Kevin Smith

The phrase "View Askewniverse" is used to refer to the various characters, places, and storylines that take place within Kevin Smith's movies; it get it's name from "View Askew Productions" a film company created by Kevin Smith and close comrade/producer, Scott Mosier. Although most of his movies aren't considered direct sequels, many times different characters from different movies will talk about the same person or event that happened. A good example is when Dante Hicks's ex-girlfriend, Julie Dwyer, dies in the YMCA swimming pool. The scene is never shown, we only hear characters talk about it. In Clerks, Dante and Randall go to the funeral, in Mallrats Julie's death is the reason why T.S.'s girlfriend, Brandi, has to volunteer for her father's game show, and she's also mentioned in Chasing Amy when Alyssa says she hasn't returned to her old neighberhood since her death.

There are a lot of websites (alot of them so dated they don't include Clerks II, which came out back in '06) that completely devote themselves to attempting to explain and map out the interconnected storylines throughout the Kevin Smith movies. As interesting as this gets, the more you read, the more years are knocked off your dating life.

Kevin Smith has been praised for having a very unique take on filmmaking and comedy. While it's not to everything he's done hasn't been done before, Smith was definitely able to catch the attention of the 90's generation by just giving them exactly what they wanted. His movies feature silly, but relateable characters, occasionally deep and emotional subjects, a lot of extremely obscene language, and immature humor.

That nerdy concept isn't just a gimmick either, it's genuine background that makes you feel proud to be a loser (not to say I'm a loser, of course). Smith frequently cites various characters and superheroes as idols, even featuring Stan Lee in Mallrats and Mark Hammill (the dude who played Luke Skywalker) in Jay and SIlent Bob Strike Back. Also, Smith owns Jay and SIlent Bob's Secret Stash, a comic and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey.

Besides his films, Smith also is known for his stand-up comedy, various appearances at conventions and other media, a weekly podcast known as SModcast, and even comic writing.

Before being the famous, nerdy funnyman that he is today, Kevin Smith was once just a nerdy funnyman. Born August 2, 1970 in Highlands, New Jersey, Smith was raised in the badlands of suburbia. Later, he attended the New School for Social Research in Manhattan, but was kicked out for throwing water balloons out of his dorm window onto unsuspecting pedestrians below. After another failed stint at the Vancouver Film School, Kevin Smith returned to his old stomping grounds in New Jersey. While working a job at a local convenience store, he contacted Scott Mosier, whom he'd met at the Vancouver Film School. They began plotting out a future project together.

Eventually, this project would turn out to be Clerks (1994), an independent comedy film following two clerks, one for a convenience store and the other for a video store, going through a bizarre day. Although originally on a budget of a mere $27,000 (part of which was earned by selling Smith's extensive comic book collection) and taking place all in one day, the tounge-in-cheek comedy covered a broad range of topics including sex, death, social frustration/anxiety, American consumer culture and hermaphrodidic porn. The feature would go on to be nominated for and win numerous film festival awards, as well as be included in many 100 Funniest Movies lists that air about 17 times a week, but you watch them anyway. What's wrong with you?

Smith's second film was Mallrats (1995) didn't quite make as big of an impact as Clerks, but it certainly helped establish various actors and characters as recurring roles in his later works. The movie was pretty an expansion of the juvenile typical 90's suburban kids getting into all kinds of whacky situations. The next movie was Chasing Amy (1997). This is the movie that Quentin Tarantino described as a "quantum leap forward" for Smith. While the concept of romantic comedy film was still your average quirky/ugly hero meets girl out of his league, hilarity ensues, they end up together; Kevin Smith created a gritty, emotional plot about friendship and sexuality. It's basically the first bromance movie, except with an actually compelling storyline. The film was awarded an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. At the time the movie was being written and filmed, Smith was actually dating the star, Joey Lauren Adams. We're not sure if writing your girlfriend a role as a lesbian struggling with her self-identity is really hot or really weird, but our sources say it's an incredible amount of both. Either way, it didn't seem to really bother anyone; the film was a huge success in the box office and for critics who praised it as a new direction and an improvement from his last movie.

His next film, Dogma (1999) was a religious comedy starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It features extensive criticism and humor about the Catholic Church, so naturally it drew more angry Christian fundamentalist feedback than a homosexual, Pro-choice Harry Potter convention. In an awesome display of satirical, witty genius, Kevin Smith showed up with a group of angry protestors against the movie disguised as a disgruntled citizen and holding up a sign that read "Dogma is Dogshit", and then proceeded to speak to news correspondents about the negative affects of his own movie.

In 2001, Jay and Silent Bob struck back with...well, Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. This was a zany comedy that follows our two heroes on a journey to redeem their names and collect the money from the guy who's making a movie starring comic book depictions of the duo. The sheer amount of celebrity cameos in this movie is ridiculous, it's always funny too because most of the stars involved made a point of making fun of themselves.

In 2004, Kevin Smith made Jersey Girl. This was Smith's first film outside of the View Askewniverse since it didn't involved any recurring characters nor did it feature Jay and Silent Bob. It's a film starring Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler (Aerosmith's daughter), and Raquel Castro (not daughter of Fidel). The movie's generally seen as a flop and really lacked that Kevin Smith feel that every previous movie had.

Kevin Smith's final View Akewniverse film to date is Clerks II (2006). While most people let out a collective sigh when they heard that Smith would be making a sequel to his first film over a decade later, the film actually turned out to be one of Smith's funniest, deepest, and most hilarious.

In 2008, Kevin Smith released Zack and Miri Make a Porno. The movie starred Seth Rogen and Elizabeth banks, but featured some of Smith's usual actors including Jason Mewes (first time not as Jay), Jeff Anderson, and Kevin Smith (first time not as Silent Bob). While Smith is known for frequently butting heads with the MPAA for recent works, Zack and Miri REALLY pushed the envelope with all of its blatant sexual content. It was basically a hilarious mix of Smith's View Askew and the modern romantic comedy.

Cop Out (2010) was Smith's next film. It was a buddy cop comedy starring Bruce Willis, Tracy Morgan, and Sean William Scott. This was both the first time Kevin Smith directed a film he didn't write, and directed a film without producer Scott Mosier. Cop Out was Smith's most poorly received by critics and stirred up a bit of controversy when Smith lashed out at critics for their very negative reviews.