There's obviously something deeper at issue here and it would be interesting to know what it is.

Ross is a comics book fan and that may be part of the problem. I know Kevin Smith is one of the reasons I stopped buying comic books. They cost a small fortune and to keep having Smith take on work, often away from better writers, which he can't be bothered to finish so that you've spent money on three parts of a six part story that never gets finished shows the sort of contempt he (or those that hire him) have for the people who pay their wages.

I enjoyed a Smith talk at Comic-Con a few years back - hilarious, outrageous stuff. But I enjoyed the fact that during the open mic session a few people rightly pulled him up for stealing titles from another writer (Bendis?), promising he'd finish them and then not doing so. Of course Smith did the "It's only a comic book. Get a life" routine for easy laughs before apologising and then promising he'd finished the next episode of this particular title (I think it was Black Cat and Spiderman) and it really would be out soon. A year later it still hadn't appeared.

I like Kevin Smith as a stand-up and raconteur. I think he makes a very iffy film-maker who just lucked out a couple of times and I can't work up any enthusiasm for Clerks II.

But the man seems to have made some serious enemies in the comic business (I remember there seemed to be a big spat between Brian Michael Bendis and him a few years ago resulting in Bendis moving his fan boards away from the same hosting company as Smith because of some trick Smith was pulling). I wonder if some incident around comic books is Ross's real problem with Smith.

Hey well done Rich! ;D

As much as i like kevin smith can he not face getting a bad review all films get at least one bad review.

Ian, thanks for that information. I'd heard something about his comic work being a bit contentious but didn't really know why. Sounds like there could be a little bit of a chip from that for Ross is indeed a bit ofa comic fan (and that's an understatement!).

Cheers Simone!

Chris - I agree, reviews are personal opinions, even from the most detatched of critics, but if heard this (maybe you have) you would perhaps be thinking differently. It did feel more like a "flame" rather than a review. I think he could have delivered it with a bit less venom.

Unfortunateky I didn't see Jonathan Woss' review of Clerks II but from your summation Richard, it does seems that he went over-the-top. If you don't like the film, fine, but to insult Smith's entire body of work is harsh.

I saw Clerks II last night and I loved every second of it. It definitely ranks up at an 8 or a 9 out of 10 for me. I left the theatre with a huge grin on my face. Granted, Smith's humor isn't necessarily to everyone's taste but I found it hilarious!

I do find it quite strange that just last week, Jonathan Woss gave a glowing review of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - film which I was extremely disappointed in. I could probably count the number of laugh-out-loud moments on one hand, whereas Clerks II had me and everyone else rolling in the aisles for the duration.

I wonder if Woss' glorious review had anything to do with Will Ferrell being a guest on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross last week?

Oh great news Rich!! Kevin Smith may not be a great director, but he is a tallented writer, so this is a good recognition!!

Good job!

That's an interesting one Spidey, I haven't seen Ballad of...blah blah but the trailers look decidedly uninteresting amd unfunny. Perhaps there's a definite one or the other type of humour and Ross is in the other while we're in this one?

Cheers Peter! You lot have all helped you know, just by visiting, reading and commenting. Keep it up!

Sweet! I saw my site mentioned on that "ethical movie sites" page too. :-)

Although I was a bit disappointed not to see it mentioned in your post above. ;-)

Vic

Well it does say that list is not exhaustive. I didn't scour my brain, bloglines and referrals to get all the sites in the Wink list. Don't feel offended, there's loads not mentioned in the post because those were just the last few I saw.

Tell you what is annoying though, I added a few more on that Wink list and it disappeared...including my own site! Have to try and sort that one out.

Good job mate, nice to see things are going well.

ahh, that photo, richard. more clues as to the site that nobbles stories... no?

Ooh...not sure exactly what you mean!

Dont we just love that publicity photo of Richard? ;P