I agree with Nature Boy on Kevin Smith, for some reason, I can't get into Kevin Smith movies, I never cared for any of his films except for Clerks and Dogma which were the only two that I enjoyed. Jay and Silent Bob are the two most overrated characters IMO. They have obviously having small roles in every Kevin Smith film, but it's just laughable that they got their own movie now.

Harmony Korine

When measured using the patented MellishScale (TM), indexing ego proportionate to actual quality of work, Brett Ratner walks away with the top spot.

Rob Weiss. Read Spike, Mike, Slackers & Dykes.

Oh, and Nature - Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back was for the fans more than anything else. I'm not as much a fan of Smith's work as I was years ago, but I will say he's an incredibly humble, down-to-Earth guy who always appreciates his fans. His mom's nice too, I've met them both.

I definitely agree with a majority of the posts. I think Speilberg and Cameron definitely have big egos but not only does it not bother me but when you come across someone with their track record how can you not have a big ego? I do not think David Fincher has an ego, He is just so particular in his vision that he can be construed as an ego-manic. I do think Lucas has an ego in certain cases. When Star Wars or himself is being bashed, or he is working on Star Wars, his massive ego comes out but the rest of the time, from what I have seen and read, he is very casual. One Director that I do not feel has a huge ego is Tim Burton. Everytime I read something about him or watch something with him he always seems to come across as real humble and likeable. Maybe that is because he himself is different from many people working in Hollywood.

I don't know Kevin SMith perosnally, but from everything I've seen and read about him, he seems to be the exact opposite of an egomaniac. He seems to just be a fan doing something he loves. And it seems like the actors he works with have a good time doing it (except for Linda Fiorentino)

I agree... just watching An Evening With Kevin Smith shows how incredibly close to his fans he is. He says a few times... you wouldn't see another director like Woody Allen doing those types of Q&A's... and at least ask the kind of questions you'd only ask your friends.

I think Kevin Smith's ego is displayed quite clearly in the infamous Greasy Reese Witherspoon story. He describes a few actions by Witherspoon that perhaps give him a right to be irked. But those don't earn her the name "Greasy". No, her ultimate offense is daring to question the brilliant writing of Kevin Smith. Because of that he becomes livid and enraged, and seriously wants to egg her house.

Not what I'd call humble.

Besides, she was right. I've seen Overnight Delivery and it's no Clerks.

Surely you can be both at the same time.

John Carpenter doesn't have an ego at all. He talks crap on his own movies. On the set, he tells his crew to just kick back and their jobs won't end the world if they mess up. Pretty cool guy.

I agree that Jon Carpenter doesn't have a big ego at all, if you listen to his commentaries on the dvds of some of his movies, you can tell that he doesn't act like Mr. Big Ego at all.

He does admit that some of the movies he made were really bad. I think he even admitted that "Ghost of Mars" was a bad movie. I bet he felt depressed for making it.

He didn't on the commentary track, though he's definitely self-deprecating.

You're right, Stallone had the sense to see that he has no talent for directing and gave it up. Now if he could only get that same inner vision about his acting

I"m a big fan of these films, I was at Mallrats on opening day because I dug Clerks so much. And I've seen everything else on the opening weekend. By and large, I've enjoyed every offering. But personally, as a fan, my life was complete without this movie. If you want to make a movie for the fans, make a good movie. Dont' spit out that one, which is clearly his worst. I also love Scorsese, but if he put out a movie with Travis Bickle, Joey LaMotta, and Henry Hill, as a fan, I'd be embarassed for him, not embracive.

Is this not a roundabout pat on the back? "Look what I"m doing, you wouldn't have anyone else do this, isn't that right?" Good enough that Woody wouldn't do it, most directors wouldn't do it, because their work does the talking. And by doing the symposium, I don't mean meeting the college kids, I mean selling it with your mug on it.

Folks, I do enjoy this guy. I love his candor, and I love that he isn't about being "Hollywood"(though he's one of the biggest star****ing bootlickers I've ever seen, read his comments regarding J-Lo and Af-lo). But don't defend him on the basis he's not possessing one of the largest egos in the business.

Ego is casting your wife alongside Dushku, Larter and Shannon Elizabeth. Her acting was decidely marginal, and she was somewhat homely next to those ladies. And don't misunderstand me, I"m not knocking him for it. I tolerated John Lennon under the Yoko spell, I can certainly live with Smith offering bit parts to his wife, but I think it's pretty indisputable that it's the epitomy of ego.

And I can't even begin to catalogue the ego trips that are the Animated Clerks and Mallrats commentaries. Rarely is anything in these patently mediocre products his fault, always favoring to pass blame up to the suits. Well, Clerks is it's own animal, but shouldn't the suits get all the props for Dogma, Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob? He seems to think any worthwhile performance is born out of his writing, and the only ones he goes out of his way to commend are those who are stars(Affleck, Lee, Rock, Hayek). His lack of credit to Jeff Anderson was quite dissapointing, given his fantastic turns. I don't mind if he was not respective of actors. It's not like Fellini or Kurosawa respected the actors craft(apart from Mastrionami and Mifune respectively), and I can't blame them. But Smith's insistence on pats on the back only to those who can secure financing on his next self-indulgent work is as transparent as it is pathetic.

He was a good director and I just explained why he gave up, he didn't want to spend long years in directing a movie.

Although that is entitled to your own opinion of what you said and I know it was a joke (just to grab my attention...). All this Stallone bashing in every thread I post in is dumb, maybe it has something to do with my screen name that attracts people to do it?

Barbra Streisand?

Warren Beatty?

It could be your endless praising of him and halle berry. You don't walk in to a KKK meeting singing the praises of Malcom X.

Kevin Smith's favorite topic of conversation is always Kevin Smith.

Mr. George Lucas. His neck is kinda big so that could explain things.

A good egotistical director. I think that's what you mean: He's a good egotistical director.

I just don't see how Kevin Smith can be said to have a big ego, in film director terms at least. Directing films for movie studios is a strenuous, demanding task that requires self-confidence. Just because Smith recognizes that fans like to hear him talk, or because he has strong opinions about topics (e.g. Magnolia, Reese Witherspoon) and isn't afraid to express them doesn't mean he has a holier-than-thou attitude.

Sometimes it seems like the moment you actually do something yourself you give up the right to criticize others, but for us (yours truly included) whose main accomplishment is whining on the Internet, bashing is a birthright.

Concerning Sly: I've never heard someone give direct proof of Stallone's egotism, but the ridiculous amount of vanity projects he has done combined with his obvious lack of acting talent (though he does have some presence on screen) pretty much validates the claim in my opinion.

Can you give the Stallone bashing a damn rest as it is getting old quickly?

From this point on I'm going to start bashing Kevin Smith on a daily basis.

Now that's a fight I would love to see : In the right corner : Rocky Balboa and in the left corner : Silent Bob.

Let's get ready to rumble!!!

i read in the new magazine Radar that the guy who directed X-men and X2 is a totall ass. some much so that his cast gets into verbal fights with him on the set and in front of the crew, he makes people wait for hours, etc.

If I had started with as much promise as Brian Singer and was reduced to turning out stale franchise films I'd be pissed too.