Posts Tagged ‘kevin smith’

It might not come as a terrible shock to discover that I'm a big Kevin Smith fan. Seen all his movies, from Clerks to Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Read all the comics. Read the books. Even read the scriptbooks of the movies. Bought his three live DVDs. Seen him in person several times, met him at MegaCon, watched him answer questions for 6 hours at a screenwriting seminar. Followed his blog and his Twitter feed.

And he'll talk about anything. No topic is too personal, every aspect of his life gets put out there for everyone to see.

So by now you'd think I'd have a pretty good handle on what he was like in person, right?

I came in late to the SModcast, the weekly podcast Smith records with his longtime friend and producer Scott Mosier, mostly because I never listened to podcasts of any kind until fairly recently and besides, I'd heard all his stories, right? But I got a better car stereo, and an iPod Touch, and I started working out and needed something to distract me from the unpleasant chore of making my body move around, and so when I did look for podcasts his was the first I grabbed. And I learned two valuable lessons.

First, the polished storyteller Kevin I saw on stage telling oft-told tales of Hollywood with the confident ease of long practice did not prepare me for the giggling Kev spinning wild and almost unspeakably deviant fantasies which he then hilariously acts out, with Mosier and other familiar View Askew faces like Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson and Malcolm Ingram. His remarkably tolerant wife Jen and daughter Harley even make appearances. Smith is more than a little like his character Randall in the way he pushes and pushes at a situation, making it worse and worse until you finally give in, whereupon he makes it worse.

Second, it's a really bad idea to be holding a lot of weight over your head at the Y when Kevin starts doing Harry Potter's voice, explaining to a panicky Ron that screaming "Forgeticus!" after fumbling with a half-awake Harry under the covers in the Hogwarts dorms really doesn't work. (Mosier: It's called "being on the down low, Ron") Nor will the average elderly Y-goer understand why you're trying desperately not to lose it as "Harry" tells Hermione to try gulping some gillyweed before oral sex to hold her breath longer.

This is Kevin Smith at his most raw, when he's coming up with ideas right there in the company of the people who make him laugh. And his new book, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith: The Best of SModcast," on sale tomorrow, is a transcript of some of the best segments. You do lose some of the impact without the sound effects, the fake voices and the background music, but it's still funny and utterly wrong as hell.

Did Helen Keller have a sex life? Did Smith recently have sex with his wife's leg? How long would Smith and Mosier last on the Lost island before they started looking good to each other? Would Scott Mosier perform a sexual act on a dying fan, at the fan's request? What if the Make-A-Wish Foundation forced him to do it? What's up with the Godzilla Jesus movie, or Stalin's monkey soldier army, or bukkake eggs, or why Kevin was willing to let Alanis Morrisette get mugged.

In his previous book, New York Times bestseller "My Boring Ass Life," Smith gave us a peek into his life. This time he lets us into his brain.You might want to wear waders, but don't miss the trip.

Get it from Amazon, or order a signed one from Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, or take a shot at winning a free copy in my "Which Kevin Smith Character Would You Nail?" contest.

NSFW excerpt after the jump:

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More to the point, win one of THREE copies of "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith."

If you know and like movie maker Kevin Smith, you already know you want this collection of transcripts of the best of SModcast, the weekly podcast Smith does with his longtime friend and conspirator Scott Mosier. If you've seen Smith at any of his personal appearances or seen any of his live DVDs you know he's loaded with great and bewildering stories. This… is different.

First, these are not the well-weathered and practiced stories he tells so well. This is Smith getting ripped and talking off the top of his head with his friends, giggling and pushing each other to extremes, most of them inevitably involving deviant sex. And he goes straight to the NSFW well right off the bat, talking candidly about his masturbatory habits, the Godzilla Jesus movie, whether Annie Sullivan ever had sex while Helen Keller was in the room ("It's not like they were, 'We gotta keep it quiet'"), whether the Make-A-Wish Foundation covers forced celebrity hand jobs, and the sickest question Kevin's ever been asked. Smith and Co., left to their own devices, are more twisted than anything he's ever put on film (so far). And I've got three to give away.

How to enter: Just post in the comments below the answer to this question:

Which Kevin Smith character would you nail, and why?

Rules: Any character is fair game, from his movies to his cartoons to his comics to, hell, his Roadside Attractions bits if you want*. Please keep the entries less than 50 words. US and Canada entries only, unless you're willing to cover postage. Must be over 18 to win. One entry per person, please. Make sure you leave a valid e-mail address so I can contact you (your info will not be used for any other purpose). And you've got till midnight EST next Friday, Sept. 25. Three winners will be chosen at random. Go!

UPDATED: Contest is over, three names have been chosen, e-mail sent out. I;'ll post the names once I get confirmation back. Thanks everyone who entering!

"Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith" hits the stores Tuesday, Sept. 22, and you can preorder it now. Or you can order a signed one from Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash. And be sure to check out the SModcasts for a taste of what you'll be getting.

* My own response? I'd bang God, in Her guise as Alanis Morissette. She's a total hottie, and Alan Rickman would have to stand next to the bed and make all her noises for Her. Doesn't get any better, sir.

Titan Books has released a bit of info and the cover of their 3rd Firefly Companion book, "Firefly: Still Flying." They're keeping some stuff a secret for now, but we know it'll be the same format as the previous two.

In Still Flying, we’ll be uncovering even more secrets from the series, stuffing the book full of unseen material, including new photos, props, behind-the-scenes secrets and much more besides.

The first two were excellent resources (reviews here and here), as all Titan tie-in books tend to be, with plenty of new interviews, insider tidbits, and full-color photos even hard-core fans haven't seen. I'm hopeful this will be a worthy addition.

Titan's on a roll this year. In addition to this they're also working on the official movie novelization and official Visual Companion for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's upcoming movie "Cabin in the Woods." And the collection of Kevin Smith SModcasts, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith." And the movie book for Mark Millar's "Kick-Ass."

If you've been listening to Kevin Smith's podcast with Scott Mosier (the SModcast) you know what to expect. Hell, if you've ever listened to Kevin Smith for more than 2 minutes you know what to expect.

If you haven't been listening (and why not? they're hilarious) you can read the best of the worst in Titan Books' new release, "Shootin' the Sh*t With Kevin Smith:The Best of the SModcast". An excerpt has been posted online, and vistors to the Titan Books booth at Comic-Con this week (booth #5337) can get a free sampler.

After the jump, a NSFW bit from the excerpt on Kevin and Scott lost on the "Lost" island:
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The man can talk.

I mean, he writes and directs great, quirky, vulgar movies ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma") and he writes comics and isn't a half-bad actor, but mostly what Kevin Smith does best is talk about himself, his work, his friends, his experiences, pop culture, and everyone and everything around him. I've seen him talk before, so I thought I was prepared when I went to "An Afternoon with Kevin Smith" at the Orange County Convention Center Saturday in Orlando. "Ha!" I thought to myself. "I can go and take notes and then blog about it in an amusing fashion! '2:30: Smith walks out. 2:31: First genitalia reference. Drink! Drink! 2:34: abuses questioner to the delight of all, etc.'"

The event, hosted by Florida Future Filmmakers, featured a screening of "Clerks 10th Anniversary," some interview clips, and promised he would do a Q&A from 2 till 4, with the warning that he usually went long.

He talked for over 6 hours.

Aside from one 15 minute break so the sponsors could do a raffle he went nonstop, taking questions and telling tales until nearly 9 pm, after a third of the 4,000 people attending had been forced to leave, presumably for pressing engagements or bloodflow issues.

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Don't you hate it when your friends don't share your interests?

OK, I'm exaggerating. I'm not friends with Kevin Smith or Joss Whedon, sadly, but still you hope the people you like like the people you like. And I have read that Whedon and Smith admire and respect each others work, and this made me happy for some weird fanboy reason.

But yesterday I went to see Kevin Smith speak in Orlando for the Florida Future Filmmakers event and during the talk, as he paced back and forth in front of a large mockup of the Quick Stop, someone asked what he thought about Joss Whedon's "Serenity." This is a rough quote from memory:

"I haven't seen it.

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You can now order customized Star Wars shirts and prints and not get sued. Way to serve your fans, Lucasy people! FOX, please take notes.

There's a load of music coming your way this weekend — Poco, Pure Prairie League and Firefall today, New Smyrna Jazz Fest , singing Whos — but I'm afraid I'm going to miss it all as I prepare for, attend, and recover from Kevin Smith's talk in Orlando tomorrow.

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