NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Clerks.

Clerks. is a 1994 film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves. It presents a day in the lives of two shop clerks and their acquaintances. Clerks. was Smith's first movie in his New Jersey Trilogy. It introduces several characters, notably Jay and Silent Bob, who reappear in his later films. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (508x755, 63 KB) This is a copyrighted poster. ... Kevin Smith at a comics convention in 2005 Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, comic book writer, and creator of View Askew. ... Scott Mosier Scott Mosier (born 5 March 1971) has been a producer, editor, and cameo actor in the New Jersey films. ... Kevin Smith at a comics convention in 2005 Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, comic book writer, and creator of View Askew. ... Brian OHalloran (born Brian Christopher OHalloran) is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith films such as clerks. ... Jeff Anderson is a film actor best known for being featured in Clerks as Randal Graves. ... Marilyn Ghigliotti, born August 10, 1961 in New York, is a character actress famous for the role of Veronica Loughlin in Clerks. ... Lisa Spoonhauer, as Caitlin Bree in the film Lisa Spoonhauer, is a character actress famous for the role of Caitlin Bree in Clerks. ... Jason Mewes. ... Miramax Films was a Big Ten film motion picture distribution and production company headquartered in New York City before being bought out by The Walt Disney Company. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks amongst the top five events of its type in the world. ... Clerks II is the 2006 sequel to Kevin Smiths 1994 movie Clerks, and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse. ... This is a list of film-related events in 1994. ... Kevin Smith at a comics convention in 2005 Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, comic book writer, and creator of View Askew. ... Brian OHalloran (born Brian Christopher OHalloran) is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith films such as clerks. ... Dante Hicks (played by Brian OHalloran) in the movie Dante Hicks is a fictional character in Kevin Smiths View Askewniverse, played by Brian OHalloran. ... Jeff Anderson is a film actor best known for being featured in Clerks as Randal Graves. ... Randal Graves is a fictional character from Clerks. ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... The New Jersey films are five motion pictures written and directed by Kevin Smith and made by his production company View Askew. ...

Plot

Dante Hicks is a clerk at Quickstop, a local convenience store in New Jersey. One morning he gets called to fill in for his boss, who claims that another employee is sick. After some arguing he reluctantly agrees to come in on the promise that he will be relieved at twelve o'clock so he can play hockey with his friends. When he arrives to open up the store he encounters multiple problems. The shutters outside won't open because someone jammed gum in the locks. With the shutters down, the store looks closed so he writes "I assure you we're open" in shoe polish on a large sheet and hangs it in front of the store. Next, a man enters the store to buy coffee and talks a customer into buying chewing gum instead of cigarettes after showing him a human lung corroded by tar. A group forms around Dante angry that he is "selling death". After Dante is assaulted with cigarettes, his girlfriend Veronica enters, acting quickly and calming the crowd by spraying them with a fire extinguisher. After a conversation, it is revealed that the man that aroused the crowd into action was a chewing gum represenative, and was stirring up the smokers with intent on selling more gum. A bit later, Dante and Veronica have a conversation regarding Dante's current disposition. After the conversation, Dante meets an old boyfriend of Veronica, Willam "Snowball" Black. After a conversation, it is revealed that Veronica has, throughout her life, performed fallatio on 37 different men, for which Dante is furious. Next, Dante's fellow clerk, Randal, who works at the neighboring video store, shows up late once again. Dante later finds out that his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin, is to be married to an Asian design major, much to Dante's disdain. As they pass time during the day they converse about many things like if the contractors on the second Death Star were innocent victims or not. Image File history File links Clerksbored. ... Image File history File links Clerksbored. ... Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball or hard round disc, called a puck, into the opponents net or goal, past the goaltender or goalkeeper (often abbreviated goalie), using a hockey stick. ... An open can of Kiwi shoe polish with a side-mounted opening mechanism visible at the top. ... Chewing gum Chewing gum is a type of confectionery which is designed to be chewed, not swallowed. ... A cigarette will burn to ash on one end. ... Thats no moon. ...

It becomes obvious after a while that Dante's boss is not coming in so Randall talks Dante into playing hockey on the roof. Twelve minutes into the game an irate customer throws their only ball off the roof and into a gutter. The two reopen the store and Dante finds out one of his ex-girlfriends has died and her memorial service is today. Randall talks him into closing the store again and going to the funeral. Image File history File links Clerksfight. ... Image File history File links Clerksfight. ...

While at the memorial Randall accidentally knocks over her coffin and her dead body falls out. They rush back and when they return to the store, Randal asks to borrow Dante's car to rent a movie. After Randal leaves, Dante is suprised by a visit from Caitlin. After some banter Dante becomes torn between her and Veronica. Dante finally decides he will go on a date with Caitlin and drives home to change, after Randal returns. When Dante returns he discovers Caitlin has had sex with a dead man in the bathroom mistaking him for Dante. The man had earlier entered the bathroom with a pornographic magazine, and had been masturbating before his eventual death. In severe shock, Caitlin is taken away in an ambulance along with the corpse she recently fornicated with. Later, Veronica comes into the Quickstop and breaks up with Dante after Randal tells her he was in love with Caitlin. The two, Dante and Randal, get into a huge fight then reconcile. The movie ends with Randall walking out of the store before briefly returning to toss Dante's sign at him stating, "You're closed!" ^[1] Image File history File links Caitlinclerks. ... Image File history File links Caitlinclerks. ...

Production

The film is in black-and-white and roughly edited due to a budget of $27,575 (USD); mainly consisting of credit cards, the worth of director Smith's extensive comic book collection and insurance money. ^[2] Originally, the character Randal Graves was supposed to be played by Kevin Smith. According to Smith himself on the DVD Commentary, this is why Randal has the best lines. Also, several members of Smith's family played roles in the film due to budget contraints. When Dante is discussing the "Milk Maids", the shopper shown is Kevin Smith's mother and the customer whose job it is to "manually masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination" is played by Kevin Smith's sister, Virginia. Several of Kevin Smith's childhood friends also play roles in the film. Walt Flanagan plays four roles in this movie: The "Woolen Cap Smoker" in the beginning, the famous "Egg Man," the "Offended Customer" (during the "jizz mopper" scene) and the "Cat Admiring Bitter Customer." Walt never intended to play this many roles (Smith would often, in jest, refer to Flanagan as "the Lon Chaney of the '90s"). As one of Smith's friends who was present often during filming as either extra help or just moral support, it fell to Walt to play these characters when the actors Smith originally got to play them just didn't show up. Black-and-white (or variations including Black and White) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ... Randal Graves is a fictional character from Clerks. ... Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in Clerks Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, and the founder of View Askew Productions. ... Walt with the famed Walt Flanagans dog. ... There were two famous American actors named Lon Chaney, both known for their work in horror movies. ...

The original ending for the film was meant to continue from when Randal throws Dante's "I Assure You, We're Open" sign to him. After Randal leaves, Dante proceeds to lock up the store. He notices that someone else has entered. This person then proceeds to shoot Dante, killing him. Afterwards, he makes off with the money from the cash register. The sequence ends with Dante's dead face looking off past the camera. While the sad ending tested poorly, it was nevertheless foreshadowed earlier in the film (the opening credits' song includes the lyric "A meaningless end to the story" and Dante himself states at one point that life "is a series of down endings"). Smith said it concluded this way because he "didn't know how to end a film." He took constructive criticisms about the ending to heart and decided to remove it from the film. Both versions are available in Clerks X, the tenth anniversary special edition. Image File history File linksMetadata Clerksx. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Clerksx. ...

The MPAA originally gave Clerks. an NC-17 rating, based purely on the film's explicit dialogue — it contains no real violence, and no clearly depicted nudity. This was a financial death sentence, as very few cinemas in the United States will screen NC-17 movies. Miramax hired civil-liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz to appeal the decision; the MPAA relented and re-rated the film with the more commercial 'R' rating, without altering any frame or word.^[3] The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), originally called the Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors Association, is a non-profit trade association based in the United States which was formed to advance the interests of movie studios. ... The MPAA film rating system is a system used in the United States and territories and instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America to rate a movie based on its content. ... Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz (born September 1, 1938) is a lawyer and jurist from the United States. ...

Reception

The film became a surprising success after it was taken by Miramax Films and has made over three million dollars gross in the United States. ^[4] Clerks. won the "Award of the Youth" and the "Mercedes-Benz Award" at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, tied with Fresh for the "Filmmakers Trophy" at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards (Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay and Jeff Anderson for Best Debut Performance). ^[5] In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Clerks. the 16th greatest comedy film of all time and in 2006, British film magazine Empire listed Clerks. as the 4th greatest independent film. This film is also number 33 on Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies. Miramax Films was a Big Ten film motion picture distribution and production company headquartered in New York City before being bought out by The Walt Disney Company. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Fresh (1994) is the debut film of writer and director Boaz Yakin. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks amongst the top five events of its type in the world. ... Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards were originally known as the FINDIE (Friends of Independents) Awards and presented winners with Plexiglas pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. ... Jeff Anderson is a film actor best known for being featured in Clerks as Randal Graves. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdoms second best-selling film magazine, after the longer-established Empire from Emap. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Emap Consumer Media since July 1989. ... Look up bravo in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Cast

Brian OHalloran (born Brian Christopher OHalloran) is an American actor best known for his roles in Kevin Smith films such as clerks. ... Dante Hicks (played by Brian OHalloran) in the movie Dante Hicks is a fictional character in Kevin Smiths View Askewniverse, played by Brian OHalloran. ... Jeff Anderson is a film actor best known for being featured in Clerks as Randal Graves. ... Randal Graves is a fictional character from Clerks. ... Marilyn Ghigliotti, born August 10, 1961 in New York, is a character actress famous for the role of Veronica Loughlin in Clerks. ... Lisa Spoonhauer, as Caitlin Bree in the film Lisa Spoonhauer, is a character actress famous for the role of Caitlin Bree in Clerks. ... How to contact Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For the press Inquiries from members of the press about Wikipedia For readers Report a problem with an article e. ... Jason Mewes. ... Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in Clerks Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, and the founder of View Askew Productions. ... Scott Mosier Scott Mosier (born 5 March 1971) has been a producer, editor, and cameo actor in the New Jersey films. ...

Related projects

Following Clerks., Smith set several more films in the same "world", which he calls the View Askewniverse of overlapping characters and stories. Of all of Smith's films, however, Clerks. is the one with the most direct spin-off products. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In a similar fashion to the Black Bart pilot based on Blazing Saddles, a pilot for a live action TV series was produced in 1995. It was produced by Disney and Buena Vista Entertainment. The pilot only referenced the character names and starred none of the cast from the original film, contained no foul language, did not mention Jay and Silent Bob, and had nothing to do with Kevin Smith, as he was making his second film Mallrats at the time. Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson both auditioned for the role of Dante Hicks (as Anderson's part of Randal from the film had already been filled by former SNL performer Jim Breuer). After seeing the result, Smith said that it was terrible, and O'Halloran and Anderson said they were both glad they didn't get the part of Dante. Blazing Saddles is a Warner Bros. ... The Walt Disney Company (most commonly known as Disney) (NYSE: DIS) is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. ... Buena Vista production logo, 1950s. ... Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. ... Saturday Night Live (SNL) is a weekly late-night 90-minute American comedy-variety show based in New York City which has been broadcast by NBC nearly every Saturday night since its debut on October 11, 1975. ... Actor Jim Breuer (born June 21, 1967 in Valley Stream, New York) is a American comedian best known as a cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1998. ...

Clerks: The Animated Series was a short-lived six-episode animated television series of the same name, featuring the same characters and actors. Two episodes aired on the ABC network (a subsidiary of the Disney company, which also owns Miramax, the studio which released many of Smith's films, including Clerks. itself) in late May/early June 2000 before vanishing from the lineup altogether. The Comedy Central network eventually broadcast all six episodes of the series for a short time in 2004, as part of its late-night and weekend programming. A feature animated film was planned, based on the series, to be titled Clerks: Sell Out. The plan was to release the movie straight-to-DVD, though as of 2006, it appears to be on hold. An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ... Miramax is a Big Ten film distribution and production company. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Comedy Central is a cable television channel in the United States. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Clerks is a series of comics written by Kevin Smith featuring characters from the film. In the series are Clerks: The Comic Book, Clerks: Holiday Special and Clerks: The Lost Scene. Smith has discussed plans for Clerks 1.5, a comic that would bridge the gap between the original movie and its sequel, to be included in a reprint of the Clerks. trade paperback. ^[6] To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ... Clerks 2 is the 2006 sequel to Kevin Smiths movie Clerks. ...

Smith has announced that a live-action, feature film sequel to Clerks that will be released on July 21, 2006. The working title was The Passion of the Clerks, though the film will be released under the title Clerks II. The credits for Dogma stated "Jay and Silent Bob will return in Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin", however, that project "evolved" into Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The sequel features Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran reprising their roles as Dante and Randall. The two now work at a Mooby's restaurant after Randall's incompetence resulted in the destruction of the Quick Stop and RST Video. July 19 is the 200th day (201st in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 165 days remaining. ... This is a list of film-related events in 2006. ... Clerks II is the 2006 sequel to Kevin Smiths 1994 movie Clerks, and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse. ... Dogma is a 1999 comedy film, written and directed by Kevin Smith, who stars in the film along with Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo, and Alanis Morissette. ... The Mooby the Golden Calf logo Mooby the Golden Calf is a fictional childrens television character featured in Kevin Smiths View Askewniverse, most notably in the film Dogma. ...

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released on October 11, 1994. It was comprised of various songs by alternative artists and sound clips from the film. Clerks. was the only movie in history where the rights to secure the music cost more than the production costs for the entire film. The soundtrack includes the following: ^[7] October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal. // Events January Bill Clinton January 1 : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect. ...

Image File history File links Clerkscd. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... The terms alternative rock and alternative music[1] were coined in the 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired bands which didnt fit into the mainstream genres of the time. ... A film score is the background music in a film, generally specially written for the film and often used to heighten emotions provoked by the imagery on the screen or by the dialogue. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Sony Corporation ) is one of the worlds largest media conglomerates founded in Tokyo, Japan. ... Girls Against Boys are an indie rock/post-hardcore band, originally forming in Washington, D.C. in 1988 and currently based in New York City. ... Alice in Chains is an influential rock group that was formed in the late-1980s in Seattle, Washington. ... Bash & Pop was the band that Tommy Stinson formed after the dissolution of the Replacements. ... Supernova will be a rock supergroup consisting of drummer Tommy Lee (Motley Crue), bass player Jason Newsted (Metallica), and guitarist Gilby Clarke (Guns N Roses). ... The Jesus Lizard was a rock music group formed in 1989 in Chicago, Illinois. ... Golden Smog is a loosely connected group of musicians comprised, at various times, of members of Soul Asylum, the Replacements, Wilco, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs and Big Star. ... Bad Religion (commonly abbreviated BR) is an influential punk rock band known for poignant, erudite lyrics and biting social commentary. ... Stabbing Westward 1998 Stabbing Westward was an American industrial rock and alternative rock band composed of Christopher Hall, Walter Flakus, Stuart Zechman, Jim Sellers and David Suycott. ... Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band. ... Seaweed-covered rocks in the UK Biologists, specifically Phycologists, consider seaweed to refer any of a large number of marine benthic algae that are multicellular, macrothallic, and thus differentiated from most algae that tend to be microscopic in size [1]. Seaweeds are usually types of brown or red algae that... Soul Asylum is an alternative rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1983, is perhaps best known for their song Runaway Train. The group was an outgrowth of a previous band, Loud Fast Rules, formed in 1981 by guitarist Dan Murphy, bassist Karl Mueller, and drummer Dave Pirner. ...

Trivia

Leonardo is a census-designated place and unincorporated area located within Middletown Township, in Monmouth County, New Jersey. ... A house with nonfunctional shutters. ... Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. ... Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy about two comic book artists: Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), a predominantly heterosexual male, and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a self-identified lesbian. ... Tim Dorsey is an author from Florida. ... This is the first book in Tim Dorseys as-yet unnamed series of books centering around Serge Storms. ... Serge A. Storms is the main character in most of Tim Dorseys novels. ... Cosmopolitan, or simply Cosmo, is a magazine published monthly from New York by the Hearst Corporation. ... Look up life, living in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... // History John Lennon - RS 1 (November 9, 1967)How I Won the War Film Still Founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner (who is still editor and publisher) and music critic Ralph J. Gleason, Rolling Stone was initially identified with and reported on the hippie counterculture of the... Ruffles is the name of a brand of ruffled potato chips produced by Frito-Lay. ... The Clark Bar is a candy bar manufactured by the New England Confectionery Company (NECCO). ... Goobers are a brand of candy consisting of peanuts covered in milk chocolate. ... Windexs flagship product Windex is a trademark for a liquid glass and surface cleaning product made by S. C. Johnson & Son and popular in the United States and Canada since the mid-20th century. ... The Degrassi series is a group of Canadian dramas and specials that followed the lives of a group of children and teenagers who lived on De Grassi Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Kevin Smith as Silent Bob in Clerks Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American screenwriter, film director, and the founder of View Askew Productions. ...

References

Footnotes

1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

Categories: 1994 films | Cult films | Films directed by Kevin Smith | Films set in New Jersey | Directorial debut films | Independent films | American films | 1994 Sundance Film Festival | Sundance Film Festival award winners Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian television series, which follows the lives of a group of high school students. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cover for the tradepack comic. ... The cover for the actual Bluntman and Chronic comic book. ... This article or section seems not to be written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia entry. ... Dante Hicks (played by Brian OHalloran) in the movie Dante Hicks is a fictional character in Kevin Smiths View Askewniverse, played by Brian OHalloran. ... Randal Graves is a fictional character from Clerks. ... (from l to r) Hooper X (Dwight Ewell), Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck) and Banky Edwards (Jason Lee) in Chasing Amy. ... Alyssa Jones is a fictional character in Kevin Smiths 1997 film Chasing Amy. ... Leonardo Leonardo Leonardo Leonardo is a character from the short-lived animated television series Clerks created by Kevin Smith. ... The cover for the actual Bluntman and Chronic comic book. ... The Mooby the Golden Calf logo Mooby the Golden Calf is a fictional childrens television character featured in Kevin Smiths View Askewniverse, most notably in the film Dogma. ... Brodie Bruce Brodie Bruce is a fictional character played by Jason Lee in the Kevin Smith film Mallrats. ... The current View Askew logo. ... Jay and Silent Bobs Secret Stash is a comic and novelty owned and operated by filmmaker Kevin Smith. ... Silent Bob Speaks: The Collected Writings of Kevin Smith is a collection of essays written by screenwriter, director, and comic book author Kevin Smith. ... Buddy Christ is an icon created in the movie Dogma when a campaign (Catholicism Wow!) to make Catholicism less dreary and more fun and friendly. ... Quick Stop Groceries is a convenience/grocery store in Leonardo (Middletown), New Jersey. ...