Clerks (1994)

Kevin Smith's dialogue-driven comedy is a great directorial debut. He establishes the vulgar, yet visually calm state of an entertaining and easily appreciated comedy. To think, this is the film that gave birth to the characters Jay and Silent Bob. Their roles are about as cherished as any peanut gallery input can be, but Dante Hicks and Randall Graves is the film's main focus. The chemistry between these two characters, I thought, was what carried the movie.

On top of a humorous script, Smith slips in some more heartfelt moments that sort of took me by surprise. Aside from making us laugh at the stupidity of the general convenience store customer, the various rants we're subjected to by supporting character Randall, which sold me. There's also a pretty good scene where Dante realizes his girlfriend Veronica has sucked 36 dicks before him.

This film probably got more attention for being one of a kind for its time, much before we were spoiled by the Judd Apatow curse of hilarity. Still, this film sets a standard that many comedies should follow in detouring from the usual fart jokes and goofiness.