Say what you will about the recent work of Kevin Smith, but there was a time when he was the voice of a whole generation of film fans. As a card-carrying Smith fan I have been enjoying nearly all of his output since the underrated Mallrats, and yes that includes Jersey Girl.

One of criminally under seen projects he brought to the world was Clerks: The Animated Series. An absurd cartoon that packed more laughs into its brief six episode run than several whole seasons of The Cleveland Show. It was a show ahead of its time, heck it even co-starred Alec Baldwin before he became a comedy icon in 30 Rock.

Well it seems that Smith hasn’t gotten animation out of his system just yet, MTV Geek News is reporting that Smith is looking to release his first animated feature next year:

Entitled “Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie,” the movie is slated for next year. Why do the next “Jay & Silent Bob” in animation? “We’re cartoon whores here at SModCo,” Smith admitted. He also said that his SModcast Pictures will do a tour similar to the one they did for “Red State USA” to promote their first animated feature.

Hopefully the Super Groovy Cartoon Movie takes its cues from the Animated Series and exists in that same fictional universe, if only to see Leonardo Leonardo being thwarted one more time. ‘Well played… Clerks!’

Kevin Smith is an excellent entertainer. His movies have a limited audience, but his podcasts and speaking engagements have proven Smith can engage a crowd like few others can. Now that his directing career seems to be coming to a self-imposed end, it is nice to see him pursuing other outlets for his talents.

One of those outlets is a new show called Spoilers on Hulu, according to Wired:

The show, which will premiere June 4 on Hulu, will showcase Smith and 50 die-hard movie fans right after they’ve seen a big blockbuster movie on opening night, creating a monster gab-fest full of opinions, fights and — because it’s a Smith endeavor — plenty of gags and a bit of Jason Mewes (the Jay to Smith’s Silent Bob).

The concept of the show is rock solid. A psuedo-review show that is after a more general public opinion instead of the academic opinions you often find on televised review shows. The list of movies they already plan on covering is impressive, hopefully the show’s format works as well in practice as it does on paper.

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Originally intending to auction off the rights to Red State at its Sundance premiere last year, Mr. Smith turned-tail and decided to self distribute through Smodcast Pictures instead. The film was shown in the “road show” format in select cities before receiving an official release. Smith’s sudden change of heart naturally erupted into accusations of dishonesty from some attending distributors.

One year after the controversy, Smith has once again stepped forward and struck a partnership with Phase 4 Films in what seems to be an abandonment of his rebel ways. On Monday, Smith released an official statement regarding the exclusive distribution in cooperation with Smodcast, the production company founded by Smith himself.

Phase 4 gains U.S. and Canadian rights for the option to distribute up to a maximum of twelve films alongside the newly entitled Kevin Smith and Smodcast Pictures Presents label. Four features will release theatrically and include a film tour similar to that of Red State.

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• Charlie Sheen’s big roast on Comedy Central is happening Monday and this new spot starring both Charlie and Martin Sheen is having us buy that it may be pretty funny.

• Apparently, hockey is cool again, between Kevin Smith’s upcoming hockey epic and the first trailer for Sean William Scott’s Goon (not to be confused with the comic), things are looking pretty violent in sports cinema.

• For those who were suckered into watching the series finale of Entourage on Sunday and got the complete lack of an ending that was given, this is how the series should have ended for everyone.

• PSA’s are all the rage these days, so isn’t it about time the web video community started mocking them? We think so, with this PSA about driving recklessly.

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Red State is a movie filmed straight from the first draft of the shooting script.

Right from the opening shot of a small town, the cuts of scenery are so quick the audience doesn’t even know what they’re supposed to be looking at. Eventually the camera settles on a mother driving her son to school. On the way they pass a group protesting the funeral of a recently murdered homosexual student. Director Kevin Smith finally lingers on a shot of one of the protest signs featuring the phrase “Anal Penetration” in big, bold letters. We see the sign a few times more before the boy gets to school.

When he does, he explains to his teacher (who doesn’t even seem to mind his tardiness) why he’s late, and she launches into some unbelievably clumsy exposition about the group’s leader, Pastor Abin Cooper (Michael Parks), a nut of a fundamentalist who’s universally despised around these parts and runs his own private Wacoville just outside of town. It’s also brought up at the murdered boy went to that very high school! Two things should immediately pop out: 1) If the kid went to that school, and was murdered two weeks ago, how on earth is it possible that none of his classmates knew him? And 2) If everyone already knows Abin Cooper, then why spend so much time explaining who he is, what he does, where he does it, why he does it…? The answer, of course, is to fill in the audience, but it’s done in such an amateurish way that you can’t believe it came from writer/director Kevin Smith, who’s not only made eight feature films, not only been writing professionally for nearly 20 years, but who’s also a man who prides himself on the quality of his writing.

And this is in the first three minutes.

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It’s always nice when we see independently financed and released films get their first trailer to entice an audience. There is no “Bay-esque” flash cuts, no mysterious title cards, just some awesome action and intense sequences thrown together with dialogue reminiscent of Clerks and brought to us by @ThatKevinSmith. Yes. That’s how he’s credited.

That’s how to cut a trailer. And that’s exactly what we get in the very first trailer for Smith’s Red State, the film so indie that he’s releasing it to theaters himself. Here’s the premise for the writer/director’s first horror film to date.

Red State begins by following three horny high-school boys who come across an online ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang. Boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying “holy” force with a fatal agenda.

Instead of relying on archetypes and predictable formulas, Smith meticulously fashions all-too-real characters, utilizing exceptional performances (notably by Michael Parks) and an intelligent script. His realistic style gives the film an intimate feeling, heightening the terror to biblical proportions. Red State is a shocking new kind of horror film that aggressively confronts higher powers and extreme doctrines with a vengeance.

That’s right, you’ve got the man that brought us the line “snoochie boochies” giving us a religious thriller with a pretty stellar cast. Leading that charge is the legendary Michael Parks, along with Kevin Pollak and John Goodman as the two would-be heroes of the tale (at least that’s what we’re hoping).

Take a look at the trailer after the jump and be sure to hit your local arthouse when Red State hits it on October 19th.

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Jason Mewes has to be one of the busiest nerds working today. Although he is and will always be best known as Jay of Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob infamous characters, Mewes actually keeps himself very busy with a surprising number of projects he is currently involved with.

From filming the second season of a Canadian TV show to recording two live podcasts a week, all the while preparing for a jam packed Comic Con weekend, it just shows how much dedication Mewes has to find time to schedule an exclusive interview with The Flickcast.

Just to give you an idea of his crazy schedule, when I called he was currently on set of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, a comedy/horror series in which he plays Jimmy the Janitor, and had just finished recording an episode of Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, his weekly podcast he does with Kevin Smith, for which he had a mobile studio set up in a closet on set so that he never has to miss an episode.

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Welcome to another edition of  On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• Just when you thought women were finally being portrayed equal to men in films, a supercut that shows just the opposite comes along.

• Will Ferrell’s new dramatic comedy Everything Must Go gets a trailer. We’re still trying to figure out what’s so funny about it.

• Amber Heard recently posted a picture of her on set of the new series The Playboy Club. That sound? That’s the sound of a million teenage boys’ heads exploding.

• Monsters Inc. is officially getting a prequel, titled Monsters Universtiy. Pixar has even hired a director.

• Timur Bekmambetov is working on a brand new spec zombie film about a little girl that slowly becomes a member of the living dead after over 6 months. We’re rooting for Rebecca Black to play the lead.

• Kevin Smith is auctioning off a bunch of his old props from several films in order to fun his newest film, Red State. Who’s got dibs on Shannon Elizabeth’s career?

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Just when you thought Hell’s Kitchen was safe from the grasp of Hollywood after 2003′s embarrassment to the genre which was Mark Steven Johnson’s Daredevil, it looks like the property may still be lucrative enough to garner a reboot.

Fox is so keen on the idea of rebooting the Man Without Fear, they’ve even signed Twilight: Eclipse director David Slade to take on the film.

From Variety: Slade has been considering several comicbook properties, including Fox’s “Wolverine,” but that gig wound up going to Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”). Though the film wound up spinning off “Elektra” with Jennifer Garner, studio had hoped “Daredevil” would earn more than its $103 million domestic take and launch a series of sequels.

Fox has been looking to redevelop the character since, but people close to the project say it’s not a reboot per se — more a continuation of the “Daredevil” saga. Studio has yet to hire a scribe, but writer would work closely with Slade.

Sadly, because Fox has been keeping the film in “pre-production” for years, they managed to retain the rights to Daredevil when Marvel was purchased by Disney. The same thing goes for The Fantastic Four, which the studio is also hoping to reboot.

One can only hope that Slade and the writer yet-to-be-decided will do a better job than the Affleck/Garner vehicle from 2003, but the most we can hope for is that we won’t get an ancillary Kevin Smith cameo. Fingers crossed.

Kevin Smith can’t seem to get a break. Sure, things were great back when Clerks blew up and his deal with Mirimax helped him form a career. But between his issues with Dogma and the church, getting an audience for Clerks 2, the problems with getting Zack and Miri Make A Porno and the trouble with Cop Out,  the guy can’t seem to get a break lately in Hollywood.

Yesterday, Smith brought his newest project, the horror film Red State, to Sundance and had planned on a public auction for the film’s distribution immediately after the screening. He later decided that he was going to distribute the film itself to prove that the indie film world still held strong.

So, for a whopping $20, Smith bought the film from himself, and is now planning on taking the flick on the road with a very grassroots plan to get awareness and make back the film’s $4 million budget. From THR:

The film will go out via Smith’s SModcast with no marketing spend, though he said that he will talk to “any smart exhibitor” about potentially showing the movie.

“We are going to make our money back by going out on the road and going city by city,” said Smith. The tour will begin March 5 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and make a stop at Midland Theater in Kansas City one week later.

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For the longest time, not much was known about Kevin Smith’s newest written film since 2008′s Zack and Miri Make A Porno, which is also the writer/director’s first horror film, titled Red State.

The cast was revealed a few months ago, with a pretty interesting bunch of names like John Goodman, Kevin Pollak, Stephen Root, and Michael Parks. And then we got this synopsis.

Red State begins by following three horny high school boys who come across an online ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang. Boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying “holy” force with a fatal agenda.

So you’re probably asking yourself what a writer director like Kevin Smith has to do with horror, but this film has allegedly been in his nerdy vault of a brain since the early days of View Askew.

Going along his grassroots style that made him famous 16 years ago, Smith released the very first teaser for Red State on his site, the Smodcast. Check it out after the jump, and catch the flick in theaters early next year.

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Film buffs and those who follow “the biz” remember how epic of a breakup the Weinsteins and Disney’s Mirimax was back in 2005. The brothers Weinstein had become some of the biggest movers and shakers in Hollywood, helping directors like Tarantino, Smith, and countless others become household names. Then, due to a creative dispute, the Weinsteins left the clutches of the mouse to create TWC.

Now, after almost 6 years of separation, the two entities are teaming up once again. This time, to have another swing at some of the instant classics that Bob and Harvey Weinstein helped come into existence.

The two companies are forming a partnership in order to bring sequels and TV spinoffs to films like Rounders, Bad Santa, Copland, Clerks, and dozens others. Let’s hope they continue to produce movies that, at least for the most part, try to push the envelope a bit and are not just status quo.

Click through for the full press release.

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Kevin Smith may be in between major cult films at the moment, getting ready for his upcoming Jersey-set horror film Red State, but in the meantime, he’s been quite busy keeping his legions of fans happy with live performances.

In the last few months, Smith has created and built the popularity of LA’s SmodCastle, a small theater which is rent out to podcasters and his celeb friends for them to do small, intimate shows for the most die hard of fans.

Smith doesn’t have “small theater” in immediate future, though, as he’s just been booked at The Palms Las Vegas. Here’s the full scoop.

On the Novemeber 12th, after 9 years in holding funny guys “Jay & Slient Bob Strike Back” with a night full of fun and laughter in Las Vegas.  Funny man Kevin Smith is joined by longstanding partner Jason Mewes for a exuberant night of comedic laughter as they take a trip back to “View Askewniverse”.

On November 13th, get up-close and personal with one of Hollywood’s most gifted and hilarious filmmakers. See the raunchy, offensive, and convivial Kevin Smith for a Q&A that is sure to have you falling out your seat.

Tickets haven’t gone on sale through Ticketmaster just yet, but they will soon. In the meantime, check in at Smith’s View Askew site as more dates and events get announced.

Kevin Smith (director of Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) and Ralph Garman (The Joe Schmo Show, Family Guy and KROQ’s entertainment reporter for the Kevin and Bean radio show) have teamed up for a new podcast dubbed the ‘Hollywood Babble-On’ and appearing on Smith’s SModcast Podcast Network. The podcast, recorded live at Smith’s new venue, ‘SmodCastle’ on Santa Monica Blvd in L.A., is positioned as a tongue-in-cheek review of the week’s entertainment news by two veteran Hollywood insiders.

The new show marks the fifth in Smith’s growing podcast network, which currently includes the original SmodCast, wherein Smith and his long-time friend and sometimes producer Scott Mosier, shoot the shit about whatever topics they find amusing that week. Also, Malcolm Ingram’s Blow Hard, whose show only serves to fuel Smith’s frequent gay jokes.

Board the way-back machine for Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, an excuse for old pals Jason Mewes and Smith to wax nostalgic about the good ol’ days. Rounding out the selection is the popular Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave, which features Walt Flanagan, Smith’s long-time friend and artist for the Batman ‘Widening Gyre’ series. The show also features long-time Jersey friend and fellow writer-director, Bryan Johnson.

In their first episode of the podcast, Smith and Garman discuss Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag and their possible tell-all book/sex tape depending on who you talk to, Keeping up with the Kardashians and how they both feel stupider for having watched one episode, Kevin’s 40th birthday and how he’s old and about to die at any moment and Smith’s voyeuristic hotel adventures. Also discussed was Lawrence Fishburn’s daughter and the porn industry, Stallone debuting 5 number one movies in 5 different decades with the recent The Expendables and him being the only actor to do so. The topics vary wildly and frequently veer into NSFW dialogue that Ralph and Kevin seem to draw upon at will.

According to Smith’s Twitter feed, Hollywood Babble-On will be a weekly event, with new episodes going live every Saturday. Tune in at www.SmodCast.com for more details and streaming shows.

In room 4 at San Diego Comic-Con, Batman writer and all-around hilarious dude, Kevin Smith, series artist Walt Flanagan and inker Art Thibert talked all things Batman. As a bonus to panel attendees, a copy of issue 6, the series dramatic conclusion to volume 1 was distributed and everyone had ample time to get caught up before the Q&A officially started.

The creative team behind Gyre alluded to volume 2 ramping up in early 2011, which may feature a return of the Joker, among other baddies. Asked about which voice Kevin heard  in his head when he wrote the Joker’s part, he cited Mark Hamill as inspiration. But in spite of how fun it is to write the Joker’s part, Smith admits that he’s most interested in Bruce Wayne and Batman and his issues reflect that.

With regards to Gyre, Smith talked about how he felt sufficient creative license to take the  normally very serious Batman down a definitively romantic path and how it was difficult to hear some of the backlash on the Internet over this particular twist. Apparently, many fans were dismayed by Batman’s romance with Silver St. Cloud, and were quite vocal about their distaste.

Without dropping any major spoilers in case you haven’t read issue 6, that particular sub-plot comes to a screeching halt in dramatic fashion. Looking towards volume 2, the creative team behind Gyre talked a bit about how the next batch of issues will have Batman returning to his more violent tendencies following his traumatic loss, and how the events in volume 1 will really drive the next story arc.

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