Ben Affleck’s Changing Lanes enjoyed a box office bump in Lexinton, KY., on April 16, thanks to the star’s friend and Dogma director, Kevin Smith. Speaking to a large crowd at the University of Kentucky the night before, Smith offered to pick up the tab for a matinee the next day. “Three hundred people showed up,” says the auteur. “Me and my big f- – -ing mouth.” Especially since the theater wouldn’t let him put the $1,000 bill on plastic. (He was allowed to FedEx a check to them the following day.) “‘Twas like a bad Visa CheckCard commercial,” says Smith, who recently shot a cameo as a loose-lipped forensics assistant in Affleck’s now-lensing superhero flick Daredevil. Can starving students expect similar generosity when Smith speaks at their school? “Only if there’s a new Ben Affleck movie opening that week.” Now, that’s what friends are for. -Jeff Jensen