Clerks 2

So, I've seen the movie now, twice.

There will be no spoilers in the first part of this review:

The first time I saw it, I got there 40 minutes early on opening night. Roughly 10 minutes later, a large group of View Askew fans showed up to join the "line" (which consisted of me). They let us in about 20 minutes into it, just as one of my co-workers was getting there. John showed up about 10 minutes later and we split to get some food.

When the movie starts, you're taken right back to Clerks. Instantly, I knew I was going to like this movie. It starts out a bit slow, then has ups and down for the next 90 minutes. It's a funny movie with some really serious parts.

I walked out of that first screening feeling like it wasn't much of a sequel and that I was a bit disappointed. I think this was due to the expectations I had for it and the fact that the original is one of my favorite movies of all time.

A few days have passed and John and I decided to go see it again this evening. Heather has decided she'll wait for the DVD, so it was just the guys solo on this one.

First of all, I have to point out that tonight, I saw it in the worst possible enviornment. I wanted to see the first show after work, so I went to the 6:40pm showing in my town's trendiest mall. Big mistake.

The theater was "filled" with only 8 other people besides my friend and I, none of whom laughed out loud more than once or twice each. There were 10, but 2 walked out somewhere after Dante and Emma on the swings. It was a very depressing crowd compared to the opening night fans.

Despite that, I really liked it this time. Knowing what to expect, the movie was build-up free. I had high expectations and anticipation during the 1st movie and I think I needed that first time just to process a sequel to my beloved Clerks. The second time was a charm.

Clerks 2 now stands on it's own as a great VA movie among the rest. I'm still not ranking it above my favorites, but I felt a lot more "in the spirit" this time than I did during my first viewing. The one plus about being in a totally silent theater was that I could hear EVERY line, right down to the radio station playing in the background while Dante and Becky are talking. That was a funny little throwaway joke.

My only gripe that I have after two viewings is the score. When Dante and Emma are on the swings, the music seems really out of place. It fits at other points in the movie and the soundtrack is great, but that scene with the blaring techno score really bugged me.

Other than that, this is a good movie. Worth the wait.

About to go see Clerks

1 hour and 45 minutes until I see Clerks 2.
The anticipation is building quite a bit, I really hope this movie is as good as I hope it will be.


Tomorrow I'm going to the Gorge to see Pearl Jam. 108 degrees is the forecast and I'm doing this on purpose. Cripes.

Less than 48 hours...

Until I see Clerks 2. I'm super excited about it, even though in the back of my mind, there's this fear that it could somehow be bad. It's a Kevin Smith movie starring my two favorite characters from his movies, so hopefully it will not disappoint.

Either way, the countdown is on as I plan to have already seen it by Friday night at this time. Countdown is on!

In other news, the city came by to cut the blackberries back from my fence, since they were growing onto my property. That was very cool of them and now I just have to continue to trim them from time to time. I'm sure I can do that.

Also...Comic Con is on and I wish I was there. Kevin Smith will be doing Clerks 2 screenings and Q&A after the movie, and it would be really cool to be able to be there on Clerks 2 opening weekend asking questions of the man himself.

I guess I'll settle for an evening show at crossroads.



P.S. More Star Wars Blog updates posted tonight too.

The host with the most

This weekend, we completely put the bottom half of our house out of commission, by tearing up the Star Wars room. Detailed post can be found in my Star Wars Blog, but the basic result is that there are dozens of boxes of toys in every room EXCEPT for that one. The entire room is taped up and being painted, the toys are all over the rec room and basically, you can't walk around down there.

Despite that being the case.....I want to have a housewarming sometime soon. It won't be easy, because this weekend, I'm going to see Pearl Jam at the Gorge. That means most of the work I'll be doing is going to be weeknights.

In other house-maintenance related news, the city is going to come out and chop out the blackberry bushes that are coming into my yard. That will be awesome.

In other non-house related news, life is good. I'm very tired though and should go to bed, but I felt like documenting the hectic state of the house right now so that I can look back and laugh in a few weeks when it's all done and wonderful.


P.S. Clerks 2 comes out in exactly 3 days from right now. That is awesome

Another late night on the 360

Watched "Firewall" with Heather tonight. She had leftover brats from the 4th of July BBQ and I had some of the steak we never broke into. The movie was ok and afterwards, I went upstairs for some Burnout action. I've almost completed the game (3 levels to get Gold medals on as of tonight), but I'm stuck. I started playing some multiplayer with John at about midnight and just now got done.

Man. I have to be up and working in less than 7 hours. Not cool.

July 4th

July 4th 2006 209
Originally uploaded by JoshEEE.

Attended the annual Lake Union party last night. Mark and Jody had already arrived when Heather and I got there around 3pm. We nabbed a good parking spot and were followed shortly after by Andrew, John, Elizabeth, and Angie. We went to the store for awhile and when I came back, I proceeded to drink a bit. Elizabeth made Jello shots for me, plus I had some different flavors of Mike's hard lemonade.

Heather made Jambalaya which everyone seemed to like. Craig and Toma brought steaks that were really tasty. I made brats, but never got a chance to sample my own steaks. I was too full by the time I even thought about cooking them. Elizabeth made some cheesy bean dip which was also really good.

John brought some artillery shells and we launched a few of those before and after the fireworks show. I spent most of the time during the fireworks trying to get some good shots, but I don't really feel like I did too well. Attached is one of my favorites, more can be found on my flickr site.

I'm going to need to take a photography class. I need to learn how to use this camera of mine, before more of life's great moments pass me by.