SModcast 39: Of Berries And Twigs –

In which our heroes engage in a frank discussion of inebriation, find out what happens when the Italian Harold decides Maude is a bit too old, and touch on the horrors of Alzheimer’s, how to spend your last 48 hours, the passing of Evel, the vindictiveness of jellyfish, and a future after the unkindest cut of all.

If your podcasting software of choice hasn’t already grabbed it, head over to the exclusive home of SModcast, Quick Stop Entertainment, for your FREE MP3 download. Enjoy the greatest podcast on the planet!

Seth Rogen Brings Real Heat to Kevin Smith Flick

Written by Craig Lyndall

Kevin Smith has written a new movie and it is set to start filming sometime in January in Pittsburgh, where he previously filmed Dogma. I am a die-hard Kevin Smith fan as are many people, and my expectations for Zack and Miri Make A Porno are through the roof.

Smith has signed on Seth Rogen to play Zack and Elizabeth Banks to play Miri. Smith couldn’t ask for a better situation than this one. Rogen is absolutely on the top of his game right now and he will bring a level of heat and marketability (not to mention the potentially hilarious performance) to this Smith vehicle unlike anything that Smith has ever seen for any of his movies in his entire career.

Of course, Smith had Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez on board for Jersey Girl. There were no two bigger celebrities in the world when they made that movie. But if you remember correctly, Jersey Girl had the unfortunate timing of having to follow one of the most trod upon movies in the history of cinema, Gigli, starring the two biggest pieces of his huge cast. As a result, the general movie-going public didn’t even bother to give Jersey Girl much of a chance. This was especially ridiculous considering the movie was really about Affleck’s character interacting with his father, played by George Carlin, his soon-to-be girlfriend, played by the impossibly cute Liv Tyler, and his daughter, played by Raquel Castro.

But now, there is no doubt about it. Short of Seth Rogen entering a media circus-type situation where he dates Lindsay Lohan, does a bunch of coke, and goes to jail, he will undoubtedly bring some serious, legitimate Hollywood heat to Kevin Smith’s new comedy. Let’s look at Rogen’s last few movies.

Although The 40 Year-Old Virgin was a Steve Carell project, Seth Rogen’s performance didn’t hurt that movie at all. It’s worldwide gross was over $177 million according to Box Office Mojo. After that, Seth Rogen produced and starred in Knocked Up which grossed $217 million worldwide. Finally, he wrote and played in Superbad this summer which has grossed over $167 million worldwide, and that doesn’t include DVD numbers as the release date is set for December 4.

That box office track record would have any director creaming their collective shorts. But the news is even rosier for Kevin Smith and his Weinstein Company backers. When Smith makes a movie, the budget doesn’t look big compared to the catering bill of a Michael Bay production. Smith is reportedly going to make Zack and Miri on a budget of $25 million. If Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are anywhere close to decent in this movie, they will easily be able to make everyone involved supremely rich. Or even more supremely rich in the case of most Hollywood types.

Regardless, Kevin Smith got his man and he potentially has a gateway into a post-Silent Bob movie directing career.

Matthew (Columbus,OH): Hey Bill are you a fan of Kevin Smith? He just announced his new movie will star Seth Rogen (quickly becoming a huge comedy star) and Elizabeth Banks (a very underrated and good looking actress). The best part is the title “Zach and Miri Make a Porno.” Can this movie go wrong?

Bill Simmons: (3:36 PM ET ) On paper, I like everything in that paragraph. I do like Kevin Smith – his movies always have just enough going on in them that you never feel like you wasted 90 minutes of your life. He’s on my short list of “Podcast Guests I want To Get,” along with Larry David and Hank Steinbrenner.

Now, before we consume massive amounts of turkey and other goodies, we’re gonna clean off the desktops and the inboxes with a few “leftovers” from the week that you might have missed. So, we happily present, the Thanksgiving 2007 edition of…

“…I never wanna meet anybody. This guy, though, I did wanna meet. And meet him I did, on our way out, as he was coming in. Harvey introduced us, and I immediately told him how many times I watched him say “FUCK you!” to Paul Rudd. He said he was a fan, but I didn’t take him seriously; in Hollywood, people tell you that all the time, even though they don’t mean it. We talked a little bit about “Clerks II” and I said I’d happily show him the flick if he wanted to see it. The guy gave me his phone number and we said goodbye.”

“…Thus began the most tumultuous and agonizing summer of my adult life. “Knocked Up” opened huge and kept earning, turning the stock room worker from “40 Year Old Virgin” into a massive movie star. And movie stars don’t do my flicks unless I knew them before they were movie stars. Add to all this the fact that he was the writer of a forthcoming flick that was enjoying huge advance buzz as well – which means this was suddenly a man who could not only get cast in anything, but could write it himself. Like I’d said in the email to him: he could generate his own material. A guy who could do that didn’t need me or my script. Maybe the nice things he wrote in his email evaporated the moment he enjoyed his breakout success. The dude had something akin to a movie biz Bar Mitzvah; but he wasn’t just a man now – he was THE man.”

…

“…On October 31st, while I was trick-or-treating with my kid, I got the phone call that Seth’s deal had been officially closed. I was thirty pounds heavier than when I’d started this journey, but all the stress-eating was worth it. I can lose weight; I couldn’t lose Rogen.”

…

“…Thanks, Seth – for reminding me that sometimes in this business, people say what they mean and mean what they say. You could’ve done anything you wanted, and you wanted to do this flick; I’ll be forever grateful for that.”

Visit Silent Bob Speaks or the other suspects (Facebook, Myspace) to read the whole thing and talk back to Kevin on the entry. We expect this to be the first of many internet-only missives on the process of putting this new flick together.

Don’t forget, Monday means SModcast, and the S and M in the cast are back with number 38 this week, where they discuss weight restrictions on “It’s A Small World”, and devote the greater part of the broadcast to some of the extreme videos appearing on adult-oriented sex video site RedTube. Here’s the loglines:

SModcast 38: Leeroy Jenkem!

In which our heroes embark on not only the happiest, but apparently also the heaviest cruise that ever sailed, flirt with bi-curiosity via RedTube.com, and get high huffing butt-hash.

Enjoy exclusively at Quick Stop Entertainment — Nowhere else! Some of the best free entertainment you’ll get on the web. Well, this and RedTube, we guess.