MOVE HISTORY WAS MADE

Alright – perhaps that’s saying a bit much…

We shot the Bethany, Jay, and Silent Bob last night, and I can say only this: it was Jay and Silent Bob’s finest hour. It’s – hands down – the funniest stuff we’ve ever done, in either the movies or the Mtv spots. Mewes is SO on top of his game, it’s criminal.

I saw the dailies from the clinic (Bethany’s monologue), and all the respect I had for Linda as an actress just suddenly tripled.

The Triplets look tremendous on film. They’re a far better filmed conceit than a scripted one.

Tonight, we’re doing the Oscar twins shooting Mosier on a bus, and then it’s back to Jersey for the Easter weekend.No doubt, I’ll be checking in from there.

The guy sure knows how to make us anxious to see some of this stuff! As always, we’re excited to hear that everything’s going so smoothly.

MINI MALLRATS

To put it bluntly, they’re the first “Clerks” toys.

As Graphitti Designs moves full speed ahead with its 8-inch Big Blast toy line, expect heroes of a different sort to join the lineup. Following quickly on the hells of its Grendel, Kevin Matchstick (Mage) and Madman figures, this September Graphitti Designs add moviemaker/comic book writer Kevin Smith’s widely popular character Jay and Silent Bob (Smith’s own onscreen alter-ego) to its stable of action figures.

From their humble beginnings as brain-dead, comic-loving, layabout drug dealers in “Clerks,” and subsequent appearances in “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy,” Jay and Silent Bob have enjoyed cult-fave status. They’ve been featured in movies, comic books (Oni Double Feature #1, as well as an upcoming Jay and Silent Bob mini-series), as well as 11 short films for MTV. When it came time to give them the action figure treatment, Smith turned to Grendel and Mage creator Matt Wagner for the designs. “I did the model sheets for them since I illustrated the Oni Double Feature story,” Wagner said. “Believe me, these figures are going to be just as rude as that story was. They’re really rude little toys, very in keeping with the characters.”

Graphitti Designs’ President Bob Chapman acknowledged that these action figures may not suit everyone’s tastes, but he looks forward to capturing the same spirit of fun the characters always provide in their films. “There are going to have the same edge that the film characters have,” Chapman said, citing accessories that include cigarettes, stash baggies, and beer, not to mention a dog with an…attribute…that’s so large it can’t stand on all four legs. “They’re not going to be entirely politically correct,” Chapman said. “They’re guaranteed to offend, but they’re going to be funnier than hell. Still, we may have to get the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund helping us here!”

Currently on the fast track for release in September 1998, the Jay and Silent Bob figures, each sold separately, will sport some unique features. First off, Graphitti is experimenting with voice chips, so each character should hopefully be able to speak. According to Chapman, “Jay will say things like ‘Snoochie Boochies’ and ‘Noonch!’ [traditional exclamations from Smith’s films], maybe five different things; Silent Bob tentatively will have a button on his back and say nothing at all. (laughter) It’ll be the Talking Silent Bob doll!” Graphitti also plans to making Jay’s T-shirt designs variant-friendly. “We’re going to have a variety of decals for the shirt,” Chapman said, “one that says ‘Chronic,’ one that says ‘All About the Clam,’ and one with a marijuana leaf. We’re trying to find the best way to do that so they’re removable and interchangeable.”

Each figure will also come with an interchangeable set of hands. Silent Bob’s removable hand will hold two distinct types of cigarettes, one legal, one not, while Jay’s hands will make a variety of gestures, from the mildly offensive to the profane. “When I first heard about that, I thought, ‘This is great, an action figure that can flip you off!” Chapman laughed. “Maybe that’s juvenile, but if so, I don’t care. I love it.”

Matt Wagner is very excited to see Jay and Silent Bob embraced by the public at large. “Kevin’s really struck a neat balance with these characters,” Wagner said. “They’re such lovable rogues, you love to hate them and you hate to love them. They’re very defiantly rude, yet the mainstream is willing to lay down its normal aversion to such stuff and really get a kick out of them.”

In a recent Wizard: The Comics Magazine interview, Kevin Smith said, “As soon as they do the Jay and Silent Bob action figures, then I know I’mfulfilled, I’ve lived the ultimte fanboy’s life. Once they make the action figures I can pretty much drop dead, it’s all complete.” We’re only guessing here, but it looks like, come September, Smith may want to recant that statement.

Not really.

Anyhoo, things continue to go swimmingly. Lee shot yesterday, and boy was he genius. Wait’ll you see what the brother looks like.

We shot the Triplets and Jay and Bob last week, and there were some stunts involved. I watched a guy get launched into the air and land on his ass. Frightening, really.

Tonight, it’s all about Jay, Bob, and Bethany, in a setting the former have become quite familiar in.

I’ve gotta say again – this movie LOOKS like a movie (or film). I’ve grown far more confident with the camera stuff, and Bob’s been only too happy to accomodate. My big fear, though, is that folks are going to say “See – his old d.p. held him back,” – which isn’t the case. We just have more cash and more crew with which to try stuff I’d never thought to attempt before.

I’ve seen loads of dailies, and everything looks and sounds top shelf.

I wish it was December already.

KEVIN SMITH

Sure, the soundtracks to his films Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy have included Liz Phair, Girls Against Boys, Weezer and The Hangs-ups, but writer-director-actor Kevin Smith doesn’t consider himself a music buff. At his Red Bank, New Jersey, production offices, Smith confesses he takes as much ribbing from his friends for his love of all things ’80s as his onscreen alter ego, Silent Bob, takes about his girth. Smith is dieting to lose the extra pounds so those jokes might end, but he has no plans to give up the ’80s cheese.

Anyone who has seen your movies knows about your obsessions with underground comics, the Star Wars trilogy, mall culture and hockey. Where does music fit on that list?

Honestly, on a list of 100, music would probably be number 101. I’m not very musically inclined. My taste is actually quite deplorable; I take quite a lot of heat for it. I grew up surrounded by country music. When you’re a kid you have zero musical control. I had no ability to go out and buy a tape, so all I heard was country. And all my mother listened to was Barbara Streisand. That’s where the bad taste comes from.

Deplorable? Really? How bad are we talking?

You can’t really pin my taste down. It ranges from rap to bubblegum, from ’80s pop to the hardest of hardcore. The Chasing Amy soundtrack probably comes closest to my musical taste. Movie soundtracks have always been my favorite. They, too, are all over the board.

Were there any ’80s soundtracks that you especially liked?

I used to take a lot of heat from my friends for listening to the Nothing In Common and She’s Having A Baby soundtracks.

She’s Having A Baby! I remember buying that on vinyl back in high school. Bryan Ferry. Everything But the Girl, the Smiths cover by Kirsty MacColl, some solo Dave Wakeling…

Yeah, well, I’ve got it on vinyl, CD and tape.

There’s that great scene in Chasing Amy where Holden and Alyssa spend an afternoon exploring New York City and falling in love, all to that magnificent Hang-ups song. Have you had an afternoon like that, or a song that’s encapsulated a relationship so completely?

There is one terribly embarrassing theme song–Atlantic Starr’s “Always.” It was just one of those secrets [my girlfriend and I] shared. I still can’t hear that song without thinking of that time. Then there was that Human League song–“You’re Only Human”–that was so huge on the radio when another girlfriend cheated on me. I was working in a restaurant as a busboy. The song would come on, and I’d have to go home. I couldn’t bus; I was too depressed. Music’s real sensory like that–it takes you right back. I always wondered why people listen to oldies. Now I’m starting to understand. And our oldies are just getting old.

Exactly. I just rented Grosse Pointe Blank and Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, and it was oddly disturbing to hear my high-school favorites as the nostalgic backdrop for movies about 10-year reunions.

I know. Grosse Pointe Blank, I loved half of those songs. The others were too hip for me. I loved the one-hit wonders. When they started putting out those ’80s compilations, it was like heaven for me. I didn’t have to buy the entire Thomas Dolby album, but I could get “she Blinded Me With Science.” Or [Dexy’s Midnight Runners’] “Come On Eileen,” [‘Til Tuesday’s] “Voices Carry.” I was a child of radio.

So what was it about ’80s rap that appealed to a kid from suburban New Jersey?

I guess you get to live vicariously through rap. It appeals to the wannabe in me. Those were halcyon days for rap–Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, Public Enemy, Schoolly D. I liked the boasting. Now it’s all gangsta and violent. One of my first concerts was the Def Jam tour with Public Enemy. It was quite an experience. Here we were from the lily-white New Jersey suburbs, surrounded by an audience we only saw on TV. It was kind of neat. Everyone focused on the music. My friend had a chain snatched off. We just thought, “It’s official. We’ve arrived.”

It’s certainly nice to see other folks out there who can appreciate that fine 80’s music. We thought we were getting old there for a sec…Wait a minute…I guess we are…Oh well. There’ll always be a special place in our hearts for that wacky decade.

Now, for the request: If you’d like to send us the press items concerning the rumors, cool, but we’re not going to respond or post these articles on the page. So please, just chill on the subject, it’s not a major deal, really. And don’t ask us to tell you, cuz we just won’t. Not at this time. Thanks for understanding, folks.

Cinescape Magazine: Writer-Director Kevin Smith Reveals Misguided Efforts To Make New Superman Movie

Smith Says Producer Jon Peters Asked for a Gay R2-D2 and a Space Dog for Toy Licensing; The Writer/Director Doubts the New Movie Will be Finished in Time

For a Summer 1999 Release

CHICAGO, April 7 /PRNewswire/ — Cinescape Magazine reveals new details about the upcoming Warner Bros. Superman movie in its May/June issue. Talking with writer-director Kevin Smith (now filming Dogma in Pittsburgh), Cinescape Senior Editor Edward Gross offers a unique glimpse at the scribe’s behind-the-scenes battles with Superman producer Jon Peters as well as his version of the events that ultimately led to his dismissal from the project.

Among Smith’s comments:

“I was fascinated by my meeting with Jon Peters because this was the guy who produced Batman, and to hear him tell the story, you wouldn’t think director] Tim Burton meant anything in the making of that film.”

“[Peters said], ‘You know why you and me are going to get this project right and make a great movie? Because you and me understand Superman; we’re from the streets.’ I was like, ‘You were a hairdresser once. I’m from the suburbs. Neither of us are from the streets.'” “Peters went to the premiere [of Smith’s film Chasing Amy] in Los Angeles and the next day he said, ‘That gay black guy in your movie did an excellent job; that’s what we need in Superman Lives. We need that kind of attitude. Can’t El-Ron [the villain’s robot assistant] be gay? I want a gay R2-D2.’ I was thinking that this man is either the most progressive individual in films today or just a flat-out idiot. It’s a real thin line.”

“[Peters] was always saying that Brainiac [one of the villains] should give Luthor a space dog, something from that menagerie of his. He gives Luthor a dog, Luthor is afraid of the dog and the dog hates him. I’m like, ‘It doesn’t really lend to the story, why do you want that?’ Because I need a Chewie.’ This was during the time of Star Wars’ re-release and he said, ‘Chewie’s cuddly, man, you could make a toy out of him, so you’ve got to give me a dog.’ He’s forever influenced by the things he’s seen.”

Smith, who is best known for critically lauded independent films such as Clerks and Chasing Amy, was ousted from the Superman project shortly after turning in his script. Tim Burton took over the film, which is set to begin shooting this summer. Nicolas Cage will star as the Man of Steel.

By the way, if anyone can forward us a copy or two of the article in print, we’d appreciate it for our collection! Thanks.

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‘Clerks’ director coming in June

Independent filmmaker Kevin Smith-the director of Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy-will speak at the Ohio Union at 7:30 p.m. June 2.

He’ll give a brief lecture on indie filmmaking, then take audience questions for more than two hours. Don’t worry, he’ll have plenty to talk about: Besides his directing/acting stints, he’s been bumped as screenwriter for the new Superman movie, is shooting a new film (Dogma) in Pittsburgh, andis the guy who got Miramax to take a peek at a little script called Good Will Hunting”.

Tickets are $10 (students $5). They go on sale through Ticketmaster on April 10.