Clerks (1994)

 "She broke your heart and inadvertently drove men to deviant lifestyles."

I haven't seen this wonderful film since I was at uni. What took me so long? It is, first of all, hilarious. But, for this fortysomething, it's so gloriously, nostalgia-inducingly '90s, and my '90s. The '90s of slacker culture, Grunge, Douglas Coupland and lumberjack shirts. Oh, and landlines and video stores.

The soundtrack is glorious too- Soul Asylum, Bad Religion, proper '90s stuff. But the film is far more than just a comedy. The structure is based on Dante's Divine Comedy. Yes, I know it's filmed as it is because it was made on the cheap, but it looks so wonderfully arthouse, which somehow works.

The characters are superb too. The put-upon Dante, our audience identification character who isn't even supposed to be here today, seems decent on the surface. But there's no two ways about it: he's being unfaithful to his very lovely girlfriend, and gets what he deserves.

Both he and Randal are aimless in their McJobs, suitably for the zeitgeist but reflecting a more prosperous age where such directionless apathy was a luxury that could be afforded. We explore that lifestyle here, with Randal at least having some self-awareness.

Most of all, though, the comedy is wonderful, real, inspired, and contains nuggets of wisdom. I can certainly confirm milkmaids exist. I am a bearded example. I'll get the latest date no matter what.

I think it's going to have to be full steam ahead with the View Askew-niverse for me. It's been too long.