JAY & SILENT BOB REBOOT (2019)
I took a break from horror last week for a very special reason: to return to the View Askewniverse of Jay and Silent Bob. Yes, after 13 very long years, my favourite duo have finally returned and I couldn’t be happier. I’ll never fault an artist for trying something different — I never liked St. Anger, but I’ll never blame Metallica for attempting something new — but the Kevin Smith films that I grew up loving have definitely been missing for the last decade. He tried something different with Red State, Tusk, and Yoga Hosers, and I applaud him, but this is the Smith that I know and love. Jay & Silent Bob Reboot contains so much heart and it was beautiful to experience. During the introduction before the film by Smith and Jason Mewes, Smith mentioned that Mewes has grown immensely as an actor since his debut in Clerks and I kinda laughed — not because he hasn’t, but because I never really think of Mewes as an actor — but after watching Reboot, I couldn’t agree more. Mewes won’t win an Oscar or anything, but his performance here blew my mind. The cameos in this by all of the usual View Askew players made me grin from ear-to-ear, too — especially Ben Affleck’s. Knowing that he and Smith had a falling out years ago, his appearance in the film is just a really special moment that also contains some HILARIOUS yet heartwarming dialogue. Seeing Jason Lee as Brodie again really made me happy, too. As a comic geek, Mallrats was my go-to film for nearly a decade before comicbook movies got really great. I feel that if you grew up with these characters and this world like I did, you’ll be so happy and so emotional watching this film. Also, Smith gives easily the best, most heartfelt dedication to Stan Lee that I’ve seen yet, so I thank him for that. If Clerks III happens, I’ll be ecstatic, but even if it doesn’t, Jay & Silent Bob Reboot will easily be the best sendoff these characters could ever ask for. Watch Reboot and you’ll become Kevin Smith for 90 minutes and cry for reasons unknown. No complaints from this guy.
IT CHAPTER TWO (2019)
After finally watching the second half to the 2017 blockbuster, I can now see where some of the criticism came from. First, though, I’m going to run through the good. The cast is amazing! All of the adult actors NAILED the performances. You could totally believe that was the kids all grown up. Bill Skarsgård was once again great as Pennywise, too, though it’s a shame you see him less this time around. The score by Benjamin Wallfisch is absolutely fantastic. Between the Pennywise theme and the Losers theme, the music is breathtaking and holds everything tightly together. There’s a nice surprise cameo in the film, too. Andy Muschietti has once again put together a really good film, I just wish he was more restrained during the final cut. The film’s just too damn long. There were scenes that could’ve easily been cut or trimmed to reduce the film by 20 minutes to a 1/2 hour. There’s way, way too much CGI. So much could’ve been done the practical way with make-up and looked creepier and more realistic. After just coming off of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark’s mostly practical creatures, all the CGI ones in It Chapter Two were disappointing. Also, with this final battle with Pennywise taking place during today in modern times, it opens up some questions. In this age of smartphones, how would one just forget what’s happening in Derry? There’d be things posted on social media; the FBI would be visiting after hearing about mutilated bodies. With the novel and original TV film, the adults fight Pennywise in the late ‘80s, so you can see why information wouldn’t have been easily shared with the rest of the country. In 2019, though, there’s no way that would stay hush. There’s no way a group of friends 27 years later would be saving a town on their own. I’m probably just looking too far into it, but it wasn’t until I saw James McAvoy’s Bill on a smartphone where I went, “Huh?” Overall, it’s not a horrible film AT ALL (I’ve straight-up heard people say it sucks). It does have problems, though, and for that, it definitely pales in comparison to 2017’s Chapter One.
JOKER (2019)
Joker is a film that, admittedly, I had a hard time getting excited for. I always found that the most terrifying aspect of the character was that you never knew what motivated him. This is why I’ve always loved Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger’s versions of the character; he was horrifying because you never had a clue of where he came from. The idea that this film would showcase his rise and transformation into the Joker — one caused by society’s treatment towards a mentally ill individual — was a story that I never felt the need to see (didn’t help that the director/co-writer, Todd Phillips, admitted that he took nothing from the source material besides names and locations). I did eventually warm up to the idea of the film, though — especially after its fantastic final trailer — so, here’s my honest, completely unbiased opinion: Joker is a beautiful-looking film featuring Joaquin Phoenix at his absolute best. Unfortunately, many issues occur due to a strange choice in the film’s time period as well as the need to push unneeded plot devices that connect Arthur Fleck to the Wayne family. I’m going to dive into the film more in a future Geek Pants Camcast, but I’ll leave it at this for now: in my opinion, is Joker the best film of the year? No. But yes, it does have the best performance of the year, hands down. Phoenix is a juggernaut in this and that makes the film worth watching alone. Just don’t expect to feel good or clean after watching it.