I've seen this film way more than 20 times and I'm writing this after having watched it yet again and reading a good portion of the comments.
First of all, I understand that one of the reasons this film was done in black and white was because it was all they could afford at the time. So, what's wrong with black and white films? I don't know any serious movie or TV show buff who doesn't think it's an abomination to colorize such classics as the original "Miracle on 34th Street" and "The African Queen" (What's next? Colorization of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton?). We also know that it would have been "Just Plain Wrong" for David Lynch to do such movies as "Eraserhead" and "The Elephant Man" in color.
As far as artistic value is concerned, I think color would have ruined this film pretty much because as it takes place in a convenience store and video store, the black and white almost gives the effect that you're watching your average neighborhood clerks and all the goings-on through the stores' surveillance cameras.
Second, I'd like to mention that it's stupid to think that one would have to be from New Jersey or at least the East Coast to understand anything that's going on in this film or that this satire is a representation of just these areas. Even before travelling all across the States and Commonwealths of this country, I didn't see or hear anything in this film that was remotely alien or exotic. Are there really people in this country who have the single-digit-IQ mentality to think that New Jersey is the only place on the face of the planet where people work in places like this and have this kind of attitude towards life, let alone the customers and other things satirized in this film?
Having had the misfortune of working in a video store, I know what it's like to deal with customers who are looking for totally mentally devoid movies, don't know what section to look under when they want a comedy, and other things as well. Even worse, as is mentioned in the film, is the stunning and embarrassing notion that some people have that working in such a place is anything more to be proud of than landing and maintaining the highly prestigious career opportunity of delivering newspapers or scooping fries. It's something to do for money, start your work ethic, and that's all. Unless, of course, you're the owner of the place.
So, having had the indignity of working in such places, Kevin Smith has delivered us the perfect satire of what it's like being there, plus shockingly silly dialogue of things we all know about but hardly talk about, let alone see on the screen. Along with that are also the many outrageous, off-the-wall, no-holds-barred lines to remember from this film (i.e. "So your girlfriend f***ed a dead guy, big deal. My mom's been f***ing a dead guy for years ... I call him Dad.")
By the way, if you watch the other films first (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma), a really hard critic may find this film to be weak in comparison to the others or just plain weak as a movie by itself. But remember, this was just the foundation of things to come as Kevin and the View Askew crew developed and matured. And the others wouldn't have been able to be developed had it not been for the success of this film.
Excellent!
First of all, I understand that one of the reasons this film was done in black and white was because it was all they could afford at the time. So, what's wrong with black and white films? I don't know any serious movie or TV show buff who doesn't think it's an abomination to colorize such classics as the original "Miracle on 34th Street" and "The African Queen" (What's next? Colorization of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton?). We also know that it would have been "Just Plain Wrong" for David Lynch to do such movies as "Eraserhead" and "The Elephant Man" in color.
As far as artistic value is concerned, I think color would have ruined this film pretty much because as it takes place in a convenience store and video store, the black and white almost gives the effect that you're watching your average neighborhood clerks and all the goings-on through the stores' surveillance cameras.
Second, I'd like to mention that it's stupid to think that one would have to be from New Jersey or at least the East Coast to understand anything that's going on in this film or that this satire is a representation of just these areas. Even before travelling all across the States and Commonwealths of this country, I didn't see or hear anything in this film that was remotely alien or exotic. Are there really people in this country who have the single-digit-IQ mentality to think that New Jersey is the only place on the face of the planet where people work in places like this and have this kind of attitude towards life, let alone the customers and other things satirized in this film?
Having had the misfortune of working in a video store, I know what it's like to deal with customers who are looking for totally mentally devoid movies, don't know what section to look under when they want a comedy, and other things as well. Even worse, as is mentioned in the film, is the stunning and embarrassing notion that some people have that working in such a place is anything more to be proud of than landing and maintaining the highly prestigious career opportunity of delivering newspapers or scooping fries. It's something to do for money, start your work ethic, and that's all. Unless, of course, you're the owner of the place.
So, having had the indignity of working in such places, Kevin Smith has delivered us the perfect satire of what it's like being there, plus shockingly silly dialogue of things we all know about but hardly talk about, let alone see on the screen. Along with that are also the many outrageous, off-the-wall, no-holds-barred lines to remember from this film (i.e. "So your girlfriend f***ed a dead guy, big deal. My mom's been f***ing a dead guy for years ... I call him Dad.")
By the way, if you watch the other films first (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma), a really hard critic may find this film to be weak in comparison to the others or just plain weak as a movie by itself. But remember, this was just the foundation of things to come as Kevin and the View Askew crew developed and matured. And the others wouldn't have been able to be developed had it not been for the success of this film.
Excellent!