Last Friday, the other half and me finally get to see the awaited “Clerks II”. I haven’t laughed that much in a long time. It’s the good, refreshing film that I have come to expect from Kevin Smith. A job well done indeed. Hollywood should learn something, it’s possible to make a good film on a cheap, cheap budget (Clerks II cost only $5 million to make).
Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Joel Siegel walked out of the press screening of this film. Yes, that Joel Siegel, the man who never seems to say anything but “Great! Four stars!” to everything, even if it’s dreck and terrible. Details of what transpired (ripped from IMDB.com) are below
Today’s (Wednesday) New York Post prints director Kevin Smith’s online rant over ABC critic Joel Siegel’s noisy departure from a press screening of Smith’s Clerks II. According to the newspaper’s “Page Six” column, Siegel rose from his seat 40 minutes into the movie and declared, “Time to go! … First movie I’ve walked out of in 30 [expletive] years.” In the scene in question the characters discuss hiring a woman to have sex with a donkey. Siegel described it as “foul and mean and repulsive.” Smith responded on his MySpace blog, attacking Siegel’s use of puns in his reviews and adding, “How about a little common [expletive] courtesy? You never, never disrupt a movie, simply because you don’t like it. Cardinal rule of moviegoing: Shut your [expletive] mouth while the movie’s playing.” (Clerks received an eight-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in May.)
Now, that is just pure crap, Siegel is out of his right mind. Besides, since when were film critics in their right mind to start with.
Another reviewer blasted the movie’s campaign to put 10,000 names on the end credits, users who signed up via MySpace.com. Something similar was done by the Lord of the Rings producers on one of the DVD’s. Great, someone pissed in another film critic’s Cheerios.
And now I know why I loved “The Critic” so much more. Being a movie critic is the worst job that one could possibly have, even below a Wal*Fart employee.
Personally I was prepared to walk out when I went as seen on my post. I havn’t been impressed with his more recent work with THE Trilogy. I honestly thought that he should have stopped after Chasing Amy but he proved me wrong even though I felt the ending was really sappy for a KS film.
As for the critic. I throw drinks at people that do that. If I’m sitting enjoying the film and you make a outburst. You are covered in a large sprite that cost me $4.75.
You know, I never threw a drink at anyone in a theater before, but that might have been a first for me. 🙂
I haven’t seen the movie and don’t plan to, either. That said, I think it was well within his rights (as a person and a professional movie critic) to decide to leave in the middle of the film.
It was not, however, right to be a pompous jackass and disrupt other people who were watching the film. I think he would have made a better statement by just quietly getting up and leaving the theater rather than throwing an additional two cents in by opening his yap.
I can see your point. All it comes down to is just a little professional courtesy.