Clerks (1994)

Some time in the last five years (I believe the summer of 2009), I went through and successively watched each movie which takes place in the View Askewniverse: Clerks (1994), Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), and Clerks II (2006).

Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson)

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20120826:
This is the second time I've seen Clerks and I was reminded of several great scenes throughout the movie. One such scene was about dicks (I've included this one at the bottom of this post) and another was the scene about the bathroom.

While the plot of the movie has more depth than what we see in the clip, I find the clip certainly captures the essence of the type of humor found throughout the movie. It's subtle, but good.

Another scene that I like is the scene which introduces Jay and Silent Bob. "I'll $#@* anything that moves!" [...] "Silent Bob, you're a rude motherfucker you know that? But you're cute as hell." [...]

Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith)

Post-Movie Comments:
The beginning of the film on Netflix had trouble playing, so I had to skip forward about a minute or two into the film.
The movie is heavy on dialogue.
It's also in black and white.

It's not as good as I remember. But it's still pretty funny. The humor is more of a witty humor that makes me smile as opposed to the type that makes me burst out laughing.

[20120826][20130127][20160917 Edit][20181214 Edit]

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20160917:
Today I was watching the movie while doing some other things and I enjoyed it. While I mentioned in my previous post that the movie wasn't as good as I had remembered, today I'd say the movie is as good as it should be.

Dante and Caitlin Bree (Lisa Spoonauer)

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Instant Comments:
3: "I wasn't even supposed to be here today!" (11 min) (34 min) (46 min) (96 min)
3: Haha. The movie request list.
3: "Would you like some making fuck, Berserker!"
3: "Hey, you're not allowed to rent here anymore!"
3: In reality, even though there aren't any lights in the restroom, there should have been sufficient ambient light when the door is first opened. Furthermore, how would someone find the toilet without knowing someone is sitting there.
3: Ha. The erect penis in the ambulance.
3: "What kind of convenience store do you run here?"
3: References Jaws (1975).
3: "You know, there's a million fine looking women in the world, dude. But they don't all bring you lasagna at work. Most of 'em just cheat on you." - 3: Silent Bob

Jay and Silent Bob

Credits:
3: "Smoking weed, smoking weed" - Jay

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Watched once before (DVD)
Watched 20120826 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched 20160917 (Netflix, Instant)
Clerks (1994) Kevin Smith. 92 min

Relevant Links:
Clerks (IMDb.com)
Clerks (RottenTomatoes.com)
Clerks (Wikipedia.org)

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The 37 Dicks Scene
For some background, we have Dante Hicks, the protagonist, and his girlfriend Veronica behind the counter. He's working the cash register at a convenience store and she has come by to visit him.

Jaws (1975)

20120824:
I was mainly deciding between watching Jaws for the first time or re-watching The Hunger Games (2012). Having seen The Hunger Games less than three months ago, I decided to go ahead and watch Jaws.

Chief Brody (Roy Scheider)

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20131221 Comments:
Using my vague memory of the movie, I would say I enjoyed the movie as a whole and would definitely be up for seeing it again. It was especially great to hear the Jaws themes song within the context of the original film, instead of as a reference or parody.

Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss)

When trying to remember scenes from the movie, the one that enters my mind is when Brody (Roy Scheider) frantically calls everyone from the water onto the shore. I honestly don't remember what prompts the panic or how the situation resolves, but that the scene itself was full of suspense and fun to watch.

Quint (Robert Shaw)

Overall, this film has a great story and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller.

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Instant Comments:
A: I had no memory of the opening scene being so violent. She got tossed around so violently.

A: The amount of tension that comes and goes in the beach scene is incredible.
A: And for it to end the way it does.
A: Ha. One of the comments heard: "24 hours is like three weeks."
A: The nail scratching on the chalkboard

A: "I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten." [Though that makes sense, the amount their businesses would save would far outweigh ten thousand dollars]
A: Hehe. The music really makes all the difference in helping build tension.
A: Lol, the music and screech (probably violin(s)) shook my body

A: "You don't have the tooth..."
A: "Somebody get a gun! Get a gun and shoot it!"
A: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."
A: Ha! Hooper needs Brody in the foreground for scale in his pictures.
A=20161003 (screenshot viewing)

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Watched 20120824 (Blu-ray)
Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg. 124 min

Relevant Links:
Jaws (IMDb.com)
Jaws (film) (Wikipedia.org)
Jaws (RottenTomatoes.com)

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How It Should Have Ended:

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Partial Plot Summary (Possible Spoilers):
The movie starts with some sort of rescue mission. The Expendables come in on these heavy duty vehicles and just plow their way in. In recovering the hostage, they also manage to rescue Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a rival mercenary. While Trench only appeared in one scene in the last movie, he plays a more important role in this one. After the mission, Yin Yang (Jet Li) leaves the team to escort the hostage back to China and Yang does not appear in the remainder of the film.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone)

Upon returning home, Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), the group leader, is forced to take a mission from CIA operative Church (Bruce Willis). Like Trench, Church also gets more screentime in this movie than the last. For the mission, Church sends Maggie Chan to go with the team. While the team successfully retrieve the item they were after, they're intercepted by the Sangs, a group lead by Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme). Jean has captured the team's new recruit, a sniper named Billy. The Expendables submit and give Jean the device they just retrieved. Nevertheless, Jean kills Billy, driving Barney's own knife through Billy's chest.

Vilain (right, Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Billy the Kid (left, Liam Hemsworth)

Seeking revenge, the group goes after Jean and the Sangs. Some time during this pursuit, they are ambushed and an old friend of Barney's named Booker (Chuck Norris) briefly lends his assistance. Working alone, Booker departs after telling Barney about a local village that might be willing to help Barney's team against the Sangs.

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20120823:
I'm usually good about keeping movie notes. However, sometimes they go missing. This seems to be the case with The Expendables 2.

Hale Caesar (Terry Crews)

Anyways, I was going through taking some screenshots and heard the following line (it was just as funny as when I first heard it in theaters):
"So I heard you were bit by a king cobra?" "I was... but after five days of agonizing pain... the cobra died."

The following was less funny, but one of the many silly one-liners:
Arnold comes bulldozing in, pops out, "I'm back."

Yin Yang (Jet Li)

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Instant Comments:
A: Possibly one of the cheesiest pieces of dialogue I've heard in a while:

Trench: I'm almost out. I'll be back.
Church: You've been back long enough. I'll be back.
Trench: Yippie-Kay-Yay.

Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Church (Bruce Willis), and Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone)

A: "Who's next? Rambo?" - Trench to Booker
A: Lol. Arnold just rips the door off the car. In response, Bruce Willis kicks his door open.
A: "That thing belongs in a museum." "We all do."
A=20130707 (screenshot viewing)

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Released 20120817
Watched 20120823 Theater. Triangle Square [Expendables 2, The] 09:00P $4.00
The Expendables 2 (2012) Simon West. 103 min

Maggie (Nan Yu), Caesar, Barney, Toll Road (Randy Couture), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren)

Relevant Links:
The Expendables 2 (Wikipedia.org)
The Expendables 2 (RottenTomatoes.com)
The Expendables 2 (IMDb.com)

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As student of mathematics, I've learned the following about Chuck Norris:

Chuck Norris doesn't assume the axiom of choice, he is the axiom of choice. Equivalently, a set doesn't have a well-ordering, until Chuck Norris decides to give it one. And in case you're wondering, if every chain in a partially ordered set P has an upper bound in P, then P contains a maximal element, because Chuck Norris wills it.
See axiom of choice (Wikipedia.org), well-ordering theorem (Wikipedia.org), Zorn's lemma (Wikipedia.org)

Booker (Chuck Norris)

The Campaign (2012)

20120819:
I wrote: "Funny movie. Great laughs. I was satisfied with the flow of the movie, but my friend was less satisfied. The baby getting punched was funny. I recall I liked the "truth at the table" scene. Will Ferrell supplies his typical humor. The credits are short. The movie was shot in Louisiana. A lot of the humor is through shock value and dirty jokes." 20120820 12:21AM PT.

Trailers: Fun Size (2012) [originally Outsize(sp?)] | Life of Pi (2012) | Wreck-It Ralph (2012) | This Is 40 (2012) | Here Comes the Boom (2012) | Trouble with the Curve (2012) | Rags (2012)

[20121228]

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Released 20120810.
Watched 20120819 Theatre. Garden Grove [CAMPAIGN] 10:10PM $6.00
The Campaign (2012) Jay Roach. 85 min

Relevant Links:
The Campaign (IMDb.com)
The Campaign (film) (Wikipedia.org)

ParaNorman (2012)

Released 20120817.
Watched 20120818 Theatres. Bella Terra [ParaNorman] 7:20P $11.75
Watched 20130605 (Netflix, Instand, HD)
ParaNorman (2012) Chris Butler, Sam Fell. 92 min

Relevant Links:
ParaNorman (IMDb.com)
ParaNorman (RottenTomatoes.com)
ParaNorman (Wikipedia.org)

20120818:
I wrote: "What a great animation. This movie has a great artistic style. At the end, the art used to accompany the credits is nicely done. I love when an animated movie does that. After the credits roll, there's a snippet of how Norman is formed and the creation transitions to being animated to life. Many jokes in the movie fall flat. But the ones that land, land effectively. The scene with the tongue was funny. The moment when the car beeps just had to be included. Classic comedy. Oh I liked the inclusion of the Halloween ringtone. I don't like how dramatic scenes come and go, but without a smooth transition. The movie is fast-paced." 9:19PM PT.

Trailers: Hotel Transylvania (2012) | Frankenweenie (2012) | The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure (2012) | The Hobbit (2012) | Life of Pi (2012) | Despicable Me 2 (2013) :Minions sing Banana (parody of Barbara Ann).

[20121228]

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20130605:
I have the impression that I enjoyed this movie more this time than the last time. In particular, I didn't find any complaint with the jokes this time the way I did last time. Though, like the last viewing, I enjoyed the look of the movie as well as the look of the end credits.

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Instant Comments:
2: I immediately enjoy the distinct look of each family member.
2: "Don't make me throw this hummus! It's spicy."
2: "I fetched it."
2: Haha. Norman's phone plays the Halloween theme song and Neil shows up wearing a hockey mask.
2: "You're the oldest." "Not mentally!"

Men in Black 3 (2012)

20120525:
By the price of the movie and the trailers being in 3D, my friend and I must have seen this movie in 3D. It's been eight months since I've seen the movie, and I can't say I really remember much about it other than Josh Brolin doing a great job of being young Agent K. In fact, I almost didn't even remember watching it until I came across the ticket stub. Overall, I'd say this movie fell below average.

Trailers (3D): Prometheus (2012) (missed part of this trailer), Dredd (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)

[20130122]

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Instant Comments:
Overall the plot was good, but I didn't like Will Smith's dialogue. I can sort of see that being part of the character, but at the same time I found it annoying.
Part of the time traveling plot made sense and then only under the assumption of having multiple worlds. So, then its not really time traveling. You couldn't necessarily return to your own world. Perhaps the easiest resolution is having two worlds. Or... one world, but with a loop in it. Wait no... I was right in terms of changing history. So when he returns. He is a actually returning to a different present.
I only realized it was Jemaine Clement when Boris approaches himself.
Fat guy

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Released 20120525.
Watched 20120806 Theaters. Regency Charter Centre [MEN IN BLACK] 7:45p $5.00
Men in Black 3 (2012) Barry Sonnenfeld. 106 min

Relevant Links:
Men in Black 3 (IMDb.com)
Men in Black 3 (Wikipedia.org)
Men in Black III (RottenTomatoes.com)

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Sam (Jared Gilman) and Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis)

20120803:
This movie was visually pleasing and the two-dimensional pictures were striking. In addition, Jared Gilman (Sam) and Kara Hayward (Suzy) gave spectacular performances. They particularly did well in each others presence. With that being said, the entire cast was strong.

I was on the edge of my seat when the movie reached its climax. I enjoyed the ending (it was romantic). After the movie, I continued thinking about its visuals. Of course, the movie also had a good balance of humor.

Deadly lefty scissors.

I love this movie. It's right up there with Little Miss Sunshine, possibly better.

[20160125 Edit][20170316 Edit]

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Suzy's father Mr. Bishop (Bill Murray)

20130106:
This time around, I focused more on the audio of the movie.

During the movie, one of my friends wondered how old the actor and actress were. Another friend guessed either 12 or 13, basically the age of middle school children. Born in 1998, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward were 12 years old at the time the movie was filmed.

[20130107][20170316 Edit]

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Suzy (Kara Hayward)

20140829:
I enjoy this movie almost as much as I enjoy Little Miss Sunshine (2006). Since I think I'm running out of "Top 10" movie positions, it had the honor of being the first with the "Top 25" label.

I love this movie.

[20141031]

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20160125:
I don't know why I love this movie so much, but I do. Maybe I love it for the same reason I like Ponyo.

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What kind of bird are YOU?

I'm a raven.

20170316:
I watched this film again today with Ada. I absolutely love it!

From a recent conversation and after watching it today, Moonrise Kingdom has definitely risen (no pun was intended) to the position of being my absolute favorite movie!

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As of 20171215, Netflix determined the movie for me as a 76% match, but I absolutely love this film and so I gave it a thumbs up. On that note, I don't understand why the Netflix ratings for certain television shows and movies can vary wildly from one day to the next.

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Instant Comments:
5: [Noticed after rewinding to the beginning: The scissors are on the wall]
5: I never noticed in the beginning that Suzy's mom is washing her hair (topless)
5: Suzy's bags are packed.

The Narrator (Bob Balaban)

3: Lol. "Are we men, or are we mice?" (reference to Of Mice and Men)
3: Troop 55.
4: "Jiminy Cricket, he flew the coop."
4: "I don't understand how that works." - Captain Sharp to Mr. Billingsley
5: Suzy sees her mom with Captain Sharp (sharing a cigarette)
5: Sam grabs the elephant nose as he walks by

Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton) and his Khaki Scout troop.

2: After the movie I marked this as one of my favorite scenes:

Sam: [In the women's dressing room] What kind of bird are you?
Sparrow: [Starting to point to the other actresses] I'm a sparrow, she's a dove...
Sam: [Cutting her off] No. I said...
[Points to Suzy]
Sam: What kind of bird are YOU?
Suzy: I'm a raven.

4: "No, I said what kind of bird are you?" "I'm a raven.", 5: One of my favorite moments.

"It's pretty, do the other one." - Suzy

4: "Might also help if you didn't wear a fur hat."
4: Hahaha. [after chewing on a pebble] "I brought water too."
4: Ha. Carelessly throws the turtle back into the water., 5: Especially funny cause the turtle probably belonged to Albert
4: Suzy is left-handed.
4: "Coping With The Very Troubled Child"
4: "Are you laughing? It's not funny."
4: Hahaha. "Does it concern you that your daughter's run away from home?" "That's a loaded question."
5: Suzy had removed the battery from the flashlight so he was walking around in the dark so he hurt himself

Mrs. Bishop (Frances McDormand) and Captain Sharp

5: They discuss renaming the area.
1: After the movie I marked this as one of my favorite scenes: Sam pierces Suzy's ears.
3: Haha, blood runs down the neck, followed by,

"It's pretty, do the other one."

4: Hahahaha:

"Ahh! Ahh!" [turns to Sam with blood running down her neck] "It's pretty, do the other one."

4: That entire beach scene (with the recorder playing) is just precious.

1: After the movie I marked this as an interesting scene: Mr. Bishop lifts the tent away to expose Sam and Suzy
4: [Haha, I'm already starting to think of the "That was the girl!" scene. It's one of the most memorable moments in the movie.]
1: After the movie I marked this as my favorite line: "That was the girl!", 3, 4: "That was the girl!"
4: Parcheesi!
5: Why did he bring the nickels when he went back for the binoculars?
5: Ada asked how Scout Master Ward would be able to jump back with Commander Pierce. I didn't know the answer, but apparently the blast helped get him across.
5: Captain Sharp notices they're up in the balcony
5: Scout Master Ward has a picture of the operator on his desk

(Suzy's letter to Sam:) Dear Sam, now I am getting suspended...

...because I got in a fight with Molly.

5: The words "Moonrise Kingdom" are in the painting.

Credits:
1: The end credits were unique and interesting, especially when it got to the last song.

1=20120803, 2=20130106, 3=20130106, 4=20160125, 5=20170316*
Combined after my viewing on 20170316. In other words, instant comments from the first five viewings are made independent of each other.
*I didn't actively get to write instant comments, but I noticed some things and after watching the movie I skimmed through to remember some of it

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Released 20120629.
Watched 20120803 Theater. University 6 [MOONRISE] 9:10PM $11.00

Watched 20130106 (Blu-ray) English subtitles for about the first half of the movie.
Watched 20140829 (DVD) English subtitles.
Watched 20160125 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched 20170316 (Netflix, Instant)
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) Wes Anderson. 94 min

Relevant Links:
Moonrise Kingdom (IMDb.com)
Moonrise Kingdom (Wikipedia.org)
Moonrise Kingdom (RottenTomatoes.com)

Casa de mi Padre (2012)

Plot Overview: At the start of the story, Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell) and his friends witness a drug lord named Onza and his men disposing of some other man. We soon learn Armando dislikes how drug dealing reflects upon the Mexican people and that the problem comes closer to home than he would like. At first he fights the problem passively, but eventually he rises up and takes action. Of course, he has some motivation: love.

[20130320]

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Armando Alvarez (Will Ferrell)

20120802:
This movie was ridiculous. Cheap laughs included fake animals, fake backgrounds, fake cars, and endless laughter (from the characters). Oh and the "sex scene" includes a fake person (mannequin). That was the funniest sex scene I've ever seen.

A scene I liked is when the protagonist and his friends sat around the campfire singing and playing instruments. I found it interesting how authentic the song felt (though possibly playing to a stereotype), despite having silly lyrics.

Remark: the majority of the movie is in Spanish.

[20120803]

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20130319:
While my previous entry might have indicated otherwise, I wanted to clarify and express that I enjoyed this movie. I enjoy it, because it has a balance of serious moments and ridiculous moments. I haven't ever watched a telenovela, but I've seen commercials, and the serious moments of Casa de mi Padre play out exactly like I'd imagine a telenovela to play out.

[20130319][20181214 Edit]

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Instant Comments:
Hahaha. The first funny part is when they just keep laughing. I probably catch contagious laughter faster than most my friends. Sometimes my sister and I just start contagiously laughing for no good reason.
Hahaha. "If you were truly smart, then you would know that you are dumb."
The arm serving Raul is not that of the maid's.

He rolls the cigarette loose and then after he puts it in his mouth, he lets the tobacco fall. Eventually he throws it to the ground and pulls a pre-rolled one out of his pocket.
"Interesante."
Fake horses.
Hahahahahaha. "Canadian Slims."

"Yo no se"
Ha. They're driving in the truck and used the same background footage as earlier. At least I think so, because I saw the same car pass by.
Ha. About half of the "sex scene" is humorous butt grabbing.

Credits:
Haggerty Smokes commercial plays after the credits finish rolling.

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Watched 20120802 (Spanish audio, English subtitles)
Watched 20130319 (Netflix, Instant, HD) (Spanish audio, English subtitles)
Casa de mi Padre (2012) Matt Piedmont. 84 min

Relevant Links:
Casa de mi Padre (IMDb.com)
Casa de mi padre (RottenTomatoes.com)
Casa de Mi Padre (Wikipedia.org)