Kevin has also recently confirmed a May 7th show at the House of Blues in Los Angeles — Those can be bought direct from the View Askew website. Nice and easy.

Don’t forget, just a few dates left on the roster for the Spring Tour as well, where Kevin takes his famous one man show to a town near you. Kevin takes the stage in Portland TOMORROW NIGHT (Monday) and we believe there’s even a few tix left. The April 22nd show in DC is sold out, however. Of course, don’t forget that August 40th birthday event in Red Bank, NJ too. Gonna be a big one.

Lots of chances to get out there and see Kevin and Scott — No one ever walks out of a show unhappy. Get there and take advantage of these fantastic opportunities.

Chasing Amy (1997) – A scene that you’d expect to be at the end of the movie, but here it proves to be only the beginning. Holden spills his love for his allegedly lesbian friend Alyssa in the pouring rain, in a scene that would probably be cheesy if it wasn’t for Kevin Smith’s characteristically great and down-to-earth dialogue.

Also, DreadCentral is running a contest (for UK readers only) where you can win a copy of the Documentary “Tattoos: A Scarred History” in which Jason appears.

NOW IN STORES! GREEN HORNET #2! Written by the Great Sweatzky himself: ME! Peep out the free 5 page preview: http://tinyurl.com/LetsRollKato

Via @flamethrowerrd “get some work on Hit Somebody done?” 30 pages in & LOVING it. Heading back into it after meeting w/potential RED lead.

Everything’s coming up Milhouse: I’ve got my RED STATE bad guy (& he’s perfect) AND Etnies showed me two new pairs of sneakers! #FuckItList





Via @atthe100club “How can I buy the Quick Stop kicks?” http://etnies.com my brother: they’ll have info soon. I’m just the prototype tester.

Keep your follow going by hitting up Kev’s official Twitter feed.

Kevin Smith’s WonderCon Q&A touches on Southwest, critics and ‘Red State’

Having covered five or six patented Kevin Smith Q&As between WonderCon and ComicCon, there are things I know about the “Clerks” director that I don’t know about my closest friends or intimates.

Spend enough time listening to Kevin Smith interact with his fans — in these Q&As, on Twitter, through his Smodcasts — and you’re going to come away with possibly unwanted knowledge about his bathroom habits, his sex life and more. It’s also hard not to come away from one of these Q&A’s with a big smile, because even if you’ve heard the stories before — and Smith isn’t immune to recycling his material — this is probably the man’s natural habitat, his ideal milieu.

As he put it on Friday (April 2) evening, “You can’t come to a Kevin Smith show and be like, ‘Too much information.’ It’s like going to Disneyland and saying ‘Too many pederasts.’ It comes with the territory.”

That was a tame quote. As Smith pointed out to the WonderCon faithful, the paper name placards waiting for talent on the dais typically include a warning on the back telling them that some members of the audience will be under 18 and to keep the commentary room-appropriate. Smith turned his name placard around and showed the crowd that the warning had been covered with a white sticker before he even arrived. Con organizers know that attempting to muzzle or mute or blunt Kevin Smith is as futile as attempting to make edible Kosher-for-Passover pasta.

[In that spirit, I’ve got some highlights from Kevin Smith’s WonderCon Q&A after the break, but things get mighty blue and you probably don’t want to click through if you’re a sensitive sort…]

When you see Kevin Smith speak at a Con, you’re seeing him amongst his people, as he soaks up 90 minutes of adoration, delivering whichever lengthy shaggy dog stories fit his fancy at any given time. Friday’s highlight, instigated by a query from an earnest twentysomething straight-edge guy, was a 20-minute celebration of marijuana, including sex while high, defecating while high, ordering food from online convenience stores while high and living in Ben Affleck’s former house while high.

The punchline of this particular story? “It’s ROPEY!” I’ll let you fill in your own blanks, but let’s just say multiple things were ropey.

The story, not even the slightest bit cautionary, just concluded with a warning that pot is fine, but should never become a gateway drug.

That’s one to grow on.

But what do you expect from a man who, when asked how he’s doing, replied, “Last night I had the best sex I’ve had in 10 years. And it’s not to say that the previous 12 years of sex with the same chick haven’t been great…” and launched into an anecdote that ended with Smith pantomiming attempting to be sexy while using a FleshLight (something he said wouldn’t even be possible for Affleck). And if you don’t know what a FleshLight is, let’s just say that the adult entertainment product received at least a half-dozen shout-outs in the talk.

There have obviously been a few recent controversies in Smith’s life lately and he wasn’t exactly eager to talk about them in detail. The first person to ask about the Southwest incident elected to rescind his question in exchange for a photo op (“Come on up. We won’t talk about that fucking airline ever again.”).

Southwest came up again a little later when Smith mentioned a phone conversation he had with Arnold Schwarzenegger shortly after the writer-director was canonized in a number of media reports. Ah-nold called to invite Smith to a conference on obesity, but by the time Smith got around to believing that he was really being called by the Governor of California, the conference had passed. But even that story was being told only as an excuse for a “Conan the Barbarian” reference — “I just wanted to be like, ‘Gov, what is best in life?'” — and to take credit for California’s potential marijuana measure.

Smith was more open about his recent Twitter-driven dismissal of film critics. Asked about which of his various gigs he likes best, Smith took a step back from viewing himself as a movie director, first and foremost.

“For me, the best part of the job is being able to talk and have people hear and comprehend,” he said, later adding that when it comes to what he enjoys most, “For me it’s always going to be the part where I get to talk to the audience.”

On his critics, Smith noted, “For years, people online have been going, ‘You’re not a f***ing director, you’re no filmmaker. And now I realize they were right. They were dicks for saying it. But they were right. I wasn’t any sort of traditional filmmaker that a lot of cineastes could get their head around. They could back in the early days of my career, because I was so f***ing emo back then, right? ‘Chasing Amy’ was a total emo movie.”

As he said on Twitter in response to savaging of “Cop Out,” he’s reached the point where the people he cares most about are the viewers who pay money to see his movies.

Smith explained, “The reviews that I cared about most were the mutherf***ers who were just like, ‘I had to drive an hour-and-a-half in f***ing snow and pay $40 to a babysitter and f***ing $60 bucks for tickets to a movie and snacks and then I watched ‘Cop Out.” And if that guy’s like ‘You piece of s***. You fat f***ing jerk. I had your back with Southwest, but not f*** you.’ If he says that, at that point I’ll take it, man. Cuz that dude like climbed a mountain to go see that picture. That’s what I’m interested in now. I just want to talk to the audience and find out what they thought. That’s kinda that this is about. I don’t need an intermediary anymore to tell me how I feel and how you guys feel.”

He later said, “Film used to be a religion for me. I still love movies every bit as much now as I did then, but film is not a religion to me anymore. Now film is kinda what it is. It’s an art form and it’s going to be approached from a zillion different ways. Nobody has approached it the right way yet. Nobody’s ever going to approach it the right way, because it’s so subjective.”

Smith confessed that critics or audiences looking for him to make another “Chasing Amy” are out of luck, noting that he just can’t replicate that movie’s authenticity given how far he is from that experience. Regarding the movies he’s making instead, Smith didn’t defend the quality of “Cop Out,” but he explained his motivations.

“‘Cop Out,’ I just want to see if I can work in the studio system,” Smith said. “If I can hold my tongue, if I have to hold my tongue. I wanted to see what the mystery was.”

A few other highlights from Smith’s WonderCon appearance:

*** Smith said that part of why he prefers these Q&As or Twitter over filmmaking is the instant response, noting that he wrote the script for his upcoming horror film “Red State” two-and-a-half years ago and he’s only just getting around to making it. Of that long-gestating project, Smith would only compare it to “Race with the Devil” claiming “I just copied that movie verbatim.

*** One thing I remember from Smith’s WonderCon talk four years ago was the appearance of a small child with a strong resemblance to Jason Mewes. At the time, Smith joked that he’d have to cast the kid as Little Jay. Well, the kid was back on Friday asking when he was going to be cast. Smith’s response, “I’m a bear and that’s my move with all the cubs. ‘I’m gonna need a Little Jay.’ I’ve f***ed so many Little Jays.”

*** Think that answer is a bit salty? Try Smith’s response to a question regarding what you have to do to become a writer for his View Askew shingle: “You have to come out of my mother’s vagina and be me. A lot of dudes get it half-right. They come into my mother’s vagina. They find out very quickly that I don’t want to help them make movies. Unless my mother’s like, ‘Well, he f***ed me right’ and then I’m like ‘OK. Ben. Matt. Here’s money. Go make a movie.’ And that’s the story of ‘Good Will Hunting.'”

*** After those two answers, I should note that in the 95-minute Q&A, Smith received exactly one question from a female fan.

*** Smith also said that after seeing “The Dark Knight” and “Watchmen,” he no longer had any desire to make a comic book movie. He also applauded Jon Favreau for his work on the “Iron Man” movies saying, “A really talented filmmaker can take sh** character and make it into something. I go the other way.”

*** As funny as his stories are, Smith is at his best in totally spontaneous moments, like his Marilyn Monroe-esque rendition of “Happy Birthday” sung to an audience member.

*** Smith says he’s looking forward to when Disney has sorted out the rights to various Miramax titles so that he can pitch an extended cut of “Jersey Girl.” That pitch? “Remember ‘Jersey Girl’? Well I have an hour more of that bulls***. Let’s stir it back in.”

*** If you’re wondering about the mysterious entry “Hiatus” on his IMDB page, Smith explained that it was a pilot for Jason Lee that was never scripted and never had a network home, but would have told the story of a male porn star who leaves the adult industry behind and moves back to his hometown accompanied by his favorite fluffer. Mewes would have played another former porn star named Lester the Molester.

Tickets are now available for immediate purchase for Scott and Kev’s TWO SModcast shows in Cleveland (via Ticketmaster). The price is a TOTAL BARGAIN of $24 for each show, General Admission. $29 day of the show if anything is left. We can’t see why any would be. Hit up Peabody’s for more info.

How about the Pullo Center? Ticket just went on sale this morning so you’re now good to go and reserve. This one’s on April 26th and literally right in News Askew’s backyard of York, Pennsylvania. You gotta be there.

Keep your eyes on Kevin’s Twitter feed as well as that ad banner at the top of our site here, as we’ll be adding dates and ticket links for a while — The SModcast LIVE tour has been taking over in a big, big way. Tickets are selling fast and venues are still being added on. Hottest tour of the year! Do NOT miss it.

“…I was painted as ‘out to destroy film criticism’ last week. As you can see, that’s not what I said at all; said, instead, that I’d like to give a new batch a try at the gig. The idea seemed fair, as many of the same bloggers calling for my head have been calling for me to move over and give other filmmakers MY job for years now. When I applied the same suggestion: critical meltdown.

NEVER critique a critic, folks: they get very sensitive; as sensitive as filmmakers, it would seem.

But, as regards Roger: clearly, he felt I was in need of a public spanking. Fair enough: I’ll take it from the mighty Ebert (which sounds far more erotic than it is). I’ve been watching Eborsisk love on film since the PBS COMING ATTRACTIONS/SNEAK PREVIEWS days, before the birth of AT THE MOVIES (God rest its soul). He’s been in my life for so long, he’s kinda like a Dad. Despite his Tweet, I’ve always been, and remain, a booster.

So what else was up on Twitter recently? While as you know it’s impossible to keep up unless you’re a follower yourself, here’s a few noteworthy ones as of late. Kevin’s been on “Hit Somebody” duty lately so taking a little break over the last couple days, so we’re sure he’ll be back. In the meantime, here’s a handful of recent goodies:

Via @biaxident “would you have asked Carlin to be on Red State” The bad guy, for lack of a better expression, was written FOR George. *sigh*

Via @KRNellis “Who’s gonna play bad guy in Red state” Sent script to my top choice for a weekend read. No guesses; it’s out of left field…

Via @tom_jorgensen “Your thoughts on the Scott Pilgrim trailer?” My thoughts on the Scott Pilgrim MOVIE: http://b2l.me/hzmn2

Via @kevinvegas “Safe to say Tracy Morgans movie career is finished.” You ain’t kidding… http://tinyurl.com/YourFingersOnThePulseRectally

When the SWA shit hit the fat in Oakland that day, the only guy who called to see if I was okay was @Paul_Dini. Thanks, Paul; it meant lots.

@deadpool60169 “Might there ever be a tour for Smodcast where Bry and Walt open?” There’s talk of a bus ride from Red Bank to San Diego. On that bus would be me, @SMosier & @BryAndWalt. And we’d SMod 5nights/5venues en route to the Con.

Via @phenger “your Q&A’s still go ’til we run out of questions?” Just three hours, sir. Theaters all request the 3-&-Out running time.

Me talking to @NHL about HIT SOMEBODY and Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament: http://bit.ly/bjjgVQ Follow @VaradiBackyard for updates.

To keep up with it all, you just simply gotta follow @ThatKevinSmith on Twitter.

An evening with Kevin Smith was everything one could expect. Kevin started the night off by completely breaking the ice, by telling the audience about Bears and cubs and how cute they sound.

So last night Kevin talked about almost everything from bears and cubs, to sucking his own dick, to autographing a dude’s ass (who was there with the tattoo of kev’s signature), to working with Bruce Willis.

Hit somebody: “Will be after Red State, we will be hiring/using local Detroit talent for on and off camera use”.

Red State: “Will start production soon”.

Clerks 3: “It’s a possibility. I did Clerks about my mid 20’s, Clerks 2 about my mid 30’s, so Clerks 3 would be about my mid 40’s”.

Clerks comic book: “I think I have a few more stories I could tell there”

On the resurrection of the Clerks cartoon: “I would love to bring back the Clerks cartoon (via adult swim) but when Disney & Miramax separated, the Weinsteins didn’t take the rights for the cartoon. And have stated “We will never work with them again. So I think it’s a dead issue, but id love to do it.”

Batman & Wonder Woman: Kevin said he is working on another Batman comic, & did get asked to do a Wonder Woman story, but he has to find a story that “works for me”.

Also there was a “strict” no photo/video policy, they were taking the cameras from people taking photos, but if anyone got up and asked Kevin for a photo, he gladly obliged and no one seemed to take their cameras. These are a few things that stuck out in our minds if we remember anything else we will be sure to send it. As for us me (Movie Miguel) being from Cleveland & Heidi being from Columbus (my gf) we are planning on attending Kevin’s SModcast @ Peabodys on april 27th. We both really enjoyed the show, and had a great time.

There ya go, folks — That’s the way to write up a review and take good notes! Thanks to our scoopers for the enlightening info from this recent Q&A. Wanna see Kev live? He’s coming to a town near you. Don’t miss the chance.

DVD Talk: For big movies, like Transformers, most people really don’t care what critics have to say.

Kevin Smith: No, of course not. It’s ridiculous and it’s a waste of time to have some critic write a fucking review of Transformers or Cop Out. There’s no point. Get a twelve-year old to review it because that’s who you wanna hear from. I’ll believe a twelve-year old. If they say something sucks I’ll believe it. If a twelve-year old says something rocks, I’ll believe it. I’m not going to believe some fucking dude or chick who says, “I saw the movie for free, had a few hours to digest it, had a chance to think of my political stance on the filmmaker and the studio and had the chance to think about the people I want to push or hold back on, and now I’m going to write my fair and unbiased review.” It doesn’t work like that. I believed that forever since that was the world I was raised in. I believe to this day the New York Times review of Clerks made my career. Janet Maslin opened so many doors with that review. That review meant something. Reviews don’t matter as much anymore. Why? Because you can talk to the fucking audience. That was the only way to hear about. I don’t know, it’s weird. I’m not bitter about it, because I didn’t read many of the reviews. Even if I did, it’s just a lot of energy to spend on a movie that didn’t try to do anything besides making people laugh. That was it and that was our agenda. It has nothing to do with art except for the art of making people laugh. We had very talented artists onboard to make that happen. But for a movie like this, why even bother reviewing it? To me, it just makes a film critic look like a bully. Why bother?

Want more? Hit up DVD Talk and keep an eye right here. We’ll let ya know when more is on the way.

Director Kevin Smith, known for movies “Zack and Miri make a Porno” and “Cop Out”, is about to start work on a horror movie. The movie will be called “Red State” and will be about hate towards gays in the American Church. Smith, himself bisexual and according to some the inspiration for the character with the same name in cult-horror game “killer7”, wants to make Red State into a very serious and dark horror movie. The release is planned for next year.

Bisexual, eh? That’s a good one.