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Wednesday, September 06, 2006 - 6:56 PM
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DVDBits Special Report Announcement - An Evening With Kevin Smith
 Last week, I had the great fortune to be in attendance at 'An Evening with Kevin Smith' in Melbourne, along with 1,100 Smith devotees.
I've slaved over the PC for a few days now to give you a full report, along with some exclusive photos. I'm now happy to report that the full article is now up.
So Please click here for instant fun.
On Friday the 25th of August, I had the distinct pleasure of being in the audience for ‘An Evening with Kevin Smith’ at the Astor Theatre in St Kilda, Victoria, consisting of the Melbourne premiere of ‘Clerks II’, and what was to be a 90 minute Q&A session (which ran for approximately 3 hours!).
As anyone who has seen the Region 1 DVD ‘An Evening with Kevin Smith’, the format of the Q&A is quite relaxed, with a distinct ‘anything goes’ vibe. Kevin’s answers can run from a few minutes to a half hour or longer, often about personal aspects of his life, up to embarrassing meetings with some of the most powerful men in Hollywood.
Whilst it was obvious that the seating capacity of approximately 1,100 seats, was fast filling, and by the end of the night it well and truly had been, I didn’t know that the event had sold out weeks before it started. In fact it must have sold out only a day before I obtained my ticket (full price I might add).
I got there a while before the show started, however suffered the embarrassment of having my digital still camera confiscated upon my entry, because I didn’t have proper identification on my person. However all issues were, I thought, settled before I even left my state to travel. However I didn’t have time to argue with the door staff, and reluctantly left my camera with the staff, unsure if I would ever see it again.
The evening started with the premiere of ‘Clerks II’, something which I admittedly had extremely low expectations for, but ended up really enjoying. There is such a honest heart to the film that I didn’t think would be there. Admittedly, some of the jokes are telegraphed way in advance, but overall it was very good.
However, the real meat of the night was the coveted Q&A. To be honest, I am more of a fan of the man himself than his movies. I find Smith’s storytelling abilities are extremely good, and inherently hilarious, compared to his movies which I generally find mildly entertaining. As anyone that has seen the ‘Evening with Kevin Smith’ DVD, his spiels about Prince, run in with Tim Burton, producer Jon Peters, how he met the woman who would become his wife, his ‘Superman Reborn’ saga, they are first rate entertainment.
When the Q&A started, I quickly lined up to ask Smith something I had been wondering for a while… what he actually thought of ‘Superman Returns’, after the year long development he spent on the film in 1996, shackled to such immense studio pressure, and the whims of the clinically insane Jon Peters. I ended up standing for a good hour before it was my turn, and for the good or bad, someone before me ended up asking the same question. As it turned out, Smith didn’t think too much of ‘Superman Returns’, labelling it “boring”, and slamming it for it slavish devotion to Richard Donner’s original.
Other juicy questions were asked and a potentially hairy situation was raised right in front of the general manager of Village Roadshow, regarding why Australia only received a one disc version of ‘Dogma’, and why in general Australia was saddled with crappy versions of his movies, compared to the US. Unfortunately, Smith side stepped the issue, however noting that we were receiving an upcoming disc of ‘An Evening with Kevin Smith II’, a month before the US. Recompense indeed. The interviewer didn’t press the matter.
When it came time to me, I had a backup question or two up my sleeve. As I approached the microphone, with the stage light shining right in my eyes, armed with the knowledge that if I stuttered or stammered in front of the 1,000 strong audience, I wasn’t sure how I could continue living, I managed to get out the words – “Your story regarding the 'Superman Returns' saga and your dealings with Jon Peters are really quite amazing. How exactly does a man like that get in a position of power in Hollywood?”
Smith answered by reiterating elements of the original story, and adding that he simply “failed upwards”. He also told the audience that Peters was ‘flattered’ by Smith’s story of his time with him, to which I replied to Smith “Well then he clearly has no idea”. He agreed.
I then thought I would sneak in a question regarding the perceived flop of ‘Jersey Girl’, and if that affected his career. Smith answered by saying that it hadn’t really, and he is still able to make films because they still make money, alluding to the fact that his rabid fans would most likely pay to see Smiths bare arse for an hour if presented in a cinema.
However that’s not really what I meant. I wanted to know if it was true that Smith’s self confidence was shot to pieces, by the failure to juggle large budgets with larger returns. Smith’s honest reply was basically yes, noting that the reason why he no longer was pursuing “The Green Hornet” was basically down to self confidence, or lack therof.
I thanked him for his time and sat back down. I can’t remember if the audience clapped or not, but it didn’t matter, I had my personal time with one very funny guy, something that will probably never happen again. I sat back down again and watched other people have their own time with him. It could have just been me, but I felt a general lack of energy was developing, and some questions became less interesting, whilst I could not work out if others were drunk, stupefied in Smiths presence, or just being dickheads. Then it occurred to me: I really needed my camera back.
I leapt out of my chair and ran down the stairs to talk to the theatre manager. Whilst I could not get photo approval from him, I needed to speak to Village Roadshow and Popcorn Taxi about that, so I sought them out, and after a few minutes of tense inter-room conversation, I managed to seal approval. Great! So I got re-acquainted with my camera and put the baby to work, snapping off photo after photo. Whilst only a fraction of those were usable , I was more than happy to being able to immortalise some moments.
As the clocks came close to midnight, Smith received the wind up, he was by his own admission having his “fat ass thrown out”. He quickly wrapped up a few last questions and then was ushered out by Village Roadshow, passing only a meter or so in front of me, closing the side door.
Then my DVDBits foot-in-the-door instinct cut in, I raced out, clearly in danger of mis-appropriating my new found permissions ready to tackle Smith. But he was gone. No last photos. No signatures. Not even an insult. Management were obviously keen to avoid any entanglements. Disappointing, yet not really surprising.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable night had by myself, and I think, most people that attended. Smith’s openness, honesty, and frankness make a clear change from the ’Entertainment Tonight’ style of sound bytes, of everyone loving everyone else. It’s not often that Australia gets to see celebrities in this environment, but I would certainly be all for it. And Mr. Smith – you are welcome back to our fair country any time.
Ben Gourlay
September 1st, 2006
Thanks go out to Gabby from Popcorn Taxi, the Popcorn Taxi crew, Village Roadshow and the Astor Theatre.
 
 
 
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