I think this article, though a little reactionary, has pretty much summarised and commemorated the moment Kevin Smith became completely irrelevant as a filmmaker.

http://chud.com/articles/articles/23105/1/THE-DEVIN039S-ADVOCATE-KEVIN-SMITH-MAKES-BAD-MOVIES-HATES-CRITICS/Page1.html

It's a shame, as I thought Clerks was a fun, honest little film and an ideal debut. I also thought Chasing Amy was very big-hearted and had the same openness as Clerks, Dogma was bewildered but had some very interesting moments and a unique voice, Mallrats is pretty terrible but loveable all the same and I can even pick some moments out of Clerks 2 and Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back that are pretty funny, if inessential.

But with perennial sugar-daddy Harvey Weinstein on his arse financially and Judd Apatow and co. doing a similar schtick to a much better degree, I can't see where Smith is going to get work from in the long run. Sadly, the only place to lay the blame is that he really isn't up to scratch as a director anymore, there's certainly been no evolution since Chasing Amy. I have to agree with the writer that just because you're making a knockabout comedy, there's no reason not to actually bring any kind of quality to it. Shame really, maybe there's still time for him to turn it around (he's still pretty young) but he certainly won't with this kind of attitude to his craft.