# I'm not even supposed to be here today... EITHER???? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2005, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430 "2005-08-10T12:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/21 "2005-08-10T19:22:35Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > IMDb is correct. “Randal” I just checked the DVD to be sure. Thank you! I don’t even mind being wrong. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/22 "2005-08-10T21:15:14Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > _Jersey Girl_ was a personal movie, an ode to his daughter. > > _Clerks 2_ is the sell-out, regardless of how he puts it. So he gets his money on the back-end? Doesn’t mean he’s not going for the green - the fact that he’s redoing a movie he’s already done merely to please fans who weren’t happy with his last offering is all you really need to know. > > I’m sure he’s feeling a little pain, seeing his personal movie get ignored by his “fans” because it didn’t feature what they were expecting: trash-talking stoners. This is one of the most contradictory posts I’ve ever seen. Are you claiming that A) Making a movie that he knows fans wants to see, B) Refusing large amounts of money up-front, and C) Backing away from big-budget Hollywood films makes him a sellout? That’s a seriously twisted argument. I hated Jersey Girl, not because of the lack of trash-talking stoners, but because it was a very, very poorly made movie. The script meandered, Affleck looked bored, and there was zero chemistry and humor. Despite this, I’m looking forward to him making more serious movies, because I think he’s a talented guy. I am also looking forward to Clerks 2,for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/23 "2005-08-11T00:32:39Z")
> [@Happy Scrappy Hero Pup](#): > > So I’m reading my newspaper today, and Kevin Smith is guesting on “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” which is pretty cool and everything. Dude, that was months ago. I found the episode a bit disappointing, though. He’s such a fan of the series, they probably could have gotten him to be a regular or a writer or something. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/24 "2005-08-11T00:47:06Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > Making a movie that he knows fans wants to see I have no problems with Smith going for the fan recognition. That’s not my issue here. > [@](#): > > Refusing large amounts of money up-front, and _Here_ is what’s bothering me: Kevin Smith is portraying himself as some sort of martyr with this “volunteer financial sacrifice” that is anything but. He either got bitchslapped by the studio, or he’s playing it smart. Either way, unless he has resigned from the Directors Guild of America given that his film has a $5,000,000 budget, he is going to make a minimum of $10,000/week and $2,064 for every day worked above his guarantee. [Cite](http://www.dga.org/contracts/2005ratecards/11-dir-lba-mnms.pdf) (PDF.) So if he works for 5 weeks, he’s earned $50,000+. There’s a large percentage of us reading this who aren’t going to earn $50,000 between Labor Day and Halloween, and I don’t think that Kevin Smith oughtta laud himself for the “pain” of doing so. If the film earns $40,000,000 and Smith makes a measley 1% of gross profits, he will still earn an additional $250,000. I’m betting he has a minimum of 5% and as many as 15%. (A [$5m budget](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424345/business), extrapolating $15m as the break-even point.) Not counting his participation in DVD sales, book rights, merchandising, residuals from TV sales, and whatever else he’s grabbing hold of in the secondary market. So go whine about your sacrifice somewhere else, Mr. Smith. I’ll be glad to direct your movie for $5 grand a week, with _no_ back end. > [@](#): > > Backing away from big-budget Hollywood films Kevin Smith found that he works better in a smaller medium. That’s fine - it’s called personal and career growth. But the fact that he’s not working on a film that’s paying _other people_ oodles of money doesn’t detract from the fact that _he_ will take home a minimum $10,000 a week for his active work in the film. > [@](#): > > makes him a sellout? That’s a seriously twisted argument. He’s selling out on his vision of making movies detailing where he is in his life, either personally, socially, intellectually, whatever. He’s now become a director for hire, doing sequels. Money has nothing to do with “selling out” in this case, motivations do, _especially_ when coupled with self serving statements. I hope the film proves me wrong, that _Clerks 2_ is a labor of love and a personal movie, I really do. But I was disheartened when I read that quote because of how purely _untrue_ it was. Let’s hear again from the man making $10,000 week: > [@](#): > > None of us are making our usual salaries on this flick; we’re all doing it favored-nations style, with deferments. If the flick does well, we’ll get paid our full-freight on the back-end. If not, we did it for the love. Waaaahhhh. He’s making the baby Jesus cry. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/25 "2005-08-11T01:24:27Z")
Hmm…I’ll be interested to see this. While I think Kevin Smith is over-rated, I do look forward to his work, and nothing has matched the magic that was _Clerks_. _Mallrats_ was very good, too, if not underappreciated. _Chasing Amy_ bugged the hell out me, and it just wasn’t the girl’s voice. The sexual flip-flopping of the title character just didn’t seem believable to me. _Jay and Silent Bob_, regardless of the fact that it’s supposed to be enjoyed as a stupid movie, was a stupid and boring movie. _Dogma_ was good concept with lackluster execution. _Jersey Girl_, I’ve yet to see. ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/26 "2005-08-11T01:34:04Z")
Ah, cut him a break. If you read his [“My Boring Ass Life”](http://silentbobspeaks.com/) blog, he’s blowing thousands of dollars playing poker at the Ultimate Bet Web site. He’s gotta make that up _somehow_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/27 "2005-08-11T01:48:02Z")
> [@CatFight](#): > > Dude, that was months ago. I found the episode a bit disappointing, though. He’s such a fan of the series, they probably could have gotten him to be a regular or a writer or something. Dude, he’s back for two more episodes, which was why it was in my paper. And he can’t be a writer on the show, because the money for D:TNG comes from the Canadian government, and the law says that the creative positions must be filled by Canadians. As far as a regular, well, he probably has other commitments. But I don’t want to speak for him. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/28 "2005-08-11T01:59:45Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > However, how can you claim to be a “Kevin Smith fan,” claim “I’m happy Smith made a movie outside his normal genre”, but then _never see it_ and close it off by saying “The fact that it’s a Smith movie has nothing to do with nothing”? > > In short: You’re either a fan of the artist or not. Well, thanks for taking the time to clear that up for me, Sparky. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/29 "2005-08-11T02:56:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > _Chasing Amy_ bugged the hell out me, and it just wasn’t the girl’s voice. The sexual flip-flopping of the title character just didn’t seem believable to me. There was no sexual flip-flopping of the title character: in the one story we heard about her, Amy was nothing but straight. You’re talking about the sexual flip-flopping of _Alyssa_. 🙂 Which, btw, seemed quite believable to me (but then, I loved that movie). I agree, however, that Joey Lauren Adams has an annoying voice – especially in the “screaming-while-crying” scenes. Those scenes always make me want to throw something at her! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/30 "2005-08-11T03:24:27Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > There was no sexual flip-flopping of the title character: in the one story we heard about her, Amy was nothing but straight. You’re talking about the sexual flip-flopping of _Alyssa_. 🙂 Which, btw, seemed quite believable to me (but then, I loved that movie). :smack: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/31 "2005-08-11T05:28:13Z")
You know, I wasn’t particularly interested in _Passion of the Clerks_ before, but that post has me reasonably enthused. Smith’s films (_Jersey Girl_ excepted; I didn’t see it) got really derivative at the end there, so if he can successfully get back to basics and do that well, I think I’ll enjoy it a lot. To state where I stand: really liked Clerks and Chasing Amy the most, not a Mallrats fan, Dogma and …Strike Back were both very hit-and-miss, mostly the latter. The stuff on the Miramax studio lot was pretty good, but other than that, not so much. Smith’s humor actually seemed to regress as his original fans got older, which was odd. I really dug the animated series, which was at least as funny as any of the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430/32 "2005-08-11T15:34:56Z")
After I saw _Jersey Girl_, I told my friends: There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that Kevin Smith has matured as a director. The bad news is that Kevin Smith has matured as a director. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today-either/316430.md?page=1)