Kevin Smith faces off against movie critic Joel Siegel Posted Thursday, July 20 2006 @ 05:12 AM PDT by Peter Sciretta On Monday, Good Morning America movie critic Joel Siegel walked out 45 minutes into the press screening of Clerks 2. Not only did Siegel walk out, but he made a scene while doing so. "Time to go!" yelled Siegel. "This is the first movie I’ve walked out of in 30 f*****g years!" Well Kevin Smith lambasted the critic on his online blog, My Boring Ass Life. "You’d imagine this would bother me, and yet, I’m as delighted by this news as I was with the eight minute standing ovation “Clerks II” received in Cannes," wrote Smith. "I mean, it’s Joel Siegel, for Christ’s sake. As Paul Thomas Anderson once said of the man, getting a bad review from Siegel is like a badge of honor. This is the guy who stole his mustachioed critic shtick from Gene Shalit years ago, and still refuses to give it back. This is a guy who seemingly prides himself on being “punny” - that is, he likes to add his own nyuk-nyuk wordplay into the reviews he writes/gives." "You never… NEVER disrupt a movie, simply because you don’t like it," continued Smith. "Cardinal rule of movie-going: shut your f***ing mouth while the movie’s playing. They even ask you to do so in the pre-show run-up to every flick (”Cell phones and pagers off, no talking during the show”). This guy went beyond talking, even; he was making a spectacle of himself as he left. I’ve now spoken to three folks in attendance last night, and all have said that Siegel WANTED everyone to know how disgusted he was, and that he was leaving. If you want to share your displeasure with everyone, that’s fine, dude; just do it AFTER the movie, not during. Some folks were enjoying themselves. I don’t come down to your job and slap the taste out of your mouth for coming up with a line like “‘Shark Tale’ Is a Halibut Good Time”; so don’t f**k with my stuff WHILE IT’S STILL SCREENING." Well, Smith made a guest appearance on the Opie and Anthony show today, and Joel called in to face off with the independent director. When asked about his unprofessional behavior, Siegel said that "I think more movies would be more entertaining if people did what I did." Siegel sat on the phone trying to filibuster and spin his answers, while Opie and Anthony cracked jokes. Smith told Siegel that he doesn't mind that he walked out of the film, but that he made a scene while doing so. "You don't want to do your job, you don't want to be professional." Joel objected to his act being called unprofessional, claiming it was almost an hour into the film. "If you want to leave, that's fine. But you don't disrupt it for everyone else," said Smith. "Your childish behavior, no one expects someone to scream that in a movie theater." Joel went on to apologize and say if he ever walks out of a movie again, he will do so without the noise. "You're right, I could have just walked out of the theater. I was incensed, I was angry at what I had seen on the screen," said Siegel. "I said what I said, I don't think I was disruptive." "I really am proud of what I did." Wait, I thought he just apologized? Now he says he's proud of his childish actions? As for the "puns," Siegel claimed that he does not write them, even though they appear on his website. You can listen to the whole conversation on MP3 at this link. You can read Smith's original blog entry here.
Both of them are OOOOVVEEERRR RRAAATTTEEEDDD Rocket River I don't like critics . . . .those who can't do . . critisize!!
Bad reviews don't mean much for a Kevin Smith flick. He has a built in audience that will see every one of his movie no matter what. Clerks II will probably make about 75% of it's gross in the first weekend when all the fanboys go out to see it.
Agreed. Anyone who listens to Joel Siegel is an idiot. And everyone knows why Smith made "Clerks 2"...he hasn't made a decent, watchable movie since "Dogma".
Only critic I regularly agree with is Peter Travers of Rolling Stones Mag anyway. All these other guys are pretentious douches.
Siegel's a twit, and Smith is over rated. I watched Clerks again recently and it did not hold up well to a second viewing.
Definitely worth at least a rental. It's Kevin Smith's first movie (I think) so it film school vibe to it instead of celebrity star power and special effects his later lamer hollywood movies have. It has great dialogue, and is witty, so props to whoever the writer was, presumably Smith. If you're not uptight, it's a fun movie that's crass and hilarious character we all "knew someone just like that." In the dvd there's also an alternate ending that's pretty messed up and definitely one of those crazy film school experiments for the hell of it.
An eight minute standing ovation? Was he being sarcastic? Who the hell would clap for eight minutes... for a Clerks sequel? Is the movie that great?
yeah i like his movies and all but come on. i cant really think of anything ive ever been to that had 8 minutes of standing ovation.
I was listening to O&A live on XM when they actually got Joel Siegal on the line. The **** was hilarious--Joel seemed like he was senile. He didn't realize he was actually talking to Kevin Smith for the first 5 or 10 minutes of the conversation until Opie & Anthony were like--do you know who you're actually talking to? Then Joel is like, wait, I'm talking to Kevin Smith right now?
wow, i guess im the only Kevin Smith fanboy on here. I've watched every movie since Chasing Amy at least twice in which I PAID for and support the dude 100%. I own both versions of the Clerks/Mallrats/Dogma DVDs, a copy of Chasing Amy/Jay & Silent Bob Strikes/Jersey Girl. Own his "Evening of Kevin Smith". I've liked his work ever since my friend introduced me to Clerks on video. Great, great flick. Im PUMPED for Clerks 2, and Randall has to be the greatest character in the ViewAskew universe. Btw, Jason Lee is one of the greatest actors ever (IMO at least) and its because of Kevin Smith =)
I loved Clerks. Didn't like Mallrat too much but appreciated that I got to see Terri from Three's Company topless. I really liked Chasing Amy and Dogma too. Haven't seen his others. In general I'm a fan of his though.
