Kevin Smith hasn't always had the greatest relationship with movie critics. While his earlier films such as Clerks and Chasing Amy earned plenty of praise, the response to movies such as Jersey Girl, Cop Out, and Red State has occationally been brutal. Now a fan of Smith's is asking the Man Who Was Silent Bob to step to the other side of the fence for a moment. Movie City News is reporting the story of New Jersey filmmaker Jim Riffel, who is offering Smith $10,000 to review his feature film, a "midnight movie"-style comedy with the carpal-tunnel-straining name of (deep breath) Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Hellbound, Flesh-Eating, Crawling, Alien, Zombified, Subhumanoid, Living Dead -- Part 5.
Riffel's offer includes not only ten grand Smith can donate to a charity of his choice, but also the worldwide film rights for the movie -- with the proviso that Smith also donate the money from the potential sale to charity. It's a novel approach to generating some buzz for the movie, but why Smith, rather than some other filmmaker? Riffel says, "This film is a comedy and Kevin Smith’s made some great comedies so I’m hoping it might be a good match." The shared home state probably doesn't hurt, nor does a similar filmmaking background: like Smith's Clerks, Riffel's movie Black-Eyed Susan, which won the Grand Prize at the Garden State Film Festival, was shot in black and white on 16mm on a paltry budget.
Given how active Smith is on Twitter and various other online media, I'll be very surprised if he doesn't respond in some manner, whether he takes up Riffel's offer or not. Ignoring the ethical issues of reviewing something in exchange for money -- even money for charity -- it's a clever way of grabbing people's attention. You can bet that a lot more people will hear of Night of the Day of the Dawn of the... now than would have otherwise.
You can check out the movie's website right here.
