But while I'm home I scored a seat in Red Bank, NJ (bout a half-hour away) for Kevin Smith's Fan-Festival operated by his viewaskew.com website, called VULGARTHON. The program consisted of 4 films, listed in more detail below. Most, if not all of the films were produced with the help of Kevin Smith and the Viewaskew banner.

Much of the marathon is orchestrated by Vincent Pereira, director of the film A BETTER PLACE. The day's events were run twice, in a small twin theatre on Jan 7th and 8th. The fans were fun, interesting, and a great group to sit in the dark with for 10 or 12 hours. And everyone on hand from the Viewaskew Universe was cheerful and VERY accessible.

Kevin introduced the day with VULGAR, Bryan Johnson's feature starring Brian Christopher O'Halloran (Dante from CLERKS). There's no easy way to describe this movie...it's about a party clown who gets raped, and it...well...takes off from there. I really don't want to give away too much about it, many scenes are powerful, and yet, that Kevin Smith sensibility manages to shine through, lightening up the film when it so desperately needs it. It should be talked about. Lion's Gate Films has picked it up for a limited February release, unrated, perhaps? O'Halloran gives a great performance, and should secure him more work.

It was nice to see J&SBSB again, and the outtakes and deleted scenes were funny as hell, and much of it might be available on the Special Edition DVD due out next month.

After a dinner break we were treated to one of the first screenings of NOW YOU KNOW, a romantic comedy from Jeff Anderson (Randall from Clerks). This was a real happy surprise. Jeff's got a great ear for dialogue. It needs some cuts, right now the film is running a bit too long, but it doesn't look ready for release yet, either, so he'll have a chance to make changes. It's about a couple about to be married in Vegas (Jeremy Sisto from HBO's SIX FEET UNDER, and Rashida Jones, the daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton, and very cute), and the wedding is called off by Jones. Everyone returns to NJ, examining their relationships. Anderson and Trevor Fehrman play Sisto's best friends and their scenes are rich with humor. Good performances all around, although Sisto is a bit lackluster in some scenes. It deserves some attention on the festival circuit. Last was Bryan Lynch's BIG HELIUM DOG, which can best be described as the Viewaskew Universe version of KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE, done by John Landis, Jim Abrahams, and the Zucker Brothers in 1977.

Big Helium Dog defies description, but there is a story about a sweet,innocent dope that emerges through non-sequitor gags tossed in. Some of these gags are too goofy NOT to work, and it's a very funny 90 minutes (or so)..

Jason Lee sent a video tape apologizing for not being there, Ben Affleck left a phone message on Kevin's voicemail that was played. And Kevin called Jason Mewes so we could give him shit for missing his first VULGARTHON (this was the third one).

Everyone had a great time, the films were good fun, and Kevin Smith is one of the most approachable, coolest cats around.