JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK

year: 2003

rating: *

I can't imagine "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" without Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn), or "Animal House" without John Belushi, but having films centering solely on those characters probably wouldn't fare as good as the films in which they serve as iconic mascots used sporadically. The same thing can be said of Jay and Silent Bob, the two stoners from "Clerks" and a bevy of other Kevin Smith films, in which they're used whenever needed, for "comic relief", as it were. Put them in a film of their own and look what happens: a complete mess, ending up even worse than Smith's disaster "Mall Rats". The duo go on a road trip to Hollywood, meeting the unfunniest characters in history along the way, and once they arrive, it gets even worse, if that's possible.

ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO

year: 2008

cast: Seth Rogan, Elizabeth Banks

rating: ***

The latest "romp" by Kevin Smith about two platonic friends - a guy and a girl - who decide to make a porno because they can't pay the rent is basically an uninhibited "When Harry Met Sally". The jokes aren't hilarious but smiles are aplenty. Seth Rogan plays "Zack", a dryly sarcastic fat plain looking guy (not a stretch) who knows exactly what and who he is; and Elizabeth Banks plays "Miri", the dream girl template that adorns most of Smith's films: she's not only hot, she's really cool. Basically, all the over-the-top sexual material is a masquerade for a very familiar romantic comedy plot: "two friends become lovers, fall in love, and complications arise". And in that, it's not too shabby.