Kevin Smith Retrospective Chasing Amy Review

Hey, this is Steve Bloom and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to Cinema Geeks as we continue the Kevin Smith

retrospective. Today we will be reviewing Kevin

Smith's third film, Chasing Amy. Joining me on

today's adventure into the world of Kevin Smith

is Hard Candy Mandy. Uh, hey Dan, what's going

on? Not much, not much. Kevin Optimus Solo, I

am here. And Matt Ridley -Sent. Snoochie -Boochies!

I was waiting for one person to say it. I figured

if no one else was gonna. Yeah, yeah. Uh, yes,

we are going through the career of Kevin Smith.

We've gone through Quentin Tarantino. We've gone

through Hayao Miyazaki and now Kevin Smith, the

man from Red Bank. We've reviewed his past two

films and now we're on his third movie, Chasing

Amy. It's interesting kind of looking at this

in retrospective because you can go back and

kind of see, you know, the response of these

films at the time and how that changed or stayed

the same throughout. We talked about last time

with Mallrats how that was often, you know, was

looked down upon a great deal when it came out

financially was not very successful critically

as well. But many looked at Chasing Amy as his

comeback film, though the movie that like everyone

thought he could make. So I'm curious though,

because it does Let us touch on subject matter

that has, I think, greatly changed throughout

the last 20 years or so. So I'm interested in

seeing how viewpoints of this movie have changed

or altered or what people think. So I guess,

Amanda, we'll start with you here. What are just

your overall opening impressions of Chase and

Amy? I think that it was a lot more toned down

than his other films so it wasn't as cartoony

for me and it touched on just relationships and

not all this you know extra zany stuff you know

side plots going on so you're really able to

focus on the heart of the story here. And I think

that I liked that, but it also didn't keep me,

you know, as entertained. I feel like maybe because

the subject matter, like you said, Dan, it's

things are viewed a little differently now. I

don't think we have to necessarily ask some of

these questions that are being asked here. And

I think are a lot of viewpoints have changed.

So it wasn't as relevant, but it was still kind

of a cool little. romantic journey to go on.

Interesting. Kevin, how about you? Did you also

feel it was toned down and did that impact your

overall enjoyment or your point of the film?

I don't know if I would say tone down as much

as I would just say a different genre for for

Kevin Smith I mean up to this point we've been

basically looking at coming -of -age type films

and I feel like this is a obvious shift into

you know romantic comedy land and I think that's

where most of the differences lie for me I I

think what we're seeing so far, and obviously

a lot of people already know this about Kevin

Smith, so I'm not saying anything special or

anything like that, but one thing that we're

seeing here is how unique his films are, and

even within the landscape of romantic comedies,

how he's able to make something that's completely

special in a way that something we hadn't necessarily

seen before and taking on some different ideas.

I guess if you want to go like to a technical

standpoint maybe some of the like specific questions

being asked or things like that might not be

as relevant today. I think when you just think

about it from a more general standpoint like

just love and relationships and sex and that

type of stuff that doesn't necessarily change

that much over time. So I think like there's

still a lot that you could that people could

get from this even if they were viewing it today.

So you know it might be somewhat dated, but I

don't think it loses the effect that he was going

for. So I don't know, I'm impressed with the

unique way that he's able to craft something.

And I thought that I would agree with the critics.

I think this was a bounce back in the right direction.

And probably so far out of the three, the film

that I would say was overall as a film, probably

the best. Interesting, interesting. Matt, how

about you? Are you around those lines where you

think it is a bounce back? You think it's one

of his best or? Has your viewpoint changed at

all when it comes to chasing me? Oh, no, I would

say that this is my favorite Kevin Smith movie,

and I still put it in one of my top five favorite

movies of all time. Like, there's something about

this movie that relates to me on a very deep

level, and I really love it. Well, I just want

to say that's freaking adorable that one of your

favorite movies has your wife's name in it. Is

it sad that like when I think of this movie I

always thought the main Character was Amy and

oh I was lost for a good half of the movie. I'm

like when is Amy coming on? It's like two thirds

of the film and we still have not been introduced

to this major character Amy here I'm like what

is going on? Are we watching the right movie?

That's like a really weird thing right because

the first movie clerks is about some clerks and

mall rats is about some mall rats and chasing

Amy is about a girl not named Amy That's weird.

And very little running. Mall rats have much

more running, but... Yeah, so it's interesting

because I think when people think of Chase and

Amy, I think the fact that it's the idea of a

man falling in love with someone who's a lesbian,

that's where a lot of people think the purpose

of the film is. But I do think it's actually...

ultimately trying to say something much differently.

I think that's a vice to get into more of the

psyche of the way we, as people deal with relationships

in the past, the people that we're going to be

spending our lives with and how we get caught

up on things we shouldn't be and the weird insecurity

we have and the way we deal with it. I think

when I talked about more rats, I mentioned that

I felt like it didn't get to something that it

was ultimately trying to get to where I feel

Jason and Amy did succeed in that. There are

some actually, I think, really strong performances.

I know Ben Affleck is one that tends to get knocked

around for not being the greatest actor in the

world, but he thought he did a pretty solid job.

And, you know, like Jason Lee, I thought was,

you know, obviously a despicable, and despicable

is maybe hard, but I thought his performance

was great. And, you know, Alyssa Jones as well.

And I thought, you know, overall, there was one

of the better acted films, probably the best

acted film that we've seen from Kevin Smith,

maybe just to the quality of actors that he has

around. Did anyone else feel like the acting

itself was at a different level compared to what

we've seen before, even though we are dealing

with many of the same type of, many of the same

actors? we saw in his past movies. I think one

thing that's kind of hard to come to terms with,

like, initially right off the bat, maybe not

hard to come to terms with, that might be a little

bit too strong, but the fact that, you know,

we have so many actors that return and play roles

in multiple Kevin Smith films, it's odd that

they're all, you know, most of them, well, half

of them are playing the same characters and half

of them are playing different characters, even

though they appear multiple times, and it seems

weird to me that you wouldn't. stick with some

of them being the same characters or introduce

new actors. And I'm convinced that Ben Affleck

was born looking like a 35 -year -old. I just

think he always looks like the same age no matter

what film you see him in, except for when you

do like the gray -haired Batman, I guess. But

when he appears in some of these movies where

he's supposed to be playing like a... you know

whether it's a teenager or whether it's a you

know a lower 20s type person i never buy him

as that age but no i think the acting was definitely

better in this one you have solid performances

almost around the horn so i think that's one

reason why this film comes together a little

bit more fluidly than maybe some than the other

two films Regarding what it's like saying regarding

relationships and I think Matt you mentioned

that like this movie relates to you at a different

level was that a piece of it just the way like

it approaches the concept of relationships and

how people communicate with one another oh I

don't even I don't even know if that's it although

upon rewatching I I realized that On some level,

these people are like me, right? Like I'm listening

to these conversations and I'm like, I've had

these conversations. Especially like the ones

relating to like Star Wars and comic book. These

are people speaking the words I would be speaking

in these situations. But at the same time, like

the way they view each other and social relationships

are so incredibly different. My wife and I, when

we got together, there was a huge disparity between

our pasts. and uh like and so i had like it i

mean it wasn't nearly as crazy as uh as what's

depicted in the movie but like it was definitely

uh a noticeable divide but it was never a crisis

of conscience for me i never had this like oh

no what am i going to do with myself i could

never and so like on some levels people were

entirely unrelatable but I know that I know that

if only because the other parts are so true that

those parts have to be true and just everyone's

you know differently different and views life

different and lives life differently here's the

thing I love a good romance story, and I hate

a bad one, right? Like, you see your episode

two, your Star Wars episode two, and your Thor

one, and it's like, these are terrible love stories.

But then you see the other ones, like this, where

it's told right and it's done right, and a good

romance story will get me every time. But I relate

to the non -romance parts. even more. I want

a good romance. That isn't like the top three,

my favorite things. Like if you're going to do

a romance, it has to be good in movies. But then

I relate to every character and all these situations

that aren't the romance parts even more. And

like that's what really draws me in on this movie.

Interesting. Interesting. Yeah. I do think there

is a great deal of authenticity within just the

relationship that's here. Like you mentioned,

I think that's the key to a film like this. If

the main characters feel like they, you know,

the chemistry aspect, I think they certainly

have it. is a big reason why I think it would

be successful as it is. I think another reason

that it could be relatable to different people

even if they're not maybe going through the exact

same situation is because a lot of relationships

do deal with something that is, like Matt was

saying, something that's like a crisis for the

relationship, even though it may not be something

that in actuality is that big of a deal. I guess

in reality, it's something that our minds make

up more of a big deal, especially if you're dealing

with younger people, like high school or college

age people, where they let something like this

get in the way of a relationship. So that's why

I don't think it necessarily matters as much

about the lesbian thing or different things that

are specific to the film. It's more so if you're

in a relationship with somebody or that you have

that friendship that's blossoming into a relationship,

what are you letting get in the way of? or how

are you talking yourself out of that, I guess.

So it's more of like a psychological thing that

I think a lot of people go through at least at

some point in their life with one relationship

or the other. Amanda, how do you feel when it

comes to the movie and the way it deals with

relationships or the aspect of kind of the social

norms and things of that nature? I really liked

how they set up the relationship between Alyssa

and Ben Affleck's character. What's his name

in the movie? Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck. Holden.

Holden, yeah. I think it was very true to real

life and how people start as friends and form

this relationship and there's gotta be a spark

somewhere from either one side or the other to

kind of start this whole process of shifting

from friends to really good friends to lovers

in a relationship. And I think as far as the

social norms go, I think it does, put something

in a perspective that I don't know if I would

see it the way that they're seeing it as far

as just being so blunt and asking crazy questions

and being rude and crude about it like Banky.

And what I really couldn't get the whole time

was why Banky had this huge problem with Alyssa.

They were getting along so well in the beginning

at the bar and then all of a sudden things just

turned crazy. he just like hated her and I didn't

know why. And I'm like, it's not, I don't think

he just hates lesbians and maybe what they, you

know, the realization that Ben Affleck's character

comes to at kind of one of the pivotal shift

in the movie. I don't know if that's true or

not, but I think that it did, as far as the social

norms go, I don't think that that's really how

it is a lot. I don't know. It just seemed too,

too much. I think the specific relationship between

them, I think the one reason why maybe for some

it doesn't come off as believable is because

I think you see that more typically. in like

younger groups like if you were to have like

let's say two high school kids that were best

friends playing sports together that are whatever

doing you know whatever it might be in all the

same classes and then you have a girl come between

them like you get that resentment almost immediately

and I think you see that more at that time frame

but it is kind of a little bit different to see

it at a more advanced age but I don't think it's

necessarily Good my problem is like I don't think

every couple is gonna have to deal with one of

the partners is having a threesome and or it's

had a threesome and then the other one is like

super upset about it or you're not gonna have

the friend that's just asking the most obnoxious

questions and somebody who's just gonna want

to sit and talk about all their sexual exploits

the first time did you hang out with them at

the bar like that just seemed too much Like that's

not the first thing I'm gonna like talk about

when I meet somebody, even if I am like, what

if I'm talking to somebody who's gay? That's

not the, I'm not gonna want to just sit and ask

them like so many personal questions and want

them to sit and relive all these exploits. Like

I just didn't think that that was a real aspect.

Maybe if things came up and then questions were

asked like we did see, but not some of these

blatant things that we are seeing from like Banky.

Yeah, I don't disagree. Like that's maybe not

a... true -to -life conversation, but I guess

it just seemed like not the most common thing

you would communicate with someone that you've

only met twice, but I guess I felt like it fit

the character because there was a lack of shame,

or not that there should be shame, or just an

openness, and I felt like it kind of made sense

in a way. And I think Banky, the reason I felt

like he had such a negative reaction was he didn't

like his his idea of normalcy being challenged

or like what he viewed and especially that of

his relationship with Holden and I think he saw

her as like a problem in that and you kind of

saw how it impacted their work or like how he's

leaving the the missing this con they need to

go to and I think it like it was kind of eating

away from him that no he he's kind of getting

replaced in a way and kind of that jealousy aspect

of it is why I think he had such a negative reaction

outside of and maybe there was some more to that

too like perhaps underneath that even though

you know he's like I'm not a homophobe but there

I don't know there there I think there are elements

that certainly kind of made you wonder if there

was a piece that bothered him, especially when

he got so angry about the Archie and Jughead

stuff, you know? I mean, we all know that's true.

I don't know if this is a question we can answer,

but I was just looking through and looking at

reaction to Chasing Amy. I know there's a lot

of backlash, a lot of strong work, but there's

some backlash regarding the idea of this film,

the concept of the movie where you have someone

who is a lesbian falling in love or kind of ending

up dating a man and how some people are overly

offended by that. At the time, this was something

that wasn't really talked about in mainstream,

and now we've really changed that around. If

20 years from now, there will be even more of

a negative connotation towards this because of

that, or if people are misreading really what

the movie is trying to say. I've watched a number

of the evening with Kevin Smith like documentary

movie things and I've listened to a podcast And

I love that he when he talks about this he talks

about how he made a point where like anything

negative that was said was said by the dumbest

characters and he's like because like, you know,

his brother is gay and He's like I I wanted to

make sure that I didn't depict something wrong

that there was right representation because that's

always been a big thing He talks about how, growing

up, there weren't a lot of gay characters on

screen, and that, like, really bothered his brother.

And so, like, he wanted to depict gay characters

properly and correct and true to the life, and

that was a big thing. And so, like, whenever

someone says something negative, they're usually

depicted in a negative light. And, like, there's

a lot of choices that he made that I think are

really interesting, especially given the time

when this was made. was when someone was talking

to him and he mentioned that, like someone was

accusing him saying like, oh, all you, like they

were trying to say that all. you need is one

man to turn to women. He's like, no, it's the

opposite. That's why I had Holden say that because

he's an idiot. And that's my point was to kind

of show that that is exactly not the case. So

I was just curious if like, I always wonder when

it comes to that, there has been some criticism

that was thrown in some directly at him. And

I know he's like you mentioned, Matt, he has

brought it up and kind of explained his viewpoint.

Yeah, I agree with I think it's just depends

on how knowledgeable or how intelligent you are

when you're watching these things and making

these types of statements I think it's too easy

for certain people to just kind of grab gravitate

to something that they can make an issue that

Really isn't intended to be an issue because

I definitely did not I mean, I'm not super knowledgeable

with what's offensive and what's not, I guess,

but I never sensed anything like that when I

was watching it. Like, oh, you know, then that

could be seen in a bad light, but people will

make of it what they want. I just don't think

that's... You got to look at what the intention

was from the director. I think I was mildly offended

because I don't know what the actual probability

of that happening is. You know, she's spent her

whole life seeking one thing and then all of

a sudden... now as an adult where you think that

she knows herself, now she's completely turned

around. And I feel like it would kind of be the

other way around. Like I don't think that she

would go, you know, 30 years or whatever in her

sexual adult life, which sounds like it that

started pretty young in her life. Then all of

a sudden, she's going to change those feelings

after she's already done all these, you know,

all these gone down all these paths of discovery,

because that's what it sounds like. It's all

discovery for her and expression and, you know,

giving completely to what she feels. And it just,

it's hard for me to believe that all of a sudden

she can switch, you know, her path that way.

But I can understand falling in love with somebody

new. I think it would maybe be a little bit.

easier for me to digest if she had just been

in love with somebody and then met him became

friends with him and then realized that This

is the love that she wanted versus. This is the

gender of person that I love I think the one

the one scene though where she kind of has I'm

not nearly a monologue I guess but she she has

a block of lines that somewhat address that with

how what she was looking for and what she had

tricked herself into what she was looking for.

So I think she somewhat addresses that, which

made it a little bit more believable, at least

for me, because she talks about, I guess, what

she was looking for and how she, in a way, had

talked herself into a corner and became blind

to what originally she was still looking for.

So I mean, I think she, I don't know, maybe I'm...

It's only the first time watch so I haven't had

a chance to you know, really dissect the scenes

But I feel like she addressed that for the most

part also I think I mean Love isn't black and

white and people don't have to just be attracted

to one gender or the other You know, obviously

there's there's a blend there at some point for

some people so I can get the situation. It's

not completely unbelievable Yeah, it shows that

there's a lot of imperfection in in the sense

of because you know she admits that she's lied

about things and her own reasoning and how that's

kind of led to a lot of conflict unnecessarily

between them i think it's a good talking point

but i also think it gets to kind of the broader

sense of when you you know he ends up finding

out even more about her and like how he seems

to be okay with some things and not okay like

how Her being with girls is fine with like the

idea of being other guys is really bugs him and

how that like again I think it gets into like

the crazy insecurities and then of course you

have the infamous Kevin Smith or silent bomb

monologue, which I'm sure that he gets into but

I don't know I know you mentioned that you've

listened to a lot of the Kevin Smith stuff and

one thing I noticed like when I comparing this

to when I first watched it to when I to now.

Now that I know more about Kevin Smith, I listen

to a lot of podcasts and even the pop culture

stuff he likes from Degrassi and everything like

that. I think now when I watch this, I hear him

saying these lines more and more. His voice becomes

more distinctive, where it feels like a lot of

the characters are... coming from the same voice.

I don't necessarily think that's the case, but

I do think there are a lot of those little factors

where it's like, okay, that was put in there

because that's something Kevin Smith really likes.

I don't necessarily know if that's a bad thing,

but I don't know if that's something you notice

too as someone who listens and is aware of Kevin

Smith and his overall viewpoint on pop culture

and life and things like that. wasn't watching

this critically enough because I didn't really

get that like I get like the references are very

him like it's very much comic books and Star

Wars like he makes the same references in all

these movies and I could see how like Banksy

is very close to Randall from the clerk series

like they're very similar characters and they'd

say very similar things And that's kind of his

deal, right? I guess like if you just look at

just these three movies There's always like one

guy who's he was generally pretty grounded and

one guy who's generally like really out there

Yeah, and that there's that interplay But I guess

I guess I didn't really notice it so much and

maybe it'll be more apparent in the future movies

that's interesting though you you compare Banki

and Randall because Randall is easily still one

of my favorite characters so far through three

films and Banki is like Easily at my bottom like

I did not like his character at all where I loved

Randall's character So I don't know that's an

interesting comparison I'm gonna have to like

dissect that one a little bit more and figure

out why it's gravitated towards one and not towards

the other It's because Randall yells at customers

But no, I just felt like there's there's more

of a it's not maturity there's more of an intelligence

or more of a educatedness about Randall whereas

Benke just for a lot of points comes off really

immature and really not necessarily dumb but

in comparison to Randall he's not gonna I wouldn't

see him having the same conversations are coming

up with the same insight I don't know but maybe

I'll have to Randall's good at like breaking

down just like the the BS of things like I don't

fall for your ruse. The scene comes to mind where

in a way Banksy is one that gets lost in that.

So they almost have that opposite aspect of them.

I kind of feel like they're similar characters

in the sense of just like their sense of humor

and it's a sophomore nature of a lot of their

jokes, specifically when it comes to things like

dirty magazines and things like that. But I don't

know, maybe you just don't like Jason Lee. Maybe

that's the problem. That could be it. That could

be it. Were there any other key points or anything

else that anyone else wanted to bring up? I thought

the one thing that I wanted to mention for sure

is and I don't know if any of us have mentioned

it in the previous episodes or not, but this

is one of I actually noticed the soundtrack to

this one, and I don't usually notice soundtracks

to films. I don't know what was actually on the

physical soundtrack that came out, like if there

was one on CD or whatnot, but just going through

the movie, I was like, man, with the songs that

they have in here, that would make a very time

-capsulist soundtrack. And I just enjoyed the

music that they included. I noticed a couple

of Scott's songs. I think my new 8 Ballstones

is in there, here and there. What about Ben Affleck's

moves, though? What? His moves. Which moves?

Sweet moves. I didn't see any sweet moves. What

scene? When uh, I think when she was singing,

right? Yeah, when she was on stage and he's out

there like trying to be like the kind of wobbling.

The sway move, I guess. And did you guys get

the clerks tie in with the bathroom dead guy?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think they're more than that

even. There's a lot of, there's more, you know,

when she's going off about, um, You talked about

like how a lot of the same characters were, there

are a lot of actors are playing different characters,

but some of those characters that they're playing

were mentioned. Like she, in her monologue of

like people that she slept with, I think she

actually mentioned Ben Affleck's character from

All Rats. So, and as well as some of the characters

from, from Clark's are mentioned too. Yeah, it's,

it's, I think even. There are some there are

some some I haven't seen an extended version

of this I don't think ones out but I know like

Walter from Lanigan and some of the other people

have appeared in other movies from Smith or had

additional scenes that were cut but unfortunately,

I think there's never been a Extended version

of this which I'm surprised because I know there's

like a this came out on like criterion. So But

I also find it interesting that there's a number

of scenes now and this isn't just tied to this

movie this could be you know a conversation you

have with especially with mall rats as well,

but There's a ton of older individuals, 20 -year

-olds or whatever, that are terrible influences

on kids in these films. Every time there's an

incident where there's an adult or a young adult

talking to a kid, they're always a terrible influence.

They're giving them dirty magazines or The White

Devil. I was just like, what is going on with

the adult kid? Interactions in these films. I

don't know if that's something that you know

continues to happen, but I at least saw it in

all rights and here That's something to consider

as we get to Jersey girl. Let's see if that continues

When I have not seen yet, so anybody get the

Sandy Hook reference that was kind of a I would

have never that would have never registered as

a place of prominence obviously originally watching

this but I noticed that they dropped that early

on Yeah, I wasn't sure if that was the same place

because I thought to any heck was in Connecticut,

but Yeah, it could be a different place, but

but it was just a weird to hear that name, you

know, we're all yeah That's something I was like,

oh, I wonder if that's the same place or not.

Is that where those kids? Yeah And then I think

my only other note and let other people talk

was just I continued to like every scene that

Jay and Silent Bob appear in so That's something

to look forward to they always have something

crazy That's gonna that's gonna make you have

a scene or something that you like from the film.

So Actually, I wanted to talk about that because

Jay and Silent Bob, for the first, I don't know,

half of Kevin Smith's movie career, Jay and Silent

Bob make it into almost, if not every single

movie. I don't think they're in his most recent

one. I don't think they're in Red State, I don't

think they're in Yoga Hosers, and those, and

what was the Tusk? Tusk. I don't think, and you

know, probably not gonna make it into Moose Jaws.

But like, I love those characters. Um, but I

don't like them in Mall Rats. Like, I think that

they're, I don't know, they're very similar to

the other characters where it's like, there's

a dumb one and, uh, you know, a more reserved,

sophisticated one. And I get that with every

one of these pairs. Like, both people still need

to grow up some. Like, whether it - whether it's

Dante and Randall, or - or, uh, T .S. and his

buddy, or Jay and Silent Bob. But for some reason,

like, I like it. I like - Silent Bob as a more

grounded character and that like Batman stunt

and like Wobbling around and like all that stuff

like bothers me a lot more than then and I feel

like he's even less silly in Jay and Silent Bob

strike back, which is a very silly film Yeah,

I think with him as less as more obviously would

they have their movie? So we can say that save

that for later, too But I think they get a little

overexposed when I kept when he came to morass

Apparently he does he does appear in yoga hosers.

So I have to wait as far as Jason Muse goes,

but he's not listed in the other couple of films

that you mentioned. Yeah, I think like the reasoning

behind it, because he had certain films that

he felt like fit into the view of the universe

or what have you, but I do agree. Like I think

this is, this and Clark's much better appearances.

I remember really liked them in Dogman 2, but

it's been a while since I've seen that. All right.

Well, I mean, let's start with you. Final thoughts

and overall grade for not more rats, but for

Jason Amy. I don't think there's much more for

me to say about this. I think that everything

that we discussed was, you know, the majority

of what can be talked about here, really. I'm

going to give it a six and a half. All right,

Kevin, for me, like it's a better made film.

It's a better as far as, you know, like the actual

filmmaking aspects and stuff like that. You have

a better group of actors obviously so that's

going to help. I think the one thing that I would

give Clark still the one up on is I still like

the dialogue involved in Clerks better than both

Mallrats and Chase and Amy. So I just think I

really enjoyed some of those scenes and some

of those conversations that we had. So I'd like

to get a little bit more of that in combination

with the filmmaking quality that you get in Chase

and Amy. So it's kind of a toss up as far as

that aspect goes. But I'd still probably give

this one like a seven and a half, seven and a

half eight, somewhere right in that range. And

Matt. I don't know, man. I'm always gonna love

this movie. heck like it hooks me early on as

a big comic book fan when they talk about when

they talk about inkers like just even mentioning

and then like what does an anchor do and trust

me guys anchors do a lot like like especially

for certain artists because certain artists are

trash and the anchors have to save that book

i'm always gonna love this movie even if it gets

a little dustier every time every time you go

back to it i'm i'm gonna give it like i don't

know like a nine like that and that's that's

a personal thing like I realized that it's rough

around the edges I realized that uh you know

there's some problems with it but like it's just

it's what I want out of a movie so yeah I going

into this I remember liking it but I liked it

so much more on this time around than I was expecting

to I guess I when I watched it the first time

I don't really I didn't really Understand or

see how insightful it really is. I do think clerks

is probably more of a much funnier film more

entertaining But I think this is much more insightful.

I actually and I feel like it Blends in the comic

book kind of geek world a lot better than monorats

does gets a little bit more subtle not as obvious

as some of the Anchor jokes and how it fits into

the story thing naturally rather than being kind

of just added and forced in seeing that world

of the comic book nature of of the 90s and a

lot of cool little references like the opening

joke of it's a madman joke which it's just really

super indie comic from the 90s that most people

never even heard of but smith is a huge fan of

it and if you go back to the mall rats the opening

credits the artist writer mark all rad he did

those and he's actually in this movie too and

even those elements where smith got right with

this where and sometimes i think he kind of overextends

but i'm going to give it an eight don't know

if when we get to our final rankings if i'm going

to rank this as his best film because clark's

does hold a special place for me but i don't

i don't doubt that it's probably his best main

movie or at least his most complete film all

right anything else i know kevin you said you

were going to you mentioned something to cut

you off Oh, no, I was just I'm trying to figure

out because I'm going back to one other thing

that I'd mentioned kind of in the opening that

that seeing all the actors and some of them play

the same characters every time and some of them

play different characters and it's kind of a

jigsaw puzzle to try to figure out and not that

there's anything to really figure out but So

far we've had the guy that plays Dante in the

first one He showed up in all three films and

he has the same last name his character in all

three films, but different first names So that

was something that was interesting because he

plays Dante Hicks in the first one, Gil Hicks

in the second one, and now Jim Hicks in this

one. Matt, have you heard anything as far as

the podcast or more Kevin Smith stuff where he

explains any of the ideas or any of the logic

behind how he decided who was going to play similar

characters or this, that, and the other? I don't

know, but I do know that a lot of the recurring

people are friends. Right. like he and Ben Affleck

are real close friends and that's the only way

you can get Ben Affleck he's talked about that

before where he's like I get Ben Affleck for

for for minimum wage actor wise and that's the

only way I could ever get Ben Affleck and that's

only because we're friends like and so I'm pretty

sure yeah that Dante is a friend but I don't

know for sure Gotcha, I'd be just interested

to see like what some of the reasoning is for

some of the it seems like there's connections

in some of the characters that people are playing

and stuff like that so I think it'd be a an interesting

like extra feature trivia for them to include

and maybe they have already somewhere but Yeah

Maybe they're triplets and there's something

like that or that's his final movie We're just

waiting for us when he kind of reveals for the

big secret of that But but yes, we are still

underway when it comes to the world of Kevin

Smith We have a lot more films go to his next

film up his dogma, which was one of the biggest

controversial films I think he's ever made and

probably the one it I think it was I don't think

it started the evening as Kevin Smith's but I

know it led to a lot of different talks and things

like that and it costs a lot of stirring because

of the topic of religion that I went after. Gotta

give it to Kevin Smith. He certainly loves to

poke the bear and go to the taboo. So we'll be

able to give our thoughts on dogma next time.

But we'd like to hear what you thought of this

episode, what you think of Jason Amy and the

movies we've talked about so far. You can do

that by hitting us up on Twitter. We're at CinemaKeyCast.

You can find the episode post at KeyCastReader

.com. We're also all on Twitter. Amanda, what

is your Twitter name? At HardCandyMandyEyesNoWise.

Mine is at Optima Solo and I just want to hear

from all the other Randall lovers, you know,

let me know. Randall lovers. And Matt, that should

be your new Twitter handle. I'm at FridleyScent.

And I'm at Movie Revolt. But that'll be it for

this week. We'll be back next time as we talk

dogma as we continue the Kevin Smith retrospective.

Thanks for listening.