the same style as the to-quickly-canceled TV series was, but the live action stuff is done.

      From what I have heard, Smith wants to do more serious movies (even though Chasing Amy was one of the best drama type movies I have seen in some time). Case in point is that IMDB [imdb.com] had printed an article that said Smith has already signed Ben Affleck to play a character based on Smith's life as a father. Sounds pretty serious.
  • The movie I think was a good close to the series of movies that have been going on for years now. I was just surprised to hear that no one in the theater that I was in didn't get the space balls reference. Also, is it just me or is there a Mac in every movie that I have seen this year.
    • To which Spaceballs reference are you referring? I was paying pretty close attention, but maybe I missed it, as there was a lot of laughter from the crowd and quite a few of the lines ended up getting drowned out.

      As for funniest movie of the year, well, maybe, but I still think some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a theater this year was the outtakes from RushHour 2. I guess you could take that as some sad commentary on the state of Hollywood/etc., if you were so inclined.
    • side note: people if you can not get the titles right or the order of the movies complain don't complain about them.
    • Yes, but the Mac in this movie was hurled to the floor where it belongs!

      good luck,
      sopwath
  • The movie is some funny shit. Although the fact that it does have a bad plot like Dude Where's My Car, at least the humor in it is not juvenile. This and Dogma are up there as some of the funniest movies from Kevin Smith that I have seen. I also love the cameo appearances from characters from previous movies. You definitely have to see this movie.

  • Hilarious... but... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Outlyer ( 1767 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:18AM (#2218068) Homepage
    My girlfriend and I found it outright the funniest, and most outright clever movie in a summer full of duds. But... I'm a big Kevin Smith fan, and I've got all his flicks on DVD, so I wonder how the movie would be recieved by a Smith Virgin.

    Jason Mewes actually carries this movie, which is remarkable, since I think no one was more surprised than him that it went so well. He's hardly the mainstream movie star like Affleck or Jason Lee.

    Also, while 'movie parody movies' have been a subgenre for ever (see: Scary Movie to Naked Gun) there hasn't been one done well in ages. This one is both bang on in it's attacks on those movies, but it's obviously done with love and respect, which makes it all the more clever.

    At it's core, it's a road trip movie, which, since Capra invented the genre, has always proven to be a treat; the potential for unpredictable characters and situation is hard to exceed, and Kevin Smith handles it admirably.

    All in all, after a summer full of disappointments (see: A.I. Kiss of the Dragon, Evolution, et al.) this was refreshing, fun and Smith's most inside joke, and simultaneously, most accessible movie yet.

    If you have some patience for a seemingly offensive movie - but with a lot of heart - you couldn't do better this summer.

  • I'm sorry, as a long time fan of the Kevin Smith films ( including having all three of the J&SB stash signed copies of the other films ) I though this one sucked. There was too much happening, and the whole movie bordered on ego stroking for each member of the film. You could see the gags comming a mile away, and most were not funny.

    I have and continue to watch the other three movies, but this latest one was a waste of time. It lacked and decent plot development, or charm of his other films and the endless slow motion girl shots, dick and fart jokes, and re-use of old over used one lines really just got annoying.

    Go see it if you like Bluntman and Chronic "Dick and fart jokes", but if you are looking for the charm and humor from his other films just pass on this one.
    • I don't know if I'd say "it blew chunks," but I'll definately say that it was the worst of the View Askew movies thus far, and I *do* agree with most of your sentiments. Although I'll still pick up the DVD for the great Kevin Smith extras, and completeness of my collection.
    • I think you're missing the point here, it was a very good satire on the state of Hollywood.

      Exactly what you complain about in the movie is what happens constantly in every single Hollywood movie.

      What Smith did with this movie was to take the Hollywood instant movie mixture and "forgot" to add some water.

      The end result is one of the best Hollywood farces I've ever seen, and I haven't laughed this much in a movie in quite a while.

      Maybe not his best movie, but definetly one of the more funnier ones (that is, if you can laugh about the stupidity that Hollywood is).

      Michael
    • There's 4 VA movies. Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. 5, now, with J+SBSB.

      I also think that you're wrong in your assessment of this movie. The slow mo shots, reuse of old stuff, etc was all part of the satirization of Hollywood by a reluctant insider. It's almost as if Smith was saying, "I'll make a clever movie, but I'm going to put in all the parts of other movies that I think suck, just so I can show you how and why they suck."
      • I dunno, the slow-mo girl shots seemed pretty straight-forward to me. The girls were attractive and Kevin Smith did them the same way any other movie would. He did make them longer and a bit more exaggerated than most movies do, but that hardly counts as biting satire. I think he was just kind of lazy when writing the script, and so he threw in some mindless titilation to keep people interested.

        The whole movie was like that-- he was too lazy to come up with clever or original jokes or gags, so he used lots of "dick and fart jokes," celebrity cameos, homophobic humor, and in jokes to his previous movies and to the hot movies of the last couple of decades.

        Look, I was amused by many of the jokes, but it wasn't brilliant humor. It was in the same intellectual ballpark as "dude, where's my car." The only difference is that this movie had more big-name stars in it and was more pretentious.

  • I've had a review of this movie on my site (Spine.cx [spine.cx]) since last wednesday, albeit a much less popular site than this one :)

    Come join that discussion, not already tainted by Katz :)
    http://spine.cx/article.php?sid=9 [spine.cx].
  • Kevin made of couple of comments in the View Askew hinting that this probably will not be the last we see of Jay and Silent Bob:

    "Well, there's a surprise in store for ya'll if we win the weekend. A very nice surprise, if you like Jay and Silent Bob."

    "I know this may come off as desperate, but there's one more thing I'd like to do with Jay and Bob before I put 'em to bed, and in order to do that, we need to win the weekend."
  • The disclaimers are really funny. I'll stop there and not ruin them for you.
  • If you stick around through the credits to catch a glimpse of Alannis Morrisette, check out the diclaimer right after the "No animals were harmed..." one to see how Smith addresses the the accusatioins he's been recieving from GLAAD that the film is homophobic - its the little things that make his movies great.
  • I was surprised to see they made no mention of the dead guy in the toilet or the rooftop hockey game. But otherwise I thought the movie was funny.

    Anyway, it's nice to see Shannon Elizabeth has opened two movies in two weeks. Perhaps we'll see more of her in the future.

  • Wow (Score:1)

    by abrink ( 153323 )
    Wow. Katz actually did something halfway right. He still needs to head back to journalism school (read: How to be a bigger idiot school) though.
  • You should stay to see the end of the credits

    'nuff said
  • If the internet is for slandering people anonymously than I think I have a pretty good example. Here [jayandsilentbob.com] you can find one of Kevin's production assistants venting about what an A-hole he is. If you're a fan or not, this is a pretty good read.
    • That site is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time! It's great! I mean, what can you say about a guy who would put something like that up to mock his own film. He always said that the best way to keep people from ridiculing you was to do it yourself first.

      To those of you who don't know, Kevin really supports his Internet fans. He regularly participates in the discussion forums on the View Askew website to keep us all up with whats going on. Not many directors (or public figures of any kind) would do that. He also kept a guy on the set the whole time J&SBSB was being filmed to create a weblog of everything that was going on.

      He's even had special screenings and get togethers for the people who frequent his forums. Not to mention the Internet only trailers that he put together for us.

      That's just pretty cool in my book.
  • This movie was for all the Kevin Smith fans out there first and everybody else second. And in that way it was a successful movie. I don't imagine it will be a smash hit or anything, but it is so far my favorite movie of the summer. Go see this one if you haven't already!
  • "In his previous movies -- Dogma, Chasing Amy, Clerks.."

    You've forgotten Mallrats.

  • Remark about Dogma incorrect (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Private Essayist ( 230922 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @10:43AM (#2218122)
    "This movie backs off from the controversial religion-bashing of Dogma..."

    Wrong. That is the accusation that was lobbed against Kevin Smith, but I'm disappointed to see this mainstream misinformation repeated here. (Yes, I know, there's plenty of misinformation on /., but it's usually off-center geek misinformation, not repeated mainstream misinformation).

    Dogma was a funny movie that parodied religious dogma, not religious beliefs. Kevin Smith was and is a Catholic, and the movie was actually respectful of Catholic beliefs -- just not rigid dogma. Typically, this flew right over the Catholic church's head and they protested, looking ignorant in the process. I'm surprised to see Katz repeating this untrue accusation here.
    • Yeah, having Alanis Morissette as God was actually respectful. Picking two dumbasses as "prophets" was just like God.. yep.

      I'm not saying that God didn't use murders, taxmen, and womenizers as tools.. but when they came to do God's work they worked in faith and respect. Kevin turns that on it's head..

      It's really funny.. witty.. but it is not respectful.

      Pan

      • "Yeah, having Alanis Morissette as God was actually respectful..."

        Actually, I thought it was. I could think of few concepts of a deity more appealing than the charming personality exibited by Morissette's God. This was not making fun of God, it was saying warmly, 'Wouldn't it be nice if God were like this?' Quite a difference from the usual stern, harsh, bearded authority figure.

        But hey, if even daring to come up with an alternative image for God is insulting to you personally, then I can understand why you would find Dogma disrespectful. I didn't see it that way. I saw it as Smith's funny riff on all the beliefs he not only grew up with, but believes to this day.
        • I'm not necessarily saying that alanis' character was offensive.. alanis herself was my point.

          But hey, if even daring to come up with an alternative image for God is insulting to you personally...

          Waa waa waaa.. get off yer horse. If you wanna get personal, I wouldn't be nearly so nice.

          Pan


        • Actually, I thought it was. I could think of few concepts of a deity more appealing than the charming personality exibited by Morissette's God. This was not making fun of God, it was saying warmly, 'Wouldn't it be nice if God were like this?'

          I found her totally lacking in charm myself. Kind of a dumb idea, though the director seemed delighted with his own cleverness here.

          Quite a difference from the usual stern, harsh, bearded authority figure.

          I wasn't particularly insulted, but I think a supreme deity with a little dignity would have been better. You have all these people who have gone through a terrible ordeal, and a God who doesn't really seem to realize or care what happened.
    • Gotta agree. :)

      What was amazingly smart, in Dogma, is that while it mercilessly made fun of the letter of Christianity, it was very respectful of its spirit. The simple allusion to all the doubts, all the fears of a young Jesus bound to a terrible destiny, and still accepting it, probably did more for Christianity than all the biggots who whined about the movies put together.

      Smith is great. I didn't know of his other movies, but I'll be sure to look them out.
  • Late?? Lame?? YES!!! This brings down the already sketchy content of /. Can you do me a favor....and try?
  • In a sense, I thought that the movie nicely tied everything together (if by everything, you mean Jay and Silent Bob walking off with Suzanne at the end of Mallrats)...

    But seriously, if this truly was the last Jay and Silent Bob flic, I'd say that it was a nice finale. I laughed so hard for the second half of the film, once everything got rolling. And the cameo's were terrific (Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek as themselves, Joey Lauren Adams playing Amy, and her "friend" Trish, who was played by Renee Humphrey, of Mallrats notariety; Carrie Fisher playing the nun, that Harvard bastard from Good Will Hunting playing himself, etc). And what about Mark Hamill playing a Batman-type villian in something other than just voice (for those who don't know, he plays the Joker on Batman the Animated Series)...

    Call me easy to please, but I loved it simply because I like paying attention to silly, tiny details and seeing references to them in later films. That, and simply put, Kevin Smith put forth a funny-ass picture. Kudos...
  • The last few days the site is hosed half the time. Now, I can handle not being able to login, or links not working correctly, but now today my config choices are ignored and I'm getting this John Katz shite again. Unacceptable.
  • ...and he flames them back, urging them to lick his private parts.

    Never thought I'd hear Katz say that.

  • As many have noted, this movie includes a truckload of references to Smith's earlier works as well as other films. Most of them are great in-jokes and a way to pay homage to his greatest characters. The one thing you walk away from the film feeling however is that Kevin Smith made this movie so he could hang out with people he likes. In fact, it almost seems like the entire purpose of the movie was to get to dance with Morris Day and the Time.

    To me, it's a much-needed slap in the face to people that make all the hideous stuff that gets churned onto the screen these days. Finally, a guy having fun with a movie...
  • i'd just like to say, the funniest movie i've seen this summer has to be rat race. the premise may be stupid, but there are a LOT of hilarious setups in this movie. in fact, i'm going to go see it again tonight.
  • Suprise, Suprise... Katz missed the point. He seems to have a real knack for missing the point of whatever movie he is bashing/reveiewing on a given week.

    Maybe it's that Katz is just out of touch with today's movie going public (as much as he tries to seem like the opposite), Dogma did not bash the catholic church, it merely pointed out some of its more absurd practices and policies.

    Mall Rats (which didn't even get mentioned by Katz), Clerks, Dogma, and Chasing Amy, and now Jay and Silent Bob Strike back are more movies for the teen/college age group, and most people who fall out of that category (cough...Katz...cough) don't seem to get it.
  • As Katz said it, if you have not seen the other Kevin Smith movies, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Clerks, then you will miss some/a lot of the jokes. There are also seens from the short comic book series called Jay & Silent Bob [viewaskew.com]: Jay & SB with the monkey in the tunnel with the Wildlife Marshall (parody The Fugitive).
  • This time the sub-theme is the Net and the waves of brainy but obnoxious adolescent jerks who have helped set its sometimes nasty tone in recent years.

    Did Katz see the same movie I did? Saying that "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is about the Net the same way that Dogma is about religion is just plain wrong.

    "JASBSB" seems to be Kevin Smith striking back at Hollywood after making four feature length films. The entire movie is about making movies, from Affleck's early comment of "Who would go pay to see a movie about Jay and Silent Bob?" to the sequel to "Good Will Hunting" being an action flick.

    It is interesting to note that "JASBSB" knocks Mirimax who has helped distribute most of Kevin Smith's previous works.

    In the end, the movie is about making movies, not about the Net. It is very humorous at times, and is full of cameo appearances (Carrie Fischer as a nun?). It even makes fun of the four previous films at times and cleans up some loose ends.

    And how did Katz get passed my Katz-filter?

  • Great Ironic Humor in this Movie *Spoilers* (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cybermage ( 112274 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @11:30AM (#2218212) Homepage Journal
    Smith pokes fun at about everything in arms reach in this movie including the audience and himself. You can measure how many Smith fans are in the audience by the laugh response to:

    "I wonder if Mirimax will option Holden's comic."
    "What, Chasing Amy? That'll never work as a movie."

    Also, Holden's line:

    "Who would go and see a movie about Jay and Silent Bob?" [Smith, Mewes, and Affleck turn to look at camera. Smith smiles.]

    The best irony in the film is a joke on many levels. Jay and Silent Bob become incensed about posting on moviepoopshoot.com [moviepoopshoot.com] which is registered to:

    Registrant:
    View Askew Productions
    PO Box 400
    Red Bank, NJ 20902
    US

    Registrar: Dotster (http://www.dotster.com)
    Domain Name: MOVIEPOOPSHOOT.COM
    Created on: 09-JAN-01
    Expires on: 09-JAN-03

    At a deeper level though, Smith is ranting about postings on Internet message boards, made even more ironic by the focus of his site [viewaskew.com] which contains an extensive message board, to which he posts. (And occasionally answers questions.)

    I found the irony and asides to the camera to be great fun in this movie and would highly recommend it on the basis of in-jokes alone (Of which the material I mention is only a tiny part.)
  • In the movie Jay and Silent Bob orignally go to hollywood because people just like us were talking smack about them on a website just like this. They then proceed to try to stop the movie. Along the way Jay and Silent Bob find out that with all the money they get they can travel to everyone's house and beat the crap out of them. So all I have to say is watch out and, you rock Jay and Silent Bob, just in case!
  • Dammit, I thought I had jon katz filtered out. What is this crap? I want a refund.

    Anyway, while I'm here, I thought I'd throw out a reference to Affleck and Damon from the Filthy Critic [bigempire.com] in his review of Dogma [bigempire.com], which was right on the money.


    Ben "I still can't act" Affuck and Matt "My friend can't act" Damon are two fallen angels [...]


    I semi-admired Smith's work before Dogma. Clerks was a diamond in the rough, and Chasing Amy dealt fairly intelligently with a sensitive subject. Even Smith panned Mall Rats as being the product of a studio that wouldn't let him have creative control.

    Finally, Dogma came out. Here was Smith's opportunity to shine. He had the money to hire some big names, the clout to make the film he wanted, and it was based on a pointed look at religion and Catholicism -- a favorite subject of mine. But he blew it! Smith was okay when he was pushing the limits to gain some credibility, but now that he's made it, his self-congratulatory, 7-11 pseudo-intellectual rants are just lame.

    I really wanted to like Smith's movies so much. There's a kernel in his work that I want to see flourish, but Smith's execution just leaves too much to be desired. The Filthy Critic really hits the nail on the head when he describes the problems with Dogma. I would recommend reading the review. It really rates a +5 Insightful.

    I think I'm going to pass on JASBSB and maybe see it when it airs on HBO. Smith doesn't get me out to the theatres again until he gets a little hungrier.
  • the movie really sucked folks. I mean blew the big one.

  • Dogma (Score:1, Insightful)

    by ShinyObjectsAndYarn ( 258031 )
    This movie backs off from the controversial religion-bashing of Dogma

    It's as if he sat down and thought about what statement he could possibly get the MOST wrong.

    Dogma is anything but bashing religion. What Dogma criticizes is the way some people choose to blindly worship the church. This, like most things, upset the church. Dogma is actually a very pro religion film, albeit one with plenty of good dick and fart jokes. The message Kevin wanted you to take away from the film is believe in god because you think it's right, not because some old institution tells you to.

  • The movie's director, Gus Van Sant (CT:Good Will Hunting, not J&SBSB of course), has a funny bit part, and Smith parodies Charlie's Angels, The Fugitive (so specifically he includes a reference to Provasic, the drug that nearly destroyed Richard Kimble's life), Scooby-Doo,Hannibal, and even Star Wars (Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill appear, the latter in a loopy take-off on the mythic brawl between Darth and Luke

    You forgot all the great references that Jay and Silent Bob make to itself in the movie.

    As I would say, the movie was meta-funny.
  • Spoilers below

    I don't recall seeing Smith make references to the old Kroft shows before, and I'd have to say that I loved the two references to Land of the Lost.

    I didn't notice many people laughing at them, so I was kind of thinking they may have been more obscure.

    Chris Rock's character's name was Chaka (LoL's little monkey boy that hung out with the lost family)

    Will Ferrell's character's name was Marshell Willenholley (LoL's lost family. I was in hysterics when I heard that one)

    Loved the movie! Was exactly what I expected it to be, and was lots of laughs. Can't wait for the DVD.

  • The Bluntman & Chronic Movie (Score:4, Funny)

    by Wampa-One ( 517844 ) on Sunday August 26, 2001 @01:14PM (#2218477)
    Bluntman and Chronic and their stupid alter egos Jay and Silent Bob only work in small doses, if at all. They don't deserve their own movie.
  • Some interesting tidbits:

    1) baby Silent Bob is portrayed by Smith's infant daughter, Harley Quinn Smith (aweome job of naming, btw)

    2) One of the four animal activists ("Missy") is married to Kevin Smith

    last, and MOST IMPORTANT - make sure you stay to the very end of the movie - I mean the VERY END - right before the screen goes dark - and you'll get a nice surprise.

  • ARGH (Score:2)

    by mrbill ( 4993 )
    Anybody care to email me and tell me what
    happened in the last scene with Alanis as
    God? Due to stupid people wanting to leave
    the theater as soon as they saw credits on a
    black screen, I missed it.

  • Saw it Friday (Score:2, Informative)

    by smittyoneeach ( 243267 )
    Review is OK.
    Reviewers in general take on a Howard Cosell tone. They need to emit words to justify themselves.
    Nutshell: this movie is sophomoric entertainment. If you want that, you will be pleased. I laughed, I cried, it was a part of me.
    If drug glorification, homoerotic obsession, notional plot, and obsequious in-jokes offend you, your entertainment dollar is best spent elsewhere.

  • I wouldn't call Dogma "religion bashing". It got a lot of protests, but the movie itself was not actually particularly "bashing" religion. It may not have had the literary punch of _Last Temptation_, but it was still a movie with a lot to say to religious people, and very little of it hostile.

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