“This seems to be a very unique group for this type of film, and with Smith at the helm, one thing is for certain: there will be plenty of laughs. Morgan is a tried and true comedic presence on screen, and when looking at his older works, Willis too knows how to handle comedy. It’s hard to see how this trio could work together and not put together a great film.”

SModcast 87: Tapoo - In which a simple concept slips from our heroes’ grasps.

It’s a free MP3 download, folks. Podcasters should see it showing in iTunes later in the week, as always. We’re streaming this baby down right now, grab a copy and listen along with us. With the new film underway, the schedule for SModcast may wind up being erratic, though Smith & Mosier WILL present the first-ever LIVE SModcast during this weekend’s street hockey tourny in Brantford, Ontario. Rumor has it that SMod will not be released online, so you gotta be there in person to see it. The weather’s great. Get on up to Ontario for some hockey and SModcsat fun this weekend.

As for “Reaper”, the show’s pilot was Kevin’s first TV directing gig, so has quite a bit of historical significance. With a cancellation this late in the year, we’re betting that “Reaper”, like “Earl”, may also end with an unresolved cliffhanger.

“…The main thing that’s been going on is ironing everything out with Kevin Smith. When we first acquired The Green Hornet we had quite a few creators wanting to be involved and had creators asking us for up to four years to be involved. A few of the creators we’ll be working with . . . and Kevin Smith was the only person we reached out to and he was interested - but we had to wait to see if it was a definite yeah or nay. Kevin was able to bring incredible amounts of media attention by getting brought on to entertainmentweekly.com, which we gratefully respect, and with the support of the comics industry we plan on making this one of our biggest launches that we possibly can.”

“…Well, Kevin came into the picture when we remembered that he was a fan of The Green Hornet. He’s done a movie with Seth Rogan [Zack and Miri Make a Porno] and while just like the original script that Kevin did that has no involvement with the new movie script with Seth, Kevin as a creator has grown over the last five years and we were able to approach him about doing The Green Hornet as he would approach him today.”

Newsarama has the full story.

I quickly grabbed my “Clerks 2” DVD that I had been carrying for just the occasion and jumped over the seat in front of me to wait in line for my chance to meet him. I felt like a schoolgirl with a crush when I finally met him. I vaguely remember the words “You’re great” and “I loved you in Clerks” rushing out of my mouth as we snapped a picture together.

“Wow,” he said, “you sure are a fan. Do you want the bottle cap from the soda that I was drinking from?”

“Sure,” I said, trying desperately not to seem more of a fan boy then I already was. He handed the bottle cap to me and smiled, “Here you go, buddy.”

IMDB calls it simply “The Chasing Amy Doc” for now with an August 4, 2009 release date. That’s a Tuesday and thus a very possible DVD/Bluray release time line. 4 months out still gives us time to speculate, but somehow feels about right as well. While this would mark around 12 years since the film’s release, we’re guessing the Bluray will make this all worth the wait.

Just a rumor for now, but as the smoke clears, we’ll keep you posted.

SModcast 81: Satan’s Dookie. -

In which our heroes throw their support behind the controversial PreCrime Bureau.

The SMod is super-sized this week, too, running in at a hefty 1:11. Grab it, and enjoy some early week entertainment from Smith and Mosier.

”All those innocent contractors brought in to do the job were killed — casualties of a war they had nothing to do with. All right, look: you’re a roofer, some juicy government contract comes your way. You got a wife and kids, the two-story in suburbia. This is a government contract, which means all sorts of benefits. Along come these left-wing militants that blast everything within a three-mile radius with their lasers. You didn’t ask for that. You have no personal politics. You’re just trying to scrape out a living.” — Randal (Jeff Anderson), on why the destruction of the second Death Star was unfair, in Clerks.

Surf on over to watch the clip.

“It [Role Models] came out the same time as Zack and Miri Make a Porno, which is, to me, a wonderful lead performance from Elizabeth Banks and if you haven’t seen it, I would highly recommend it.”

We’ve been fans of Wain’s work since way back in “The State” days, so very cool to hear that.

• The rarely-seen “Oh What a Lovely Tea Party” documentary, which follows the making of “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”, will be included in full on the upcoming Bluray release of “Clerks X”. It will also feature all the great stuff from the most recent “Clerks” release, including “Snowball Effect”, the brilliant documentary from Zak & Joey.
• In other Bluray news, Kevin and the cast are currently recording new material (another documentary perhaps?) for a “Chasing Amy” Criterion Bluray, making it sound like this dream will finally become a reality. Kevin has in the past revealed he wanted to repackage all the great Criterion stuff that already existed along with new stuff on top of that.
• On the “Jersey Girl” front, the must-see extended cut of the film is “very possible” for next year, on both DVD and Bluray. We’ve seen the extended version a couple times, and really dig it — It gives a lot more depth to the characters and is our preferred cut. Let’s hope this one comes to pass, as it’s been years since we’ve seen it this way.
• The new comic book project from Kevin and Walt Flanagan will be unveiled at the San Diego Con this July.
• Kevin would one day like to make a hockey-themed film.

Fans are reporting that Kevin once again (as always) brought his A-game, with stories old and new, and more talk of the Walter Gretzky tournament and his admiration. No new details about “A Couple of Dicks”, though it’s going to be a while before that one gets in front of cameras. Fans are also mentioning a dude who asked to get naked on stage last night, whom Kevin apparently allowed to do so. Sounds like another crazy one, which just goes to show, no Kevin Smith show is ever the same, and you never can predict what you’ll be in for. Keep your eyes on our upcoming events calendar, and don’t miss your chance to see Kevin live on stage if he’s near your town.

“I have really gotten into Wayne and Walter in the last six months, I’ve been reading a lot about them and found it really inspiring,” he said.

He went as far as to say he “kind of fell in love in a big, bad way” but not in a romantic sense - like so many people, he found Walter and Wayne to be very inspiring individuals.

Smith said he then felt he may be going through a mid-life crisis because “at 38 I found Gretzky to be an ideal role model” but that his admirations were solidified when he was speaking at Roy Thomson Hall and Bloor Cinema in Toronto and found those present understood his idolization.

…

So far there has been enough fan response on the View Askew message board to form three teams. The teams have been named after hockey jerseys featured in Smith’s films - The Vulgarians, The Leonardo Reapers and the Monroeville Zombies.

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“Brantford produced Wayne Gretzky, perhaps one of the only viable role models of the last 50 years … the world needs more Wayne Gretzkys and I figure - why wouldn’t another come out of Brantford? So I thought, why not put money into Brantford athletics.”

The tournament, which is a fundraiser event for the Sports Facilities Infrastructure Legacy fund, runs June 5-7, with each ball hockey team guaranteed at least three games at Lions Park Arena.