This week’s episode of The Targ is up! This week, we’ve got Episode 12: Glassware. Even though I don’t drink, I’ve amassed quite a collection of beer glases. Here’s the tale of how I got them…and I play some Smash Mouth and Nelly Furtado.
Monthly Archives: July 2006
Movie Review – Clerks II
Clerks II
Directed by Kevin Smith
Starring Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fuhrman, Jennifer Schwalbach, and, of course Kevin Smith.
Backstory
I love Kevin Smith’s movies. I particularly enjoy Clerks, which always made me feel better after toiling at Extra Foods on a tough shift. So, with rumours of a sequel starting to go around after Dogma, I was always kind of wary. But, you know, it’s Kevin Smith, it’s characters he created that I loved…I felt it was going to be good.
Plot
10 years later…. Randall accidentally burned down the QuickStop, so Randall and Dante now find themselves working at the fast food place Mooby’s. Dante seems to have finally broken out of his rut. It’s his last day at work. He’s engaged to Emma, and he’s about to move to Florida and manage one of Emma’s father’s car washes. Dante’s got one problem, though…an unrequited love for his boss, Becky. So Dante’s faced with the problem that the Clash once posed: should I stay or should I go? Meanwhile, Randal’s starting to get kind of bitter, so he vents his frustrations by accelerating the loss of innocence of Elias, the very Christian, Transformers-lovin’ nerd of a clerk. And, Jay and Silent Bob are back, too, but thanks to some court-ordered rehab, they’re pimping a new drug: Jesus. And it becomes yet another life-altering day of reflection for Dante and Randal.
What I Liked
The musical number. The donkey show. Randal’s rant about racial slurs. The many very loving jabs at Transformers. Rosario Dawson. How Randal grows and evolves. The fact that it’s funny as hell. The fact that Kevin Smith made these characters grow up with his audience. And a climax that made me want to laugh and cry at the same time…something that hasn’t been done since I first saw Chasing Amy.
What I Didn’t Like
OK, so there are a few clichés, some will say it’s a little hokey, and it does follow a bit of a formula highly reminiscent of the first film.
Final Assessment
If it’s not painfully obvious, I’m able to look the other way about what I didn’t like. What can I say? Kind of like how the first one reflected my time at Extra Foods, this one reflects how I feel about my life right now. It touched me…a movie hasn’t done that in a long time.
4 Nibs
Episode 11: Happy Belated Birthday
My high speed Internet’s back up and running, so I’m back! I bust out the special birthday episode I was hoping to do three weeks ago…you know, when it really was my birthday.
Movie Review – Superman Returns
Superman Returns
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, Sam Huntington and Eva Marie Saint.
Backstory
Superman. With the recent surge in superhero films, we knew it was just a matter of time. Ever since I started following movie news online, I’d been following development of a new Superman film. I was there for the Kevin Smith draft. I was there for the failed Tim Burton film. And then, I cheered when Bryan Singer signed on. Singer, of course, has proven his superhero cred with the first two X-Men films. But some of what Singer said frightened me. Singer said that he never read the comics, but he was a huge fan of Richard Donner’s original 1978 film, and his film would be based more on Donner’s film. While Donner’s film has interpretations of the Superman mythos I like (i.e. Christopher Reeve’s performance as Superman), it has interpretations I don’t like (i.e. goofy Lex Luthor). So, it was with a healthy dose of cautious optimism that I walked into Superman Returns.
Plot
Astronomers discover what they think are the ruins of Krypton, so Superman heads into the cosmos looking for them. Five years later, Superman returns to Earth. Kal-El comes home to an Earth that’s moved on without him. This is personified in Lois Lane, who’s now engaged and mother to a 5-year old son. Superman – and Clark Kent – then head out to find new purpose in this world, and perform lots of superheroics along the way. Meanwhile, while Superman was gone, Lex Luthor broke into the Fortress of Solitude and swiped some Kryptonian technology, which he’s going to use in his latest evil plot. And once again, it’s Superman vs. Lex Luthor with the fate of the Earth in the balance!
What I Liked
The acting. Brandon Routh does an amazing job as Superman, and Kevin Spacey is absolutely SPECTACULAR as Lex Luthor. I’m glad he made Luthor less goofy and more sinister. And the special effects are just amazing. We’ve come along way since 1978. Some of my friends lamented a lack of Superman spectacle in the trailers, but there’s some great moments in there, specifically Superman rescuing the space shuttle.
What I Didn’t Like
This film made TONS of references to the 1978 film. Once the film sank in a bit on the drive home, I started wondering: did I enjoy it because it truly is a good film, or did I just get off on all the references? And plus, there’s a big plot twist about 2/3 of the way through the film. I won’t get into it here, and granted, it’s been done in about a dozen “imaginary tales” in the comics. But those “imaginary tales” were always about the end of Superman…I have no idea how it’ll affect a sequel or Superman continuity in general. From what I’ve read online, this plot twist has divided a lot of people…put me down on the side that thinks it was a bad idea
Final Assessment
Singer delivered the goods. Granted, he focuses a little more on character than Superman doing what he does best, but what is in there is really good. Bring on General Zod Returns. Or, maybe Singer will finally crack open a comic and we’ll get Superman vs. Doomsday.
3 Nibs
Episode 10: As Seen on TV
I crank up some of the catchier tunes from TV commercials right now, like that one from that Zeller’s commercial, and the song from the Clerks II trailer.