Alain de Botton’s talk A kinder, gentler philosophy of success is one of the most inspiring things I’ve seen lately.

“So, ‘Slacker’ or ‘Clerks’?”

We had spent dinnertime watching the trailers for the movies I had in my computer. I was at my friend’s in Lisbon, and since she was feeling a bit sick I decided to stay home with her and watch some film together. We had already spent some time pitting trailer against trailer, and by then already crossed off the list films such as Brazil, Son of Rambow, Mister Lonely, and a few other still unwatched movies I had ripped to my laptop while packing for my six-day trip down south. In the final round we had Richard Linklater’s first feature versus Kevin Smith’s. Her pick.

“‘Slacker’”, she said.

Best film choice of the year. We watched it and after it was over we went silent for a while, perhaps letting out a timid “Wow”. It’s easily the most influential thing I watched in a long time, and I just couldn’t believe I hadn’t watched it before. Especially since it turned out you can watch the entire film for free on YouTube.

Later the same night I watched Clerks. Not quite the same thing.