No one's reviewed this beast yet? Really? No one? Okay, here we go. While Clerks may not be the first working class slacker comedy, it's certainly the quintessential film of the genre, not to mention of Kevin Smith's lengthy career. I first saw it when I was about 15 and was turned off by the filthy, over the top sexual discussions, but giggling at the odd ball debates on the nature of customer service and Starwars. Now that I am literally the age of the characters in the film (maybe even a little older), I found myself immersed in the rhythms of the film, barely noticing the bawdy language and demented twists. Single, fresh out of college, and working retail, I more or less live a version of this movie. What I once took to be amateurish (which it is to an extent) I now see was brilliantly conceived and executed. This is simply a must see. While the film was shot on a shoestring budget and is known for its grimy look, the blu ray is surprisingly capable. The HD transfer adds a subtle layer of texture to the film that DVD just can't duplicate. Sure, you may scoff at the ability to see the grain better, but that's exactly what it feels like. Since the original print was blown up from a lower resolution source, there is still a somewhat fuzzy quality to it, but if you have a large enough TV, the improvement is noticeable. And the sound... well there is a little action on the rear speakers, and I could hear all of the dialog... though I'm just sure it has to be basically the same as the DVD. The extras are the real meat and potatoes of the set, including everything from the Clerks X dvd box. As much as I love Smith's movies, I almost find myself enjoying the documentaries produced by Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa even more. The Snowball Effect is the centerpiece of the bonus content and is a fascinating story of how a convenience store clerk became a successful filmmaker. It's just very well executed story telling on the part of the documentarians (and the anecdotes of Smith himself) and could have easily worked as a theatrical release. The only problem with the extras is that they're all in 480p. This wouldn't be a huge issue, but for some reason my player formats these parts funny, stretching out the picture and distorting the image. I messed around a bit and the best compromise was framing the picture like full screen, but then I was stuck with a tiny image with black bars on all four sides. It's a bit annoying since the Clerks 2 blu ray had EVERYTHING in high definition and looked great. This problem isn't as prevalent on the Oh What a Lovely Tea Party doc, since it was already presented in full frame, but more on that later.
The next film in the set is Chasing Amy. It's a brilliant dissection of the immature male mind and sexual insecurity. Whereas Clerks was more of a document of that kind of guy, Amy cracks open his head and takes a look inside. I always find myself a little lost around the midpoint of the film, as it shifts from one story arc to a completely different one. I just get tired of Holden's issues with women. Taken as a whole, there are really devastatingly powerful emotional threads in this movie and it really works in ways I didn't expect. Since I'd also seen Clerks and Mallrats recently, I also was able to catch a lot of clever Askewiverse references throughout this flick. The real star of the film is the amazing performance from Joey Lauren Adams. Just wow. Chasing Amy is the film that established Smith as permanent fixture in the world of independent film, a statement supported by the (again) wonderful Chop Shop documentary. It covers the trials and tribulations of getting financing at old Miramax, and how to produce a professional quality film on just $200,000. There's interesting deleted scenes, a Q and A, and a really good featurette that reunites Smith and Adams. Again, same weird stretchy problem with the extras. Picture wise, this blu ray film transfer IS a noticeable improvement on standard definition. I've seen this one on TV recently in 480i and can tell you I was pining for a HD edition. Whereas the old version was murky and cheap looking, this transfer just shows how well shot and directed this feature was. There's a still a light grain to it (and there should be), while the HD brings out subtleties of Adams beauty and performance. I really got what could drive Holden to go "chasing amy" for so long. The famous flub of the camera crew reflection is just as clear as ever and it lends the scene a sense of frantic tension of a documentary that has to be experienced to be fully understood. The sound mix is more interesting this time around, with the original theme of the film coming off as quirky and strange as ever.
The final film in the box is Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I remember first being blown away and exhilarated by this film the first time I saw it. I was literally shaking I was laughing so hard. On second viewing years later, not so much. Don't get me wrong, it's still a lot of fun, it's just that the humor has become really dated and it hasn't held up as well as the other films in the set. There are a lot of jokes about Miramax, a company which for all intents and purposes no longer exists in the form lampooned in the movie. The Affleck-Damon stuff is still good fun, just muted by the direction their careers have taken since then, and their wonderful performances in Smith's previous film, Dogma. This blu ray was easily the best looking of the box, since it had the largest budget and is the most recent. The sound is also quite spectacular at times with music and explosions rocking the subwoofer and surrounds throughout the runtime. Since this was one of the first movies released on the format, however, the edition is fairly barebones. Sony hadn't yet figured out how to make dual layered discs, so the only feature from the DVD retained here is the commentary. And that's it. The commentary unusually has subtitles which is handy.
It's not a complete wash though. On the Clerks bluray, they managed to squeeze Oh What a Lovely Tea Party about the making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. This doc was not made by Knutson/Figueroa, but rather his friend Malcolm Ingram and Smith's wife Jen Schwalbach. Unlike the usual Smith bonus DVD doc, this one is more raw and unpolished. It took some getting used to, but I felt like for this particular movie that this direction worked better. We aren't taken through a long story of how Smith came up with the idea and how he pitched it and what drugs Mewes was on. Instead, we're shown the actors on the set and the realistic tedium of what filming a movie is really like. Wait around, BS, shoot the scene, mess up, giggle, try again, watch it with the director, giggle some more. There's some interviews with the cast, which are again more straight forward than what we're used to seeing. You can hear Schwalbach ask questions and let the subjects go on and on. It feels more like a real conversation than a professional documentary. Overall, It's a really good bonus that makes getting Jay and Silent Bob on bluray feel less like a rip off. Then again, you do get great picture and sound on that bluray.
Man that's a lot of stuff. I'll be surprised if Amazon let's me post it all. Of all the hours of material contained in the box, here's the stuff I haven't covered (because I haven't watched them yet - probably won't): Clerks 1995 commentary, Clerks First Cut, Clerks first cut 2004 commentary, Chasing Amy 2009 commentary (smodcast 97), and Jay and Silent Bob commentary. As you can see, this is just a mammoth package. If you own all of the editions of these films so far, I'd recommend just picking up Chasing Amy on blu ray. If you're like me and haven't purchased any of these film yet and know you dig Smith's style, then you must get this. If not, your life will be incomplete. The sun will shine less brightly. And you'll probably have a few more hours to engage in social activities. But who needs those anyway?
