For the people who had property damaged during the flood there’s a lot of talk of what was lost.

Furniture. Carpet. Televisions. Entire houses. Bootleg videos of “BJ and the Bear.”

Whatever the flood stole from you – your ambivalence toward the Red River – there’s something to be gained from this ordeal; a career as a semi-famous filmmaker who just might be the voice of a generation.

Lost in the discussion about his movies is the fact that auteur Kevin Smith started his career because of a flood.

The guy who made low-budget film chic with his 1994 movie “Clerks” paid for part of that movie’s production expenses with FEMA money that was given to him after a flood destroyed some of his well-worn Volkswagen vehicles.

Smith used that money, the ransom from selling some comic books and credit cards to finance “Clerks,” the dialogue-heavy movie about lazy convenience store employees that became a benchmark of ’90s culture.

Since then, Smith has made several feature films, become a slacker icon and, at least to me, proved he – not Kurt Cobain – was the voice of the generation that came of age in the ’90s.

Would Smith have attained that stature without a flood and some FEMA cash? Probably. But with basements that still smell like the Red River puked in them, it’s more fun to think that the flood made the man.

Moral of the story: Grab that FEMA money and make a movie. Or write a book. Or design a video game. Or get the stink out of your basement.

Which Kevin Smith duo is your favorite? (Suggested by “Zombie-Kermit”)

Check out all the choices at the IMDB Poll site, with choices including “Zack & Miri”, “Loki & Bartleby”, “Dante & Randal”, and, of course, “Jay & Silent Bob”.

The 64 Kbps stereo copy. (2:02 runtime, 56 MB file size, right-click to save). Or…

Here’s the 24 Kbps mono copy. (2:02 runtime, 21 MB file size, right-click to save).

As always, thanks to Will for his encoding skills — Following this show, Opie went on to attend the New Jersey Devils playoff game at The Rock with Kevin — A game I was lucky enough to be invited to as well, with thanks to Kevin and Ming. What a place!

“Films will be viewed through the lens of auteur theory, since that seems the most appropriate to the director/writer.

This is the second time the course will be taught, and there are, as of this writing, still seats available for this course, although not many.”

We’re awaiting some further details on how one can register for the class - Though we’re guessing a call to the University for more info couldn’t hurt. Sounds like a fun weeklong course, that’s for sure.

Like Pegg and Frost, Jay and Silent Bob refer to each other - well, one of them does - as ‘my hetero-life-mate’. Their double act developed over the course of four previous Smith films, but it was here, in his broadest and most outrageous comedy to date, where they took central stage, showcasing a relationship that was as fucked-up as it was tender. They’re the perfect duo.

Most Bromantic Moment: The whole thing. Theirs isn’t a relationship where an excuse must be contrived for them to have an argument, just so they can reconcile later in an emotional scene with soaring strings. These guys stick with each other through thick, thin and really, awfully, very stupidly thick.

Who’s The Beard? After a fashion, jewel thief Justice (Shannon Elizabeth), who pines after Jay, for some reason we still can’t entirely fathom.

Why It’s Cool: Okay, we’re breaking our rule a little here, because this really is a bloke in a bunny suit. And yes, it’s the Easter Bunny.

But we really couldn’t pass up a list of cinematic Leporidae without mentioning this poor, put-upon mall employee. Who is only trying to bring joy and laughter to local Eden Prairie children when he’s cruelly set-upon by Jay and Silent Bob. Oh, and the children he’s trying to bring joy and laughter to.

Ungrateful little hell spawn.

BATMAN: CACOPHONY HC
Writer: Kevin Smith
Artists: Walter Flanagan and Sandra Hope
Collects: BATMAN: CACOPHONY #1-3
$19.99 US, 144 pages

Over the past decade, we have seen the rise and rise of “bromance”, a genre that unashamedly celebrates the relationship between two straight men. It kicked off with 1999’s Dogma, in which Kevin Smith’s Silent Bob is introduced by Jason Mewes as “my hetero life-mate”, and arguably continued with the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

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.

We’re told, by the way, the interview is planned to run at least 7 or 8 segments, so we’re only halfway there. Search our archives if you missed any of it — Our plan will be to write an all-inclusive post of the segments once the saga is complete, also. For now, check out Stranahan’s YouTube page for previous segments and other examples of his work.

SModcast 80: R.I.P. - In which the future dies.

Grab it now, and listen before the rest of the world — As readers of our sites, you’re the first to get SModcast every week, before the iTunes folks get it. And speaking of iTunes…

While SModcast remains one of the most popular and downloaded ‘casts on the net, the show’s only got a mere 248 reviews (at presstime) over at iTunes. While many users are commenting on Quick Stop Entertinment and Kevin’s blog, we’d like to encourage you to PLEASE take a moment, if you like the show, to write a nice review for iTunes exclusive. You can do it right through iTunes (assuming you are running the app) in the Podcast area.

As always, enjoy SModcast and thanks for listening — Keep on supporting our sponsors, Omni Consumer Products — They help keep QSE coming your way week after week. And of course thanks to Kevin and Scott for the ongoing entertainment, helping make Mondays a better day around the world.

/Film features an extended podcast review of the film, where Kevin joins the staff for their /FilmCast segment for a discussion on the film that runs almost a full TWO HOURS (Yep, ALL on “Watchmen”!). You know Kevin loves the film, but now is your chance to hear much more specific reasons behind his thoughts on “Watchmen”, comparisons from the book to the movie, what was cut, what was changed, levels of violence, and a LOT lot more.

Note - The link at /Film includes an MP3 download for the complete podcast, but there is also an MP3 with ONLY the “Watchmen” discussion. At first we thought we grabbed the wrong MP3, but the “Watchmen” piece is indeed an hour and forty six minutes itself.

What’s our take? Amazingly faithful film — Worth a second viewing. The biggest criticism we see is that there are some slower-paced moments, especially in the final third, but comparing it to the book, that’s really what “Watchmen” is. While personally the ending changes don’t work for me, the great achievement of the filmmakers here is the fact that “Watchmen” is truly, beat for beat, the novel brought to life, in the proper time period, the proper sequence, and some of the most perfect page-to-screen translation you will EVER see. See it again this weekend.