An Askew View 2
The Films of Kevin Smith
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- 18,99 €
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- 18,99 €
Descrizione dell’editore
In the year 2002, An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith was the first book to gaze at the cinema of one of New Jersey's favorite sons, the independent and controversial auteur of Clerks (1994), Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999) and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). Now, a full decade after that successful original edition, award-winning author John Kenneth Muir returns to the View Askewniverse to consider Kevin Smith's second controversial decade as a film director, social gadfly, and beloved media “talker.” From Jersey Girl (2004) to the controversial Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008), from the critically derided Cop-Out (2010) to the incendiary and provocative horror film Red State (2011), An Askew View 2 studies the Kevin Smith movie equation as it exists today, almost two full decades after Smith maxed out his credit card, made Clerks with his friends, shopped it at Sundance, and commenced his Hollywood journey. In addition to Kevin Smith's films, An Askew View 2 remembers the short-lived Clerks cartoon (2000) and diagrams the colorful Smith Lexicon.
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Taking its title from Smith's View Askew production company, Muir's latest offering is a guided tour of the iconic New Jersey filmmaker's cinematic oeuvre, from short synopses of Smith's films to behind-the-scenes stories of how they were made and how Smith himself has evolved. Muir (a contributor to Cinescape and Filmfax) creates a compelling and somewhat inspirational portrait of Smith, who shot to indie-fame with his 1994 debut Clerks, which Smith financed with his own credit cards and shot after hours at a local minimart, in part because he thought his friends were funny and wondered if others would think so. They did. Since then, Smith's trademark characters, Jay (played by Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (played by Smith), have appeared in increasingly ambitious, popular and profitable films, such as Chasing Amy, Dogma and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Muir does an admirable job of capturing in print the appeal of Smith's films, and some of the stories behind the films are both telling and hilarious. For example, Dogma, Smith's irreverent take on Catholicism, was almost nixed by Disney Corp. because of protests by Catholics. Smith responded by anonymously joining a group picketing Dogma in front of a New Jersey theater and trashing his own film to an oblivious local reporter. Although Muir occasionally sprinkles the book with others' criticisms of Smith, there is unfortunately little of Muir's own critical voice in the narrative. But that shouldn't bother Smith's legion of fans, who especially those in film school will enjoy this effort. Photos not seen by PW.
