Three Movies

....so we saw three movies this weekend - The Pick Of Destiny, The Departed and Clerks II.

The Pick Of Destiny (2006)
Dammit - I've lost all faith in Jack Black by now. Even though this is partly based on the HBO show, and even though they play all original songs in this one, I just don't find Jables and Kage funny anymore. Dio has a cameo in this one, as does Tim Robbins and Ben Stiller, but it just doesn't happen. Even the songs are much, much weaker than what you'll find on the debut CD - no "Tribute" or "Wonderboy" to be found here. The best part of the movie is the fact that Kage uses BC Rich guitars for his tricked-out electric rig.

The Departed (2007)
Ok - I admit it - DiCaprio did a good job in this one. Still, I'm probably one of about three people to see this movie and find it quite boring. The actors are there - Nicholson, Wahlberg, Damon, Martin Sheen, even DiCaprio, so that's not the problem. The story is cool, the movie is well-made....but it drags on for too damn long. After about an hour I found myself thinking "DAMN - it's still almost an hour and a half left". Which isn't a good thing, I guess. Moreover - this did not happen when I saw Godfather (I and II), Contact or even LOTR part I, all of which are longer movies. Movie of the year? I really hope not...

Clerks II (2006)
Dante and Randall are back, dammit. More importantly, Kevin Smith is back! This movie was surprisingly good - on par with the original Clerks and Mallrats. You might have to be a KS fan, though, which goes for all the NJ movies. It's hard to believe now, but I remember back in the late 90's, I turned down watching Clerks at least once (sorry Anders, Rene and Øyvind - youse guys totally knew what youse was talkin' about all along), mostly due to the movie being a) lower than low budget, b) it totally rocked the film festivals (which in my book is a bad omen - the critics' choice typically ends up being a french movie about Polish mine workers in Hungary in the 19th century), and c) the storyline doesn't quite sound appealing - two clerks at a convenience store in New Jersey - whassupwi'that?

Anyhoo - if you like Kevin Smith, Jay or Silent Bob, this is the movie for you.