Jersey Girl (D: Kevin Smith)
 

Some good stuff here. Looks like Spielberg doesn't enjoy others paying homage to his work. A bit long, but some good stuff and funny as only Kevin can be. The whole article is here on Poop Shoot.

Kevin Smith - "This is just one of the benefits of working with guys who've been making films since I was in Huggies -- the vast repository of know-how and experience they offer. There's nary a problem that either Vilmos, Dicky or Bill O'Leary (Roger Deakin’s Gaffer -- or chief lighting technician -- who Vilmos secured for this flick) can't suss out. I tell ya', we're so technically adept this time around, I feel like Spielberg -- only, y'know ... without the desire to replace the guns in my previous flicks with walkie-talkies.

Speaking of which, we wanted to use a clip from JAWS in JERSEY GIRL -- the shot of Quint being eaten by the shark. It was the focus of a short scene between George Carlin's character Bart and his granddaughter (the titular Jersey Girl) in which he used the movie to instruct the child of the perils of swimming at the beach. The word came back from Amblin that Spielberg didn't want to license scenes featuring the shark, based on the primitive special effects in the flick (i.e., the shark looks fake).


When we chose another scene that didn't showcase Bruce himself (we opted for the death of the raft-riding Kintner boy -- the one whose remains the Mayor didn't want to see spill out all over the dock), the word came back that Spielberg didn't want to license the use of any scenes in JAWS that reminded people how scary the movie was.

The long and short of this story, kids?

I smell a digitally manipulated re-release of JAWS in which the shark menaces Amity with a walkie-talkie."

Yeah, old news.. but still weak as ever.. :D

Snoogans!

What caused Spielberg to turn into such a PC wimp?

No wonder the DVD of Duel was delayed, he's probably scared it will increase road rage.

Sheesh. There's nothing more pathetic than an old artist who apologizes for his work as a young man.

Jaws was unrealistic sensationalistic National Enquirer-level stuff. Good directing, good acting, and good camerawork (if you believe that Jaws had all of those) don't make up for the lame story.

And one of the movies that put him on top no less...

My god, Speilberg is a big puss!
( I still enjoy his flicks, but what a big puss! )

Jaws rules!...not a big speilberg fan however. Although, I enjoyed the comment he made along with tom cruise about president bush and the war in Iraq! Surprising, but I liked it.

Oh he retracted that statement. Actually what he said was that it was taken out of context. That he was not talking about Bush or the current situation with Iraq, he was answering a question about Minority Report. He wanted it made very clear that he was not supporting Bush or the war in Iraq.

I don't agree with this statement at all. Jaws may be sensationalised, but I think it uses the shark as an excellent metaphor for human anihilation in the face of technology, politics, sociology and economics. Do you feel that Hitchcock's The Birds is equally tabloid sensational. You need to look past the surface, because in one sense the shark is a metaphoric reaction of the isolationist attitudes of the islanders.

Sharks swim in water, there's water in my toilet.

Whee! Of course it was unrealistic. Sharks don't jump onto boats and eat people.

Charles Foster Kane couldn't have bought 10% of the world's art treasures, either.

Good directing, good acting, and good camerawork made Jaws the best monster movie ever.

I hope that you aren't serious about this. It was a horror movie about a big shark eating people. Based on a horror novel about a big shark eating people. Any deeper meaning is just projection on your part.

Or should all of those movies about large animals or flocks of small animals eating people be judged as meaningful philosophy, too? Like 8-Legged Freaks, maybe?

did he not say that he supported what Bush does because he believes that Bush would look at the facts...or something to that effect (i know cruise said something like this)...what did spielberg say that ogt mixed up with minority report????

So I ask the question again: Is Hitchcock's The Birds simply a horror film about a flock of birds who attack people? Is Antonioni's L'Aventura simply about a girl who lies about seeing a shark and later disapears? Or is it possible that these films have subtextual meaning and are intended to represent something more than their obvious surface? Is it possible that an enourmously successful film like Jaws might be that successful because it taps into something more deep seated than Shark=Scary?

I am frequently blown away by folks on this forum who deny that a film can contain subtext. I suppose many of you would argue that The Old Man and the Sea is about a man who catches a big fish and nothing more; any other interpretation is simply a projection of the reader.

And speaking of The Old Man and the Sea...Look at Jaws. How can a film about 3 guys (a salty veteran, a wealthy know it all, and a shakey-legged city guy) who team up and go after a shark, not have subtext? Men+Fishing=metaphor for something

Kevin Smith angry at rumors of Jersey Girl Reshoot.
 

If you can believe it, these two bastions of journalistic integrity have misreported (or
flat out lied, depending on how you look at it) about "Jersey Girl" and re-shoots that
just don't exist.

Here's their story. My comments below...
-----------------------
Jennifer Lopez and Ben AffleckTough Luck
J. Lo and Ben's latest vehicle may be a stinker. Plus, Kirsten Dunst becomes
political

by BeatBoxBetty

The scoop on the latest, name-changing film from Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck is
that in addition to having an identity crisis, it's just plain bad. Tough Love has had
its name changed from Gigli, had its release date pushed back four or five times
and had a $5 million rewrite after test audiences were left unimpressed. In fact, the
original ending had Ben's character dying, but since audiences hated that, the
studio had to re-shoot a new ending.

A quick review of the plot and it's easy to see why folks have freezer burn over this
puppy. In a nutshell, Ben plays a lowlife thug named Gigli who kidnaps the mentally
retarded brother of a federal prosecutor to save his mobster boss from
incarceration. Staked-out in his apartment with his kidnapee, Gigli's soon joined by
Ricki (Lopez), a gorgeous lesbian gangster who's sent in to assist. But as time goes
by (and your life force drained from you) -- his feelings for Ricki grow, (and she of
course, falls for him) and then they become concerned for their prisoner... blah,
blah, blah.

Some say the fact that J.Lo and Ben met on set may be the only positive thing to
come out of filming, while others claim that too is a sham. I'm betting both go
straight to video. But wait, there's more! Reports are also coming in that Ben and
Jen's romantic chemistry is zero onscreen. Nada. Zippity-doo-dud. According to the
National Enquirer, producers of their other new flick Jersey Girl are desperately
rewriting love scenes because test audiences don't get why their characters are
even attracted to each other! Price tag for re-shoots? A hefty $3 million. The cost of
having Ben and Jen turn up the chemistry meter? Priceless.
-----------------

Yeah, use the Enquirer as a source. That's always smart.

I know it's only a gossip piece, but gossip or not, I thought I'd state for the record,
that we have not re-shot, nor do we have plans to re-shoot, scenes for "Jersey Girl."
Ben and Jen's chemistry in the flick is the exact opposite of zero. I'm not
desperately (or even casually) rewriting dick. Both test audiences seemed to get
why the two characters were together quite well. And there's no $3 million being
spent. There - you now have it from a credible source.

I'd heard they were playing that Enquirer game on Stern the other day and this
"Jersey Girl" $3 million re-shoot crap came up as a true story. I assumed (wrongly, I
guess) that anyone who really gave a **** knew that it was "Gigli" that had done re-
shoots, not "Jersey Girl."

Now I'm seeing this isn't the case.

In her (or his) haste to attack and damn Ben and Jen's relationship in any way
possible (because it catches the interest of a news-reading public whose attention
would be better spent on the war abroad), MSN's unfortunately named BeatBox
Betty has dragged our flick into a spot of mud, alleging problems where there are
none. I know she (or he) is only a gossip hound, but I'd ask that, in the future, she
(or he) at least try to contact someone involved with a production she (or he) plans
to besmirch, rather than lazily take her cues from the likes of a tabloid.

While I'm at it, though, I'd also like to point out that all this "Gigli" stuff is crap too.
I've seen the flick with a test screening audience, and I haven't heard laughter like
that in a movie theater since "American Pie" (or "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back").
And, mind you, the laughter was WITH, not AT, the movie.

Much as I hate to disappoint BeatBox, both movies seem like they're going to do
just fine - quite like Ben and Jen's relationship.

Regardless, next time you're writing a story, even if it is for a gossip sheet, how
about simply picking up a phone and doing a little research? Just because you've
been reduced to the lowest rung on the ladder of journalism (manufacturing news
where there really isn't any), it doesn't mean you have to conduct yourself like an
*******, know-nothing.

I think they're thinking of Gigli.. not Jersey Girl.

After the way Kevin Smith tears into Reese Witherspoon, I can't imagine why he would even want to be associated with J-Ho. I guess after all these movies he owes Affleck a favour now.

I was all with K. Smith, till he started defending Gigli, methinks his friendship with Ben has tainted his view. Even studio plants are having a tough time coming up with good words about that one.

If he did in fact reshoot why would it be a big deal?
Most major directors (Some even talented!) do re-shoots.

Looking at his films (Particularly the last two, he could probably use some of those :)

What did he say about Reese Witherspoon?

He seems to hate her with a passion for saying that he's a stupid director/writer or something. He came close to egging her house once and seemed to be really upset about not being able to do it.

Have a read of this thread to find out more about it.

Wow.

I am starting to get sick and tired of Kevin Smith. He comes off as a whining baby to me a lot of the time lately. The whole thing with Reese Witherspoon was really the nail in the coffin with me. His whole "grudge" with her came off as really childish.

I thought it was me and thought maybe I was wrong since I don't know much about Gigli, but like clemente said, I think he is blinded about the quality of a project when a friend (Affleck) is involved. The guy has a serious crush on Affleck or something if you ask me.

He should just grow up once and for all. And that's coming from someone who owns all of his films on DVD.