Sure it's no citizen kane, but then again what is? I thought it was very funny, with entertaining moments. What do people not like about it to the point where they hate it?
shareI'd say Citizen Kane is a Citizen Kane.
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I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. I love the movie. It's one of those films I can just watch over and over and never get bored of it. I think it's just a really fun movie. I don't understand the hate either.
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who hates this. sure critics do but that doesnt count. this movie has aged well i would say even more than clerks.
its my favourite movie ever and I don't know why
It is my favorite movie of all time as well. Followed closely by Super Troopers... Mallrats speaks to me like no other movie ever.
shareA lot of enjoyable movies catch flack because it's either 'cool' to hate them & go against the grain or they do that because others like them.
"I am the ultimate badass, you do not wanna `*beep*` wit me!"- Hudson in Aliens.
I've never met anyone who hates this movie.
shareLots of people hate it because it's horrible and not funny. KS's worst movie, hands down.
shareLots of people hate it because it's horrible and not funny. KS's worst movie, hands down.If you're going to say that, then at least expound upon it a little. The TC asked why people hate the movie, and "it's horrible and not funny" isn't much of an answer. Then again people who hate a movie and yet go to the messageboard for it to leave their 2 cents usually don't have much to say, other than "THIS SUCKS!" share
You're right of course, but humor, and why it does or doesn't work, is very difficult to articulate. Keeping in mind that I like KS's other movies, I think the jokes in Mallrats all fall flat, due to more-cumbersome-than-usual dialogue, some poor casting choices, and a rather clunky script that tries to do way too much with what should have been a simple premise. Someone with Kevin Smith's flair for funny/smart wordplay could have gotten a lot out of several people in the mall simply interacting and observing, and there is some of this, but it gets weighed down under nonsense like a game show being shot in the mall, Jay and Bob's far-too-cartoonish antics, and funny ideas that never quite translate into the witty conversations the should (the musings on what constitutes the food court, for example, which just falls flat).
I laughed all the way through most of Smith's other films, but I'm not joking when I say I only laughed twice during Mallrats, both times I saw it.
I hate this movie because the acting is appalling, the direction is boring, and tge majority of the humor backfires. I agree that it is a terrible, terrible movie. In my opinion, that is.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qj7fRpcXRI
Obviously you've never seen Cop Out, Red State or Tusk.
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Mallrats is horrible. Bad acting, cheesy formulaic writing and B-movie production value. Also it wasn't funny.
shareI always enjoyed this movie. I thought it was very entertaining when I first watched it!
shareI don't hate it. It's entertaining enough, but I think it's just a bit too... Hollywood. I feel it could have been so much better with a no-name cast like Clerks. Jeremy London, Ben Affleck, Shannen Doherty, Joey Lauren Adams... it just feels so forced. It's like, these guys know they're in a "cool" movie with a cool director and they don't want to look like nerds. Clerks, on the other hand, just had such a natural feel to it. It had perfect flow. You got the impression that the actors totally understood and related to the types of characters they were portraying.
Yeah, I know. It's probably unfair to compare anything to Clerks. By this point, Kevin Smith had fame, recognition, a budget, different expectations. Maybe it wouldn't have been possible to make another movie in the style of Clerks. But that's the Smith film that I'll always return to.
I just watched Mallrats for the first time in years and it's pretty mediocre.
Smith's stuff hasn't aged well, or maybe it's just because I've gotten older. For example the opening story about the guy shoving cats up his asses. Not funny and I know Smith is known for juvenile stuff but a guy shoving cats up his ass to get the gerbil he shoved up there?
Also Jason Lee yells almost every line. And everyone sounds like they're reading dialogue, which they are, but we shouldn't notice. The way the characters talk is not the way real people talk, it reminds me of a sitcom style where characters say something unnecessary just to set up a joke.
Anyway, it's watchable and has some funny lines but I can see why people might not like it. I still like it better than Dogma (which IMO is terrible) but it's not nearly as good as Clerks or Clerks 2 or JASBSB.
'everyone sounds like they're reading dialogue' I understand your point, but Smith has stated a number of times that in his ideal world, no-one would have organic sounding conversations...they'd all just talk articulately about cool popular culture type *beep* course you are welcome to say that is because he can't write organic sounding dialogue
shareThis movie was certainly more "Hollywood" than "Clerks", but the cast you mention (aside from Shannen) actually weren't big names in movies back in '95. At the time, Ben Affleck wasn't near A-list (the only semi-notable role he had had was in "Dazed and Confused"), and Joey really wasn't too big either (frankly, I love her, but she's never really made a huge splash in Hollywood), and Jeremy's only notable role was that had been in a TV series for a couple years, but wasn't really a big name at the time. Also, Kevin himself wasn't really all that famous, but you're right, he had gained some fame due to "Clerks", which is why they were giving him the chance to make a bigger-budget film.
Either way, I don't think it was too "Hollywood" (Kevin actually tells a good story on the commentary about getting Mewes into the movie, as they originally wanted to cast Seth Green as "Jay") - but it is true, it was a LOT bigger than "Clerks". I just know that when I saw it (yup, I'm old, I saw it in the theater), I didn't know who anyone but Shannen was when I watched it.
But glad you love Kev's stuff... I've always been a big fan.
the cast you mention (aside from Shannen) actually weren't big names in movies back in '95.
This. They weren't as big then as they are now.
"I'm the ultimate badass,you do NOT wanna f-ck wit me!"Hudson,Aliens😬
The dialog is excruciatingly unrealistic at times.
It's funny, but it was a lot funnier when I first saw it as a teenager. Now it's kind of annoying most of the time. It still has its hilarious moments, but Smith was trying *way* to hard to seem intelligent and in turn ended up writing an exaggerated comedy full of pretentious banter.
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Mallrats is one of my all-time favorite movies! It's hilarious and has smart dialogue. To me the actors/actresses are seem very real. They speak like everyday people. I am so confused when people say that Clerks is Kevin's best movie. Did I watch the same Clerks that everyone else watched? It was alright, but nowhere close to Mallrats! The characters are all hysterical as well! I could literally watch this movie every day and never grow tired of it. (Just in case anyone is wondering, I am 30 yrs old) Other favorites of mine include Point Break, From Dusk Till Dawn, The 'Burbs, American History X, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
shareFor a Kevin Smith movie it's pretty good imo, and Citizen Kane is a bit overrated imo.. I'd take early Spielberg over Welles anyday
or maybe not, lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZrTfz10VFs
Duel kicks the complete crap out of Citizen Kane, you've got my full support on that.
shareTime has been good to this movie, its build a pretty strong cult following by now. Its a funny movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9BBcIKko6A