“…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.”

…

Some of Smith’s upcoming film projects were the next topic of discussion, however Smith said that he is still looking for funding for “Red State” and that the script for “Ranger Danger” hasn’t been finished yet. The following question brought up the negative “Kevin Smith asides” in “Entourage.” Smith revealed that “Entourage” producer Rob Weiss throws those into the scripts because Smith once called him “Vanilla Weiss.” However, Smith reiterated that he isn’t offended by the jabs and in fact, he greatly enjoys them because they mean that “in that universe, I exist!”

The final question returned to “A Couple of Dicks,” which is a departure for Smith in that it will be the first film that he directed but didn’t write. “I read it and fell in love it,” explained Smith. “This is the buddy cop movie I would have written if I had any interest in writing one. The script is really strong.” Smith mentioned that he is much more collaborative on this project and that he has learned a lot while making this movie.

The Magic of Penetration

By Christian Bu

A romantic comedy disguised as a sex flick: Kevin Smith pulls of an impressive magic trick with his loser comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”: he lets tender feelings grow amidst filth and sperm.

The city of Philadelphia didn’t allow the public display of posters for “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”. Officials argued that the word porno in the movie’s title might deeply disturb adolescents. This is a curious concern, considering that, online, every hardcore movie is only a mouse click away for the hands of sweaty boys.

The brouhaha seems even more inappropriate when you watch the movie-turned-scandal all the way to the end: Quite possibly “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” is the most romantic comedy ever made.

Every kind of filth and sperm just rolls off of the heroin and hero, while the world around them drowns in all sorts of bodily fluids. And that basically is what every romantic comedy is about: staying clean and steering towards a morally flawless happy end in an environment determined by temptation, depravity and brutalization.

However, presumably director Kevin Smith doesn’t see pornography as such as something objectionable. On the contrary, it can be assumed that the 39-year-old slacker for life, who ,with comedies such as “Clerks” or “Chasing Amy”, is second to none when it comes to putting the pop cultural compensatory interests of sexually underfed boys into focus, is indeed rather fond of XXX-home-entertainment. He probably dusts off his porn stash under the bed just as affectionately as his Star Wars figures on the shelf.

Keeping that in mind, you may think of the protagonist Zack (Seth Rogen, “Knocked Up“) in Smith’s latest movie as the director’s alter ego, because what does he – broke and permanently trapped in a McJob – do when he and his equally broke roommate Miri (Elizabeth Banks) want to fill their empty coffers by shooting an amateur porn? The very first thing he does is create a number of movie titles which artfully and knowledgeably combine his own pop cultural preferences with official porn-speak. For someone like him, coming up with the words is more important than the actual deed.

Therefore I recommend you watch Smith’s porn romance in the original English if you can. Even if there may be a fitting German translation for Zack and Miri’s movie project “Star Whores”, things will get more difficult in finding one for “Swallow My Cockaccino.”

The humor of “Zack and Miri“ is in the details. The story itself doesn’t exactly knock your socks off. And it doesn’t have to. It’s exactly as predictable as it has to be in a romantic comedy – or in a porno. One genre is as no-frills about advancing the consummation of romance as the other is about the consummation of the sexual act; there are hardly two other movie genres which are less secretive about their objectives.

What is interesting about “Zack and Miri” are not the plot twists but the dialogues. Comedy unfolds masterfully, for example, when at her high school reunion Miri tries to talk a guy she used to have a crush on into a one night stand while he gently tries to reveal to her that he has become a gay porn star and that he chose to do gay porn because that corresponds to his sexual orientation.

The one positive thing that Miri and Zack take home from this failed hook-up is the inspiration for their new business idea. They quickly recruit a crew which includes real-life porn veterans Traci Lords and Katie Morgan, who might be known to fans of that genre from movies such as “Open Up Traci” or “Desperately Horny Housewives.”

It’s touching how a group of friendly freaks grows closer while realizing their independent project. It is even more touching how amidst all this uninhibited and enthusiastic going-ons Zack and Miri suddenly discover their love for each other.

As if by magic every exercise in penetration either of them has scheduled with another of the semi-pros gets canceled until finally Zack and Miri get some action with each-other during their shoot on some uncomfortable padding – while director Smith seems to let the camera float chastely upwards to the ceiling from the strictly functional porno close-up shot. This monogamous final act is almost a little conservative.

But who would call all that immoral? The very first bizarre postures already allude to the heartfelt finale. Even Traci Lords, the grand old dame of eighties porn uses her body to create some romantic ambiance: In her first scene, she blows soap bubbles with her vagina.

He wasn’t, as was so often decreed, not even supposed to be there. But Dante, the clerk at the Quick Stop, had to spend his day off in the ninth circle of hell. Well, at the very least, it was with his best friend-come-shoulder devil, Randal who manned the neighboring video store. No, not really much of saving grace, but it did make for one bromantic turn of events. From the door being gummed shut, to the constant shooing of drug peddlers, Jay and Silent Bob, to a mishap at a wake, to a blown hockey game on the store’s roof, to a love-life disaster between Dante, Veronica, and Caitlin, to the death of a masturbating patron… and that’s barely half the day. It is a day that will never end, but through it all, even after a snack food fight, Dante and Randal begin to understand just what they mean to each other. But soon, a few years later, the two share employment at the Mooby’s fast food place (see, Randal burns down the Quick Stop), and they manage to get into a similar situation: Dante does not really love his fiancee, but rather his boss, and Randal just chooses to be the monkey wrench in the works. Eventually, after a donkey show goes horribly awry (seriously), they end up in jail where Randal spouts quite possibly one of cinema’s finest bromantic diatribes of all time. Yeah, they love each other.

This second clip comes from the fresh “Reaper Season 2″ DVD and features a short snippet of Kevin talking about the show, for which he filmed the acclaimed pilot episode. Enjoy. See ya next time. As always, thanks for stopping by News Askew today.

“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.

This first article focuses on “A Couple of Dicks”. Of particular interest, it reveals that Kevin was offered directing gigs on both “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” and Eddie Murphy’s upcoming “Imagine That”.

Kevin Smith On Trying To ‘Breathe New Life’ Into The Buddy Cop Genre With ‘A Couple of Dicks’

“For years, I’d been like, ‘No, I only direct stuff I wrote,’” Smith said. “I would do interviews and be like, ‘If you ever see me directing a script I didn’t write, I’m clearly paying off a mortgage.’ Stuff like that, because I never thought I would.”

But Robinov, who’d been a big fan of Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” thought the director would be the perfect guy to helm “Dicks.” And based on the personal way in which the script resonated with Smith, he was only too happy to accept—even as he continued to be surprised that the directorial offer had ever been made.

“I’ve never even directed anything but a Kevin Smith movie, so why would you trust me with anything else?” he said. “That’s why this is amazing. I can’t believe that somebody would be like, ‘Here, try to breathe new life in the buddy cop franchise.’ But I guess it makes sense. All I do is buddy movies. In this one they have guns and there’s a plot. As opposed to them sitting around talking about ‘Star Wars’ and sex.”

Smith’s ultimate goal, he said with a laugh, is to make “Dicks” a TNT channel classic. “It’s a throwback to ‘48 Hrs.,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,’” Smith said. “It’s a buddy cop flick. It’s not like, ‘He’s a by-the-rules white guy and he is a jive-talking black guy, but together they’re gonna fight crime!’ They just happen to be black and white and they’re long-time friends.”

Next up, Kevin’s daughter Harley presents her own review of the vampy chick-flick “Twilight”:

Kevin Smith’s Daughter Reviews ‘Twilight’

Writer/director/actor/all-around nice-guy Kevin Smith stopped by recently to chat with MTV’s Josh Horowitz on a variety of subjects. While the ever-busy Smith had plenty to say about his own work, he also managed to squeeze in a brief review of “Twilight.” In all honesty, Smith didn’t have much to say about the movie other than mentioning that it made him wish he was a 14 year old girl. It’s his daughter who’s the real fan, and she was brave enough to step in front of the camera so she could share her thoughts.

Finally, Kevin mentions that he currently does not have any interest in taking comics and making movies out of them:

Kevin Smith Has ‘No Interest’ In Working On Big-Screen Comic Book Adaptations

“I have no interest in making those movies,” Smith told MTV News. “They look very tedious to make. It takes a talent that I just do not have. But I love to kick back and watch them.”

He went on to cite Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight”) and Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) among the ideal candidates to direct comic book properties. And when it came to the question of writing another script, Smith questioned the very need for a “name writer.”

“When I got hired for that ‘Superman’ gig, the first thing out of my mouth was like, ‘Why are you talking to me?’” he said. “Why don’t you talk to Dan Jurgens or somebody who works on ‘Superman?’ You’ll get a great script out of a dude who’s worked on 60 issues of ‘Superman.’ I guarantee it.”

“But then it was all about, ‘Well, they’re not in movies.’ And now it’s different,” continued Smith. “Now you can cherry-pick and go into a genre and be like, ‘Let’s take these dudes. They write on ‘Lost.’ Their episodes are good. Let’s let them write a script.’ You don’t need a cat like me. And you shouldn’t get a cat like me.”

Beverly Hills 90210 star Shannen Doherty is set to take the lead role in British indie flick “The Beautiful Outsiders”. She will be playing Sarah Fugate,a prostitute who goes on the run from the law with ex-con Jason Starkweather (Cameron Douglas). Shannen replaces the previously attached Tara Reid who had to leave the project due to a scheduling conflict.

Shannen is famed for her work in cult films “Mallrats” and “Heathers”,as well as long running TV shows “Charmed” and the recently revamped “90210″.

Two other new cast members have also joined the project. “Clerks” star Jeff Anderson will feature in the major supporting role of Eric. Jeff is famed for his work with director Kevin Smith in films such as Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and the recent Zac and Miri Make a Porno.

Multi millionaire businessman Peter Jones,who is known to TV audiences in the UK and US for his work on Dragons Den and American Inventor, has agreed to play the cameo role of Ron in the film.

They join previously announced cast members Brad Dourif, Doug Bradley, David Hess,Giovanni Lombardo Radice,John Fallon,Claire King, Sarah Barrand, Stuart Cable and BAFTA award winning Welsh actress Stephanie James. The film is being jointly produced by Swansea based Masterplan Film Productions and LA based Thunderball Films with award winning Welsh filmmaker Andrew Jones writing and directing. Principal photography is now set to take place in South Wales during September and October this year.

It’s always a treat to see Anderson back in front of the camera. We’ll keep our eyes on this one, and hope to work with the producers to provide you some exclusive content once filming begins.

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.

EthanSuplee: Just got the call that My Name Is Earl has been canceled. They sure did take their time with that decision or rather informing us of it.

We had originally heard rumors of a Fox or cable network pickup for the show, but at presstime, nothing has been announced. We’re going to hold out hope that we might still see a resolution to the season ending cliffhanger, though we expect creator Greg Garcia will spill if no save happens. We wish the great Jason Lee and Ethan our best, and will be extremely sad if the show disappears. It was a regular weekly watch and one of the best comedy ensembles on TV.

…”That dude is astounding. To be able to invoke Kirk without doing a Shatner impression? That performance was so electric and so wonderful to watch.

But it wasn’t just Pine that had Smith raving about “Trek.” “The opening 10 minutes of that movie are astounding,” he said. “It’s, like, everything could go downhill after that, and you would still leave that movie going, ‘That movie rocked.’ But, luckily, it doesn’t really go downhill. It maintains that energy throughout.”

Famous gossip site took the Pine-love a step further with one of his trademark doodles along with a story today.

In a related story, Kevin also suggests that the inevitable Trek sequel will need to find a villain that will do justice to the awesome Khan if he should be rebooted into the new time-altered mythology:

“It would have to be someone who can chew the scenery and [who] did a car commercial at one point in their career,” he said, referring to the ’70s era Chrysler Cordoba ad in which Montalbán appeared.

We suggested Joe Isuzu, otherwise known as David Leisure from the late ’80s sitcom “Empty Nest.”

That proposal got Smith thinking about the way other franchises have handled the task of reintroducing iconic characters with different actors. “Maybe they have to go another way with it,” he said. “With [Jack] Nicholson’s Joker, you had the scenery-chewing, over-the-top, wonderful Joker performance. And then Heath Ledger gives this 180-degree, creepy but wonderful Joker performance, so maybe they need to go that route. Like, if Ricardo Montalbán’s Khan is always beloved because it’s so over-the-top and operatic, maybe you get somebody who’s a little more coiled-spring.”

Just as important as who could play the new Khan, Smith told us, will be the power of the new Kirk, Chris Pine, to pull off Shatner’s memorable line about his enemy.

“It’s really going to come down to if Pine can sell, ‘Khaaaaan!’ ” said Smith. “And I’m sure he will be able to.”