Carpenter, Director of the 80's horror flicks the drom that dripped blood and The Kindred and coscripter of Blue Streak and Ocean's Eleven, returns to his roots with this 14 million supernatural thriller, about a troubled teen (Sagemiller) who survives an automobile accident only to be haunted by nightmares. "The story is really sad, so there was a lot of crying every day." says Sagemiller. Things didn't get more cheerful once production wrapped two years ago: When Carpenter refused Artisan's request to add a nude sex scene involving two female characters, the studio responded by bringing in its own editor and recutting the film several times. Still, Sagemiller, who went on to costar in this spring's Get Over it, remains upbead: "It was my first movie, so it's special to me."

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

Starring: Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Lee, Ben Affleck

Written and Directed By: Kevin Smith

What's The Big Deal? The director of Clerks closes up shop.

A scourge to Catholics (Dogma), Smith may soon irk yet another group with his fifth flick: his fans. With Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the indie auteur is retiring the cast of slackers and mall rats who have populated his films since 1994's "Clerks". "I'm going to be 31 in August," Smith says. "I'd like to afford myself a shred of dignity before my kid's old enough to notice her old man's a walking, non-talking cartoon." Mewes is bummed to see it end: "I wanted to be doing Jay until I was 40." At least he'll go out with a semi-bang. "I've kissed on screen before," he says of his encounter with American Pie's Elizabeth, "but never with any tongue action."

This Dimension comedy has the dubious duo trying to sabotage a Miramax movie inspired by a comic book based on them. Backed by a $20 million budget, Smith is promising slick visuals from Small Soldiers' cinematographer Jamie Anderson and 220 digital effects. Jokes Smith, who has perhaps moved his camera a total of two feet in four films: "You can't mock Hollywood with a static two shot." (August 10th)

Reprinted from Entertainment Weekly - April 2001