Zack and Miri on 10.31

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Arizona Daily Star's Phil Villarreal is reporting that Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno (with Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) will be released by the Weinstein Co. on 10.31. Phil says he was "was sour on the past couple Smith movies" but has a feeling "this one will match the excellence and rewatchable hiliarity of Smith's first four: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma, with an honorable mention for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. (Which I liked as well.)

The problem, for me, is that Villarreal has posted the one thing that's given me pause -- that "I''m Fucking Seth Rogen" music video that seemed really stale because it conspicuously rode the tail of the Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel videos that preceded it.

comment #1

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Why does Smith keep getting chances behind the camera? He hasnt made money or ever made a flick thats memorable.

There may not be a worse director working today. Behind the camera he is as bad as it gets. And how many Star Wars lines can one hear in a lifetime? They peaked 14 yrs ago in Clerks.

comment #2

corey3rd says ...

The man moves DVDs. A majority of today's "Hot" directors have their entire careers based more in moving videos than cinema box office - Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson. They're all Andrew Stevens wannabes.

comment #3

rgmax99 says ...

I LOATHE that video.

comment #4

oakling says ...

That does sound like it's very much in the vein of their other popular stuff. And the title will definitely catch people's attention.

comment #5

oakling says ...

*attempting again to close that italics tag*

comment #6

oakling says ...

mother of god.

comment #7

Eric says ...

So when does Smith chime in here to defend himself?

comment #8

Edward says ...

Maybe it's because I still carry around some Catholic baggage, but I love DOGMA.

comment #9

iamanerd says ...

His movies break even at least at the B.O., and then the DVDs are just a gravy train that keeps rolling in. Same thing with Tyler Perry. Awesome opening weekends that basically cover production, and everything else is gravy!

comment #10

SmilingPolitely says ...

Meh... I still enjoyed the Rogan/Banks video.

With Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Dogma, I can't not root for Kevin Smith. He has a lifetime pass of goodwill from me.

comment #11

Jean says ...

Smith's a niche autuer, to be sure, but he's honest in his films - they don't aspire to big oscar bait epics - they hit the target they were aiming for. Dogma, however, is definitly greater than the sum of its parts. It's one of the handful of films that INTELLIGENTLY examines organized religion in general, catholicism specifically.

comment #12

Derby says ...

I always felt 'Clerks,' though mildly entertaining, just does not hold up well. As for 'Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back' – it was horrible from the word go. But that's just me. I hope the new film is good and does well. But I'm not a big fan overall.

comment #13

actionman says ...

I used to LOVE Smith when Clerks came out...then I hated Mallrats when I first saw it (came to love it on dvd)...Chasing Amy is still has best film...Dogma is pretty funny....Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back is fucking hilarious and might be the funniest film he's ever made...never saw Jersey Girl (no interest)....Clerks 2 was surprisingly well done...

I'm looking forward to Zack & Miri...hope it's some naughty fun

comment #14

berkguru says ...

Despise Kevin Smith and his crap movies

comment #15

MilkMan says ...

Kevin Smith is incapable of making anything other than a mediocre movie, and that's best-case scenario. He is a hetero John Waters, more interested in his "brand" than improving as a filmmaker. He is the Lottery Winner of the Early 90s Indie Sweepstakes. The guy has written some funny scenes, bits of dialogue, so what, so have a lot of people. He is listed in the credits of Southland Tales, but I don't remember him being in the movie, and I saw it five days ago for the first time. Actually, I don't remember much about Southland Tales other than Sarah Michelle Gellar being perfectly cast as a Porn Star (Who knew?). Since Smith's fan base tends to skew towards the younger end of the spectrum, I'm assuming that in 15 to 20 years from now we'll all be assaulted with a massive campaign to "reconsider" his body of work, seeing it in the context of blah, blah, working class, blah, blah sexual anxiety, blah, blah, post-millenial technology, blah, blah...Let me right now be the first to give a pre-emptive "fuck that." And just in case Kevin Smith, or someome affilaited with him, comes on her and tries to defend him buy using the old "You're just a bitter filmmaker jealous of his success and you wish you could be him," let me say this: If being as successful as Kevin Smith means that I have to live in New Jersey and wear those little boy jean cullottes with 'Merican flag vans and a bowling shirt every single day, breaking into a sweat and being short of breath when I walk from the bathroom to the kitchen, then no thanks. I'll take my shitty, poverty strewn life over that any single day. At least I can pretend that I am great, live in my own head, not risk a goddamn thing. Kevin Smith has tactile evidence of his failure staring him in the face every time he visits blockbuster to rent Brother's McMullen for the 50th time.

comment #16

hollywoodtease says ...

Lay off the fat man, ok. (And as one who tips the obese scale according to www.webmd.com, I feel ok in saying that. The man has a faithful following that is almost, *almost* being the key word, cult like in it's nature. I am one of the faithful. He makes me laugh. Simple. As. That.

He is doing what thousands of us out here in the "real world", as opposed to (fantasy land-movie land) wish we were doing. He makes movies, he makes us laugh, he makes us ponder and makes us question. For all of you who everytime he has a new film in the works, wonder why he keeps "getting" to make movies: I'll clue you in one more time. (Consider this my good deed of the day for the ever clueless when it comes to this industry.) EVERYONE makes $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!! on his films. He doesn't lose $$$$$ on his projects. Do you think the Weinsteins would keep funding his projects if they did not make $$$$$$$$$$?!!!! He kills DVD sales. KILLS!!!! Don't get me started on all these slasher-porn-gore flicks. They make $$$$ too that's why there is a new one out every month. Kevin tells story's that many people (us commoners) relate too. And if every few years he get's to make a flick I'll shell out my $8-$10 (I'm in the midwest so tix are on the cheap here compared to east coast/west coast) to go see it and get a good laugh for a few hours. So there is my "defense" of Kevin Smith. As long as Silent Bob keeps talking, I'll buy what he's selling. Snootch to the nooch.

comment #17

George Prager says ...

When he's finished shorts shopping, Kevin "Verbal Bukkake" Smith will return to the HE boards to tear us a new one. Then his fans will flood HE in hopes of kissing his ass.
Then BurmaShave will do one of his DIE, DIE, DIE posts.

comment #18

Wrecktum says ...

Nice. Phil Villarreal is calling the movie hilarious and hysterical and we haven't even seen a trailer for it.

This is the same Phil Villarreal who absolutely trashed Ratatouille in a video review, hilariously and hysterically unable to pronounce the name of the film correctly.

comment #19

Josh Massey says ...

I continue to not understand why Smith is such a magnet for hate. He isn't the best writer or director making movies today, but wouldn't he be the first one to tell you that? I haven't absolutely loved any one of his films, but I've liked the hell out of all of them. He's a funny guy, his movies aren't boring, his work is rewatchable - and that's more than I can say for most guys and gals who carry the "esteemed" card in their pocket.

(The preceding is rendered null and void if he casts Elizabeth Banks in a movie with "Porno" in the title and doesn't provide a nude scene).

comment #20

PhilVillarreal says ...

Wrecktum, I didn't trash or mispronounce "Ratatouille." Nor do I call "Zack and Miri" hysterical and hilarious. I expect far better judgment from someone with such a clever name as "Wrecktum."

comment #21

Richardson says ...

"If being as successful as Kevin Smith means that I have to live in New Jersey and wear those little boy jean cullottes with 'Merican flag vans and a bowling shirt every single day, breaking into a sweat and being short of breath when I walk from the bathroom to the kitchen, then no thanks. I'll take my shitty, poverty strewn life over that any single day."

That has to be one of the most bizarre straw man arguments I've ever seen posited on the Internet.

comment #22

Richardson says ...

"A majority of today's "Hot" directors have their entire careers based more in moving videos than cinema box office - Kevin Smith, Wes Anderson and Paul Thomas Anderson."

Let's not forget David Fincher; 'Fight Club' was released on DVD at exactly the right time for it to become the hugely overrated movie it is today.

comment #23

DavidF says ...

I can understand not everyone loving Kevin Smith - I happen to be a fan who likes most of what he has done but wishes he'd stretch his wings a bit more.

I think he should have been given that Fletch movie, for one thing. I'm not sure how good Zack and Miri will be, but Rogen and Banks give hope.

That said - to say his films don't make money is ridiculous. Even without hugely profitable DVDs he makes oodles. When your budget is $6 mil or whatever and you consistently make $30 mil at the BO, you are generating profit. I think Jersey Girl is the only one of his flicks that came close to losing money and that was more because of the bad JLo press than the movie itself - and it still did okay on video.

comment #24

Dublin101 says ...

"Actually, I don't remember much about Southland Tales other than Sarah Michelle Gellar being perfectly cast as a Porn Star (Who knew?)".

She was good, wasn't she? She nailed the part of a vapid bimbo who had too many bad bleach jobs and who has seen too much sun-tanning. Shame that we didn't to see Gellar "in action" so to speak. It's a lamentable Hollywood trend that casts actress as porn stars but refuses to supply a nude scene.

comment #25

actionman says ...

I cannot stand it when an actress takes a part as a porn star and then doesn't get naked. Makes. No. Sense.

I thought Southland Tales was a mess but I had fun watching it...I could definitely see how most people will hate it however.

And to the poster above who said that Fight Club is overrated....huh? You serious?

comment #26

MilkMan says ...

What I meant when I said that Buffy was perfectly cast as a porn star was that I never realized she was so freaking hot before. And even though she didn't get nude, some of her lines, i.e., dirty talk, made up for that. Hearing Buffy say, "I liked to get fucked, hard," made up for any lack of nudity or simulated oral copulation.
Kevin Smith sucks.

comment #27

D.Z. says ...

My opinion about Kevin's in line with DavidF's opinion, but I still enjoy Milkman's rants. The concept for Z+M sounds especially uninspired, and makes me wish he'd take more risks. How tough can it be to shoot something as low-budget as Green Hornet?!

comment #28

Wrecktum says ...

"Wrecktum, I didn't trash or mispronounce 'Ratatouille.'"

Um, you did and you did. Vis:

http://videos.azstarnet.com/p/video?id=1517191

Lackluster animation?! Hysterical and hilarious!!

comment #29

p.Vice says ...

The words "rewatchable hilarity" and "excellence" should never be mentioned in the same sentence as Kevin Smith. This is a prime example of why film critics are going the way of the dinosaur -- they have nothing but contempt for the cinema.

comment #30

Dave Polands Gut says ...

Smith defines the word "hack". He hasnt had one good visual in any movie. His scripts? How many times can one tell a jerkoff joke?

comment #31

Arizona Joe says ...

I understand the "jean cullottes" comment. In the olden days short pants connoted minority and immaturity. They should never be worn in a public appearance or a business meeting.

Kevin Smith is a case study in indie cinema. In the main, the whole democratization of making movies has been a disserivce to the view public. Most times independent films are about a bunch of kids on the hustle, and not quality entertainment.

Kevin Smith, a niche expanded to a personality, a minor brand, a synecdoche for the mediocrity of indie cinema.

The trouble is that the studios are run by a bunch of MBA's who use consumer behavior demographics as the basis of filmmaking. Nobody at the studio has the taste and wisdom to shepherd talent to greatness and art.

Where's Billy Wilder and Willie Wyler? Dead, and in a way so are we.

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