Posted by kphipps3000 at c1815974-a.afour1.il.home.com on September 01, 2001 at 16:54:45:
Hi there. This is Keith Phipps from THE ONION AV CLUB and I
wanted to respond to Kevin Smith's comments about our paper here
simply to clarify a few things. I was the one scheduled to interview Mr.
Smith. When the interview turned into a round table, I pulled out
because it's our policy not to do roundtables. We feel that the
atmosphere and time constraints at such events make it not worth our
time, whether it's Kevin Smith, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Kline, or
Kevin Reynolds. (That it would also force me to drive an hour both
ways on a Sunday afternoon didn't exactly sweeten the deal.)
As for Scott Tobias' review, it was written well before the interview fell
through and had nothing to do with Mr. Smith's cancellation. Having seen the film with him, I can assure you that the review accurately reflects his opinion, not "sour grapes" on my part or on the part of the paper collectively.
I've interviewed Mr. Smith in the past and my thought leaving the
interview (a one-on-one by phone, for the record) was that he was a
hell of a nice guy. I'm sure his impugning of our reputation was entirely accidental.
As for his comments about the quality of THE ONION AV CLUB,
he's entitled to hold whatever opinion he likes, just as our reviewers
are allowed to think, and express, whatever they like of his films.
All the best,
Keith Phipps