It’s a fascinating read, which not only includes links to all of the work, but some inside details and memories from the projects that we’d never heard before. Here’s a sample:

…Mr. Smith had seen this and asked if we could make a version for Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez as a wrap party present for the film Jersey Girl. We wrote a proposal, which Kevin then took and added a bunch of gags and inside jokes and developed the script. We also sent ideas for a Dogma game and a game based off of the Clerks animated series. We had 8 weeks till the wrap of the film, where Kevin wanted to give the arcade machine to them.

We worked most of the hours of those 8 weeks. We were still programming the game when we drove it straight from Austin to New York City in a U-haul attached to Brad’s jeep. We took turns working, sleeping, and driving in shifts. We presented the arcade machine on the last night of shooting, with paparazzi everywhere ruining multiple takes of the final scene. We installed the machine in the couples’ apartment. That part is pretty hazy, I personally only remember that the refrigerator was 100% full of diet-caffeine-free cokes, and showing a bodyguard how to play Frogger on the machine.

If you didn’t already know, this series is tremendous. Clerks: The Animated Series tackles a lot of the same topics as in the movies but thanks to the additional freedom that animation grants, the series shines like a freaking diamond. The humor found here is not fully like in the movie, where vulgarity and cruelness plays a big part. In the series, the jokes are expanded into unique ideas that were absolutely made for television. Jokes, references, and pop culture hysteria are quickly rattled off one after another in a hilarious string of continuance. Not to mention the fantastic jabs they take against popular sitcom devices: fake sitcom introductions (“this show was drawn in front of a live studio audience”), narrative recap devices (“previously on Clerks – beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep”), infamous television staples (such as the clip show episode being only the second episode of the series) movie spoofs (Schindler’s List + Flintstones = Flintstone’s List), and other popular culture figures.

Jensen and Gallery 1988 will be picking just ONE WINNER and they’ll need all submissions by the end of September. This is your chance to have your art seen and SOLD! Send all submissions to gallery1988@aol.com. Write “SModmission” in the subject line. Remember, this has to have a connection to any episode of the great SModcast.

“…there are more than a few stand out scenes, although my personal favourite is Ollie’s conversation with Will Smith. The scene is seamless and so well written when it could really have turned into a giant joke.

Like most movies with children included in the cast, it does sometimes fall into its own sugary sweetness and you can’t help but notice the influence of the late, great John Hughes’ She’s Having a Baby running throughout. Both director/writers were influenced by their own families.

As this genre of movie goes, you could, in fact, do a lot worse and if the critics put you off watching this movie first time round then take a look at it when it’s next on TV. And if you haven’t watched it in a while, wait until the next rainy afternoon and put it in your DVD player, you’ll feel better after.

This is one of those flicks we hope that many folks, including critics, take a look at again with a lot of the Bennifer stuff now in the distance. And we’re really hopeful that many of you can one day see Kevin’s extended cut of the film, which we feel gives it an even stronger emotional connection and impact with the viewer. Kevin’s stated it’s a possibility for an eventual special edition Bluray, so keep your fingers crossed.

Dogma (1999)

Being an angel is a cushy job. You mooch around Heaven, taking time out to fluff your feathers, attend celestial choir practice and pose for the odd Renaissance painting. Unless, of course, like Loki and Bartleby, you get the Almighty heave-ho and find yourself exiled to Wisconsin. The smart-mouthed seraphs don’t take rejection lying down, though. Exploiting a Biblical loophole, they set off on a cunning quest for forgiveness that threatens to invalidate God. Considering God turns out to be Alanis Morissette, their failure is ours too.

Angelic retribution level (out of 10): 7

Chances against massed armies of Heaven: High. Well, one of them’s the Angel of Death and the other’s Jason Bourne.

You just know Jason Lee’s stash has some serious classics hidden in there. Plus, this is the collection that stated the rules we all try to follow: “Touch not, lest ye be touched.”

• Kevin made a quick appearance on the other other night’s NHL Awards show. Check out the video above!

• Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch ran THIS glowing review of Kevin’s Carnegie Hall appearance.

• We mentioned this a while back, but here’s CTV’s official premiere announcement for their upcoming Degrassi TV movie featuring Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes:

  PARADISE CITY: DEGRASSI GOES HOLLYWOOD (Premiere)

  * Sunday, August 30 at 8 p.m. ET

  In the first ever DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION movie, the Degrassi students venture to L.A. via school bus with hopes to score parts in Mewesical High, a musical directed by Jason Mewes (Clerks) under the mentorship of Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma). Paige (Lauren Collins), personal assistant to THE SHORES reality television star Hailey Montel (Mary Ashton), understands that in life you work from the ground up, but when Hollywood hands Paige a shortcut to fame and fortune, she jumps at the opportunity and takes Marco (Adamo Ruggiero) and Ellie (Stacey Farber) along for the ride. Back in Toronto, Manny (Cassie Steele) has immersed herself in her university theatre program and is committed to becoming an “actor of substance.” The star of Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?, Manny blows an opportunity to star in Mewes’ feature and then heads on a road trip to L.A. to win the role and realize her dream.

• In possibly the latest movie review ever, the New Orleans Examiner posted their review of JERSEY GIRL.

• 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.

21. CLERKS

With its cruddy lensing and sound, Kevin Smith’s way-low-budget debut feels like a bootleg copy of an adolescent mind.

AVC: You were in Zack And Miri Do A Porno with Seth Rogen. You’ve both worked extensively with Judd Apatow, who is famous for encouraging improvisation, where Kevin Smith is known for discouraging ad-libbing. Did Smith allow improvisation on Zack?

CR: Definitely. This was supposed to be the first movie he did that on. He just told us to go for it, to do our thing. I wouldn’t have guessed that he’d ever discouraged improvisation, but I guess he’s just used to doing scenes down to the letter. He was very encouraging about doing improv at this particular time.

AVC: Were there any particular improvisations you were especially proud of?

CR: There were a couple of things. Tisha Campbell came out with both guns blazing. She was going off. She was totally off-book, so I just had to catch up with her and go with her toe-to-toe. Kevin’s direction was that at first I was kind of stunned, but then I think, “Are you going to take that?” So I’m like, “Oh yeah, here we go.” Then the titty auditions, that was all improv. Kevin just told us to start here, then end up somewhere else.

Read the whole thing at AV Club.

7. “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”


Writer/director Kevin Smith found his stroke once again with this riotous and surprisingly heartfelt comic yarn about a platonic couple (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who discover they’re in love while making a nudie flick. The movie encapsulates Smith’s heedless joy of filmmaking.

“Jersey Girl” (2004)

Continuing his streak of playing #2s, Damon reunited with his “Dogma” director Kevin Smith for a bit of déjà vu. Shortly before he became a household name with “Good Will Hunting,” Damon took a minor role in “Chasing Amy” as “Shawn Oran – Executive #2,” an MTV producer who tries to lure Holden and Banky (Ben Affleck and Jason Lee) to adapt their comic book for TV. In “Jersey Girl,” Lee and Damon sit across from Affleck’s Ollie Trinke as PR execs #1 and #2, respectively, who interview Trinke for a job. Smith laments on the DVD commentary, “You don’t know how disheartening it is to be at a test screening and get cards back where like ’scene liked most: Jason Lee and Matt Damon’ because you’re like dude, they were in the movie for a minute.”

The “Clerks: The Animated Series” scenario

This is by far the most depressing of the three scenarios. The network might initially give support to the show in the conceptual phase even though they’re not entirely sold on it. Once the show has got a few episodes in the can, the network executives will balk at the prospect of giving it even the tiniest bit of support.

This has happened many times before with other shows, I’m certain, but there is one particularly ugly example that comes to mind for me. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with movie writer/director Kevin Smith. Back in the early part of the decade he was approached by ABC to have his very first film, “Clerks”, translated into an animated series. Even though Kevin’s involvement with the project was minimal compared to that of his films the project looked good on paper. It had Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson & Jason Mewes reprising their roles as Dante, Randal & Jay, so what could go wrong? Everything!

First of all, the often vulgar “Clerks” was a concept that was not at all compatible with ABC, which is owned by Disney. If it had been optioned by a cable network like Comedy Central or Cartoon Network there was a chance it would have translated quite well to the small screen. Even the Fox network could have made it work, given their success with shows like “The Simpsons” & “Family Guy”. But because ABC took it on the show’s producers attempted to transform “Clerks” into something it definitely wasn’t: a normal animated sitcom. It ended up being such a watered-down version of the source material that it turned off a lot of Kevin Smith’s normally loyal and forgiving fanbase (myself included) and viewers unfamiliar with Smith’s other work just didn’t connect with it.

It doesn’t help that ABC seemed to revel in making a bad situation worse. It delayed the premiere of the series from early Spring to Summer, then it made the decision to air the fourth episode of the series as the pilot episode. The network then aired the second episode, which was a “flashback” episode with the flashback sequences referring almost solely to what was intended to be the first episode. With seemingly the entire deck stacked against it, “Clerks: The Animated Series” was cancelled after merely two out of the six completed episodes having aired.