Silent Bob speaks ... a lot

Flicks such as "Clerks," "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy," "Dogma" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" established writer/director Kevin Smith as one of the most important and entertaining independent filmmakers of the '90s.\nSmith's works represent our generation better than any of his contemporaries and as such, he's a natural choice to speak at college campuses. With the newly released DVD, "An Evening with Kevin Smith," five of Smith's "lectures" are encapsulated onto two discs running at 3 hours and 45 minutes. The Q-and-A's took place at Clark University, Cornell University, Kent State University, University of Wyoming and our own beloved IU.\nSmith covers a plethora of topics ranging from his brief stint as Prince's videographer to his stance on God. He also discusses homosexuality, the love and history he shares with "hetero-life mates" Jason Mewes, aka Jay, Ben Affleck and producer Scott Mosier and his first sexual encounter with future wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith (co-star of "JSBSB"). Other topics include his feuds with fellow auteurs Paul Thomas Anderson and Tim Burton and the unnecessary controversy that shrouded his Catholicism comedy "Dogma" ("The flick had a poop monster for chrissakes!"). \nSmith's funniest anecdote comes at the expense of movie producer Jon Peters (a man who broke into showbiz as Barbara Streisand's hairdresser), whom Smith worked with briefly in attempting to adapt "Superman Lives" (i.e. the death and resurrection of Krypton's favorite son) to the silver screen. He openly mocks Peters' ideas of including a polar bear battle, a gay robotic sidekick and giant spiders (later seen in the Peters-produced debacle "Wild Wild West") to hilarious effect.\nObviously, Silent Bob has picked up a thing or two from working with George Carlin and Chris Rock on his last two pictures, as the guy's hilarious as all hell. Honestly, he's as funny if not funnier than most comedians working today and he's doing it all with spontaneity. "An Evening with Kevin Smith" is a must-have for rabid fans of the New Jersey Chronicles or those who saw Smith last fall and dug what they heard.