Joey Magidson
Welcome back to my Home Movies! This week, Kevin Smith returns to the world of Clerks with his surprisingly moving Clerks III. That’s obviously going to be my top pick, but what else is hitting shelves today? Read on to find out…
Clerks III
Another sequel to Clerks could easily have felt like one too many for Smith, but Clerks III manages to be one of his best films. He achieves that with a surprising amount of emotion and pathos, as well as a bit of daring when it comes to where he chooses to leave his characters. I spoke to cast members Jeff Anderson, Jason Mewes, and Brian O’Halloran here, as well as Smith himself here. In my rave review of the movie here, I had this to say:
Kevin Smith always goes back to the Quick-Stop. However, just because he’s now returned for a third Clerks outing, that doesn’t mean he’s doing the same thing again. Much like how Clerks II was about growing older and friendship, Clerks III builds upon that, while also reflecting on the career that Smith managed to build. In doing so, Clerks III has a weight that many of his comedies don’t. In fact, it wouldn’t be beyond the pale to call this one a dramedy. In going meta here, Smith is looking inward, but he’s also using every tool in his toolbox not just to make you laugh, but also to make you cry. Admittedly, this is a film that’s more or less made specifically for me, but I found it to be incredibly effective.
Clerks III is, in some ways, the movie Smith was born to make. It overtly references his real life heart attack, while also continuing the story of the characters that first got his career started. The choice pays off in spades, as he’s able to reach emotional highs and lows unlike anything else prior in the Clerks franchise. There’s even a boldness to this storytelling, as he leaves his heroes in places you’d never expect.
Also Available This Week
Adaptation (First Time in 4K)
Animal Kingdom: The Complete Sixth Season (TV)
Better Call Saul: The Complete Series (TV)
Better Call Saul: Season Six (TV)
Il Buco
Creepshow: The Complete Third Season (TV)
Dawson’s Creek: The Complete Series (TV)
Old Man
Operation Seawolf
Pulp Fiction (First Time in 4K)
The Six Million Dollar Man: The Complete Series (TV)
Star Trek Discovery: Season Four (TV)
Michael Haneke: Trilogy
From The Criterion Collection: “One of contemporary cinema’s most original, provocative, and uncompromising filmmakers, Austrian auteur Michael Haneke dares viewers to stare into the void of modern existence. With his first three theatrical features, The Seventh Continent, Benny’s Video, and 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance—a trilogy depicting a coldly bureaucratic society in which genuine human relationships have been supplanted by a deep-seated collective malaise—Haneke established the rigorous visual style and unsettling themes that would recur throughout his work. Exploring the relationship among consumerism, violence, mass media, and contemporary alienation, these brilliant, relentlessly probing films open up profound questions about the world in which we live while refusing the false comfort of easy answers.”
Stay tuned for more next week…
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