Q. While watching the DVD of ”Dogma,” I noticed that in the scene where Linda Fiorentino’s character is trying to convince Jay and Silent Bob to accompany her to New Jersey, Jay says ”I feel like she’s Ben Kenobi, I’m Han Solo, you’re Chewy and we’re in that [bleeped]-up bar!” Aren’t Jay and Silent Bob inspired by C3P0 and R2D2? One is tall, slender and speaks at great and annoying lengths while the other is short, fat and hardly utters a word.

Roy Chang, New York

A. Kevin Smith replies: ”From as far back as ‘Mallrats’ people have been asking me this question, and I have to admit it’s an interesting theory. However, I’d be lying if I said the similarities were intentional. While Jay and Silent Bob may suggest the world’s most famous droids, it’s purely coincidence. However, if my embracing of your theory makes you rush out and see ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ when it hits theaters nationwide Aug. 24, then may I take this opportunity to say that there has never been a more astute observation of my work.”

Take Kevin Smith’s recent Daredevil run for example. While the storyline is obviously not aimed at children, the series is Code approved, even though it includes scenes of Daredevil dropping a baby off of a rooftop and Karen Page catching a billy club in her chest. At the Wizard World convention in Chicago, Kevin Smith admitted that he changed at least one scene in his run, Daredevil giving Black Widow the “big beat-down,” a scene where the most violent acts were off panel. As Smith originally envisioned it, Daredevil would graphically be shown beating on Widow in his Mysterio-induced mind control.

Looking back, what’s the coolest scene in the movie for you?

Smith: Ummm… for me, it’s really just some really quiet, very subtle stuff. Just some nuances to Jason Mewes’ performance really make me laugh, just knowing the guy and knowing how far he’s come since we started making movies together.

The big moment for the audience is going to be Mark Hamill’s moment. Without going into too much detail, it’s Mark Hamill doing what Mark Hamill does best.

Trying to find his car like he did in “Corvette Summer”?

Smith: Exactly! You get to watch him in the ‘Vette.

Also, watching Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in very familiar roles is fun. There’s a quartet of girls in the movie who are international jewel thieves who we get to see in action in a very elaborate diamond heist scene. It sounds very hokey, but it works in the movie. It looks great.

HIGH TIMES AHEAD FOR KEVIN SMITH

Fans who can’t wait for the fall release of “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” to get their next dose of Kevin Smith can smoke him out in HIGH TIMES SEPTEMBER 2001, which features an in-depth interview with the comics industry’s popular director/writer/retailer. Smith first can into the public eye as the director of such quirky, successful films as “Clerks” and “Dogma,” and has since added comic book writer to his resume with successful runs of Marvel’s Daredevil, DC’s GreenArrow, and a number of Oni comics based on his View Askew-niverse films. Furthermore, Smith owns his own comics specialty shop, and his devotion to the four-color medium has earned him a pedestal position in the eyes of many fans. Given that his films and comics often contain counter-culture references, HIGH TIMES is the perfect venue for a Smith interview, and the magazine “sweetens the pot” with a three page primer to Smith’s Jay & Silent Bob and Bluntman & Chronic comic books.More than just the premiere journal of marijuana-related news, humor, and adventure, HIGH TIMES is a brand name that is well known to people who are familiar with – or even interested in – the counter-culture. Retailers can capitalize on this issue by offering it to fans of Smith or his on-screen partner, Jason Mewes (”Jay”), as well as to those who show an interest in underground comix and related material. HIGH TIMES September 2001 contains Adult Material, and is solicitedin the Magazines section of the May Previews.

Dogma Doc

You may have heard there was a documentary about the religious controversy that was sparked by Kevin Smith’s satirical 1999 film, Dogma. You may have also heard it won’t be included on Columbia TriStar Home Video’s special-edition Dogma DVD (due June 26) because lawyers for Disney and Miramax didn’t want it seen out of fear it might stir things up again.

If you did, you heard right. It’s called In Defense of Dogma, and Smith slipped me a copy Wednesday night. It’s a good piece, and it’s a shame it’s been suppressed. But it’ll at least be viewable on Smith’s View Askew site in late June.

Directed by J.M. Kenny, Defense is a smart, passionate, substantive explanation of what the hoo-hah was all about. (In a word? Ignorance.) It certainly rounds out one’s appreciation and understanding of the film. And it sure as hell bitch-slaps Dogma critic and media hyena Bill Donohue, the head of the Catholic League who used the movie’s allegedly blasphemous potshots to get himself loads of press coverage in ‘98 and ‘99.

Anyone reading this column has probably either seen Dogma or read the headlines. The pic is basically an irreverent send-up of religious beliefs that try to separate the essence of God’s message from what the uptight enforcers of Christianity and Catholicism have tried to intimidate people into believing over the years. Donohue said at one point that Dogma was filled with “all kinds of filthy statements.”

The plot is about a pair of banished angels (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck) looking to get back into heaven. The casting of George Carlin as a Catholic cardinal should spell out the tone for you. It’s got Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Smith, Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Alanis Morisette, and Bud Cort playing various metaphorical characters.

Dogma was originally developed and produced by the Disney-owned Miramax Films, but was put up for sale when Disney chief Michael Eisner, who didn’t want his company tussling with religious-right leaders, insisted on cutting it loose. Lions Gate eventually picked it up, although Miramax stayed involved with the marketing and publicity. Shot for $10 million, it made over $30 million in the U.S.

Don’t ask me to explain how Disney lawyers managed to prevent a Sony-owned video company from including Kenny’s documentary in the Dogma package, but somehow they did. The version that will go up on View Askew has a “beep” sound on the soundtrack whenever anyone says the word “Miramax” or “Disney,” and you can thank the lawyers for that also.

It’s not like the Dogma DVD doesn’t lack for extra features. It’s got audio commentary by Smith, Affleck, Lee, Mewes, producer Scott Mosier, and Vincent Pereira. 100 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes are included, along with outtakes, “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash Spot” (whatever the hell that means), “Saints and Sinners Talent Files,” and so on.

The doc’s talking heads include Smith, Mosier, Affleck, Lee, Rock, Hayek, Fiorentino, and a few others. Pastor and religious scholar Ken Stevenson, a bright guy, is interviewed at length.

I wish I could give Kenny more points for his visual coverage. Over and over he cuts to the Dogma crew shooting a scene on the steps of a church. Church steps, church steps, church steps, church steps. Why isn’t there footage from Cannes and the NY Film Festival, where Dogma played? Why weren’t more people who saw it interviewed? Why didn’t we see or at least hear Donohue’s voice? Why weren’t some of the other anti-Dogma fanatics interviewed, or at least shown in clips?

And why wasn’t Eisner’s view of the film at least alluded to? Or, for that matter, Disney’s history of previous hassles with rightist activists? Or statements that ran in the press about Disney’s dropping the film?

This failing is balanced, however, by the eloquence used by Smith and Mosier in discussing their two-year wrestling match.

“I thought I was doing the Lord’s work,” says Smith, who’s a sincere believer on his own time and dime. “I was really naive, I guess.” But in the opening seconds he admonishes Dogma critics by asking rhetorically, “Are you a true Catholic? Then shut the f**k up. Listen to the word of God and turn the other cheek.”

Smith strikes back with final Jersey flick
By Kerri Chyka, MUSE staff

It’s going to be hard saying goodbye to independent film’s favorite duo, Jay and Silent Bob. But they’re leaving the silver screen with one hell of a bang. “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” due for a release on Aug. 10, is the fifth and final frontier of writer and director Kevin Smith’s “Askewuniverse” series.

“There will be no more Jay and Silent Bob,” Smith said during s recent phone interview. “There will be new characters-like Roy and Silent Bill.”

Debuting with the low-budget and wildly adored black-and-white Sundance hit “Clerks,” Smith series, always somehow affiliated with the director’s hometown of Redback, NJ, continued with the surprising smash film “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.” Audiences may be getting their last taste of Smith’s Askew world this summer, but nonetheless they will have plenty to savor and remember with this highly- anticipated film.

“`Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ is a bit on the bombastic side,” claims Smith. “It looks big, feels big, plays big.”

And there’s no doubt that “Jay and Silent Bob” is a mammoth flick. While “Clerks” cost a mere $28,000 to make, and “Chasing Amy” a modest $250,000; “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is a whopping $20 million production. How many candy bars is that, Dante Hicks?

[START SPOILER] The premise of the film is quite enticing and leaves us dying to know where on earth Smith will take us. When Jay and Silent Bob discover that the comic “Bluntman and Chronic” is based on their lives, they set out on a road trip to wreck the movie adaptation when they realize they aren’t making any profit. [END SPOILER]

“It’s satirical in nature, but doesn’t go for the lowest common denominator of humor,” said Smith, who expressed disdain for the wave gross-out humor that has been manipulating Hollywood comedy over the past few years. “It (the film’s humor) is highbrow and, at the same time, lowbrow.”

While the wise-ass Jay (Jason Mewes) and low-key Bob usually serve as unique side commentators/keen observers in the first four Viewaskew films, they are the central characters of the latest.

“[Jay and Silent Bob are] two idiots at the forefront, like ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ or ‘Waiting for Godot’ but not so smart,” according to Smith.

If there’s anything to get excited about “Strike Back,” it is the enormous cast, which includes recurring characters and actors from Smith’s other films and a few out-of-nowhere surprises. The cast list combines “American Pie” –era actors with cable television, “Saturday Night Live,” with a few missing faces from the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Do you want a list to drool over? Well, here you go (take a deep breath):

Let’s start with Matt and Ben. Ben Affleck returns to his part from “Chasing Amy” as Holden McNeil, and Matt Damon plays Mr. Will Hunting one again—yes folks, his leading role from 1998’s “Good Will Hunting.” We also have teen idols James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) and Jason Biggs as the comic strip duo Bluntman and Chronic, Shannen Doherty, Will Ferrell as a wildlife marshal, George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Adam Corolla (Dr. Drew’s “Loveline” sidekick), and Alanis Morrissette just to name a few. Hell, Smith even threw in Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner from “E! News Daily.”

Some blasts from the past include Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia from “Star Wars”), and Judd Nelson (Bender from “The Breakfast Club”). [START SPOILER] And who closes out the movie? The ‘80’s pop-cheese-funk band, The Time (“Jungle Love”), whom Smith saw play live (they’re still touring, believe it or not) at Prince’s Paisley Park in 1999 and then decided to bring them into the film. [END SPOILER]

Smith film regulars and favorites in “Strike Back” are Renee Humphrey (Trisha “the Dish”), Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones), Jeff Anderson (Randal Graves), Jason Lee (appearing as both Brodie Bruce from “Mallrats” and Banky Edwards from “Chasing Amy”), and Brian O’Halloran (Dante Hicks).

Smith even cast his daughter, Harley Quinn, in the film. “I never knew how much I didn’t like child actors until I worked with my own kid,” he stated.

Whew. Are you sucked in yet?

It is pretty safe to say that (maybe aside from Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge”) “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is going to be the ultimate summer 2001 movie. Kevin Smith has already become an unexpected household name and subgenre creator, and it seems as if his latest movie will push him over the top. And no worries—he plans on continuing his career as a filmmaker, even though the Jay and Silent Bob days have winded down. And what does Smith have to say about his life as an acclaimed and much-hyped director?

“It’s way better than jockeying the register for a living. I get paid to make pretend.”