Top 10 Can’t Miss Movies of the Summer: #1 and Recap/Box Office

1. Clerks II (August 18)
Ok so this is not a big shot if you’ve been reading the blog for the last month or so. I am so jazzed for this flick mostly because I love me some Kevin Smith. I think the idea of visiting Dante and Randall ten plus years after the original is a great idea. While I never craved a sequel per se, I always enjoyed references or appearances by Clerks alumni in the other View Askew films.

Now I’ve heard some haters say the opposite that Smith is just trying to make a quick buck after the box office failure of Jersey Girl. Now unless Smith has John Daly type gambling losses I’m pretty sure the guy is set for life. Also, Clerks II will be getting a relatively small release so while it should do a good per screen average I don’t think the box office favorites like Superman have anything to worry about. Yet I do think there is some truth to pointing to this flick being born out of the Jersey Girl failure though.

If you haven’t seen Jersey Girl, and there’s a pretty good chance you haven’t, I highly recommend it. That being said it was evident that the process and results left Smith disappointed. The film was literally doomed before it hit the screen. Thanks to the Bennifer drama and their truly god awful Gigli movie, Smith had to deal with the brutal reality of casting friends AND their girlfriends. I think the ratings process also must have killed him. Here he was trying to tell his most adult story in a grown up way and the MPAA treated him like he was trying to make Mallrats 2. As a result I’m guessing we’re getting the proverbial shit storm from Clerks II. There have already been rumblings that the Weinsteins have a distribution deal that requires an R rating but Smith has been vocal that if he gets an NC-17 rating then that’s what we’ll get in the theaters. A raunchy, potty mouth filled, guide to middle aged angst as told by two guys who shouldn’t even be there today.

So here’s the final list:
10. Cars
9. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
8. Nacho Libre
7. Miami Vice
6. The Da Vinci Code
5. Mission Impossible: III
4. X Men: The Last Stand
3. Snakes on a Plane
2. Superman Returns
1. Clerks II

Some people asked for my box office predictions but the truth is I don’t care much for the box office. I’ll pay attention but really only to see if the general public is as gutless and moronic as I believe them to be or to see if I’ll be surprised and see a genuine, smart film get financial recognition. If Poseidon does over $200 million then there’s something wrong with America.