Both Siskel and Ebert reviewed all 3 of Kevin’s films…Praising both Clerks and Amy and (surprise surprise) panning Mallrats:

MOVIE	SISKEL / EBERT
Clerks
Mallrats
Chasing Amy

Affleck, Damon’s “Wheel” set to roll

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are set to appear in the comedy-romance “The Third Wheel,” marking the first film to go into production for their Miramax-based Pearl Street Prods. banner.

The two actors will executive-produce the indie film and take supporting-actor roles opposite lead Jay Lacopo, who wrote the script. Jordan Brady will direct.

“Wheel” also reunites Affleck and Damon with their “Good Will Hunting” co- producer, Chris Moore, who will share a producer credit for the film.

Affleck has been loosely attached to “Wheel” for some time. The film is about two friends, Stanley and Michael (Affleck), who plan an exciting evening for Stanley’s date with Diana, the girl of his dreams. But due to a series of mishaps the couple end up spending the evening with a con artist (Lacopo).

The roles of Stanley and Diana are not yet cast. While Affleck’s role is substantial, Damon will play the cameo role of Diana’s ex-boyfriend. Shooting is tentatively scheduled to begin this June in Los Angeles.

Less than $10 million is budgeted for the movie, which does not yet have a domestic distributor.

Affleck is expected to move to “Wheel” after completing work on “Reindeer Games,” which is in pre-production in Vancouver.

Remember, you read it here first!

“Ben Affleck radiates a charming, make-it-look-easy, smart-alecky screen quality that allows him to play the sort of “average guy” who isn’treally very average at all. The role he cowrote and chose for himself in Good Will Hunting is the perfect example: as a consruction worker who knows his blue-collar limitations without necessarily having made peace with them, he pulled of the high-wire act of playing abrasive yet likeable, ingenuous yet calculating, resigned yet roiling with discontent. Affleck also aces at projecting the kind of funny, hip, mordant and self-deprecating presence Hollywood thrives on. Like Steve McQueen before him, he exudes a big-galoot cool that effortlessly takes the curse off gimmicky action scenes…..”

(within a flick by flick retrospective of his roles…..which seems to have forgotten Mallrats, they mention CA with the following:)

“In Chasing Amy, he turned a heartbreaking outburst of yearning for an unattainable lesbian into a staple for acting classes and auditions all around town.”

“But despite success in mainstream Hollywood fare, Affleck is likely to stay close to the indie world. Upcoming, there’s Kevin Smith’sin-your-face Dogma, in which he and Matt Damon will play angels booted out of heaven.”

…and so on and so on with his other upcoming flicks…..

Finally…

“Clearly Affleck gets off on variety. Perhaps before too long he’ll pump up the pissed-off, wild-hare quality he possesses and play the spectacular bad guy he’s got in him. Imagine him as a coolly amoral type like Richard Gere’s villain in Internal Affairs. In the meantime, on the evidence of their chemistry in Good Will Hunting, it would be worth it for Affleck and Damon to test Hollywood’s good will and brave the sophomore curse to collaboate on either Halfway House, their project about workers in a Boston home for the mentally impaired, or Like a Rock, their buddy project. These two ought to be paired on-screen as often as they’ve got material to run with. Together, they could be a Paul Newman and Robert Redford for our scrappier, dressed-down, irony-drenched era.

Ben’s also pictured in Vanity Fair, where his feature film is listed as “Dogma”, surpisingly, and NOT “200 Cigarettes” or “Forces of Nature”.

And speaking of Afflecks, brother Casey was interviewed today on a Philly radio station. He mentioned his own bit part in “Dogma”, the test screenings in Philly, and gave a nice plug for the flick.

4. Dogma

Kevin Smith’s best script yet and certainly bound to be his most controversial also has the potential to break his name into the mainstream. If you loved Chasing Amy you’re gonna be amazed by what Smith has in store for you with this one. If there is an Alanis Morisette, Kev’s name will be among those called to be considered for Oscar consideration in February 2000.

Kevin: Kevin, Scott, and Susan Arosteguy (the producer at Criterion) put together the ‘Amy’ materials for the laserdisc, that you may wind up seeing on DVD. It was an excellent disc, imho, and it’ll be followed by the equally (if not moreso) excellent ‘Mallrats’ DVD, which is coming in the spring. For that, you have the tireless efforts of Vincent Pereira to thank. Vinnie didn’t just pick up the ball and run with it; he reinvented the ball, rocketed forward with it at Mach 5 speeds, and spiked it through the center of the earth. And while it took them three years to see it our way, I guess MCA Home Video deserves a nod as well.

I’m told the ‘Clerks’ DVD (which’ll basically be the laser edition with all the cut stuff and commentary) is bound for shelves in early May.


Bigdevman: Have you considered doing a period piece…All of the askew flix to date have been set in the present – Have you considered doing a film set in the 50s/60/70s?

Kevin: It’s funny you should mention that…And that’s all I’ll say for now.


Chiusano: I once heard a rumor that when Mallrats tested well, you believed it would be a sizeable hit (to the tune of $30 mil) and began formulating sequel ideas. The one you supposedly liked best was a “Die Hard In A Mall” scenario with Brodie in John McClane mode (Brodie Bruce Willis?). Is there any truth to this and, if so, any chance of resurrecting the idea?

Kevin: Theatrically, there are no plans at this time to sequalize our bastard step-child of a second film. However, I am going to do the ‘Die Hard in a Mall’ sequel this year in comics, for good ol’ Oni Press. We were looking for an artist, and boy did we find one in spades! I just saw his stuff today, and it’s perfect. I’m truly inspired anew. Look for artist announcement in the near future.


Radius: First, the Mallrats DVD: The date was set for April 19th and then switched to May 18th. Is this date final or set in stone?

Vincent: There were some production delays on the disc- the last I heard there was no set in stone date- it was just vaguely “summer”. This disc is going to have some features on it that haven’t been utilized before and they are having some trouble figuring out exactly how to impliment said features.

Radius: Second, the Amy and Clerks DVDs: In a post lower on this board, Kevin mentions the possibility of Clerks being released sometime in May and he responds to someone about Chasing Amy. Now I haven’t seen any release dates for either of the discs anywhere, so Are they coming? And, if so, will they be Miramax SEs or Criterion discs?

Vincent: Again, whatever info has been posted here thus far (which hasn’t been much to be sure) is what we know- nothing has been said other wise beecause these are still somewhat up in the air (although CLERKS seems to be progressing). We want these titles to be released (and LOADED with extras) to be sure- it’s Miramax/Buena Vista that’s be holding them up. As for A BETTER PLACE, again, we’re looking at “summer” but no definite date yet. It looks like the digital widescreen (1.66:1) film-to-tape transfer (supervised by yours truly) and commentary track will be done in April. As for other info, the company still can’t be disclosed officially (although some of you have figured it out heh heh), but the disc will include (for those who have seen the film) two brief new scenes cut back into the main feature, and one rather long scene is being cut out. There will be four deleted scenes in the supplement (including the aforementioned scene I’m cutting from the main feature- for those who plan to see the film in New York or East Lansing, or who saw the film at any Flixtour or festival date AFTER Point Park in Pittsburgh in early April of last year, the scene was already removed from the print), and a commentary track for the deleted scenes. There are some other features I’m kicking around in my head, but they will depend on how much space we have on the DVD since it’ll be single-layer and I don’t want to compress the film too much.

Let’s summarize, shall we? DVD Askew: Clerks will arrive this May, complete with ALL the goodies from the laserdisc transfer. This is outstanding news, since it’s the first peep we’ve heard about the film hitting DVD in any format at all. And the extras are worth the price of admission alone. Mallrats: We’ve all been hearing about it, Vincent did a fantastic job with it, and it now looks on track for a Summer release. The latest unconfirmed date we’ve heard is May 18th. Finally, Amy. We figure Criterion WILL eventually release the Amy disc as part of their new DVD collection. The problem? Criterion’s yet to adopt the 16:9 format on its DVD releases, which would be PERFECT for the 1:85 ratio of Amy. Let’s hope they change their tune before a release. So: Clerks In May, Rats This Summer, and Amy unannounced (but we bet you’ll see it before 1999 is over). Vincent’s PACKED “A Better Place” DVD will probably street this summer, but he’s not gonna hurry; he wants the sucker to be done PERFECT!