Worth Your Time 7.5.2012

I have to admit, in recent years, my appreciation of Kevin Smith has waned. I still admire the guy on a lot of fronts, as far as being a self-made media figure. Ultimately, I feel like the reason I loved him to begin with, the films he made, were the reason I wanted to listen to his podcasts, or see his live Q&A events. Now, he's announced he's retiring as a filmmaker after his next project, a hockey film called Hit Somebody! What's unsettling, to me, is that his output of podcasts and public appearances just exploded after that announcement.

Keven Smith is no longer a filmmaker (I do give him props for announcing the retirement), but a digital content provider. The podcasts (and there are many available on his website, now), his Spoilers! Show on HULU, etc, etc. That's well and good, but I think Smith has lost sight of the fact that a lot of us were interested in his opinions and ideas because he made films. He was the "geek done good," with the history that made him "one of us," yet the experience that made him somewhat versed in the world of Hollywood. That was interesting, the way those two sides of his life played out together.

Now he's the big geek with lots of Hollywood buddies. Which, to be fair, can still make for some interesting shit.

Case in point; I've discovered Smith's Fatman on Batman podcast. Specifically, the 2-part interview with Mark Hamill (Yes, THAT Mark Hamill), who voiced the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, as well as a number of other projects, like the Arkham Asylum and Arkham City games.

Fatman on Batman Episode #2: Mark Hamill, The People's Joker - Part 1

Fatman on Batman Episode 3#: Mark Hamill, The People's Joker - Part 2

Hamill gives great interview here, talking through his entire career, and his development as a comic book fan well before the Star Wars thing ever happened. It's a really fun 3 hours, you will not regret it.

I'm excited to go back and catch up with all of these now, especially Episode #1 with Paul Dini, one of my favorite Batman writers, ever.