Kevin Smith (Chasing Amy, Dogma) and animated BATMAN guru Paul Dini are among those featured in an hourlong documentary on comic books premiering on The LEARNING Channel this Saturday night at 10.

Wow. I just got back from that. I must say, it was one of the defining moments of my life, lemme tell ya. If there’s anyone that inspires me to become a filmmaker, it sure as hell is kevin smith, so me getting to see the man talk about making movies and what he likes and shit, i’m in heaven! I wasn’t sure what to expect when going in because i hadn’t been to one of these things before, but all it really was a big Q & A session. It lasted a good 3 1/2, 4 hours. No new news on any projects that hasn’t already been stated, what i found interesting was when he talked about how he met mewes and what happened to jeff anderson. He brought along his old computer bag and said he’d give it away because he now has a new one, which was pretty cool of him. The kick ass moment of the night of course was the screening of the dogma trailer, man did it just flat out ROCK! I know i may get beat to hell for saying this, but i loved this trailer even more than the star wars trailers! It was just so damn cool! It just had great shots of everyone, funniest of course was the quick shot of jay yelling while blasting away someone with an oozie. I was surprised, I didn’t know there were that many guns in the movie, seems like alot of people had them. affleck and damon looking bad ass as ever with their wings. I caught a quick glimpse of the stygian triplets skating which i thought was cool, and the golgothon was pretty funny looking, which is what kevin said he was looking for, something along the lines of the old godzilla where you knew it was a guy in a rubber suit. overall it was really a kick ass night i think, i just thought I’d share my thoughts with you on the subject, thanks! – cyberfrogv@aol.com

“Next time we do this, why don’t you come up to my place because you guys are too fucking remote!” This quote started off the marvelous evening from KS who came down to Blacksburg yesterday for an appearance. He started off by talking about the trip down, and how he had to go through Pittsburgh to catch a flight to Roanoke, I assume, since he said it took 2 different planes and a 45 minute drive to get to campus. Then he said how we all “live like fuckin’ savages” (big laugh) especially because we didn’t have any hotels that had SpectraVision. After his brief intro, he opened up the floor to questions, but nobody was eager to go up to the 2 microphones they had setup at the front of the auditorium. With a couple seconds of pause and no questions coming his way, he said “Alright, well, thanks for having me. I’ll take my $10,000 and just leave…” We weren’t going to let him get off that easy, so after a slow start to the questions, they began to pick up in pace. A lot of the questions dealt with the comics, but there were the few “regular” questions of how he got together with Mewes, Jason Lee, Chris Rock, etc. His storytelling is excellent, and he always manages to work jokes in everywhere. (Anyone there last night should instantly start laughing when I mention the word “spider”.) He worked great with the audience, and I think for the most part the crowd was pretty polite, except for yelling out questions when people were queued up for the microphones. But he handled everything great, and talked about friendship fallouts, his relationship with JLA, the Superman script, all of which he jokingly made references to “Do you wanna talk about the night my grandmom died too??” (making light of the few ‘failures’ that have happened to him.) He also said that he no longer categorizes Mallrats as a failure, because after examining movie rentals, movie rights for TV, merchandise, etc. he was told that no movie made for under $12 million dollars can lose money. So he has that monkey off his back, and he no longer feels bad about “losing” Miramax $6 million. When asked if it would be re-released, he said “Yeah, we could put in a CGI Jabba…” To calling Mewes “Dennis the Menace with a bong”. I didn’t leave the auditorium until about 11:30, so the talk was a good 3 1/2 – 4 hours long. Afterwards he stuck around and signed autographs, I got my ticket stub and Clerks video signed (appropriately “Mike! Post, dammit post!” when I mentioned to him that I loved the Webboard over at va.c) Gotta say I hate the people that show up with 5+ things for him to sign though….Hey, the dude just flew down here and talked for 4 hours, and now you want him signing your entire collection??? But, he was great about it all, and said that he liked my Pac-Man shirt. KS, it was a pleasure having you come for a visit, and yes, next time we’ll come up to your place or see you on the screen in the fall. laters. – Mike Leiderman

The name amongest names. The man is God. Well maybe not, but damn, he puts on a great show! The guy went from 7:30pm to midnight, answering Q&A. I knew the guy was funny, but not this funny. He had this packed auditorium laughing non-stop! And near the end, he showed the unedited Dogma trailer, and it was unfreakin believable! Jay screaming while shooting an uzi! A monster that is a big pile of crap! Special FX like Affleck walking on water! And Salma Hayek, need we say more? I don’t think so. And after the trailer, he did a little more Q&A and then started signing autographs at midnight. The guy was probably still there around 1am signing stuff. So Kevin, if you’re reading this, THANKS! Thanks for coming out to the middle of nowhere and doing a great show and signing all of our stuff! And for anyone reading this, if Kevin is doing an appearance anywhere close to you, even if it entitles a four hour drive, DO IT! It’s all worth it. – Greg Melou

Kevin walked out onto the stage right on time, and was still going strong 3 hours and 45 minutes later when this unfortunate soul had to leave for a journey back to reality. In the same question-answer style that has been reported from other venues, Kevin fielded one question after another with insightful, hilarious answers. The stories of his many acquaintances were very popular with the mostly-young crowd, and Jason Mewes stories rightfully monopolized the evening. He provided the mixed audience of fans, actors, filmmakers, and others with laughs, insight, and motivation. There was an intriguing and hilarious account of Kevin’s work on the Superman script. But no spoilers here — go see the guy for yourself. And then the Dogma trailer… it was fantastic! It was really great seeing Ben A. and Matt D. back together on the screen again. All in all, a great (long) evening. I’m sorry I couldn’t hang around to get Kevin to autograph my Clearks/CA script book, but maybe next time. Thanks Kevin! – Neal Jamison

Well, I’ll be honest. I don’t think I can add much beyond what’s already been covered, but I’ll try anyway. Kevin came on a minute or two after 7:30 and went strong for four hours. He didn’t tell us anything new, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that he was a great storyteller who could turn just about anything into a uproarious spectacle. I think what did it for me was his deadpan delivery, almost like he didn’t find it funny at all. Everyone around me was busting a gut laughing, even the guy beside me who had never even heard of Kevin. I don’t know what the highlight of the night was for me, probably because all of it was worthwhile. I guess the “Dogma” trailer was the winner for one reason: I completely forgot about the outside world for those two minutes. I was in a state of pure ecstacy while watching it, and hope that as little is changed as possible when it hits the theaters. (Believe me, it won’t be making it into the theaters in its current state.) If the movie’s even halfway as good as the trailer, it’s going to be worth seeing mmultiple times. Anyway, after the trailer was shown and some more questions were answered, he stayed for about an hour to sign autographs. I got my “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy” LD’s signed, complete with some great smart-ass comments. By the time I got my stuff signed (around 12:30 AM), Kevin looked a bit worn out, but hey, can you blame him? I’d be tired after all the traveling and talking, too. (Yes, we do live like savages here, and I’m more than willing to fly to Red Bank next time.) To wrap this sucker up, I’ll say that ANYONE who even remotely likes Kevin should ride, run, walk, fuck, or do whatever to get to his appearances. He’s extremely entertaining and will turn the meager amount of money you spend to get in into an delicious orgy of vulgarity. What could be better than that? – Douglas Roark

What a show. The college I attend is way to cheap to book any as great as Kevin Smith, so my room mate and I drove the six hours it took to get there and hoped we wouldn’t be disappointed. We weren’t. He was great. His stories were some of the funniest shit I have ever heard. If you get a chance to see him, you should, and ask him about his mother cried at the end of Chasing Amy. I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t because they didn’t get together. And ask him why he thinks Al Capone was such a genius!!! All in all, it was a great evening and I would just like to thank Kevin for taking time out of his busy life to do this. he was leaving the next morning for New Jeresey, and then flying to England to record the sound track for Dogma. – Pathos

MUCH ADO ABOUT BIJOU

While Cameron Crowe labors to replace Brad Pitt in his upcoming untitled film about the music biz for DreamWorks, he’s secured one up-and-comer who might be musically well established by the time the film comes out. Just cast in the ensemble is Bijou Phillips, the 18-year old former model whose first album, “I’d Rather Eat Glass,” is getting released this week by Almo Records.

She’s the half-sister of Wilson Phillips singer Chynna Phillips and daughter of Mamas and the Papas founder John Phillips. She made her screen debut in the James Toback-directed “Black & White.” Her music career’s being steered by former ICM music head Jonny Podell and screen career by ICM’s Nick Styne and manager Janet Billig. Crowe’s not yet completed casting, but names being mentioned for the ensemble include Jason Lee, Noah Taylor, Fairuza Balk and Anna Paquin. After what Crowe’s “Jerry Maguire” did for Tom Cruise, every young leading man is vying for the role Pitt vacated. Meryl Streep, who was once mentioned for a lead, is also out.

The movie of the week is Clerks. Very funny indie film by Kevin Smith and featuring the always entertaining Jay and Silent Bob!

FACT : Dogma is not currently on Miramax’s 1999 (or early 2000) release schedule. Does this mean the movie’s not coming out until after that? Of course not. Just because a flick’s not on a release slate doesn’t mean we’re not gonna see it.

FACT : No Dogma trailer was shown along with Miramax’s other clips at ShoWest. This is also true. However, this does not necessarily mean that Miramax was at all disappointed in the film or how it looks. What we do know is that Kevin & Scott cut together a trailer that many of you had the chance to catch at the Stash Bash a few weeks ago. This trailer was done on an AVID system, then transferred to VHS. Kev himself mentioned a few times throughout the day that, while this trailer was close to the final version that would hit theaters, it needed some cleaning up and would look a lot better on film. Plus, in our opinion, there’s still a few shots in that trailer that may need to be edited down a bit (a few surprises, cuts, and profanity that will be trimmed for general audience consumption). Our opinion is that Miramax just wasn’t ready to let the cat out of the bag yet on this one. It’ll make the buzz even bigger when Dogma takes Cannes by storm in May.

MYTH : Miramax and all the execs aren’t interested in the film and have lost faith and interest in the film. This is just total BS. Anyone who says this is completely talking out of their ass, for lack of a better expression. All we’ve heard is that all who’ve seen the film, including the big guys, have been VERY pleased with what they’ve seen. This is Miramax’s gem for 1999. Don’t expect it to go away.

MYTH : Miramax is afraid of marketing Dogma and the backlash that will follow. HA! Miramax THRIVES on free publicity, and that’s just what Dogma’s gonna get. Those of you who read this website know that, for a movie that’s still quite a few months away from release, publicity for this sucker is already INCREDIBLE, even WITHOUT a trailer in theaters! This is very rare and a great honor for a film. Expect Miramax to sit back and enjoy the whispering now, and then the roars of both anticipation (from eager fans) and horror (from angry Catholics) as the film approaches release. And then, you can bet the ‘Max publicity machine will be in full swing…At least, as much as it needs to be.

TO CLOSE : In our opinion: Don’t fret. While Dogma certainly is NOT going through the traditional steps before a flick gets released, everything’s falling into place. With the score in full swing and digital effects being worked on daily, this flick’s gonna be in great shape in no time. Expect Miramax to submit Dogma to Cannes for its first public unveiling this May. Like Pulp Fiction a few years back, this film’s just gonna blow audiences away, since it really is different than anything you’ve seen before. Expect a similar track to that famous Tarantino flick (Which took top honors at Cannes that year, as many of you know) for Dogma. Once the festival’s over, Dogma will be the main topic of discussion at all those executive’s meetings, and, you can bet, right on top of that 1999 Miramax release schedule.