Pajiba

"'Cause we all love bush shots!"

Amen, Kevin.

I want to be Mr. Smith's fuck buddy. Failing that, I want to be his best friend. He seems so naturally funny and down to earth and really easygoing.

I have to agree that with the advent of the Internet, so many more people have access to a forum that is publicly viewed and ogled, and can have their opinions reach so many more people. It's hard to be held accountable for something like that. I think that as things progress, this phenomenon is only going to get worse, before it gets better. The way of the movie critic, the Siskel and Eberts, is fading away. It's now a deal to please Anonymous, which can never happen. The box office versus the cult hit, it is more of a battle than it ever was before. And as Kevin implies...the opinion of one person can not dramatically change how a movie does, where it's fanbase goes, and where the movie is going to make it's money.

And on an unrelated note, that bit about Kevin making that little tween cry when she attacked him....good for you. Awesome. Do that more. They fucking need it.

Who ever thinks Kevin Smith is a bad film maker should just spontaneously burst into flames.

I've just always liked him. Ever since the first time I saw Clerks. He strikes me as good people.

I love Kevin Smith. I love how he talks, I love the things he says, I love how natural he is, stripped of all the Hollywood-bullshit that seems to coat every other director in the world. Love him. And that's a great interview.

I will never feel bad about making fun of/insulting certain celebrities. Not ever.

Incoming hate from Pookie in 3....2.....1.....

Good for you, Smith.

Kevin Smith is the shit. That is all.

Smith is the most likable person in Hollywood as he seems to have not lost what made him original in the first place. Any fans of Kevin Smith should listen to SModcast which is his and producer Scott Mosier's podcast which is on iTunes. The episode The Talking Cure Part 1 deals a lot on what he is talking about in the interview and was recorded just after his month-long absence.

If you haven't had a chance, listen to the Slashfilmcasts he did in conjunction with the releases of Watchmen and The Dark Knight. Even if you didn't like either movie, it's interesting to hear such detailed breakdown by a guy who -- while rich and famous -- comes off as a normal guy geeking out over movies he likes.

And I agree with BSlim regarding Smith's talents as a screenplay writer. He knows how to put words into peoples' mouths that sound both strangely natural yet specific to him and him alone.

with age comes wisdom:

"I have a very beautiful wife, as far as I'm concerned. Why the fuck aren't I trying to stick it in her ass on a regular basis instead of reading about what people have to say about a movie I made 10 years ago ..."

So, if i may distill your expansive rants into pithy form Pookie, the question you seem to be asking is "Why are Kevin Smith's balls the everlasting gobstoppers of Dustin Rowles' world?"

I went to see An Evening with Kevin Smith at Roy Thompson Hall in Toronto this year. It was awesome. He was terrifically funny, entertaining and smart. I don't know anyone else who could have 2000 people howling with laughter for 40 minutes essentially telling them a story about how he broke a toilet while taking a dump in a friend's bathroom.

I think Smith embodies what every former and/or current socially retarded geek wishes they could be. I know I do.

Kevin Smith is great. He's fun, he gets it, he makes good films - but for me at least he is not profound or deeply moving in any way. Yes, he makes the films that he wants to make, and I've enjoyed every single one of them. That's it. I don't have that special emotional connection that people like Dustin and BSlim seem to have.

I guess, then, that I just don't 'get it.' Why so much love? Respect? Truly, peeps, I want to know.

HA! Who called it? I called it. I win the Captain Obvious Award. Thank you me.

Is this Vermillion?

Pull back, Pookie. You're gonna stroke out.

I like Smith well enough. I enjoy his movies, I thought "Zack and Miri" actually made porno almost - almost - fun. I still want to see their movie "Star Whores."

The things that give the Internets an advantage over old school media (TV and print) - immediacy and low entry barrier - combined with its ability to make yourself essentially anonymous (ie, you can spew bile with little fear of repercussions) means people should take it MUCH LESS SERIOUSLY than they would almost any other form of expression. People type stuff online most of them would not have the guts to say to someone's face, so they don't believe it that sincerely, so neither should you. Also, ignorance and dumbassery is just as abundant online as it is in real life, if not more so.

We truly do live in an age of wonder.

What I don’t understand is why my clarity is questioned every time I say something negative about Rowles’s increasingly disturbing efforts to make sure that Smith receives no criticism.

Oh and I'm laying down the gauntlet, if you don't like Kevin Smith's work and you call yourself a "Pajiban" you don't GET him, you don't get where he's coming from, you have no "street" and basically you know shit about.... NOTHING

I'm just glad Gwyneth Paltrow weighed in. "If you don't like it, that means you don't get it.

Kevin Smith has been great at times. He has been godlike. And Zack & Miri fucking sucked.

Ooh! Look at all the pretty shades of grey!

Likable and filmmaker for the ages don't necessarily go hand in hand.

Haha! Your methods don't trouble me in the least! You are a breath of fresh air, a newly sprouted flower in springtime...you're like the morning dew on a shimmering blade of grass.

Wine makes me prone to hyperbole.

All I meant was that at times what seems like unintelligible ranting actually possesses a great deal of insight, which can be lost in all that negative energy.

Not that I'd ever ask you to change, Pookie. You're good, just the way you are.

Dustin seems a bit off lately. It does seem insignificant, especially given the news I recently heard that Esteban Colbert has become a grandfather to a FOURTH falcon baby.

Like I said, I don't get it.

I love him for the "spider" story alone. And the prince stories. Priceless.

OK, I have to ask...which big-chinned cult movie director is Dustin referring to? I'm not well-versed enough in the subject to make the direct connection, but I have an insatiable craving for gossip fodder that will not rest.

I think you're both overestimating the Power of Rowles (since when do we listen to him?) and your own Power of Making Rowles Listen to Pookie on Anything.

My Skillz are just fine thank you. Ok raise your hand if you read rayliota post where she mentioned something about my social skills and I was going to try and make it a sexual comment?

The problem is that Rowles wants everyone to slobber on Smith's sack without buying us dinner first.

Ha. Kevin Smith DID buy dinner. Problem was, it was one of those specials at Applebees. It filled my tummy and tasted fine. But somewhere out there I know there is a filet mignon calling out my name.

my best guess? A guy who has great taste in music but who has a penchant for 'acting' in his own movies. The man who made John Travolta *ahem* cool again. He also tried to rape a chick in Grindhouse. Am I close?

well, i wouldn't really call Tarantino a "cult movie star".

i believe the person in question may be found at the intersection of such films as "Army of Darkness", "Evil Dead II" and "Bubba Ho-tep".

said intersection also has an auto-biography entitled: "If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor."

Yep. Free meals are difficult to come by nowadays. It's all, 'let's go dutch.' I mean, what IS that? I am gracing you with my mere presence, least you can do it foot the bill. I'm sure you understand, Pookie, what with your traditional, antiquated views of the world. You got my back, right?

Why am I the only one to question Rowles on his goddamn hypocrisy? Rowles, you are a fuckin’ hypocrite. Rowles, why do you suck on Smith’s appeasement teats.

Oh yes rayliota, I’ve got your back, but I usually start out in the front.

I'm with you Pookie, as per my earlier post. I think a large part of Smith's success comes from stroking the fanboys in exactly the same way that the fanboys would make fun of any other director for doing to their demographic. Really, he's kind of like the movie version of Seth Macfarlane: he wraps up thin stories and ham-fisted morality in gags (verbal in Smith's case) and people mistake it for intellectualism. I've enjoyed some of his movies, but only because I like verbal gags.
I agree that granting him a pass because he comes off as a laid back, cool dude (VERY deliberately) is dangerous to the mission statement of the site, although I will say that it is par for the course for a pack of liberals to judge someone's work by their attitude and intent... [ducks]

I won't judge Rowles too harshly, since he's obviously in the starry-eyed throes of bromance ;-) As a friend, though, DON'T DO IT, MAN! He's no good for you. He's exactly the kind of guy that a snarky site should shred; trying to coast by as he does on likeability.

I kind of agree with Eep and Pookie. I'm a fan of Kevin Smith, but he should be held to the same critical standards as everyone else.

While I can agree that sometimes we can get out of hand with our criticisms, that is part of the risk you take when you make a product for mass public consumption.

I just hope that in his new "I don't need to listen to the internet" phase, he doesn't begin to lose touch with his fan base. I think a lot of why his movies are successful is because he listens to his fans.

look.

to me, Kevin Smith is a decent film maker.

he does some things really well (certain type of comedy), he does other things very poorly (writing, casting and directing *some* dramatic elements).

he's made some movies i really like (clerks, chasing amy), some movies i really *didn't* like (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Mallrats) and stuff in between (Clerks II, Dogma) that semi-succeeds on his strengths and semi-fails on his weaknesses.

i just find the fact that he's regarded around here, the home of "scathing reviews for bitchy people", as some sort of exemplar auteur that's seemingly exempt from the wicked critical eye that is turned on so many contemporaries, the most mind boggling aspect (as a serious film freak) of the overall critical consciousness of the site.

it's doesn't seem to be a critic's response, but rather a fanboy's.

I'm a staunch Kevin Smith hater. Dyed in wool. It all started because I can't stand any of the characters he wants me to identify with. They're all insufferable assholes who spend the whole movie trying incredibly hard to be cool.

And then there's Smith himself. He made Clerks and Mallrats and then spent the rest of his career referencing those 2 movies. And here's how every Kevin Smith interview goes:
"Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me,...celebrity I want to have gay sex with, me, me, me, gay sex ,gay sex, gay sex, gay sex...etc"

what are we supposed to "get" about kevin smith? in my opinion he's just not a great writer, and i've seen all his movies... he's an even worse director.

Damn. I hate coming to the K-Smith bashing party late. I'm 100% behind you Pookie, and a good 95% behind eep (it'd be 100% but I've never enjoyed suffering through one of K-smith's movies).

Smith's a lazy writer, a horrible director (which will be proved when he directs something he didn't write, and is why no big studio's let him direct any of the major fan-boy projects even though he supposedly has the "eye" for them), and he freakin' panders to the coverted to keep himself "cool" and - more importantly - in the movie. What other wanker director bothered to make one, much less three, DVD films where he talks to an audience about his shit-poor work? How much would people on this site and others simply BASH Michael Bay or Brett Ratner if they DARED make "an evening with..." show? But Smith's given a pass cuz "he's one of us?"

He's a fake - on all fronts. He's not a good filmmaker and he's only keeping up appearances to suck the money out of your pockets for his innane insider nonsense.

I really enjoy most things that Kevin Smith does. He made films attainable at a younger age to me, but his most recent efforts are pale imitators to the stuff he was doing ten years ago. His two most recent films feel dated and they are filled with poor dialog. I love the man himself, but he doesn't have a clue as to how to evolve in this business, nor write from a female point of view. Once he gets a handle on either of those things, you will see his stock start to rise again, but until then, he will suffer the wrath of the angry online critic.

Switching on Seth Rogen mode at 4:04.

So...it's the commenters fault? Did I read that wrong?

I mean, come on. Does this guy actually think his movies are going to have some kind of universal appeal? Ridiculous. Of course, those to whom his movies don't appeal don't "get it." As to his being a decent guy, who the hell says that kind of thing about his wife in an interview? Ugh. Curbing your insecurities and seeing them as precisely that - YOUR insecurities - is part of growing up. This dude needs to grow the hell up.

As to the comparisons with Spike Lee - critically speaking, there is simply no contest. Spike has definitely had his absolute failures, but he has far, far more skill and creativity than Smith. I am also fairly certain that Spike could give a rat's ass what his critics have to say. And he would most certainly not rely on the likes of Rogen to bump up ticket sales.

So, nice guys get a free pass on the quality of their work? That's just silly.

The brilliance of his movies is terribly uneven.

The Bruce that I know and loved died with the Old Spice commercials, I'm afraid.

AHEM. AHEM. FUCKING ANNOYING.

The Bruce that I know and loved died with the Old Spice commercials, I'm afraid.

*sniff*

What a glorious man. I wish I had "It".

Has Kevin Smith ever explained how he could make a sequel to Clerks after saying in one of his live shows that he would never do that because he doesn't want to be considered another Pauly Shore?

I have always, and will always, love me some Kevin Smith. Nuff said.

I have always been a Kevin Smith fan..I think Chasing Amy is an awesome movie..but Zack and Miri was awful. Enough of the cheap visual jokes Kevin..stick to what you do best..dialogue..the dialogue in Zack and Miri was putrid crap...Clerks 2 and Ziri do not come close to the quality that is Clerks..Dogma..Etc...

Nice guy.....LOUSY movies.