Kevin Smith and His Movies

Calling him solipsistic doesn't answer the question of why his later movies are so bleah, b/c usually solipsists are (unintentionally) pretty interesting people. Not having seen the Jay & Bob movie, I'd still say that he's just way too obsessed with notions of artificiality and pretend-reality ...

"Hollywood is so fake, man," oh, but it turns out that real life is fake too because it's just a bunch of people playing roles ...

So he concludes that by understanding the roles we can come to a full understanding of the people behind them, who, despite some pretty *crazy* appearances on the surface (WHOA, those nutty lesbians!! and black nationalists!!), are when it comes down to it all pretty similar to Kevin Smith. Otherness is a myth, dude.

but why is Jason Lee crap in every film except those by Smith (in which he always steals the show)?

what about the Clerks cartoon? no good? better or worse than MTV's Downtown (which i liked)?

Smith should have a new film out soon i would've thought - any thoughts?

I passed out approximately 4 in the AM this morning/last night (while a frozen pizza turned to blackened death frisbee in my oven) trying to watch Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. I'm gonna actually watch it (without all the tequila in my belly) when I get home. His movies (save Chasing Amy) never fail to give me a goodly portion of giggles. I'm also of the opinion that he is a great writer of dialog.

i'm waiting for my Jay & Silent Bob DVD to come thru (I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO HARD IN A CINEMA THAT I DID WATCHING THAT FILM, fact fans

This only makes sense if you've spent the rest of your cinema-going life at Ingmar Bergman retrospectives.

I enjoy totally stupid comedy, but there are limits (somewhere).

yeh then you probably laughed at a whole load of crap i didn't find amusing at all. life's like this < /avril>

The American in me now likes Kevin Smith even better than he did before.

Doesn't he have a new film coming out with Jack Black in it?

Smith admitted he fudged it kinda, he tried to persuade ? ? (director of 'Desperado' whose name i forget) to finish it apparently because he felt he's bitten off more than he can chew.

wait, that's it. this film IS UNKLE's 'Psyence Fiction' (only with significantly more laughs)

Clerks is OK, not that great after the first time.

Mallrats is funny, but the unbelievably bad acting and direction bother me.

Dogma was good, but doesn't hold up well to repeated viewings.

JSBSB, I saw it once in the theater, thought it was funny but mindlessly so, never saw it again.

i've really gone off Jack Black so i'm worried the combination of he and Smith will not do anything for me at all.

that movie has the greatest DVD commentary ever...

Loved Clerks and Mallrats, and still think that the scene where Affleck 'confesses' his love for Joey Lauren Adams and her subsequent and powerful rebuttal to be quite moving, though i think the movie's quite a mess otherwise. Dogma is a muddle, but i enjoyed some of it. Hated J&SBSB so much it scared me, and don't really care what he does any more. I think, as a filmmaker however, he's pretty much been ruined by his slavishly loyal fanbase.

He's also doing a Fletch prequel and is considering Will Smith to star as Fletch ha ha haha.

having references alone doesn't define a show. like anything else it can be done well or it can be done annoyingly. for instance MST3K does it well almost all the time. fwiw i didn't mind Family Guy for the first couple of seasons (at least until it was cancelled the 2nd time)

one of the main gags i remember from the animated series, Clerks did the Judge Reinhold joke years before Arrested Development:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_JNuIN33Wk

oops i meant

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGbgAisf6_c

yeah the series actually had some good moments though I'm assuming it hasn't aged well

presumably some non-KS writers were involved

― Simon H., Wednesday, May 30, 2018 11:13 PM (yesterday)

showrunner was a late-period Seinfeld writer (who later took over Veep after Iannucci left and made it dumb), who brought on other TV professionals (including Paul Dini!)

whoever told KS he should do anything *but* manic comedy should be shot out of a cannon

― Simon H., Wednesday, May 30, 2018 11:35 PM (yesterday)

I'm not going to lie, I enjoyed Red State. Don't @ me.

― Eliza D., Wednesday, May 30, 2018 11:39 PM (yesterday)

yeah, I liked it well enough. not a really good horror movie, and the two Louis Theroux docos are a better take on Phelps, but it definitely succeeded in not feeling like "a Kevin Smith film"

Eliza otm

Yoga Hosers is the worst movie ever made

got 3 minutes into that and shut it off

you just love to see it

https://66.media.tumblr.com/bb47f4fc66440ac2d51453232bade566/6c2e272b6cbbdf4e-82/s500x750/1a071c111a703692eb49984d8d35bf2cd037fd2c.jpg

Kevin Smith is dead, that is actually four small children stuffed inside a coat holding up his impaled head

Aw, the first thing I saw was "Kevin Smith is dead." I thought, gosh, that's harsh.

Hasn't he lost a ton of weight since his heart attack? I mean, I hope so.

http://newsneednews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ccelebritiesfotoKevin-Smith-Weight-Loss-Instagram-Post-Before-And-After-Photo.jpg

is he still rocking the jorts though

Wide World of Jorts. Years ago, a paparazzo snapped the infamous shot on the left of me wearing my giant jorts at my all-time heaviest. The photo on the right was taken at the same gas station today. Story here: https://t.co/MBXEo3EuNo pic.twitter.com/XrAtOxXgnS

— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) August 5, 2018

Good for him. The people who I know that have lost a ton of weight, they say it's one of the hardest things they've ever done.

Those jorts are worse than any of his movies

honestly respect for all of those fashion moves

today I learned that Kevin Smith shaves his legs

if they're like 4 inches from the ground they're not jorts

what is or is not a jort is kind of like "define pornography". there can be a thing line between erotica and porn, but you know it when you see it. kevin smith wears jorts that are as long as my ankle-exposing chinos

i'll see you in jort court

I can't define jorts them but I know them when I see them on Kevin Smith.

(ie When most of the bottom half of Kevin Smith's body is obscured by clothing.)

This guy has never had an ounce of talent. When I was at my indiest moment of early-90s moviegoing, I still thought Clerks was trash.

Sheesh, sounds like someone snoochied on the wrong side of the boochie this morning.

I think he is a very talented storyteller. Like, literally standing on stage telling a story. Not in any other medium though.

I would like to refer everyone to this far superior thread: Defend the Indefensible: Kevin Smith

i remember liking clerks at the time but i was kind of the perfect demo for it. my mistake was presuming there would be better things from him to come

Clerks > Slacker

Duece Bigelo, Male Gigolo > Clerks

Only one of those films has amy poehler screaming profanities (as a Tourette’s sufferer unfortunately, speaking of things that were once socially acceptable).

I think he is a very talented storyteller. Like, literally standing on stage telling a story. Not in any other medium though.

ditto

though I really liked Clerks the Animated Series

just lmao at the new Jay & Silent Bob trailer, the movie appears to basically be Mad Libs where the only acceptable words are "ASS!" "SHIT!" and "PENIS!"

Some people go for the low-key midlife crisis because they recognize on some level that the inherent sadness of turning it into a public spectacle would elicit unwanted pity, possibly even contempt. That's what some people do.

in fairness to kevin smith i can't help but imagine that he has many fans who haven't really cared about a film of his since clerks 2 and in order to give his career a little jolt he has no other option than to have recourse to a retreat into view askewniverse nostalgia

People cared about Clerks 2?

i completely forgot about the existence of zack and miri make a porno and cop out

(which both did better than clerks 2, as did jersey girl lol)

troll scene in clerks 2 is one of the funniest scenes of the past twenty years id say

Mewes has aged into a meth-head's mugshot. And the weight loss makes Smith look terminal, too. That was just one of the reasons that trailer was extremely hard to watch, though.

i believe mewes main poison was opiates.

he's been sober for about a decade tho, so, good for him

shame on Method Man for sullying the memory of his greatest line reading of all time

he's been sober for about a decade tho, so, good for him

Absolutely; it's just weird to see these kind of adolescent antics from a dude who looks about sixty.

(insert "hello fellow kids" photo of Steve Buscemi here)

Again,going to white knight a little here,for mewes at least this is literally his only shot to make some money.dude with a record and no resume isnt going to be able to make much money without tagging along with smith

this guy is just the worst but Red State was serviceable

I was at a Sony E3 party at the downtown LA Standard right when it opened. they hired Jane's Addiction to reunite and Mewes was at the party literally at the same time there was a warrant out for his arrest in Jersey

yeah Smith's tendency to put his buds like Mewes and Clerks Randall in his movies is one of his most endearing qualities. I actually kinda like Smith as a person. it's just the movies I hate.

they're fine

Sweet tribute to the guy who owned the video store and convenience store where Smith worked and filmed Clerks:

Tarlochen Thapar, the owner of @quickstopgroceries, has passed away. Thapar came to America from India in the 60’s/70’s, working tirelessly until he could afford a small business in Leonardo, NJ: a video shop beside a Cumberland Farms. When the Cumberland closed in the early 90’s, his little video biz lost its anchor - so Mister Thapar convinced Cumberland Farms to let him take the store over instead, renaming it @quickstopgroceries. Mister Thapar hired me in 1989, both of us sitting on tiny step stools behind the counter of RST Video. Working at a video store was my dream job, but it came with a cost: I had to also work at the convenience store next door, which also belonged to the Thapars. Thank God for that caveat, because it changed my life. In 1993, Thapar let me shoot my first film in #QuickStop at night when it was closed. So without Mister Thapar, there’d be no Clerks (which @variety just included in their 100 Funniest Comedies list). Because this sweet soul from a world away came to America, *my* American Dream came true. Schoolhouse Rock taught me about the The Great American Melting Pot in song but Thapar showed me the beauty of the concept in real life: America brought us together, and what a tasty meal we made! I’ll miss you, Mister Thapar. Thank you for making your lifelong journey to Jersey - because this Jersey Boy (and anybody who ever enjoyed his black & white convenience store comedy) benefitted big time from your bravery. I still remember our 1991 conversation about reincarnation and I hope you were right, Boss - because that means I might see you again one day. And when we do, we’ll sit on tiny stools and talk movies... ❤️ #KevinSmith

https://www.instagram.com/p/DRcqkfQDwze/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

aw! <3

I don't have much to say here, except that when I was trying to break into the movie industry, I got a lot of encouragement from Kevin. We had a number of interactions, in different contexts, during the early '00s. His stock was a little bit higher than it is now, but he was really sweet and humble and approachable. When I was just starting out in movies, he was a savvy, helpful, encouraging, and extremely generous mentor figure to a lot of young wannabe film nerds. I know that time hasn't been kind to his oeuvre, but I think as a benign '90s Movie Guy guy in the Miramax mold, Kevin typified a kind of hokey, homemade, earnest, indie filmmaking passion-project attitude that (sadly) has left him behind. While a bunch of his peers have gone onto bigger projects, and the kind of filmmaking he participated in has migrated to iPhones and YouTube, he's kept a pretty good head about him.