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Thanks to BBruce for the new poll topic, which you can now place your vote on. As always, please just vote once to make sure we get some accurate results! Let's check out today's news:
Yes. It's true. There was a period when Jason was wacky on the junk, hopped-up on goofballs.
The kid was born the son of an addict. That's a predisposition that's tough to overcome. But overcome it he has, as you can see by his work in the new flick. And as anyone who's run into him at the San Diego and Wizard ComiCons this year can attest, you'd be hard pressed to point to any signs or indications of a drug problem. In fact, you might be one of the many folks who affably offered him weed, coke, or a drink, and got politely turned down (he'd have turned down heroin too, but people rarely offer you heroin in life, let alone at a comic book show; unless it's Super-Heroin).
Truth is, Mewes has been clean for some time now. The incident The Smoking Gun turned up is two years old. While it may be new news for some, it's old news for most of us, and even around this site: when the arrest happened, it was all over this board for a week or so; hell, it was even brought up on the Howard Stern Show two years ago, when I was in the studio with Jen.
People do stupid shit. No crime in that. Disappointing, yes - but no crime (well, he DID get arrested, so I guess it IS a crime, technically). The true tragedy is when people continue to do stupid shit for the rest of their lives. Mewes, I'm happy to report, got a handle on his life, and now doesn't even drink. Yes - he smokes forty six packs of cigarettes a day and drinks more coffee than Colombia can export; but those are two slow-acting poisons that're sanctioned by our government, God bless 'em, so it's all good.
I love Mewes. I'm sure that's become pretty obvious over the last seven years. And I'm happy to report that he's all about sober-living now. But that period of our lives when he WASN'T is a fairly heartbreaking time that I hope you'll understand if I don't go into deeper. Let me just assure you that in the pantheon of celebrity drug-abusers, Mewes is now more Charlie Sheen and Matthew Perry, than Chris Farley and John Belushi. He's lived through a personal hell and came out the better and wiser for it. And while it's inane that anyone would waste their time, talent, and lives with drugs of any kind, at least he survived his journey to the dark side, and remained as lovable as he's always been. He may not be the sharpest knife in the block sometimes, but he's got the biggest heart.
So hats off to Mewes for beating the devil and spanking the monkey, as opposed to being spanked by it (sorry - I can't resist an easy dick joke, as my career has proven). As with all recovering addicts, he's a work in progress; but thus far, that work has been great to watch. I'm proud of him, and love him like a brother, son, and best friend.
However, let this be a lesson to you, kids: prescription drugs should be taken AS DIRECTED. If you get a wisdom tooth pulled, and you're prescribed anything with codeine, be wary of it. Codeine can lead to Vikeden (sp?). Vikeden can lead to Percoset. Percoset can lead to Oyxcontin. Oxycontin can lead to heroin. Heroin can lead to an arrest when you're driving around in a car with a deployed airbag (don't ask).
Okay, onto other stuff...
The movie continues to do well. We've been doing a million a day or over during the week, and with the four day weekend coming up, the kitty should grow even fatter. Let's just hope that 'Jeepers Creepers' isn't the surprise hit of the summer, and maybe we'll hold our own this Friday.
I know some of you get out of sorts when someone comes on here and either slams the movie or maintains they weren't wowed by it, but folks, how 'bout some courtesy, hunh? Everyone's entitled to their opinion - especially if they bought a ticket.
Same goes for the media reviews: ease up on the cats who didn't dig the flick. Like, just because The Onion poo-pooed the movie, there's no reason to trash their site or their paper. Shit, why are you reading the non-parody "news" portion anyway? It's the weakest section of the site/paper - almost as funny as the intentionally funny stuff they print because of their "No One Else But Us Can Possibly Be Funny" attitude. They've never given any of our flicks a good review, so it's really par for the course.
And I suspect that the review was more sour grapes than anything else: I was supposed to sit down with them for a solo interview while I was in Chicago, but I got crammed with more press than we expected that weekend. Rather than cancel out, in an effort to accommodate them, we asked The Onion journo to conduct his interview alongside two other journalists, round-table style. He harumphed and declined, because... well, he represents The Onion, for Heaven's sake! A round-table interview was beneath him and the paper!
Too funny. Besides - after that Denby review in the New Yorker, what other reviews could possibly matter?
That's about it for now - except to say I think I'm finally done with my press push on the flick. 'Regis and Kelly' (or 'Joan Rivers and Kelly') represented the finish line for me. I dug that appearance too: offering a subtle fashion jab to She Who Attacks What Everyone's Wearing was worth waking up early for.
However, considering the sartorial presentation of the guy who made the comment, I don't think Joan's sweating it too much.
Though is it me, or did she appear a little miffed by the jewelry crack?
Looks like no Golden Hanger for me this year.
A few of the better sound bites were "...when he walked on stage you could cut the ego like a wedding cake..." and "...the new movie sucks..."
She said that Kevin was rude to her on stage and that he was a good writer but he should leave it at that. She then launched into a whole rant on how fat people grow up unloved and without female companionship and that when they get famous the fatties get an ego, "like Orson Wells!"
And to top it all off according to Joan, Kevin (and I guess all fat men) has a hairy back and ass.
I found it amusing to say the least.
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Box Office Mojo is tracking the flick's daily box office, including percent changes in business.
Yahoo Movies reports that Jay & Bob moved up to Number TWO after Monday's box office takings. The gap between it and American Pie 2 is roughly $40,000, a far cry from the $1.5 million over the weekend! Cumulative total: Almost $12.3 million after 4 days.
This weekend, the new blood comes from Lion's Gate's "O", which we actually screened last night and dug, as well as Jeepers Creepers, which promises a return to the horror genre in its purest form. Both flicks will likely bring in some crowds, but they also cater to different audiences than J&SBSB, so expect Jay & Bob to bring in some more cash as well, especially if the word of mouth from last weekend carries on.
Best of all, we've made the name registration OPTIONAL, so, if you want to protect your nickname, you can still register to chat, but if you'd rather just stop in and check it out without a password, you can do that as well. Just input a username and leave the password field blank. Simple as that.
News Askew Chat gives you the chance to talk real time with other View Askew fans. We're working on getting some View Askew celebs lined up for some interactive Q&A sessions as well. Look for more news on that soon. Until then, be sure and try it out!
Still, it's hard to say goodbye, and Mr. Smith says he'll miss the guys.
"Oh, absolutely. I'll miss writing for Jay's character. It's great to write a creature of the id, a creature that has no filter, somebody that just speaks as they think," he says. "That's kind of liberating, because you don't get to do that much in real life. I'll definitely miss writing for him, but I won't miss putting on that coat."
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The film follows two lines that form 42 days before the tickets to Star Wars Episode One, go on sale. In those 42 days mini governments form to stave off the Police who try to shut it all down. One line forms outside of the Mann's Chinese theater and that line gets the support of dot-com money and soon becomes a circus. Another line is formed by a high school kid who gets his High School equivalency test just to stay in line. The two lines compete with each other and themselves throughout the film. The film also takes sideways trips into total obsession, from rapping Boba Fetts, to people getting trampled on the first day the toys are for sale. One group tries to sneak onto Skywalker Ranch and a fan takes his toys out to the original Star Wars locations. Uncle Owen's even in it!
The film is great, I just hope that they don't shoot themselves in the foot by not having enough time to get it on the shelves. I think this is newsworthy, I just thought that you might want the first word on it, I know you like to have insider information whenever possible.
Also, there's this piece from the International Herald Tribune, which is a combination of the Washington Post, the New York Times, and AP/Reuters wire, and the most respected American newspaper abroad.
high culture. fine art. fine film. a fine film on the surface of a pond.
i just saw what is without question the best movie of the year, 'jay and silent bob strike back.' i haven't laughed that much in a long, long time. so, karmically, kevin smith has done a good thing in that laughter strengthens peoples immune systems. so he has contributed to my health and well-being.
'jay and silent bob' is outstanding. flawed, of course, but charming for its flaws. but so funny. -moby
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First off, the day we mourn an 11.1 million dollar opening is the day I want out of this business.
Yes - first place would've been nice. Shit, it was almost do-able. But it wasn't in the cards, apparently, and that's okay. Opening to double digits with a movie this inside is a-okay in my book.
And the real tale, anyway, will be told next week. Let's just pray it doesn't repeat the 'Dogma' second week drop (51%), and instead, hold in there with a 30% or less drop.
But remove the figures and all (because, let's face it - the movie's going to make it's money back and then some; especially with video) and concentrate on what really matters...
Were you entertained?
I've been combing through the last few boards (good Lord, we're going through them quickly lately, aren't we?), and the majority of you were, indeed, happy with the flick. Some cats weren't (hey, what do you want me to say? No flick's for everyone), but largely, folks dug it. That makes us here at the home office very happy.
Many thanks to those who did double and triple duty (hell, even single duty). You're posters are waiting for you when you send in your stubs.
If you feel so inclined, hit the flick again next weekend. That'd be nice.
So please - no long faces. We've done well. I'm happy. Very, very happy.
And while it was nice to have the number one movie in the country for a night, to be honest, it didn't alter my existence. All I cared about was if you guys dug the flick, and beyond that, if *I* dug the flick.
And I did. Very much. Always have, and always will.
But now it's no rest for the weary, and right back to the drawing board. If all goes smoothly, we'll be shooting again in Feb/March - just as 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' should be hitting the video stores (unless Bob decides to go for the Christmas release).
And then, of course, there's the cartoon flick next year.
Which, if you think this movie was for the fans...
Hoo-boy, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
Sending out a huge thanks to all of you for the amazing support this past weekend. You already know how proud I am of Kevin, but he really out did himself this time. Under the pressure of his largest budget (coupled with even larger expectations of turning a hefty profit), he made the movie that he wanted to make. He didn't sell out to win over the masses, but instead he put his heart into making you, his fans, laugh. For this and a million other reasons he doesn't need to top the box office to be #1 in my book.
Love, Jennifer
And like those other services, from time to time we'll be choosing one of our paying subscribers to win a mess of goodies. ZEN is excited to announce the first such prize giveaway will give you a big pool of items related to filmmaker and comic writer Kevin Smith. The prizes include:
- A JAY & SILENT BOB logo movie poster
- A J&SB logo T-shirt
- A pair of J&SB action figures
- A Mooby baseball cap just like Kevin is known to wear
- A Mooby beanie baby toy
- A Buddy Christ statuette
- A CLERKS open/close store sign
- A signed copy of CLERKS: THE COMIC BOOK
- The DAREDEVIL: VISIONARIES trade paperback featuring an intro from Ben Affleck
- The CHASING DOGMA trade paperback
and last but not least
- The CLERKS: UNCENSORED DVD featuring the complete animated ABC series (The best DVD in the world, by the way... If not
just for the simple fact that ZEN is mentioned by name on the audio commentary track...)
If you're one of the 400 or so people who've already subscribed, you rule; sit back and wait until issue #491 on September 11th and keep your fingers crossed that we draw your name. And if you haven't yet subscribed, well, the odds are still pretty darn good, and you'll be giving a much-needed shot in the arm to a service we hope you'd agree is worth it.
And if you haven't signed up, well, what are you waiting for? There is no set price on the donation - I've suggested $6 a year, but readers have been sending in anything from $6 to $200. Our preferred method of payment is via check or money order made out to Sean Jordan sent to ZEN's new headquarters at 24360 Vista Hills Road, Valencia, CA, 91355. Or if you'd prefer, you can click over to the www.ZENtertainment.com website and click on the AMAZON or PAYPAL logos you'll see right up front to securely contribute via credit card or other means.
And that's that! Remember, ZEN remains a free service and not subscribing will in no way affect you receiving issues in the future, trusted we figure some other way to keep the lights on around here. Times are tough in the advertising, freelancing, and dot.com world and your assistance will not only ensure ZEN reaches issue #500 but maybe even #5000.
In closing, ZEN would like to thank Kevin Smith, CLERKS: TAS producer David Mandel, and the good people at GRAPHITTI DESIGNS, ONI PRESS, MARVEL Comics, and DIMENSION Films who've contributed to this prize pool.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - ''American Pie 2'' continues to out-gross all challengers. Amid a weak field of new films, the gross-out comedy remained the top movie for a third straight weekend. Taking in $12.8 million over the weekend, ''American Pie 2'' pushed its total take to $109.6 million in 17 days, according to studio estimates Sunday. ''Rush Hour 2'' remained the No. 2 film with $11.4 million, raising its 24-day total to $183.3 million. Among a rush of new movies, ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' drew the biggest audience. The comedy from writer-director Kevin Smith was No. 3 with $11.1 million.
The baseball flick ''Summer Catch,'' starring Freddie Prinze Jr., debuted in sixth place with $7.5 million. The sci-fi thriller ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars'' opened weakly with $3.8 million to finish at No. 9. Woody Allen's ''The Curse of the Jade Scorpion,'' playing in far fewer theaters than the other new films, had a so-so debut of $2.5 million to come in at No. 11.
''Bubble Boy,'' a comedy about a youth with a deficient immune system, did not even break into the top 12, opening with just $2 million. Hollywood is in the midst of its typical late-summer doldrums, when movie-going trails off.
''It feels like summer is over,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks the box office.
The industry is creeping toward its all-time summer revenue high of $3 billion set in 1999, a record Hollywood should break by next weekend. While it was a slow weekend compared to most of this summer, the overall box office still rose compared to the same weekend last year. The top 12 movies grossed $82.5 million, up about 10 percent. ''Jay and Silent Bob'' drew the steadiest crowds among new films, averaging $4,014 a theater in 2,765 locations. The movie stars Jason Mewes and Smith as the title characters, who were supporting players in his previous four movies, including ''Dogma'' and ''Chasing Amy.'' The movie drew heavily on Smith's cult following, but distributor Miramax hopes it will find a broader audience.
''It's a very satisfying comedy on a lot of levels,'' said David Kaminow, Miramax senior vice president for marketing. ''Hopefully, we'll get some non-Kevin Smith fans to come and sample what we think is a great comedy.''
...
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures are to be released Monday.
1. ''American Pie 2,'' $12.8 million.
2. ''Rush Hour 2,'' $11.4 million.
3. ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,'' $11.1 million.
4. ''The Others,'' $8.6 million.
5. ''Rat Race,'' $8.3 million.
6. ''Summer Catch,'' $7.5 million.
7. ''The Princess Diaries,'' $6.7 million.
8. ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin,'' $3.9 million.
9. ''John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars,'' $3.8 million.
10. ''Planet of the Apes,'' $3.5 million.
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Many folks wrote in to say they spotted Kevin, Jennifer, Vincent, & Bryan at the Monmouth Mall last night to check out the crowds for the flick. Apparently, it was standing room only out there, and some folks even spotted Kevin buying one fan a ticket. Too cool. Kevin's also recently alluded to a possible Vulgarthon 2001 this November or December in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Alright, got some more stuff to catch up on for this Saturday update:
Also, 96.5 The Point have posted a RealMedia version of their radio interview with Kevin, which you can check out HERE. Enjoy 'em, folks!
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Sam Rubin Talks About Kevin Getting Jenn on 97.1 FM KLSX (8.23.01)
Part 1 , Part 2
Kevin Smith on The Early Show (8.24.01)
56k , 150k
We have yet to hear a peep regarding an appearance on MTV's TRL, though Kevin had HOPED to show up yesterday or today, we just have no confirmation on that. You may wanna watch just in case, though. We're not sure which coast Kevin is on at this point...He probably doesn't even know himself.
I've attached the inside of the J+Sb Soundtrack, which has some Blunt and Chronic art on it. I couldn't fit it all, but here you go! Kevin also dropped my name there.
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As always, we've got a MASSIVE update today, including a ton of multimedia, like Kevin's short but fun appearance on The Tonight Show last night (which was really fun to watch), news on the MTV2 special, more press for the film...You know, just another normal day here at News Askew! Let's take a look:
 Van Explosion |
 Jay Emoting |
 Watching Playback |
"We went all out on the apes for this movie" Guastini remarks. "There's a scene in Kevin's film where he does homage to the first Planet of the Apes. He recreated the opening of that film in his movie. I really wanted to go elaborate, so the main gorilla's on horseback was actually a full animatronic mask. Full brow movement, snarl you well name it. I knew the new movie was coming out but I wanted to have an original look to the apes, which both had a feel for the old ones, but with a new modern twist. Also for the film we had the pleasure of turning Star Wars' Mark Hamill into a character called "COCKKNOCKER" he has this huge hand and he does battle with Jay and Silent Bob. We also made a full orangutan suit that doubles for the real monkey in the film.
In addition, we created this fun over the top gag of Brian O' Halloran's (CLERKS) brain being operated on by real chimpanzees in a flash back sequence in the film. We also made some outrageous braces for actor Sean William Scott (AMERICAN PIE)."
"Only disappointment for me in the movie was that the Scooby Doo sequence was dropped a day before the dog was to be shot. The original scene involved the dog getting high and attacking Jay & Bob and getting quite horny and humping a van window. It was a fully animatronic robot Scooby Doo dog. It could bulge and move it's eyes, ear movement, talk, smile, breathe, hump, wag its tail, full working and swelling genitals, as well as move it's tongue forward so far it could touch its nose and lick it. Hopefully in the DVD you'll get to see what could have been."
If you prefer, we also offer a RealAudio streaming version, which should also suit as well and work nice for slower connections. Enjoy!
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The good news continues as reviews for Bubble Boy are starting to trickle in around the web and they are generally horrible. Check out Dark Horizons for a couple of those today. Jay & Bob is clearly the film to see this weekend, and hopefully the moviegoing public will recognize that.
You can read and contribute to our huge J&SBSB Review database over at the News Askew Forums!
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DOWNLOAD
56k Part 1 , 56k Part 2 , 56k Part 3
150k Part 1 , 150k Part 2 , 150k Part 3
Aside: Will Ferrell's appearance on The Late Show last night turned out to be a pretty poor plug for the flick, as it was mentioned only in passing and without a clip, sadly. Therefore, it's not online. Believe us, you're not missing anything. Will was funny as always, just not much of a promotion.
Finally, if you'd like to read along (or just read) a transcript of the PI appearance, you can access that online right HERE.
Wells seems to think that J&SBSB came out of his experiences and reviews of Kevin's past stuff, and seems to completely miss the point that, if ANY similarity at all, the film is taking shots at the anonymous fans who post in areas like AICN's Talkback section...They KEY word being ANONYMOUS. The flick doesn't so much skewer the reviewers who put their names on their opinions, rather, the folks who hide behind surnames as they bash peoplke. So honestly, where exactly did Wells get the notion that the film came out of HIS particular reviews and comments? We're not sure. Check out the piece and judge for yourself.
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It seems that all of you are enjoying the film, and that's great to hear. It's just such a fan-centric picture, it's easy to love. Please spread the word about J&SBSB and bring a big crowd with ya to check it out this weekend. We're sure that everyone will thank you for taking them. It's not often that a comedy delivers this many laugh-out-loud moments these days. Let's give everyone who worked so hard on this picture a HUGE take at the box office this weekend. Just four days until the official release. Speaking of that do NOT miss your chance to vote in our new poll topic (thanks to Jason for the idea.
Dimension reported strong sneaks this weekend, with theaters reportedly at 70%-75% capacity. Of those surveyed, patrons gave the film high marks, with 85% in the top two boxes and 75%-80% definite-recommends.
We've still got a TON of stuff in the inbox, some stories from a few days back that we just weren't able to get to until today, so let's take a look and see if we can get more of this stuff taken care of:
HOLLYWOOD (Zap2it.com) - When "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" opens at around 2,000 theaters, it will mark the widest release of writer-director and reticent half of the dynamic duo Kevin Smith's career. At $15 million, it's also the biggest budget he's ever had to work with, a pittance when one takes into consideration that the average Hollywood production costs $55 million. But Smith's movies have never been big at the box office, despite the devoted fanbase his View Askewniverse has garnered, especially on the Internet.
Though it was made on a shoestring budget of $27,000, Smith's debut "Clerks" cost an additional $230,000 for post-production after it was picked up by Miramax Films. Immediately creating a stir among film buffs with its distinctive voice when it was released on Oct. 19, 1994. It started with a solid $31,665 from two theaters. Ultimately reaching 96 venues, it enjoyed an extended run, ending up with $3.2 million total.
His second picture "Mallrats" opened a year later on Oct. 20, 1995, but it did notregister with audiences in the same way. Produced by Universal Pictures via its now defunct division Gramercy banner on an exponentially larger budget of $6.1 million, it was downright rejected, debuting to just $1.15 million from 852 theaters. It couldn't even double that by the end of its run, quickly petering out at $2.1 million.
For "Chasing Amy," Smith returned to Miramax and his micro-budget roots, spending a mere $250,000, though he carried-over actors Jason Lee and Ben Affleck from "Mallrats" for the lead roles. The results were his best reviews and box office yet. Going back to a platform release pattern after the "Mallrats" debacle, "Amy" opened to a solid $52,446 from three venues on the weekend of April 4, 1997. Expanding to 553 theaters at its widest point, it grossed $12 million total.
Labeled blasphemous by various Catholic groups, the release of Smith's next picture, the $10 million religious comedy "Dogma," was delayed. Miramax's parent company Disney buckled under the pressure and ditched it, despite the presence of the post-"Good Will Hunting" team of Affleck and Matt Damon. Canada-based distributor Lion's Gate Films snatched up the rights and opened "Dogma" nationwide on Nov. 11, 1999. It bowed to $8.7 million from 1,269 theaters, and went on to earn $30.7 million total.
"Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" stars Smith's most popular characters in what is understood to be their last movie appearance, at least in live-action form as they'll appear in a planned animated follow-up to "Clerks." As such, chances are they'll go out with a bang by Smith standards, likely delivering the director his biggest box office returns to date.
And with Smith's dialogue to work with, he's funny. This is an article of faith among Smith fans. Watch this film with a group of them and you'll see what I mean. As Gen-X/Gen-Y culture goes, it's not inappropriate to call Mewes "legendary."
One definition of a movie star is someone who essentially plays the same character over and over, which people are happy to pay to see over and over. By this standard, Mewes is starting to qualify. Or will qualify, I should say. I expect Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back to get lots of repeat business, which Mewes will be able to take some credit for.
by Mark Voger
Page X Writer
Same face, same slur, same flair for expletives deleted. But Jason Mewes is not Jay, the dim-witted stoner he embodies in "Jay and Silent Bob Stike Back".
Jay, the character, has come a long way since birth in a 1994 low-budget indie. Jay became a cartoon, and action figure, and a comic-book hero. Mewes, the actor, has likewise ascended. He and writer-director Kevin Smith are reviving that fossilized movie genre, the comedy team. Roll over, Abbott and Costello.
In "J&SBSB", opening in seven days, the title characters descend on Los Angeles to thwart a film adaptation of "Bluntman and Chronic", superheroes based on their likenesses. Mewes is asked to characterize who he has played in five films by Smith.
"He just seems like someone that just is really oblivios to a lot of stuff.," Mewes tells PAGE X. "It chnages, really, in all the movies. He gets his mind set on something and he just does it. Something really silly.
"Like, in 'Mallrats' (1995), he really wants to bust up the stage. He's set on doing that. That was it. Like, nothing else that came up - like, he wasn't even thinking about anything else.
"In this ('J&SBSB'), like, in one scene or another, Holden (Ben Affleck) was talking about the ('Bluntman and Chronic') movie and how they're not talking about Jay and Silent Bob - they're talking about the characters. And Jay's just sittin' there, thinkin', like, 'So, all we have to do is stop the movie and they'll stop talkin' ---- about us!' "So it's just getting there and stopping them movie from getting made, even though there was other stuff. They're always on a mission, it seems like. Always wantin' to just be obnoxious and hang out and harass people and stuff."
In the new film, Mewes is top-billed for the first time.
"I mean, it's awesome," says the former roofer, 27, who attended Henry Hudson Regional High School, Highlands.
"I was psyched when Kevin told me that we're the main characters and our names are on the title. It's been awesome. You know, a lot of dialogue, which was great for, like, a test for me and stuff. And also, hopefully, it'll help getting other jobs. I'm out there more and stuff."
Mewes says he has something better than a tuxedo in mind for the film's premiere.
"I have some new gear that I like to wear when I go out," Mewes says shyly. "So - see if I can get away with wearing that."
Er, what kind of gear is that?
"Pimp gear. Me and my friends been goin' out to, like, bars and ---- on the weekends in this gear. It's cool-lookin'. So maybe we'll try to get away with goin' with that."
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By LOU LUMENICK
THEY may be the unlikeliest comedy duo ever to appear in a movie, let alone five, but the partnership of Kevin Smith and his longtime pal Jason Mewes looks like it's finally going to pay off big.
Writer-director Smith, whose hilarious "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (opening Friday) features Smith (a.k.a. Silent Bob) and the inarticulate Mewes (Jay) as a pair of none-too-bright dopers in their first starring roles, is getting the best audience-rating scores in Miramax history.
"I've resisted putting them front and center, like forever," says Smith, 31, over a pork-roll sandwich at a diner near his office in Red Bank, N.J.
"I felt they worked best in small doses, but there's such an audience awareness of the characters. They've got a lot of good will. We're both relatively young, but not getting any younger. It just felt like if you're ever going to do it, now's the time."
Mewes, 29, and Smith made their first appearance as Jay and Silent Bob as a kind of Greek chorus in Smith's first movie, the 1995 ultra-low-budget sensation "Clerks."
Smith planned to play one of the leads, "but I decided at the last minute I'm not an actor and I couldn't memorize all of the dialogue. I still wanted to be in the movie, just in case it was the only one I ever made."
Jay and Bob reappeared, with increasing prominence, in Smith's "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy" and "Dogma."
They now have the leads in the highly self-referential "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," in which the dimwitted duo invade Miramax's Hollywood studios to stop production of a movie about characters based on themselves.
"When I saw the poster, I had to chuckle. There's Mewes, sitting front and center, and behind him peeking out are Ben Affleck, Chris Rock and Shannon Elizabeth," says Smith.
"Mewes is not the most self-aware gentleman I've ever met, but there were moments of clarity when even he realized it's a $20 million movie and it was all riding on his shoulders."
Having briefly met Mewes on the set of "Jay and Silent Bob" earlier this year, I can attest that this outrageous motormouth is the most incongruous of potential movie stars. Having a coherent conversation with the man is impossible.
"He doesn't know how to talk about movies or himself, because he doesn't think it's a big deal," Smith said. "He makes movies because he likes getting free breakfast burritos for 60 days, $200 a day in cash for spending money and free T-shirts."
Yet, Smith challenges the widely held assumption that Mewes is essentially playing himself in Smith's movies.
"Jay is a highly romanticized version of what Jason was like when I met him at age 14, when he would help me put together Sunday newspapers at the convenience store where I worked," Smith said.
"But he's really blossomed as a performer. He really thinks as the character in the moment, of course without using those Stanislavsky-like terms."
"Here's a guy who could be as big as Affleck or [Matt] Damon, but he just can't get it together. When he isn't making a movie, you can usually find him on my couch or imbibing somewhere.
"Knowing Jason for 12 years was the best training for fatherhood I could ever get. There's nothing [his 2-year-old daughter] Harley could do that would surprise me as much as that kid has surprised me.
"For a while, he was working at my comic book store [Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank], but he was supposed to open up at 11 and wasn't showing up until 1 o'clock.
"So I had to fire him from the store that bears his name. I mean, he's irresponsible to an unbelievable degree."
Smith hopes that "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" will be a hit so "somebody else will figure out a way to use Mewes.
"If you pay attention to the Internet, he has a huge cult following. This could make him the next big thing, though he's been around for seven to eight years doing the same shtick."
Jay and Bob will appear in an upcoming feature version of the "Clerks" cartoon, which was canceled by ABC last year after only three episodes aired.
But Smith swears there will not be any more live-action Jay and Bob movies.
"Look at what happened with 'Scary Movie 2' this summer," said Smith, who plans to segue into a small film based on his experiences as a father.
"I'd rather push away from the table while people still like the characters rather than make 'Jay and Bob in Outer Space' or some such nonsense."
With his new movie, director Kevin Smith says thanks to family, friends and, yes, those nutty fans on the Web
By Devin Gordon
NEWSWEEK
Aug. 27 issue — The first person you meet on the set of Kevin Smith’s new movie, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” is a guy named Ratface. He is Smith’s production designer, a job usually held by extravagant Italians or tasteful women. Ratface, ne Robert Holtzman, is just an old buddy of Smith’s. Like everybody else here. In today’s scene our heroes, played by Smith (“Chasing Amy,” “Dogma”) and childhood pal Jason Mewes, learn that a comic book based on their lives is being made into a movie—and the boys aren’t seeing a dime. At the moment, the crew is on a break.
PRODUCER SCOTT MOSIER (a film-school classmate) sips coffee while Smith smokes a cigarette and gripes about a nasty post he got on his Web site. Some guy blasted him for failing to include an actress from “Clerks,” his cult-classic debut, in the cameo-heavy new film. Smith, his accuser claimed, was forgetting his roots. “Come on,” says the director, 31. “You can say a lot of s—t about me, but that’s gotta be the last thing. I mean, look around!”
The man’s got a point. “Jay and Silent Bob,” or “J&SB,” as cyberfans have dubbed it, is Smith’s cinematic thank-you to everyone who helped make him what he is today: arguably cinema’s funniest writer about sex, certainly its most candid. In bit parts over four films, his twin creations have become minor heroes—like C3PO and R2D2, only perpetually stoned (hence the title, an allusion to “The Empire Strikes Back”). This time they’re the stars, clearing room for cameos by old friends from Ben Affleck to Brian O’Halloran, who played Dante in “Clerks.” Today’s shooting location, in fact, is Smith’s own comic-book shop in Red Bank, N.J., his hometown, where he still lives with his wife and infant daughter. Fans get their nod as well: Jay and Silent Bob embark on a voyage to stop their movie after reading bad buzz about it on the Internet.
In case it’s not clear from the screwball plot, “Jay and Silent Bob” isn’t exactly a good movie. Unlike his last two films, the straight-gay romance “Chasing Amy” and the polemical religious comedy “Dogma,” here Smith has less than nothing to say. Still, the movie is damn funny—even if the terms “snootchie bootchies” and “phatty boom batty” mean nothing to you. And after “Dogma,” which prompted death threats for its critical take on the Roman Catholic Church, that’s all Smith wants to hear. “Biting your nails, not being able to open your f—king mail—after a while, I was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we do something light next time?’ ” With this movie, he says, “either you laugh or you don’t.”
Succeed or fail, Smith is bound to get an earful from his fans—and he’s looking forward to it. It’s three months after the shoot in Red Bank, and Smith is sitting in a dim recording studio in Los Angeles, working on the “J&SB” score. Or, rather, everyone else in the room is working on the score. Smith, eating a tuna sandwich, is surfing the Web on his laptop. He stops first at the movie-gossip site Ain’t It Cool News to check out an interview he gave. Then it’s on to Smith’s home page, ViewAskew.com, where he’ll post an update on his movie’s progress.
He launched the site in 1996, and a love affair was born. Smith is a warm, chatty soul whose portly frame and sloppy clothes are the outward signs of a guy who couldn’t pull off phoniness if he tried, and he tingled at the idea of meeting some kid in Idaho who loved his work. It slowly dawned on him that it was also shrewd business. Smith’s films are not blockbusters—his budgets are tiny, and his biggest hit to date, “Dogma,” grossed just $31 million. But he always turns a profit, largely because his rabid fan base is champing at the bit by the time his movies open.
Easy access doesn’t come without a price, though. “People who don’t like your s—t will hunt you down and tell you—behind the anonymity of a modern-day CB handle. I honestly don’t mind if someone says, ‘You suck.’ But have the courage to say who you are. It’s fascinating to get a three-page analysis of your work from some guy named Wampa12.” Smith stops to take a drag on his cigarette. He’s not done. “Some days you just wanna pick up the phone, call Magnum P.I. and say, ‘Get me the address of Wampa12’.” At the end of “Jay and Silent Bob” the boys do exactly that, showing up on the doorstep of their slanderers and beating them silly. For that one, Kevin, the thank-you is on us.
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Next, hot off the presses, it's Kevin's appearance last night on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, in RealMovie! You'll of course need the latest version of RealPlayer to check this stuff out. Click below and check them all out. We're working on getting more multimedia for you, including the stuff on the premiere that aired late last week, soon. Be sure and visit our Multimedia Area at Scooping The Monkey for ALL the latest (and past) J&SBSB stuff.
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The film will be also disturbed by the company Highlight Film in Germany under the Title: "Jay & Silent Bob Schlagen Zurück". A release date of November 11, 2001 is set. More info can be found HERE.
It appears that most of the 1000+ theaters who've got the J&SBSB preview screening this Saturday night will show "The Others" afterwards. We're hearing GREAT things about that flick, so there's your chance to see two really cool flicks for one price. A fantastic deal. Check with your local theaters and ask them about the screening! We're receiving reports of screenings selling out all over the country, so get those tickets TODAY! Yahoo! probobly has the best database for finding sneak preview locations for Saturday. Most seem to be showing between 7 and 7:30. Movietickets.com is another nice spot to look for such info. Hopefully you can all catch the flick early this week, and will go again to see all the jokes and references you missed again NEXT weekend.
Kidding.
But we did have a great show last night. Wonderful, packed house (over 1300, I'm told, with every seat sold). Great, responsive crowd. Terrific Q&A. T'was all good. Many thanks to Richard and the Austin Film Society for having us over.
So, yes - Bob's decided to "sneak" the movie this weekend on a thousand screens (see post below for the math). I guess I should be happy about it, because it means he's confident in the playability and word of mouth of the flick. But you'd better believe it was tough to give up what could be a million and a half in opening weekend bucks.
However, Bob's the man, and he seems to always know what he's doing, so I'm taking a leap of faith here.
So if there's a "sneak" near you on Saturday, by all means go. It's good for us. Really.
Especially if you go again the next weekend when we officially open.
And you bring a couple friends.
And then you go right into the next showing after the flick's done.
In other news, I've been reading all the lamentation about the TV spots. Well you'll be happy to hear there are about four new spots debuting between now and the opening. One's called "Warning", and can only be shown after 9:00pm. It's pretty funny. The other's called "Wanted", and may be airing already today. Next week, we've got the spots that Jay and I shot at the Quick Stop on Friday, with Jay talking to the camera. They're pretty funny as well.
See? You talk, I listen.
But remember - these spots aren't aimed at the Askew fan. We're kinda counting on you guys and gals going. These spots are aimed at folks who aren't familiar with our weird little world, and tend to sell less Jay and Bob and more everyone else in the cast (and the broader humor as well). The tracking numbers show that the spots thus far are working, as the definite interest and the first choice numbers continue to rise weekly. With the new spots, we may just be able to break out by opening weekend.
Either way, those are just numbers. The important thing is that the audiences thus far who've seen it are digging it big time.
And that's why we made the movie: to make motherfuckers laugh and laugh hard.
Keep your fingers crossed, folks.
Jane: It was right before Christmas and I got a call from the casting associate. My picture got to her through my sister who works for Miramax in New York.
Mysterio: Ah, so indeed nepotism is alive and well then.
Jane: A little bit, but that’s not why I got the part because Kevin didn’t know that. So the casting associate called and asked if I’d come in and read for "Beauty" and "Bookish". I read for those parts and they put me on tape and then I didn’t hear anything other than they were possibly going to change the part and have it be a little more involved then it was. So that’s when they called and asked if I was ok with a kiss (with "Beauty"), which wound up being cut. So I auditioned in December and didn’t find out that I got the part until March; it was so long that I kindda blew it off thinking I didn’t get the part.
Shannon - I have Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and then around Halloween I have 13 Ghosts. JSBSB is really cute, I really liked it and I am not usually a big fan of my films. I was surprised how much I liked it. And Kevin Smith is the best.
Sean - I was in it in a scene too... it was fun... then I did STARK RAVING MAD. My first dramatic movie. There were some funny moments in it. I am really excited about it. The producers are from "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Pulp Fiction", and "Reservoir Dogs". It's a bank heist movie that takes place at a rave. It comes out early spring.
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After Kevin Smith took on what some critics felt, was a ponderously philosophical tone in Dogma, the director whom his fans know and love has bounced back in true irreverent style, with his satiric Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. It is clear when looking at the film, how much fun Smith had in poking fun at all aspects of American pop culture, a feat he happily admits having worked towards "from Clerks right through this movie." Looking a bit paunchy and eagerly puffing on a cigarette, the recently married director admits that "the funniest aspect of doing this movie was constantly turning to the audience going: I can't believe you're still here; I can't believe you're still watching this." What Smith revelled in, with this film, "was just criticising the movie as we went along. There was an earlier joke at one point during the movie where we were going to stop it cold, and invite a critic like Roger Ebert to come in and review the movie thus far, but I thought that was too precious." Smith does laugh at himself, not only as we watch this film, but as he happily criticises what he has done, admitting, "that when I watch it I realise it's me pulling myself for 90 minutes; a real homage which I hope people will at least people will chuckle through. It seems to work as the audiences seem to dig it."
Smith's latest New Jersey-set comedy has Jay and Silent Bob learning that a "Bluntman and Chronic" movie is being made featuring their comic book counterparts, drooling at the thought of fat movie cheques rolling in. But when the pair finds that there won't be any royalties coming their way, they set out to sabotage the flick at all costs. The often stoned pair makes the cross-country trip from New Jersey to Hollywood and along the way they meet up with a quartet of sexy diamond thieves, an orang-utan, and up crashing their way on the Miramax studios sound stages with hysterical results, culminating in a Star Wars-style duel with Mark Hamill no less. "Working with him was pretty cool", says this die-hard Star Wars fan. "Mind you, I was more a Darth Vader fan than a Luke Skywalker fan, which was why it was fun to fight him", he says smilingly
Asked how Jay and Silent Bob have changed since their first appearance back in Clerks, and Smith happily concedes that they haven't. "They haven't grown or matured one bit", Smith retorts. "They've grown FATTER, as I have, but they haven't changed, which I think is what is charming about them." Further defining their appeal, Kevin adds that "Jay is a creature of the Id, who has no filter as to what to say; he just says what's on his mind. So what's funny about the character is his lack of moral boundary. He says what he says without thinking of the repercussions, and I'm there to just roll my eyes." Smith believes that Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back "is probably my least mature film to date", an accomplishment, he says, he is very proud of. "We did two films back-to-back that dealt with weightier subjects [Chasing Amy and Dogma] so it was nice to make a movie that just had NO weighty subject matter to it whatsoever. Even the satire is below-the-belt." Smith, who is a huge fan of the web, also pokes fun at the Internet "which I'm most proud of, going after the fucking armchair directors of the Internet, and even that is still low-blow stuff, not sharp satire, just satire which is dark and blunt."
Satire, however, that is an antidote to his much-criticised and controversial Dogma. "After dealing with the controversy surrounding Dogma, not to mention the 400,000 pieces of hate mail and death threats, I really wanted to make a movie where the worst thing that could happen at the end of the day, was somebody would write on a web site that 'Kevin Smith sucks cock' and spell 'cock' wrong. That's the worst that could happen on THIS movie, while Dogma was such a trial." So much of a trial, that Miramax dumped the movie, but happily, the brothers Weinstein made up with Kevin, and with Jay and Silent Bob, Smith has taken pleasure in satirising the studio with some choice moments. "I think the reason I was able to get away with doing that, was payback; they felt bad about dumping Dogma, so they let me bash them a bit in THIS movie, and they were cool with it. I think their philosophy was: If anyone's going to make fun of us, it might as well be one of our own." Smith is unconcerned that the film's plethora of inside jokes pertaining to Hollywood will not cross over to a broader audience. "It's not like you're sitting through The Player; this is a pretty broad comedy about Hollywood."
Smith fans will be sad - or relieved- that Kevin is putting Jay and Silent Bob to rest. "If EVER there was a Silent Bob era, this is the end of it, to say the least. I might still continue to work on him in the comics, because that way, he'll never age, not to mention stay the same weight." So a new phase for Mr Smith continues, with a new film based on the Fletch private eye films, or an autobiographical comedy on fatherhood.
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The two we heard about today: Keresotes Northwest Cinema in Muncie, Indiana (Ya can't help but think of 'The Hudsucker Proxy' when ya hear that) will be having a J&SBSB sneak peek this Saturday at 7:30 PM. ALso, a local theatre in Columbia, MD, will screen the flick on Saturday the 18th as well. Good luck folks, this could be the chance to catch the movie an entire week early! This is likely the decision that Dimension made to get word of mouth going, instead of the Wednesday opening.
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Rating: TV-PG
Category: Entertainment & Magazine Shows
Release Year: 2001
Ginny Shook, Palm Desert, Calif.
A. In a movie like ''Rush Hour 2,'' the plot points are not--well, the point. A scene like Tucker's tirade is not necessary. There were countless other ways to distract attention, and some of them might have been funny, while his was not. Tucker could have invented some sort of odd, eccentric or peculiar behavior that did not involve accusing an innocent person of racism. It left a bad feeling in the room. I think the whole riff (black guy goes ballistic with allegedly funny charges of racism) is getting stale. Chris Rock does more or less the same thing in "Jay and Silent Bob." It's time to move on.
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 | MICHAEL BAY. Crime: The slick Pearl Harbor director is charged with a cruel and unusual amount of hollow cinematic gloss and thimble-deep characters. Community Service: Six months' confinement with Kevin Smith in a New Jersey comics store to learn the joys of snappy dialouge---and to teach Smith how to make a film that doesn't look like it was shot on crumpled wax paper. |
August 24
Kevin Smith (Dir), Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Eliza Dushku, Shannon Elizabeth, Ali Larter, Mark Hamill
The Pitch: Jay and Silent Bob make it to the big screen, but they're not going to see a cent of profit, so they had to stop the production. Mark Hamill is in it, but it's kind of weird. Guess he'll always be Han Solo to us.
How We Feel Inside: (shows a drawing of Quick Stop with the caption "Clerks was funny.")
Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Materials Store
242 W14th St.
Between 7th and 8th Avenue
(212) 989-0869
We're open everyday from 1pm to 7:30pm. Feel free to stop by and pick one up.
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KS: If you're a fan, you can look at this movie as a valentine to you, to the people who have supported us for the last seven years, because there are nods to everything we've been involved with over the course of that seven years. ... The general sentiment you get from people who see it is that they feel it was made for them. I think that's really sweet.
I think there's always been this weird identity factor with the movies we've made that the audiences who support them really feel like they see themselves in the movie. I think that's great. 'Cause that's kind of why I wanted to do it in the first place. Not so much for the audience, but for me. ... For years I would watch movies and enjoy the hell out of them, real popcorn-type flicks, but never really see myself represented in them. And I could go and enjoy a flick like Die Hard, but I don't identify with John McClane. I would never shoot somebody, I'd never jump off a building, and I'd never take my shirt off in public. So it's nice periodically to see yourself up on the screen. And I think that's what our movies to date have been -- movies where the audience absolutely sees themselves. And that's how we cultivated a fan base, because we make movies that people identify with.
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Lower level (Orchestra) seats and Balcony seats are for sale now through www.startickets.com. The Q&A happens right after the film, and an afterparty will happen at Antone's for Orchestra level ticket holders.
Orchestra level seats are 30 bucks and the balcony is around 15-20 bucks. Startickets is not selling tickets online anymore but you might try calling 1-888-597-7827 and asking if they've got some left. Get them before they're gone!
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BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
Memo to GLAAD: Lighten up. Jay and Silent Bob are not your problem. Jay and Silent Bob are harmless cretins.
Harmless fictional cretins.
For those of you not familiar with Kevin Smith's oeuvre, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (played by Kevin Smith) are two stoner-slackers who spend their days holding up the wall of the Quick Stop convenience store in Leonardo, N.J., dealing and ingesting drugs while watching the world pass them by, in every sense of the phrase. Jay pesters customers, cusses up a storm and sings the praises of getting high, while Silent Bob remains mute for 99 percent of his waking hours. (For all you parents offended by Jay and Silent Bob, I've got three words: Cheech and Chong.)
After cameos in Smith's previous films, the dimwitted duo take center stage in the upcoming release "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Not to give away my review, but suffice to say that when the nominations for the Academy Awards are announced on an early morning next February, everyone connected with this movie can sleep securely without worrying about being awakened by a phone call.
There are tons of "homo jokes" in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." Tons. Jay delights in tormenting and embarrassing his lifelong buddy--and about 80 percent of his arsenal consists of jokes insinuating that Silent Bob is actually Gay Bob. As for Silent Bob, he recoils in horror at these "you're gay!" jabs and shakes his head furiously to let everyone know that he's 100 percent hetero. There's also a hitchhiker played by George Carlin who has a sexual tryst with a burly truck driver, and a studio lot security guard who wants to watch Jay and Silent Bob, um, dance together, if you will.
Even before "Jay and Silent Bob" hits theaters, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has started with the protests. First the organization's "entertainment media director" (now there's a job title that probably didn't exist in the Old West) released a statement that read: "The audience members who think a) that Jay and Silent Bob are cool, and b) see Jay and Silent Bob making anti-gay jokes may think that they can be cool, too, if they are intolerant and cruel toward gay people. This is not OK, and GLAAD has an obligation to speak out against representations that pose a threat to gay and lesbian people."
A threat? Jay and Silent Bob? Come on. Audience members who think Jay and Silent Bob are cool are a) smart enough to know these guys are caricatures and b) not impressionable zombies who will go out and ape Jay's stupid banter.
I love the GLAAD folks, really I do. But don't they realize that when they make statements like that, they sound just like Orrin Hatch? I thought it was the intolerant, humorless, judgmental conservative crowd that fears art (and Kevin Smith's films) because of its unlimited power to pollute the mind and influence behavior. You can't blame the right wing for targeting "Ellen" and then turn around and target the stuff you don't like. That's being a liberal only when it's convenient.
GLAAD asked the film's distributor, Dimension Films, to make a donation to the Matthew Shepard Foundation (named for the Wyoming student beaten to death in a homophobic slaying in 1998). Smith himself said he'd make a contribution to the foundation--and he's also agreed to add a disclaimer after the main credits.
In a statement released Friday, GLAAD's media director guy said: "As a result of the constructive dialogue between Kevin and me, Kevin will include a brief comment during the end credits of the film, indicating that use of the film's anti-gay slurs in real life is not acceptable."
I wish Smith hadn't caved on any front, but at least he did say he wasn't sorry and that he was making jokes at the expense of two characters who are "idiots."
Exactly. Cartoonish and buffoonish as they are, Jay and Silent Bob happen to be representative of a certain segment of the doper-loser population who would indeed find it funny to slather their banter with anti-gay jokes. (Then again, there are a lot of lawyers, baseball players, construction workers and yep, journalists, who do the same.)
I find it curious that GLAAD is voicing its displeasure of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," but not saying a word about the Jeremy Piven character in "Rush Hour 2"--a mincing and stereotypically gay clothing salesman who prances around while expressing his lust for Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, who seem to have their own issues. When the cops refer to themselves as "partners," the salesman thinks they're partners in love--much to their horror. God forbid anyone think they're gay!
At least Jay and Silent Bob are clearly meant to be laughed at and ridiculed for their stupidity. Tucker and Chan are the heroes in "Rush Hour 2," so shouldn't their homophobia be more objectionable?
Or better yet, shouldn't GLAAD realize these are just stupid movies and concentrate on more important concerns?
MTV 2 has also been running an extended commercial for the soundtrack CD, which features scenes from the film, the videos "Kick Some Ass" and "Because I Got High", aand more. It touts the special features on the disc: Dialouge from the movie, CD-ROM movie trailers, and "Jay's Chant 2001".
Stroke 9 bassist Greg Gueldnersaid the band was treated to an advanced screening of the movie. "We did see it. We got to do a screening at home in San Francisco with 50 of our friends, got a keg, got some sushi, you know; we watched it last week. It was good. It was funny. It's the most cursing I've ever heard in a movie. More than South Park. More than anything, yeah."
The band is a big fan of Smith's movies, which include Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma.
Stroke 9 is getting ready to release its self-titled follow-up to Nasty Little Thoughts on October 9. It includes the most-added track "Kick Some Ass." The band's forthcoming effort was produced by ex-Talking Heads keyboardist turned producer Jerry Harrison.
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In the clip, Kevin mentions Slacker as his inspiration and they quoted the figures on Clerks - $25k to create, ended up making $3.1million. Kevin, always humble, pointed out that Blair Witch was a bigger success. They also praised Dogma for its controversy, and mentioned the fact that Kevin was a former altar boy. Once again, Kevin described the movie as very pro-faith. They then began to talk about J&SBSB and ran the trailer underneath their conversation. The clip begins with a slight SPOILER (moreso if you haven't seen the theatrical trailer): About 30-45 seconds of the fight scene between Silent Bob and Cockknocker. The hosts also mentioned the old August 24th release date, unfortunately.
Check it out over at Scooping The Monkey, our pseudo-official J&SBSB site!
And then, there's also a 6 and a half minute piece airing on iFilm@IFC about the flick that's the best so far. Here's a list of the clips (MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD, WATCH OUT!)
Then at the end of the week, MMUSA airs Ovenfresh Keepers, which is a collection of all the videos that have been voted as keepers for the week. This airs on Friday @ 7:30pm & 1:30am, and there's several showings on Sat & Sun as well.. but i don't know the times.. of course, depending on the voting the video might never make it to the Keepers show, but perhaps we can change this!!
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By the way, Stern continues to play Afroman's "Because I Got High" and today gave away tix to the artist's NYC show. He never seems to mention the soundtrack though, so hopefully Kevin can set the record straight on all that stuff.
Jason Lee: Um, not so much tricks, but with each film, your confidence increases and with Banky I had to think about it more where with Brodie most of the focus is on the dialogue; that being my first film was what I was used to. So Kevin pulled me aside one day on the set of CHASING AMY and said, "You know were gonna have to put more thought into this and take it one step further because there’s a lot more going on. It’s not just wise-cracking Brodie Bruce at the mall." And that’s when I got my first taste of having to really think about it and, "…oh, that makes sense and that’s why I have to do this…" and that kind of started that for me.
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His first movie was financed on credit cards. It earned millions at the box office. Kevin Smith's intelligent, yet disenfranchised comedies, like "Clerks," "Chasing Amy," and "Dogma" are well received, but often spark controversy. Find out why during a conversation with filmmaker Kevin Smith.
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Figuring into all of Smith's films to date, Jay (Jason Mewes) and his "hetero lifemate" Bob (Smith) finally get the spotlight in the director's farewell to the Garden State. When the two find out that Miramax has made a movie about them without permission, they head to Hollywood to kick a little executive butt. Many of the characters from other films turn up, including Ben Affleck and Jason Lee reprising their "Chasing Amy" and "Mallrats" roles.
Our Prediction
While he's had cult status for years, Smith has yet to have a major hit. That could change with this one, through sheer star-power alone. The long list of cameos includes Matt Damon, Jon Stewart, Salma Hayek, Jason Biggs, Carrie Fisher, James Van Der Beek and Judd Nelson, who's rumored to be appearing as Bender, his character in "The Breakfast Club." Let's hope Smith's alter ego goes out in style.
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Through the success of Green Arrow and Daredevil, Kevin Smith's popularity is at an all time high. With his next movie, JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, set to debut this month, now is the time to capitalize on sales. In stock now from Wizard Entertainment, Diamond Comic Distributors has many products to satiate your customers' appetites. This includes the limited cover variant of WIZARD: THE COMICS MAGAZINE #120 with the exclusive cover used in the movie JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK. (See the movie for one of the best product placement scenes of all time.) It is also available, at a special price, bagged with the WIZARD PRESENTS KEVIN SMITH SPECIAL. Still need more of the WIZARD PRESENTS KEVIN SMITH SPECIAL? Diamond has them. Both the Photo Cover and the Bluntman & Chronic cover are still available for Reorder.
JUN015049W WIZARD BLUNTMAN & CHRONIC EXC MOVIE PROP CVR #120 $4.99
JUN015093W WIZARD #120 & KEVIN SMITH SPECIAL 2-PACK $8.99
MAY011863W WIZARD PRESENTS KEVIN SMITH ED PHOTO CVR $4.99
MAY011864W WIZARD PRESENTS KEVIN SMITH BLUNTMAN & CHRONIC CVR $4.99
And, if that wasn't cool enough, you can now preorder your very own J&SBSB screenplay! Here's the details:
If you haven't been to the Stash online site lately, check it out. There's going to be a ton of new swag added and there's probably some stuff you've missed that you want. If anything, you can get your Christmas list started early.
By the way, those of you in the UK will be happy to know that you can order a copy from Europe's Play247.com for only £9.99 with FREE shipping! Check out that deal HERE.
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Futhermore, E! Online picked up the story today and basically ran a summary of the exchange between Kevin and GLAAD. It's a fairly benign and accurate report on what went on between them, but nothing new for those who have been following. So far, it looks like nothing's been blown out of proportion or "spun" oddly. Here's a clip:
GLAAD, however, believed there was no possible way for Smith to change his film, and instead suggested that the director make a donation to the Matthew Shepard Foundation, an organization aimed at educating kids about the dangers of homophobia and founded by the mother of the slain gay student from Wyoming. Smith complied, donating $10,000 to the cause.
But the no-so-silent filmmaker insists his donation shouldn't be mistaken for an apology. "I'm not sorry--because I didn't make the jokes at the expense of the gay community," Smith wrote. "I made jokes at the expense of two characters who neither I nor the audience have ever held up to be paragons of intellect. They're idiots."
Also, it looks as if GLAAD have posted a point for point response to Kevin on their website, which you can read HERE. This doesn't really look too good for the organization, as it's pretty obvious that they're not willing to let this one go and that they're looking for more press.
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FX has been kind enough to turn the station over to us for a night of programming they're calling 'Jay and Silent Bob Take Over'.
It'll run Tuesday, August 21st - the night before the flick's release.
Here's the run-down...
9-10pm Back 2 back epsiodes of SON OF A BEACH w/Mark Hammill
10-10:30pm THE TEST, with Kevin, Jennifer Schwalbach, Jason Mewes, and Mark Hammill.
10:30pm-12:30am CLERKS
12:30-2:30am MALLRATS -(pending network clearance)
'Clerks' is not being edited, however they're going to drop out the audio under the diassaproved language (which means you'll hear about three lines of dialogue in the whole film). Here are the words you will not hear: pussy, cunt, fuck(motherfucker, fucking),cock & shit.
'Mallrats', I believe, is the ABC cut of the movie - the one in which Jay is sometimes voiced by someone who isn't Jay.
I believe the Comedy Central special 'Reel Comedy with Jay and Silent Bob' airs first on August 15th.
I'm doing Conan's show on the night of the 17th.
I think I'm also lined up for 'Politically Incorrect' and Craig Kilbourne's (sp?) show.
And the 'Entertainment Weekly' in which the GLAAD story appears hits stands Friday.
Joy.
More as I learn about it.
And remember, folks: civility, please.
JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, Kevin Smith's swan song to his two most famous characters, is the best received comedy that I've seen since THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, which is a tea party in comparison to the foul-mouthed humor in JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK. The audience didn't just laugh; they went wild with boisterous laughter and heavy applause throughout. In short, if you like really raunchy humor, you may find it, as I did, to be the funniest movie of the year. (On the other hand, if you are one of those who walked out in disgust with Smith's DOGMA, then JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK is not the movie for you.)
In one of the fastest paced movies of the year, the story has Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), a pair of card carrying drug dealers, traveling from their New Jersey convenience store home to Hollywood so that they can stop a movie. It seems their comic book alter egos, Bluntman and Chronic, are being used in a movie without Jay and Silent Bob's consent. Jason Biggs and James Van Der Beek are slated to star in it. JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK has more and better used cameos than just about any movie that I've ever seen. Among others, they include Carrie Fisher as a bible-toting nun, Mark Hamill as a comic book version of his famous alter ego and Gus Van Sant as a director too busy counting his money to yell, "Action!" Best of all are Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who mock themselves and their movies.
The film stops several times to make fun of itself and of the audience who was "stupid" enough to buy tickets to this movie. (Actually, purchasing tickets to this film is extremely smart given that it delivers more laughter per dollar than anything in recent memory.) The film even skewers people who write about movies on the Internet. Guilty.
Although it's filled with inside jokes, you'll still be laughing even if you only get some of them. It's easy to understand enough so that they are still funny.
Jay is a motor mouth who hasn't met a subject that he couldn't vulgarize. His favorite topic is oral sex, but, being an equal opportunity profaner, he's willing to make crude jokes about absolutely anything. But it is his buddy, the aptly named Silent Bob, who is responsible for most of the movie's success. His reaction shots, with his wildly exaggerated eye movements, are comedic gems.
The story's main subplot concerns four animal rights activists, Justice (Shannon Elizabeth) and her three sexy buddies, Sissy (Eliza Dushku), Missy (Jennifer Schwalbach Smith) and Chrissy (Ali Larter). These Charlie's Angels types give a ride to our heroes on their trek to LaLaLand to stop the picture. Jay tries to put the moves on Justice, but he doesn't stay in command of the situation for long. One of the funnier sight gags has the women using a pink, clam-shaped, birth control case that contains high tech gadgetry.
Granted, it's not the movie for everyone, but, if you like Kevin Smith's brand of humor, you'll find that this is his best. And, as I said earlier, it's the funniest movie of the year thus far. No, wait. Forget, "thus far." It's bound to be the funniest movie of the year. In a time when almost every movie feels obligated to come in at PG-13 so that they can rake in the maximum cash, it's great to see a filmmaker with the guts to target only a mature audience.
JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK runs a lightening fast 1:35. It is rated R and contains pervasive crude humor and language and sexual situations. It would be acceptable for high school seniors and older.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Wednesday, August 22, 2001. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
I’m a big Kevin fan and have run the biggest and longest-running site for gay youth online (since December 1995), Oasis Magazine at http://www.oasismag.com/
I have dealt with GLAAD a lot over the past few years, both good and bad, and think they are off the deep end going after Kevin.
http://www.oasismag.com/Issues/0108/opinion-glaad.html
Thanks,
Jeff
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The following is an editorial comment, and NOT the opinion or view of Countingdown.com
My name is Antony Teofilo. I am editor of Countingdown.com’s Countingdown To Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. As an editor, it’s usually my responsibility to make sure that news posted here isn’t generally opinion oriented. A situation has arisen in which I, as editor of this page, have chosen to take a rare opportunity stick my neck out in support of Kevin Smith.
In Defense of Kevin
Like Kevin Smith, I am straight, white, chunky, and a lover of the cinema.
Recently, Mr. Smith, in good faith, sat down with Scott Seomin, Entertainment Media Director of GLAAD [the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation] to discuss GLAAD's concerns that J&SBSB propagates negative stereotypes of the homosexual community. During said meeting, both parties amiably expressed their viewpoints. At the end of that discussion, Kevin Smith, in good faith, made a $10,000 donation to Matthew Shepherd Foundation as a way of continuing his support in the fight against homophobia.
Now, news has surfaced that GLAAD has gone to the press, continuing their campaign against Smith, openly labeling him as a homophobe. This after he had gone to pains explaining that such a moniker in his case is impossible to apply, never mind the gift Smith made.
GLAAD is an important organization. They fight hate, bigotry, intolerance, violence, and most importantly, fund educational efforts meant to foster understanding between all types of people. It is the humble opinion of this cyber-geek that the negative perception issue here is not Kevin Smith, but GLAAD. To sling mud in the direction of an artist that has already expressed his direct SUPPORT for your cause seems not only petty and a blatant attempt to media-grab, but in light of Smith’s generous gift, outright extortive. To paint Smith’s gift as an apology or admission of guilt belittles a generous charitable gesture of good will. Continuing a smear campaign in Smith’s direction could paint a far more negative picture of GLAAD than the other way around.
Like Mr. Smith, I support the gay community openly. I stood by as my best college chum through his own painful but ultimately essential coming ‘out’ process, never mind the fact that we lived together in a single room in a ten story college dorm full of homophobic rednecks. I knew that his coming out could affect my own reputation, and it did. I was perceived has being homosexual. There were times other guys would rush out of the bathroom when I entered. There was name-calling. Does my support of my friend make me a hero? Not in the slightest. I did it because it was the right thing to do.
How did we get through it? We laughed. A lot. When it was all over, because of our refusal to give credence to bigotry, acceptance became the rule, instead of the exception. Laughter is one of the most powerful tools against Hate. It saddens me to see an artist who has exhibited himself as so openly supportive of the gay community being dirtied with the label of homophobe.
Chasing Amy, anyone? Duh.
Kevin Smith is a satirist. Sometimes, he says things in his films that are inflammatory, sometimes insightful, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes outright ridiculous. Often, the point of satire is to generate dialogue by aiming laughter at the foibles of the human condition. That laughter can enlighten us to our own shortcomings, our own narrow perceptions, and yes, our own prejudices. Satire can make the process of personal or global revelation and the changing of one’s own opinions less painful; la vie satire’!
I hope that this situation will not deter you from going to see J&SBSB, which ironically, is about as far away from social commentary as a movie can be. I have seen J&SBSB; it’s a movie about two guys going across the country on about as idiotic a journey as two counter-culture heroes can take. At times, it’s shocking. At times, (not often, mind you) it’s thoughtful. At times, it’s sexual, and its characters make allusion to the fact that they may or may not be homosexual.
Are Jay and the Bob funny? All signs point to yes.
Are Jay and the Bob gay? WHO CARES?
It shouldn’t make a difference. The message to be learned from this whole overtly unpleasant situation is that we must decide for ourselves who we are and what we’ll tolerate…and that hopefully, our individual choices fall towards compassion, and tolerance. If two slacker dope-heads (and one chubby New Jersey filmmaker) must peddle that message to the world from an unremarkable convenience store by beating us over the head with blunt object of our own absurd prejudice, so be it. At least someone is speaking out.
You go, Kevin. CD2J&SBSB supports Kevin Smith, and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back.
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I figured I'd address this here before it's made public next week.
'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' is being taken to task (wrongly, I believe) by GLAAD - the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (for those unfamiliar with the acronym). Below is the letter, verbatim, that I received from Scott Seomin, GLAAD's Entertainment Media Director.
_________
Dear Kevin: Two colleagues of mine from GLAAD joined me last evening at a screening of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. We were overwhelmed by the potential negative impact for the film with what we would assume is a large share of its target audience: teen and young adult males. We will be public and aggressive in our condemnation and will provide substantiation for our opinions. Here are the points to which we will object and our reasons for doing so: - As one of the principal characters states, the film is a "big gay joke", but the joke is at the expense of the stereotyped category of people; We, or course, are familiar with your work as a writer and director and understand that satire is a large part and object of you expression. The intentional excesses of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and over-the-top characterizations and situations are fundamental to its nature. However, we believe that satirical sophistication is not a fundamental expectation of an audience bombarded by fag jokes and gags revolving around genitals and simulated sex acts. Also, the inclusion of various other potentially offensive material (e.g. the bits about the acronym CLIT, racism, child abuse) for laughs does not excuse or dilute the omnipresent backdrop of the "big gay joke". While I will not fall as far back as the Hays Code, at no time is there any retribution or remorse for gay-bashing "humor". Again, to write off the behavior of the lead characters, especially Jay, with a what-do-you-expect-from-someone-so-dumb shrug truly trivializes the impact. I wanted to state our position strongly here before I request a meeting with you to discuss this. I will be in New York from August 2nd to 6th and either can come to New Jersey or arrange a time at your convenience if you are in the city. Because I realize there are no changes you could make to this film to satisfy our concerns, I still believe we could discuss how you will be interviewed (for) this film and how GLAAD moves forward with its concerns. Please let me know as soon as possible of your interest and availability. Sincerely, Scott Seomin
- All references to gay men reinforce them as objects of acceptable ridicule and dehumanization;
- Specific epithets for gay men include not only traditional slurs but also have the potential to introduce an expanded vocabulary of defamatory words and phrases;
- When sympathetic characters substitute the word "gay" for something that is wrong or stupid, it validates a common slur used by school-age youth to mean anything unacceptable.
Entertainment Media Director
Needless to say, I was crestfallen.
You all know me. You all know how big a fan I am of the gay community. You all know the respect and fascination I have for gay culture and practices. I've said in many an interview, from 'Chasing Amy' onward, that the only reason I never dabbled in homosexuality when I was younger was because I wouldn't know what to say to a guy after he blew a load in my mouth - a sentiment that says more about my social awkwardness than any socially awkward stereotypes that've been unfairly hung on the gay community.
Gay or straight has never been a big issue with me. Sex is sex, as far as I'm concerned. Some cats dig on the opposite gender, and some cats dig on their own. Sexual identity will always be as mystifying as why 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was once the number one television show in our country: there's no point in getting bent out of shape about it; it just IS. Some cats will always gravitate toward Daisy Duke, and some will always pine over Boss Hogg.
I've been knee-deep in gayness for the better part of my twenties and up (I just know THAT'S going to be printed out of context somewhere: SMITH SAYS HE'S "KNEE-DEEP IN GAYNESS"). For those who'll recall, we made a movie called 'Chasing Amy'. Bob Hawk (he who was most responsible for exposing the world to 'Clerks') is about as gay as they come (no pun intended), and he lived with me for three years. My brother's gay. There are prominent members of this board community who are gay. The list goes on and on.
Now lest you all think I'm pandering, I'm not trying to save face with the View Askew Gay All-Stars list above; I'm just trying to give some context as to why I was so crushed to receive Scott Seomin's GLAAD missive. So as soon as I read it, I called Scott Seomin (who joked about how hard it was to grow up gay with a last name like Seomin) to address his concerns. He was a sweet guy who, after talking to him for an hour, admitted that in his heart, he knew I was not a homophobe. But he couldn't cotton to the disparity between who I am and some of the humor in the flick.
I pointed out that the jokes in the movie, while funny at face value, do far more than evoke chuckles at the expense of the gay community. I believe that they teach tolerance to the same audience that Scott feels won't get the humor. When you have two main characters who've both - at one point or another - hinted at or flat-out copped to homo-erotic escapades, how on earth can that be considered "gay-bashing". It's more than you get in most "buddy" flicks. Did Murtaugh and Riggs ever cop to getting dreamy over the male anatomy? I think not.
But this is nothing new for us. Recall, if you will, the scene in 'Dogma', when Jay asks Rufus to tell him something about himself (Jay) that nobody knows. Rufus points out that when Jay masturbates, he thinks about guys. When that movie came out, the board got flooded with angry posts, demanding "How can you make Jay gay like that?!" I would answer "Why on earth would that bother you?", pointing out that Jay's sexual proclivity should never effect how the viewer accepts the character, and that if it did, then perhaps some soul-searching was due on the objecting viewer's part. If you liked Jay before that scene, why the hell wouldn't you like him afterwards? The long and short of it: that scene sparked healthy discussion about tolerance and acceptance - as well as made a lot of people laugh.
If you believe Scott's stated position that the target audience for our flicks is "teen and young adult males", then you have to allow that some of these impressionable youngsters will have to come to grips with the fact that the character they hold very dearly as one of "their's" has, in fact, expressed homosexual tendencies. And either those folks stop being fans at that moment, or accept that a character they identify with engages in behavior they may not approve of (if you work under the assumption, of course, that ALL "teen and young adult males" are terrified of the gay community). If they can accept that in a fictional character, some - not all, mind you, but some - will carry this newfound tolerance into their daily lives. Suddenly, I can do more than just entertain with even a flick that purports to have nothing on its mind apart from making you laugh; I can also educate in some weird way. That's the heart of "satire".
However, as Scott points out in his letter, sometimes, satire may fall on deaf ears.
During the '70's, Norman Lear created 'All in the Family', a show with a protagonist who was, essentially, a bigot. Some people understood this and enjoyed the show because of its well-observed satirical content. Some people misconstrued it and enjoyed the show because Archie Bunker didn't like black people... just like them. Did that make Norman Lear a hate-monger? Nope. Norman Lear wasn't responsible for how white America dealt with race issues. Norman Lear just showed us how stupid white America can be when it came to race issues. He held up a mirror to our culture. In essence, he was just the messenger.
But then, we all know what happens to the messenger...
The gay jokes in 'Jay and Silent Bob' satirize a young male culture terrified of any cock that isn't their own. I accept the fact that some folks seeing the flick may not get the joke behind the joke, and just walk away thinking "Jay and Silent Bob don't wanna be gay, man! Just like me!" However, I also KNOW - based on posts I've read on this board, following the release of 'Chasing Amy' and 'Dogma' - that some folks in that same demographic will walk away from this movie a little more tolerant toward the gay community. But just because there's a threat that the message of tolerance-through-humor falls on some deaf ears, should I not endeavor to reach ANYONE? No can do. Because if even one person is made more tolerant of that-which-isn't-him-or-her by watching a film I've made, then that means more to me than whatever the box office may wind up being - or whatever any protest group hypothesizes about my motivations.
That being said, I can't claim complete altruism in making the jokes we make in the flick. Gay sex is funny... just like STRAIGHT sex is funny. Just like making fun of racism is funny (I assume Scott'sreferring to Chris Rock's white-hating director character when he mentions racism in his GLAAD letter). Just like making fun of bad parenting is funny (a young Jay and Bob are left outside the stores by clearly bad mothers early on in the flick; I'm assuming that's the "child abuse" Scott was talking about in his letter). Just like the homophobic mind-set, while frightening, is also fodder for ridicule (indeed, we make fun of the exact thing we're being accused of in the Biggs and Van Der Beek scene in 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'). Just like Miramax making 'She's All That' is funny. Just like all the things we make fun of in the movie are funny. I mean, this is a movie that mocks ITSELF as it goes along, for crying out loud. No one escapes unscathed.
Anyway, I told Scott all of this during the course of our conversation, and asked what we could do to allay his (and GLAAD's) fears. He said he'd be asking Miramax to make a substantial donation to the Matthew Shepherd Foundation (Matthew Shepherd is the Wyoming student who was beaten to death for being gay in one of the worst hate crimes in recent memory; the Foundation's aim is to educate the public on the dangers of homophobia). I said I'd be happy to make a donation as well, as it's a great cause, and one I believe in strongly. He asked how much I'd like to donate. I queried how much he intended to seek from Miramax. He said two hundred grand. I admitted I don't have pockets as deep as Miramax. He suggested I donate ten grand, and I said "Done."
We spoke further about how important a film he thought 'Chasing Amy' was, and he informed me that if he'd been at GLAAD at the time the film came out, he would've given it a GLAAD award. It was nice to hear, as I was always kind of bugged that we didn't receive much GLAAD attention on 'Amy', considering how pro-gay the flick was. He said he wanted to meet me in person to shake my hand, and I invited him to the office on Tuesday to do so, as well as pick up his check. I bid him adieu, and thus ended a very friendly conversation that resulted in a couple of guys enlightened as to one another's feelings about some potentially thorny issues, as well as the Matthew Shepherd Foundation being ten g's richer.
Then, yesterday afternoon, I fielded a phone call from Rebecca Ascher-Walsh of 'Entertainment Weekly', asking me to comment on how GLAAD (in the person of Scott Seomin) was "horrified" by the homophobia on parade in 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'. I was taken aback, as Scott never once expressed being "horrified" by the jokes in the flick we'd discussed at great lengths on the phone Friday. He said he was merely concerned.
Suddenly, I was being painted as homophobic by GLAAD.
This I can't quietly sit by and let happen.
Neither 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' nor myself are homophobic. Fuck, if anything, we're overtly gay-friendly.
In regards to the film, the openly gay journalists who saw it during the junket didn't express one iota of a reservation in regards to the content of the flick. In fact, two of them thought it was pretty daring of me to have Silent Bob admitting that he'd have gone down on Jay (see the flick). The even better barometer for me was Bob Hawk - a man whose opinion I trust more than almost anyone on the planet. Bob watched the flick and never flinched, aside from laughing very, very heartily. And believe me - if anyone was going to call me on the gay jokes in the flick, it was the producer of 'Trick' himself. But he didn't, and I can't believe it's because he's self-loathing or afraid for his job (as Scott suggested the journalists at the junket must have been in order to not be insulted by the movie).
But most importantly, *I* don't feel the film's homophobic. I would never (nor could never) make a homophobic film. I'm not that guy, and here's why: I grew up fat. Even though I'm a white male, being fat my whole life still puts me in a minority category as well, and has made me the butt of jokes my entire life. Trust me - I know how hurtful or damaging it can be to be called a name or two. The last thing I'd ever want to do would be to mock others for who they ARE (except Ben Affleck; I can mock him incessantly and never feel guilty about it, because a) he's my boy and it's done with affection, and b) he's Affleck, for God's sake).
What really burns me about all this, though, is that now my donation to the Matthew Shepherd Foundation is going to be sullied in the process. Based on what Rebecca Ascher-Walsh told me, my donation is now being portrayed as an admission of some sort of culpability; that by giving ten thousand dollars to this worthy cause, I'm essentially saying "I'm sorry I made some gay jokes."
And that's horse-shit.
I'm not sorry - because I didn't make jokes at the expense of the gay community. I made jokes at the expense of two characters who neither I nor the audience have ever held up to be paragons of intellect. They're idiots. Funny idiots, yes, but idiots all the same. And by making them and other mental midgets in the film so leery of homosexuality, I'm making fun of a mind-set that exists in our culture - a mind-set, mind you, that I didn't create nor condone. And making fun of said mind-set doesn't legitimize it, in my opinion; it de-fangs it.
I swear, I caught it from the right wing on 'Dogma', and now I'm catching it from the left wing on this flick. Which am I, people: a bleeding heart liberal or a Bible-thumping conservative? And when the hell do I get to make a movie in which I don't have to explain myself afterwards? When the hell do I get to make a movie that some special interest group won't demonize? I sweat - it's like all that's left is to walk that thin, boring line down the middle that makes for really bland cinema. Because no matter what you do and say, no matter how good your intentions are, sooner or later, you're going to offend SOMEBODY.
So I could use a few good character witnesses. If you folks wouldn't mind, can you drop GLAAD a CIVIL line and let them now that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a homophobe? Please - no immature comments for these folks, alright? I've got enough troubles without anyone reinforcing the worst suspicions Scott Seomin and GLAAD has about our fans. They can be reached at glaad@glaad.org.
In closing, I'd like to leave you with an excerpt from the Jay and Silent mini-series that was re-released by Image Comics last week under the title of 'Chasing Dogma'...
JAYWhat the fuck is this country coming to?!?
First, we're accused of brown-humping each
other, and then we get kicked to the fucking
curb for having a smoke! You know, there was
a time when a man could fuck his friend, AND
enjoy a goddamn toke, and nobody said shit!
Where's the so-called freedom for the pursuit
of happiness?! What if I WANTED to fuck you,
Silent Bob?
(quieter)
I'd never, because I fucking love chicks man -
even though I know you think about cuddling
up to my three-piece set all the time.
(continuing)
But what If I was all pent up, and all I needed to
keep me from going postal on that bus was to
bust a nut in your dark and stinky? That's the
problem with the climate of consciousness on
this planet today! Everyone gives too much of
a shit about who fucks what! The moral majority
has to wake up and realize that it's better to have
two guys stink-dicking or two chicks gargling clit,
than it is to have four complete fucking lunatics
nine millimeting random people from a rooftop
because they're not allowed to 'unpack their bags'
in whatever 'hotel rooms' they want, so to speak!
And by that token, I should be able to scream - if
I so desired - from the bathrooms of the buses
that traverse the unending roads of this great
country, to the bathrooms of the public parks
and rest-stops that dot the landscape like a
thousand points of light...
(second balloon)
"I'M HERE! I'M QUEER! GET USED TO IT!!!"
Homophobic indeed.
News Askew © 1997-2001 Brad Plevyak & Chris Alley.
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