Clerks. X (10th Anniversary Edition)

Clerks. X (10th Anniversary Edition)

This officially marks a decade since the term "snowballing" was popularized in our ever-expanding sexual vernacular. Yet besides the hilarious, graphic slang – dialogue that a ratings board of 1994 initially deemed NC-17 worthy – it is the story of how Clerks came to be that solidifies this brilliant comedy as a true landmark of independent filmmaking. Out of the most extensive amalgam of special features I have ever seen, Phil Benson's aptly titled feature-length documentary, Snowball Effect: The Story of Clerks, on the third disc is as entertaining as the film itself. Here, director Kevin Smith is traced from his sketch comedy roots in high school through the harrowing three-week-straight shoestring film production to the final afternoon of the Sundance Film Festival, where he and producer Scott Mosier signed a deal with Miramax Co-Chair Harvey Weinstein on a crumpled yellow piece of legal pad stationery – which is, not surprisingly, also included somewhere in the special features. Smith and Mosier are even grounded enough to pay homage to the little people along the way who helped Clerks into the mainstream: a fitting parallel to their debut film. Also, be sure to check out the "lost scene" from the funeral home, animated by Austin's own Powerhouse Animation. This set should only whet your appetite for the upcoming sequel, The Passion of the Clerks, currently in preproduction.

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