• Will you be one of the lucky ones to see the first cut of Kevin Smith’s “A Couple of Dicks”? Kevin reports that he’s been burning the midnight oils on getting the film in fighting shape for a test screening NEXT WEEK! If you see it, we’d love to hear from you. If you know the regular haunts that test flicks in your area, it might be a good time to hit them up for some seats. Good luck!
• If for some reason you’ve been on the fence of catching Kevin live when he comes to town, maybe this San Francisco Chronicle article will tip your scales to the right side of the equation. Here’s a snippet:

  The answer was apparent Friday night at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, where the event was like a fantasy camp – except instead of paying $15,000 to play basketball with Michael Jordan or hockey with Wayne Gretzky, fans paid closer to $50 to hang out with Smith for a few hours. Part behind-the-scenes Hollywood tell-all, part stand-up comedy and part Catholic confession, Smith combined storytelling, the Socratic method and moments that bordered on motivational speaking to entertain a grateful crowd.

  Smith has had about 50 years worth of career in the past 15 years, starting with “Clerks,” a 1994 art-house hit that Smith made for $27,000. He writes comics, acts sporadically and practically invented the modern bromantic comedy, where the male-female romance takes a back seat to the platonic man love between heterosexual leads. As critics started to say he was irrelevant – director Judd Apatow arguably played Oprah to Smith’s Phil Donahue – Smith connected with his fans more than ever on the Internet. Among his recent experiments: an online marathon where he answered questions on Twitter for 24 hours straight.

  The hard-core fans greeted Smith like a hero as he walked on stage in ankle-length jeans shorts (and later, a bathrobe), launching into a 10-minute story about a test screening of the critically panned “Jersey Girl” in San Francisco. After that, he answered questions from the audience for three hours straight, displaying the rare combination of politeness and raunchiness, with a lack of hubris that made him likable even when describing his own excrement in detail. It was a night of many tangents and a few slow parts, but it was always comfortable.

  Check out the entire article over at their official site. Then, check the upcoming appearances list over there on your right and get yourself booked for Kevin’s next show in your town.

• Though the hosts for this year’s telecast were just revealed (Steve Martin & Alec Baldwin), Total Film pontificates on who they’d like to see rockin’ the Oscar mic this year, and our favorite director’s got one of their top spots in their feature on “21 Stars Who Should Host the 2010 Oscars”:

  Kevin Smith

  Past Form: Smith’s had one or two minor hosting gigs in the past, but where he’s really worked is in his live Q&As, where he takes questions from the audience. Rambling and hilarious, he has to be experienced to be believed.

  Show Highlights: Like Parker and Stone, he’d need a swear button, but he could bring on some more famous friends – like Ben Affleck – to help out with the wattage of the night.

  It would be the first ever Oscars where the host opens the event with a monologue entirely dedicated to A) anal fissures and B) anal sex with his wife. Wait Didn’t David Letterman do that already?

  Sample Speech: “That’s why you’ll never see my name next to Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Spike Lee. Scorsese speaks a lot at NYU, and I’m damn skippy no one’s ever been like, ‘I’ll suck your d**k for five bucks!'”

• “Clerks” mini-reunion alert! GameCasa got a hold of stars Brian O’Halloran and Marilyn Ghigloitti at a recent convention, where former MTV “Jackass” star Rake Yohn interviewed them about video games, “Clerks” , and more. Check out the 7 minute video at their site. It’s a little awkward watching them try and fit into the game-themed conversation, but they’re both really good sports about it. You can see how gracious the both of them are. Check it out, and be sure to catch them if they’re in your town — They love meeting the fans.
• Miramax, the label where Kevin Smith and View Askew got their start, and made a bunch of movies together, will soon be shuttered. /Film has a nicely written report. Crazy to read this, knowing how big of an indie force they were in the 90’s. For now, the studio plans to put out 3 pictures a year, though some speculate the end may come soon.

  Regarding the news, Kevin tweets: “It’s like hearing the house you grew up in has burned to the ground. I’ve now watched Miramax die twice. *sigh*”

• Ah, JoBlo sure thinks up the best stories to cover — This one, on “10 Awkward Movie Blow Jobs”, cites “Mallrats”:

  10. Stinky BJ – MALLRATS

  The actual awkwardness of this blow-job is left to our imagination as Brodie (Jason Lee) tells TS (Jeremy London) his girlfriend dumped him because he farted while she was going down on him. The epitome of dick & fart jokes

Buy Tickets…

Buy Tickets…

• Kevin’s been quite chatty on twitter the last couple of days, especially today with a mini-marathon of Q&A tweets and replies. Here’s a look at some of the most newsworthy, including confirmation of a 40th Birthday Q&A edition at the awesome Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, NJ on August 2nd, 2009:
  • Already got date w/RedBank’s vampire king, Count Basie: MY 4OTH BDAY Q&A 8/2.
  • Because you demanded it! The comic book flicks I’ve liked the best (in no particular order)
  • Via @lexica_areola “just watched MANCHILD, hilarious!” Ah, MANCHILD. Here’s a little taste of what might’ve been: http://tinyurl.com/yj99vp6
  • Via @s_spatz “Scale of 1-10… How was last nights show?” I missed a pretty big laugh line and the out wasn’t a gut-buster, but I’d say 8/9.
  • A Q&A’s only as good as the questions. To the Bay-ers who filled @thewarfield last night: thanks for some good queries. Same time next year?
  • Via @DrFACIALPhD “can’t find tickets to ur show in Edmonton.” Small room that sold out quick. I’ll be back for 3/7 Devs game, so maybe then?
  • Wait a sec – @NHLDevils have less than 5k in followers?! Puck that: I wanna double it. Follow Devs and I’ll pick 12 or more per games I’m attending. First add @NHLDevils, Jersey’s Team. Then, Tweet “I wanna worship the Devs with Kev. @NHLDevils & @ThatKevinSmith”

  Yep, that’s right — A simple follow on Twitter and you might join Kevin at an upcoming Devils game. How cool is that? Despite being a Flyers fans, we’ll take one for the team and follow the Devils too, as a sign of solidarity, in response to this tweet: “Flyers-lovers! You can do it too: add/follow @NHLDevils and you can watch a game in my box (which sounds more erotic than it really is).”

  Wanna hear what Kevin thinks of Twitter? Catch him on “Q the Podcast” (from CBC Radio) talking about his and other celeb tweets, as well.

• Stark Toons does it again with new 5 minute animation from a classic moment of SModcast. Check out “For the Love of Smod 2” at Youtube and laugh your head off. We have no idea how Stark chooses which segments to bring to life, but it just works — Brilliant stuff.
• Entertainment Weekly lists “Clerks” as #13 in their look at “25 Essential Cult Movies”

  13. CLERKS (1994)

  Kevin Smith’s debut, about a day in the life of two service-industry suburbanites, was made for $27,575. It’s hard to tell where all that money went, but the cruddy lensing and muddy sound actually enhance the experience. This spitball of nonstop scatology and pop-cult obsessiveness — what are the ethical implications of killing independent contractors aboard the Death Star? — feels like a bootleg copy of an adolescent mind. SIGNATURE LINE “I’m not even supposed to be here today.”

• Start Christmas shopping early with some signed (or unsigned) Kevin Smith books for that fan in your life — Or yourself. SHOOTIN THE SHIT WITH KEVIN SMITH can be bought signed OR unsigned direct from the Stash. You can also nab the NY Times #1 Best Seller BATMAN: CACOPHONY in both signed and unsigned editions. We highly recommend the signed stuff, of course.
• The lovely blogger of DatingIsMiserable.com has some pretty swell things to say about Mr. Smith in a recent entry.
• “Mad Men” creator Matt Weiner cites “Clerks” as an early inspiration to him in this USA Today piece :

  Earlier today, I heard you talking about how you were inspired by the movie Clerks. I thought that was somewhat surprising.

  MW: I was inspired because there’s always been this story that the machinery of filmmaking was going to make its way down to the population. And I was inspired by the fact that this guy made a movie in his basement, and it was a complete movie, and it was entertaining, and he pulled it off. My wife and I went to Paris on the world’s cheapest vacation — $319 airfare, we stayed in someone else’s apartment — and all I remember is we went to the Pompidou Centre and I was like, “Clerks is playing here. That’s incredible!”

  I found that very inspiring that, you know what? We all have these aspirations, and … just to see that that guy got off his a- and made that movie, I was blown away.

  Kevin Smith is actually a massive Mad Men fan.

  MW: Well, that’s cool!

  The other day he sent me a question to ask you …

  MW: Wow. Don will never try to fellate himself. (Everyone laughs)

• An interesting post from actor/comedian Tom Green, who recently heard that his name had been thrown around for the Willenholly role in J&SBSB — Though we never heard anything of this officially, perhaps his name was on a list of possibles at some point. On his blog, he says:

  Bummer. I never even heard about this. I love Kevin Smith. Might be time for me to find a new movie agent. One who doesn’t suck ass. That would have been amazing to be in Jay and Silent Bob… Huh…… Also, if you can let Kevin Smith know I would love him to stop up here to the web show. That would be rad. Also ask him if he knows any movie agents who are not money grubbing douche bags.

  So, there ya go. Perhaps Kevin will find a use for Green in a future project. We think it’d be a good pairing, the guy’s got a fun, odd sense of humor that might be a good match for one of Kev’s scripts. Maybe he’ll even work him in “Hit Somebody”, with those whole Canadian thing going on. Never know.

• One of our favorite Kevin-scripted articles of recent memory, this exclusive article that Kevin wrote for “The Guardian” reads like a bunch of tweets, in a way — But this is some stuff that we have never seen brought up before. Often on subjects he has never talked about (and may never discuss again). We’re running it 100% because we like it THAT much:

  How much I weigh is none of your business. I’ll talk about being fat, but that number, you don’t need it.

  Hollywood is 30 square miles surrounded by reality. It’s an industry based on froth, cheap dreams and fantasies that we can sell you for 15 bucks. That being said, if you can keep your nose clean and navigate those waters, it’s the best job in the world. Unfortunately there are a bunch of dicks in my line of work that make it so tawdry.

  Money doesn’t make you happy, but it does buy ease. Can I just pay somebody to mow the lawn because I don’t want to do it any more?

  I have a tattoo of the Mad Hatter. I got that after we shot Clerks. I’d broken up with a girl and was feeling blue so I was drinking a lot of boxed Zinfandel. My friend was like: “That’s awesome, man – why did you get it?” I said: “Because I’m always late, right?” He goes: “That’s the White Rabbit.” So I have the Mad Hatter on my arm and it has no significance whatsoever, except to remind me not to drink wine out of a box.

  The only movie I’ve ever walked out of is The Flintstones. That’s saying a lot, because I’ve sat through some utter shit.

  The only threesomes I’ve been in have never been instigated by me. One person is work enough. Two people, that’s ridiculous. Me being fat and lazy, I’m more of a watcher at that point.

  Being funny gets you a lot of places, dude.

  I own Ben Affleck’s old house. I am not Ben Affleck-rich but I am a sultan compared to who I ever expected to be. My father made less than $30,000 a year as a postal clerk. It was soul killing, but he had to support his family.

  The other day when I was getting my hair cut the girl said: “You know, there are people doing hair transplants now that are really good?” Look at the rest of me! That’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer.

  Bruce Willis is probably the most intimidating actor I’ve worked with. I find him – and I don’t mean this in an insulting way – undirectable. He has all sorts of range, but what he’s predominantly known for is playing the guy who holds his gun down by his side and saves people. How do you tell Bruce Willis to be Bruce Willis?

  Playboy asked me to shoot an erotic image. I said I’d like to photograph my wife. They were like: “Oh… ” You could hear it in their voices: “We put really hot chicks in Playboy and we’ve seen you. No way you’ve got a hot wife.” So I sent them a picture and it was fine.

  If I go to the mall, maybe five people throughout the day will recognize me. That’s totally manageable. Without those cats I haven’t got a house to live in.

  My taste buds don’t run to anything remotely good for me. The most I ever took off on the Atkins diet was maybe 50lb, but you feel like you’re going to have a heart attack because you’re eating so much meat and cheese.

  I gave up cigarettes about a year ago. I just started smoking so much marijuana that I had no time for cigarettes. That’s way better.

  The last thing I wanted that I couldn’t have? A day off. It’s a lot of work being a fat clown.

  Shooting the Sh*t with Kevin Smith is published by Titan Books, £9.99

• Kevin’s done a bunch of events of the years on the west coast, but the Orpheum gig has been noticed by the Los Angeles Times as one of their faves, given this nice little writeup today:

  Live: Kevin Smith at the Orpheum Theatre

  The onetime indie-film maverick conducts a rambling, profane and ultimately entertaining Q & A session with fans.

  Dwarfed by the cavernous stage of downtown’s Orpheum Theatre, indie film icon Kevin Smith held court Saturday night on a black leather couch that looked as if it came straight from 1994. Bathrobe clad, he took questions from faithful fans with an outing that, were it anyone but the affably crude Smith, might be billed as a one-man show.

  Here it was just “An Evening With Kevin Smith,” the latest in a touring series of lengthy Q&A’s that the auteur periodically does to sold-out crowds in venues such as New York’s Carnegie Hall or Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto. Employing the same stoned, shaggy-dog storytelling of his films (and numerous expletives), Smith worked the volley of queries like a seasoned tennis pro. Or, as the hockey-loving Smith might prefer, like “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky, anticipating the puck.

  In responses that lasted from four words to 45 minutes, Smith roamed far and wide, touching on such topics as the intimidating joys of working with Bruce Willis on his upcoming feature “A Couple of Dicks” and ordering $800 of groceries from Yummy.com while high. Typically sex-centric, self-deprecatingly honest and often hilarious, Smith’s extemporaneous ruminations had the flavor of therapy, albeit therapy for an adept showman.

  The 39-year-old Smith admitted as much backstage after the show, “It’s probably more fun for me than any of them because I just get to sit up there for three hours and talk about my life.” Smith said he doesn’t prepare for these shows, he just goes up and talks — though the Internet dialogue he maintains with his fans gives him a strong foundation from which to work.

  Some laughs are reserved for the geek-erati, but reading between the profanity-laden lines, those less familiar with Smith’s work could discern an intriguing subtext: an elegy for independent film.

  Smith was a child of Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax, a product of a unique and exciting time in the early ’90s when independent filmmakers didn’t even bother to storm the gates of studios. They just went out and made films with no names, no budgets and no plot — and found an audience.

  Smith grappled with fears of irrelevance until he finally embraced the uncertainty of his artistic direction and accepted that he might be moving from an apprentice filmmaker fueled by “brio and passion” to a hoped-for calmer craftsman.

  Meditating backstage on his legacy, Smith’s thoughts on leaving behind the kid who made “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy” could apply to the film community in general: “I want to honor that kid because I spent so long being that person, but the adult in me wants to tell that kid . . . ‘You don’t get it, you’ll understand in a couple of years, life is about shifting focuses.’ “

• As promised, Smith & Mosier follow up the jam-packed SModcast art show with a long-awaited new episode today, where the duo went back to the studio and even took some twittered Q&A to the mics:
  

  SModcast 96: Take Off That Little Hat and Be Killed! – In which our heroes turn to the audience for guidance.

  You can grab the show, TOTALLY FREE, exclusively at Quick Stop Entertainment. Fire it up in your MP3 player of choice for over an hour of free laughs — The absolute best value on the internet today.

• Bloody Disgusting (via MTV) takes a recent video of Kevin talking “Red State” — Now, we know we recently reported that he’d found funding, however that seemed to be pending some discussions back here in the States. As the guy has been non-stop busy since the UK trip, we have a feeling that funding’s still up in the air, but remain hopeful. This interview is likely a couple of weeks old. Still, we like the approach of get the cash first, and it doesn’t even have to be a lot, then start working on cast. We love this project, and hope Kevin gets the chance to make it. We’ll keep you posted of course.
• You gotta love Twitter, if even just for public exchanges like this one yesterday:

  ThatKevinSmith – Dear @edgarwright @simonpegg & @nickjfrost: Thanking you anew for the truly brilliant SHAUN OF THE DEAD – which I just watched again & LOVE.

  simonpegg – Bless you @ThatKevinSmith for your kind words. You taught us it was okay to write about the things we love. Snooch.

• On the heels of our big press release yesterday, DVD Active confirms that Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back will of course have everything the past releases have, some completists take note — You will not lose anything by making this your choice copy of the film (as you should, if you’ve got BluRay). This set also includes the brand new Amy doc, the Amy Q&A — And don’t forget, the “Clerks” disc has the first ever release of “Oh What a Lovely Tea Party”, the doc from J&SBSB. This is a BIG one, folks — Set aside a weekend when this set arrives on your doorstep. If you’re like us and already bought “Strike Back” on Blu, pass on that copy to a pal and keep the new one from your box set. Hurry up, November 17.

• On November 17th, Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases THE KEVIN SMITH COLLECTION on Blu-ray, including Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back! Both Clerks and Chasing Amy debut all-new Blu-ray bonus material including a making-of featurette, the Chasing Amy reunion Q&A, and tons more. We’re now close enough to have an official press release to share…While nothing new here that we haven’t mentioned in the past, it’s cool to see it all spelled out here — This release is easily the largest ever for a DVD or Bluray as far as content goes. Check it out:

  Three Classic Kevin Smith Comedies Now Available In One Must-Own Blu-ray Box Set!

  

  THE KEVIN SMITH COLLECTION: CLERKS, CHASING AMY and JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK

  Includes All New Blu-ray Editions of Clerks and Chasing Amy Plus Hours of Outrageous New Bonus Features!

  If You Like Your Comedy Hip, Smart and “Blu,” Pick Up This Hilarious Box Set November 17, 2009, for an SRP of $89.99 Individual Blu-ray Editions Sold separately for an SRP of $39.99

  CLERKS on Blu-ray!

  Featuring All New Blu-ray Bonus Features!
  • “Oh, What A Lovely Tea Party: The Making Of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”
  • Introduction By Kevin Smith
  • Plus Original DVD Bonus Features: Classic Commentary; Enhanced Playback Track; Intro To
  The First Cut 2004 Commentary; 2004 Commentary (with New Authoring); Clerks Lost Scene – Animated Short; The Flying Car; MTV Spots With Jay & Silent Bob; Theatrical Trailer; Soul Asylum’s “Can’t Even Tell” Music Video; Clerks Restoration; Original Auditions; Snowball Effect; Outtakes From Snowball Effect; Mae Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary With Intro By Kevin Smith And Scott Mosier; 10th Anniversary Q & A and more!

  CHASING AMY on Blu-ray!

  Featuring All New Blu-ray Bonus Features!:
  • “Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc”
  • “Was It Something I Said?” – A Conversation With Kevin & Joey
  • 10 Years later Q & A
  • Audio Commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Kevin Smith and Producer Scott Mosier
  • Plus Original DVD Bonus Features: Deleted Scenes; Outtakes; Trailer and more!

  JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK on Blu-ray!

  • Bonus Features Include: Audio Commentary with Director Kevin Smith; Producer Scott Mosier & Jason Mewes; Deleted Scenes with Intros by Kevin Smith and Guests; “The Secret Stash” with Intro; Gag Reel with Intro; Internet Trailers with Intro; TV Spots; Stills Galleries; Behind the Scene featurette; Morris Day and the Time’s video “Learnin the Moves”; Music video Afroman “I Get High”; Music video Stroke 9 “Kick Some Ass”; Comedy Central’s Reel Comedy: Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back; Cast and Crew Filmographies; Guide to Morris Day and The Time (Still Frames), Storyboards and more!

  Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, a recognized leader in the home entertainment industry, is the marketing, sales and distribution company for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Buena Vista product, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc™ and electronic distribution. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is a division of The Walt Disney Studios.

  This isn’t quite on The Stash BluRay page just yet, but should be very soon. As always we’re expecting Kevin will sign the discs — And we’ll possibly even see some chances for you to get your set signed in person, as well. Stay tuned. This is a must-own collection if you’ve got a Blu-ray player.