Writer/director Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino came up around the same time, with both Smith releasing Clerks and Tarantino releasing Pulp Fiction, thanks to the help of a little-known man (at that time) named Harvey Weinstein. While the two filmmakers have since gone in entirely different directions as far as their careers go, they both made defining films right out of the gates and subsequently became buddies along the way. Years later, when Smith made Clerks II in 2006, he decided to screen the film for his buddies Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez to gather some feedback, prior its release. What did his good friends have to say about his resulting film? Mostly good things.
Tarantino, as animated and passionate as ever, wasted no time getting the conversation started by telling Smith where he felt his comedy sequel really got its wheels going. Smith, nervous and even arguably a bit insecure, seemed grateful to his two buds for reassuring him not to rely on jokes, but rather trust the film. Tarantino also spent a great deal of time explaining his love of the film's first images featuring Dante opening the Quick Stop just as he did in the first film over a decade before.
The bulk of the trio's conversation was positive and really showed an honesty between the three very different filmmakers. Really, in the end, it sort of comes across as Smith looking for reassurance from his fellow directors, and that's exactly what the duo gave him. Check out the old clip below, which recently saw a resurgence thanks to Reddit:
It's cool to see Tarantino and Rodriguez convey their thoughts in a respecting and positive manner. They really do bring a level of constructive criticism to the table that shows the three of them are more than just fellow filmmakers. It's also very cool to see Smith open up about the whole experience of making Clerks II. Hearing him say he didn't think there'd be much of a point in bringing the same two dudes up to the big screen to re-hash the same type of material was also interesting, as was his bringing up Tarantino's Munich '94 comments calling Clerks "a series of stand up comedy sets in a movie format." One of the other great moments is hearing Rodriguez talk about "trimming the fat" on Sin City. As anyone who's seen that film knows, there isn't a single frame of wasted screen time.
All three filmmakers are absolutely in different places at the moment, but I for one think it would be amazing to see them link up again to discuss one another's current work. With Tarantino following up Django Unchained with his latest The Hateful Eight (filming now) and Smith having confirmed Clerks III is definitely coming soon, it's an opportune time. Now that I think about it, Rodriguez (who released the sequel to Sin City not long ago) should bring them both on his talk show The Director's Chair where the three of them can really geek out.
