Kevin Smith and Greasy Reese Witherspoon

July 23, 2003 2:38 PM

Proving that he is the geekiest man in film,Kevin Smith relates the tale of how he almost got to egg the house of Reese Witherspoon, and why he wanted to in the first place - a rather funny story. Would that all Hollywood ego-battles could be resolved in such a fashion.
An old link, but worth checking out
posted by GriffX (47 comments total)

What a douche bag. At least he admitted that Mallrats sucked.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:48 PM on July 23, 2003

He's always admitted Mallrats sucked. ANd he's not a douchebag, just wanting some sophmoric revenge.

he's made some FUNNY movies- relying on story and dialog in the vacuum of not having explosions and budget.

kevin smith rules.
posted by shadow45 at 2:50 PM on July 23, 2003

Kevin Smith is the most talentless person in Hollywood.
posted by rocketman at 3:03 PM on July 23, 2003

Yeah, I was a Kevin Smith fan too, once. Then I saw Mallrats. And then I saw Chasing Amy. And then Dogma, and the Clerks animated series, and then Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Now, not so much.
posted by UKnowForKids at 3:04 PM on July 23, 2003

shhhh........I'm imagining a Joey Lauren Adams and Reese Witherspoon catfight.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 3:05 PM on July 23, 2003

Ok. I have to make a confession. One I try to hide from my other geek friends.

I really don't like Kevin Smith. Or rather, he's a horrid director and a good writer of dialogue. But as a director he's horrendous.

The only movie of his I can watch and enjoy is "Clerks," and maybe because it was so new and fresh and all that jazz. But that's about it. Ok, I also laughed quite a bit during "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," even though I recognize that its not really all that great of a movie.

But, the way some people throw adulation on Smith is beyond me. Especially Dogma which I thought was one of the worst movies I've seen in many a year. I remember reading the script a year or so prior on the Internet, and thinking: "Yeah, this looks like it'll be pretty good! I'm down and can't wait!" Then I saw it on screen and was aghast at how horrible it translated, especially.. ESPECIALLY.. the atrocious acting, which, by the way, is the director's job to mold and direct. And don't get me started on the leaden pace and shot decisions and.. ugh. Nothing kills a good screenplay more than substandard directing.

But ooooh its so damned edgy because it takes shots at the Catholic Church! ZING!

I have this theory about Kevin Smith and his rabid fans. I think its because the geek world sees him as one of their own who is getting his geek vision out there, which in itself is pretty damned cool. I'm for that, hooray. The problem, though, is that he seems to be the only one out there, so these fans put him on a pedestal when there could be so much worthier people out there with tons more talent.

And I think its really a shame, because I really liked Clerks and I want to like Kevin Smith, but I really can't.
posted by tittergrrl at 3:11 PM on July 23, 2003

Argh, excuse the repeating in that entry.
posted by tittergrrl at 3:12 PM on July 23, 2003

Joey Lauren Adams...is that the blonde haired girl with the kinda odd voice? If so, I like her. I have nothing else to add to this thread though.
posted by bargle at 3:13 PM on July 23, 2003

he's made some FUNNY movies- relying on story and dialog in the vacuum of not having explosions and budget.

Smith makes movies without a budget? Wow.
posted by Stauf at 3:13 PM on July 23, 2003

kevin smith writes worse dialogue than cameron crowe. and that's fucking saying something.
posted by oog at 3:25 PM on July 23, 2003

Yeah, you know, Clerks was great, but uh...
posted by xmutex at 3:29 PM on July 23, 2003

kevin smith writes worse dialogue than cameron crowe. and that's fucking saying something.

HEY, reel that hook back in there, oog. You do not Dis the Crowe.
posted by thanotopsis at 3:38 PM on July 23, 2003

*Begin long rant about Kevin Smith that was somewhat a long time in coming*

I think Kevin Smith has really just sort of frittered away the goodwill he had after Clerks-- he made, on the cheap, a really hilarious movie with sharp dialogue that went somewhere (and the story of how he made it is almost as charming as the movie itself). He was the next Big Thing.

Then Mallrats happened. And I have a lot of friends who loved Mallrats, and I never understood why. It's got some laughs, but they're cheap laughs-- lame slapstick. The dialogue no longer has any sense of importance; the relationship discussions have been dumbed down (instead of Randal, and Jay and Silent Bob for that matter, trying to get Dante's head straight about what he's thinking trying to flip between Veronica and Caitlin, we get jokes about farting during oral sex), instead of dialogue on stations in life and our ability to change our situation, we get what technically constitutes the fuckin' FOOD COURT? Maybe we can't get dialogue about their station in life because they don't HAVE a station in life-- these aren't real characters.

Chasing Amy was pretty good, although flawed. I liked Dogma at first, but I like it less each time I see it.

Jay and Silent Bob was garbage. It was the cinematic equivalent of Kevin Smith masturbating onto an hour and a half's worth of film.

Kevin Smith's always said he loved dick and fart jokes, but it seems he made a really good movie on the cheap so he could get carte blanche to make dick and fart joke movies. Isn't it supposed to be that when you get the bigger budget, you're supposed to be more able to fulfill your artistic ambition and really make the movies the way you see them being made?

It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't so self-righteous-- everything I've read about him or watched him do makes him seem like he thinks he's above reproach (and admitting Mallrats sucked does not counter that).

I hope he can return to the form he displayed in Clerks, but I'm less optimistic with each movie that he releases.
posted by nath at 3:54 PM on July 23, 2003

Clerks and Chasing Amy. Forget the rest.

I was amazed at Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Once you've heard Jay swear a half dozen times, it's over. I just sat there staring at the screen, wondering how the guy who made such an insightful, human and funny movie like Chasing Amy, could produce such crap. Just awful.
posted by davebush at 3:55 PM on July 23, 2003

kevin smith writes worse dialogue than cameron crowe. and that's fucking saying something.

I dug Say Anything. Haven't paid much attention to the rest of his body of work, but if that was any indication I'd have to disagree with the assessment.
posted by nath at 3:56 PM on July 23, 2003

kevin smith is lame -- and far too hostile and self-loathing (which he inverts into his outsize persona) to be much fun.
posted by donkeyschlong at 4:04 PM on July 23, 2003

If you look up the words chode or overrated in Webster's dictionary, it will say:

See: Smith, Kevin



The article was kinda funny though.
posted by dhoyt at 4:29 PM on July 23, 2003

Say Anything is the God, there is no God but Say Anything and Chasing Amy is its prophet.

Back, heathens!
posted by signal at 4:31 PM on July 23, 2003

Shannon.Dougherty.in.the.elevator.sex.
posted by billsaysthis at 4:34 PM on July 23, 2003

how can you compare the two? that's ridiculous.
posted by luriete at 4:34 PM on July 23, 2003

i liked clerks, but after i went to school for film and began seeing better quality films, it was hard for me to go back to something that was so poorly shot and put together. once you see sunrise (or, being fair here, stranger than paradise or careful) it's hard to go back to something where visual talent is defined by the number of times the camera is appropriately placed.

that said, kevin smith is kind of a gateway drug. while his films aren't that great, he is open enough about his influences that the people who really love him may eventually branch out into the superior filmmakers who he acknowledges as influences, like hal hartley or jim jarmusch. and his heart at least appears to be in the right place, which is more than you can say for neil labute.
posted by pxe2000 at 4:43 PM on July 23, 2003

I like Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back was so-so, but I thought it had some funny bits. Mallrats sucks.

An Evening with Kevin Smith was entertaining and fun, but way too long.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:44 PM on July 23, 2003

you guys are all nuts. the fact that Kevin Smith "admits" that Mallrats sucks is just another reason to love it more. it's the only one of his movies that hits the mark.

Mallrats = A+
Dogma = B+
Clerks = B
Chasing Amy = D+
Jay/Silent Bob = F-

Kevin Smith = hooray!

at least he seems a bit more human than other smarmy writer/director pricks.
posted by mrgrimm at 4:49 PM on July 23, 2003

wtf! I liked mallrats!
posted by delmoi at 4:50 PM on July 23, 2003

I hated Mall Rats the first time I saw it. I thought it was better when I saw it on DVD. I thought the original direction for the film (which you get a taste of in some of the out takes) was much better than what ended up on the screen.

The studios came to him and said give us Animal House. He tried to comply, but he wasn't any good at that kind of thing.

Clerks is OK. I never understood all the praise that was dumped on that. It has it's moments, but mostly it's a little funny and kind of boring.

I loved Chasing Amy. I like it less on repeated viewings, but it's still worth seeing. Conversely, I didn't like Dogma much the first time I saw it. Expectations were too high, and it couldn't possibly deliver on its promise. I like it more on repeated viewings.

Jay and Silent Bob was a total wank fest. Somebody gave him the budget to go produce a wank fest though, so I say good for him.
posted by willnot at 4:51 PM on July 23, 2003

Shannon.Dougherty.in.the.elevator.sex.

Yeah, and then Jason Lee's little "just got some action" dance. Come on now, that was funny.
posted by Ty Webb at 4:54 PM on July 23, 2003

You know what would really make this thread complete? If somebody posted a comment about how Kevin Smith hasn't done anything good since Clerks. That perspective has really been underrepresented so far.
posted by moss at 5:13 PM on July 23, 2003

moss: how much of it is that he hasn't done anything good since clerks, and how much of it is that we've grown as audiences since then?
posted by pxe2000 at 5:36 PM on July 23, 2003

Kevin Smith hasn't done anything good since Clerks.

Oh, and it doesn't seem like he's done any growing. The original vision for Mallrats and the deleted scenes on the DVD are damning. I thought Chasing Amy approached an interesting mature topic in a poorly conceived immature fashion. Dogma deals with Catholicism with a poo monster. And all his films are just references to each other and dirty words. His writing seems to have a target audience of 13 year olds. His love of his own writing and his childish Hollywood story - he doesn't seem like he's ever going to "grow" and mature. So I don't get the love of Kevin Smith.

But the main comment I wanted to represent is that Kevin Smith hasn't done anything good since Clerks.
posted by daedsiluap at 6:03 PM on July 23, 2003

Like anyone cares, but...

Great: Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma

OK: Mallrats

Really Sucked: J & SB SB, Animated Clerks
posted by kfury at 6:08 PM on July 23, 2003

OK: Clerks wasn't great. You can't demean Smith's directing and praise Clerks. Clerks was to movies what page-a-day calendars are to literature. Not to say it wasn't amusing, as page-a-day calenders can be, but it didn't come together as a movie for me at all. And not that I have a bug up my butt that every movie must conform to a certain style of filmmaking, or that I'm a real plothead, but it was just so lackadaisical and, for me, character-deficient that I couldn't flow with it.

Again: Not that I didn't laugh. But to me, it was a bunch of skits, not a story.
posted by blueshammer at 6:23 PM on July 23, 2003

"Kevin Smith hasn't done anything good since Clerks."

But, somehow me still manages to be rich, famous, happy, and living life large. If Hollywood gave you millions of dollars and told you to just write and direct whatever movie you wanted, you would......??? Probably beg off and explain to them that you felt too many people thought you sucked as a director?

People pay him big bucks. And they don't ask him to sell out. Quite the contray. What's he suppose to do? Stop taking money to do whatever he wants?
posted by y6y6y6 at 6:29 PM on July 23, 2003

But, somehow me still manages to be rich, famous, happy, and living life large. If Hollywood gave you millions of dollars and told you to just write and direct whatever movie you wanted, you would......??? Probably beg off and explain to them that you felt too many people thought you sucked as a director?

There are many rich and famous people who are just not very good at what they do, and I reserve the right to criticize them for it.

It's great that Smith hasn't sold out and all, but some sort of growth as a filmmaker might be expected; instead, we get a thirtysomething who loves dick jokes and has something against Paul Thomas Anderson.
posted by nath at 7:19 PM on July 23, 2003

It is pretty amazing that he can make the films he does, and say what he does, publicly, and still make movies that have big stars in them. Have to respect that. He's, like, the Bizarro McG.
posted by drinkcoffee at 7:53 PM on July 23, 2003

sorry, i stand by my statement. say anything was pretty good, but i swear. i can't even watch crowe's dreck these days. same with kevin smith, but to a much larger extent.

"feck you!"
"did she just say feck?"

dead.
posted by oog at 8:09 PM on July 23, 2003

I find it interesting how almost everyone in here loves one or two of his films and hates the rest.

Me, I liked Dogma.

I haven't seen the rest save for Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, but I didn't really like them very much. I kept expecting them to be like Dogma but they came nowhere near it.

Maybe I like Dogma so much because it was the first Smith film I saw. And that makes me wonder—the Smith film you like the most—was it the first one you saw?
posted by bwg at 8:22 PM on July 23, 2003

He's, like, the Bizarro McG.

McG, with his frathouse predisposition and deliberately booby ouevre, is more akin to Brett Ratner. I'm okay with McG. Ratner, not so much.

Kevin Smith, with his airs and deliberately poopy oeuvre, is more akin to John Waters. I care for neither of them.
posted by highindustrial at 8:40 PM on July 23, 2003

[At least I spelled oeuvre correctly ... the second time.]
posted by highindustrial at 8:43 PM on July 23, 2003

" but some sort of growth as a filmmaker might be expected"

From Kevin Smith? Why? To please you? He wants to make comic books. And tell dick jokes. And egg Reese.

Something tells me he's not real broken up over your biting critique of his "growth as a film maker". You better be careful, he might egg you.
posted by y6y6y6 at 8:46 PM on July 23, 2003

Well, ya know Moss...I hate to be the loner in the crowd...a Silent Bob, if you will, of opine...but, Kevin Smith hasn't done anything good since Clerks.

There, I've taken the stand. It's unpopular, I know...but I feel brave enough to admit it.
posted by dejah420 at 10:05 PM on July 23, 2003

Something tells me he's not real broken up over your biting critique of his "growth as a film maker".

I don't do it to hurt his feelings, I do it to decide what I think is good and what isn't.

What's wrong with that? And what's wrong with voicing opinions?
posted by nath at 12:22 AM on July 24, 2003

Clerks sucks. Its painful to watch. Woo, he shot it in black and white! That doesn't make it good.
posted by Orange Goblin at 12:31 AM on July 24, 2003

Bah, I like Kevin Smith. I loved Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma, liked Mallrats, and laughed my ass off at Jay and Silent Bob.

And I think Kevin Smith is a trip. He reminds me of my friends and I'd much rather watch a movie made by someone like my friends than the typical Hollywood schmucks.
posted by SuzySmith at 12:58 AM on July 24, 2003

This thread is bordering on pathetic. There has been all of two posts actually dealing with the FPP. The rest of you are trying to be more hipper-than-thou than everyone else in your Smith bashing.
posted by PenDevil at 1:00 AM on July 24, 2003

Stauf: I meant a Hollywood budget. 30 grand vs millions?

did you really need that explained to you? smartass.
posted by shadow45 at 4:16 AM on July 24, 2003

"My grandmother once told me, 'Holden, the big bucks are in Dick & Fart jokes.' She was a churchgoer."

Anyone else make the parallel between Holden and Banky's comic book business and Kevin's movies? dick and fart jokes until he had a message (Chasing Amy).. I will admit, Dogma fell flat when it could have been massive. SHould have been. J&SB Strike Back was DEFINITELY a wankfest for fans, and not much more. But I _LOVED_ Clerks. Where else could a talk about contractor work on the death star be AMUSING?

"OOh, Navy Seals"

Oh, and seeing him give a role to Judd Nelson in J&SBSB was pretty good too :)
posted by shadow45 at 4:24 AM on July 24, 2003

regardless of whatever else he's done... and he's done a lot that I like... he earns a comedy medal for the "salsa shark"... perfect zen moment.

Vaca
posted by vaca at 6:18 AM on July 24, 2003