'Clerks' gets wild and wacky three-disc treatment
By Terry Lawson
Knight Ridder News Service
I'm still not sure how I feel about Kevin Smith making a sequel to "Clerks," the original being rereleased as a special three-DVD set titled "Clerks X" (Miramax) to celebrate its 10th anniversary and to insinuate that the original edit, included in this jam-packed package, was even raunchier than what was seen in theaters.
Part of me wishes writer-director Smith, one of the true good guys of independent film, would just leave his raw, rowdy comedy about one wack day in the life of convenience store clerk Dante (Brian O'Halloran) and his retail neighbor and nemesis-best pal Randal (Jeff Anderson) alone and stick to his decision to retire scene-stealing stoners Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
The other part of me couldn't wait to get the shrink wrap off this new edition. It wanted to know whatever happened to those guys.
Smith has already made a cottage (or is that cottage cheese?) industry out of his first film, based on his experiences while working at a Quick Stop in New Jersey. Produced for $27,575 (the budget is reproduced in the booklet), it was the hit of the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. It eventually spawned a comic book and an animated series that flopped but became a DVD hit.
Smith's News Askew Web site (newsaskew.com) offers a long list of "Clerks" merchandise, including action figures and, more appropriately, inaction figures. All from one foul-mouthed movie about a couple of guys obsessing about sex and "Star Wars" and goofing off.
"Clerks X" takes that goofing off to new heights, or depths, as you will. The first disc is the remastered version of the theatrical release, remixed into 5.1 Surround, with commentary recorded for the original DVD from Smith, his pal and producer Scott Mosier and members of the cast. There are other holdover extras that prove Smith saw the possibilities of DVD long before most filmmakers.
Added are a funny animated approximation of a so-called lost scene and an OK short Smith made called "The Flying Car," which stuck Dante and Randal in a traffic jam and let them riff.
The second disc contains the first cut of the film, which is the one that wowed the Sundance crowd and is about 12 minutes longer than the version that was released. In an intro, Smith explains this was copied from the video that was made for critics and potential distributors (and much bootlegged), which explains the bad quality.
Most of the reinserted footage was included on the first DVD release in a deleted-scenes section, so the real reason to watch will be the newly recorded commentary by Smith and the cast members, much of which has little to do with the film itself. Instead, it's like eavesdropping on a bunch of guys at the next table at a bar as they reminisce about their first amazing adventure.
The third disc is the Smith Fanboy Holy Grail, with a making-of documentary called "Snowball Effect" that's as long as the movie and that features interviews with seemingly not only everyone who was in the movie but also everyone who has seen it. There's also Smith and Mosier's first short, a spoof called "Mae Day" about a documentary that goes bad, and, amazingly, deleted scenes from "Snowball Effect." Also included are many screens' worth of printed material, including the first "Clerks" script, which, if filmed, would have been about 3 hours long.
Seeing all this makes it even harder to watch Smith's latest film, "Jersey Girl" (Miramax), a sincere but plodding comedy starring Ben Affleck as a big-deal publicist who has to learn to be a father after his wife, played by Jennifer Lopez, dies. Smith will defend this movie to the end, but it didn't fail because of the Ben-Lo fiasco or the disappointment of fans craving a Jay-and-Bob fix. It failed because it has nothing new to say about its sentimental subject.
Wake up to 'alias'
"Alias — The Complete Third Season" (Buena Vista) contains all 22 episodes from last season, which began with Sydney (Jennifer Garner) waking up in Hong Kong two years after the events of the show's second season with no memory of what has happened in the interim. From there it only gets worse for her — and better for us.
"Columbo — The Complete First Season" (Universal) begins with the original pair of made-for-TV movies that introduced the rumpled, disingenuous sleuth (Peter Falk) and follows them with six installments of the 1971 season, beginning with "Murder by the Book," directed by one Steven Spielberg.
One of the best slices of sci-fi cheese ever, the 5-hour 1980 miniseries based on Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" (MGM) is nicely remastered on a pair of two-sided discs.
Also noted, but with time and energy running out, not judged: the complete first seasons of "Magnum P.I." (Universal), "Mork & Mindy" (Paramount), "Without a Trace" (Warner) and "American Dreams" (Universal). Also out is "Will & Grace — Season Three" (Lion's Gate).
