Kevin Smith - IndieTalk

Dimp Paddy · 07-01-2004, 02:09 AM

heya guys, now that I'm basically on school holidays, I have some time on my hands so I thought I'd do some posting

I have a question for you all...

who here is a Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma....) fan?

hope to hear from you all real soon ^_^

ciao!

Mr.Blonde · 07-01-2004, 06:20 AM

Kevin Smith rocks.. strangley, I'm looking forward to seeing jersey girl (despite the bennifer stigma) I still belive that it will be good, if kevin smith directed it, it must be.

LOGAN L Productions · 07-01-2004, 06:51 AM

I'm a fan, but I have to say...Clerks was/is overrated. It looks like a movie that literally anyone could make!

I don't understand how it got so big. I mean, anyone in this forum could probably make a better all around movie than clerks (if they put their minds to it).

Don't get me wrong, I liked it. I just don't understand how that movie can get so much attention, while better movies are only on sale at your local "indie" video store. Oh well, I'm still glad that Smith got his big break with clerks, because now he is able to bring us more comedies with bigger budgets.

Mr.Blonde · 07-01-2004, 07:02 AM

Yes, I agree it was over-rated.. but I think that's what got it cult status.. the fact that anyone could've made it, but he did it first..

sonnyboo · 07-01-2004, 07:20 AM

I have always viewed CLERKS as the perfect example of STORY versus product. The storyline & writing of CLERKS is something no one on this board thought to do or was capable of doing WHEN he did it, and Kevin Smith was 21 years old at the time he wrote it.

The acting is HORRID, the cinematogrpahy WORSE, and production values NONEXISTANT. So how & why did CLERKS get so popular? The WRITING. It was sar far better than any other aspect of the movie it made many people (myself included) overlook the flaws.

Kevin Smith has always been a better writer than director. It wasn't until DOGMA that he even realized the camera could move. I still don't see him as understanding the relationship between the camera & the scripts he writes, at least not fully.

Kev used to be very open and cool about his fans. These days he is getting less & less interested in them and more intersted in their wallets. He is even charging to post on the VIEWASKEW message board where he developped relationships with his fans directly. He moved full time to Los Angeles and his New Jersey roots are fading away.

It had to happen sooner or later. You can't stay an indie forever when you work at the studios.

Dimp Paddy · 07-01-2004, 07:43 AM

some really good points about Clerks there guys, and yeah, unfortunatly Kev is drifting away from us...

LOGAN L Productions · 07-01-2004, 07:51 AM

I was about to mention the great writing earlier, then I thought about it. The dialogue in his first few movies are so...fake. It sounds like every character except Jay is reading from a dictionary. No one ACTUALLY talks like the characters in his films. This is why I couldn't stand Mallrats the first time I saw it. The movie was supposed to be about lazy ass mallrats, yet the characters have unbelieveable vocabularies (and use them fully). So...maybe it's just my personal taste, but even Smith's writing wasn't very good to me.

BUT...his stories were creative, nonetheless.

Mr.Blonde · 07-01-2004, 11:00 PM

lol.. that's what I never understood about dawsons creek.. no 15 year olds talk like that, or act like that, or look like that.. very unrealistic.

Dimp Paddy · 07-02-2004, 12:21 AM

i see what you mean Logan, but that's what I love about Kev's writing, no one would ever speak like that, yet he writes it in a way where most people don't notice... well most people I know don't notice. he just makes it sound natural you know?

Mr.Blonde · 07-02-2004, 12:49 AM

I agree.. his movies are great if you don't think about them alot.

sonnyboo · 07-02-2004, 08:17 AM

Hello People - it's FICTION, it's not supposed to be reality. That's like complaining that the people on the REAL WORLD are unreal.. no kidding.

Are you saying that you found the situations in Spider-man to be unrealsitic?

: )

Mr.Blonde · 07-02-2004, 09:03 AM

lol.. good point there.

Tine · 07-02-2004, 01:31 PM

I like kevin smith. And he's so cute as silent bob! I loved Dogma, even though I'm catholic. I think it addressed some very interesting points.

Dimp Paddy · 07-02-2004, 07:29 PM

thats something so many people don't see in Dogma, it is actually a pro-religion movie, Kev even said so himself.

haha and thats a good point sonnyboo, but because most of his films reflect real people and real situations, people expect them to be very realistic in all there content.

LOGAN L Productions · 07-02-2004, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sonnyboo

Hello People - it's FICTION, it's not supposed to be reality. That's like complaining that the people on the REAL WORLD are unreal.. no kidding.

Are you saying that you found the situations in Spider-man to be unrealsitic?

: )

I like realism. period.

I hated Spider-Man...sorry. Infact, I was actually dissappointed when Parker shot web from his wrist. I think it would be more realistic if he'd built his little web contraption that he had in the old cartoons. Sorry, that's just the way I am.

I do like fantasy, but if a story is going to be set up in present day America, then I like for it to at least be plausible...that way it seems more like it could really happen, which makes it cooler to me. Does that make sense to y'all?

I like Star Wars so much because it is set in "a Galaxy far far away..." Which means that anything is possible. That's just how my mind works.

So...in short: when I hear/read/see a fictional story unfold, i like to be able to imagine it ACTUALLY happening the way it does on screen.

Just my taste....and I DO think it shows less than awesome writing on Smith's part..unless he wants me to feel the way I do.

...again, just my personal taste.