News Askew - [SCOOPING THE MONKEY : JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK]

August 9, 2000

Well it was natural that when the partial cast list was announced that all of us would start speculating on the plot as well as how much of a "sequel" the film would really be. It sounds like Kevin's given a lot of thought to that, and wisely wrote a movie that stands on its own for newcomers, but still contains enough slight references and in-jokes to make the film enjoyable on a different level for fans of the other ones. Here's Kevin with the first of what we're sure will be many posts regarding View Askew 5's plot:

I wouldn't call the flick a sequel to anything, unless you think 'Amy' was a sequel to 'Clerks', because you found out things like Caitlin wound up in an insane asylum, and Jay and Silent Bob stopped going to the mall. I wouldn't call it the 'Ultimate' Jersey flick, either. I'd call it the last Jersey flick (or more appropriately, the last Jay and Bob flick).
I wouldn't expect a classy picture, either. But then, I've read the script a few times.
When we finally announce it, it'll make sense as the last one in what became a series. I looked back on the first four, and they all seemed to lead to this one. Yes, cats from the other flicks will be popping up. But the manner in which that happens isn't meant to sequelize the previous flicks; those scenes chiefly move the plot along (there is a plot this time).
Anyone hoping for a flick in which all the Hicks cousins meet one another, and Rene' to show up and meet Bartleby and Loki, and tons of Steve-Dave and Walt action are in for serious disappointment. Stuff like that's reserved for the comics (indeed, I'm hatching an all Steve-Dave and Walt issue as we speak). VA5 won't be the ultimate in-joke movie, as that would be box office suicide. It's designed to be enjoyable to both the neophyte and the master of the trivial as well. Will you enjoy it a little more if you've seen the other flicks? Absolutely. Will you be clueless if you haven't?Not at all. Will you laugh either way? Lord, I hope so.
At the end of the day, some will grouse when they find out what the flick is, and others will celebrate. Some will gather here and post their theories on why it's not a good idea, and others will attack them for their inane opinions.
Just like with everything else we've done upto this point.
Hope this helps with the speculations.

August 7, 2000

As usual, Kevin and company wowed the crowd with a 2 hour Q&A session at the Chicago Wizard World convention on Saturday. Most folks who attended the convention and checked in with us said it was by far the highlight of the weekend. We'll have some individual reports a bit later, but for now, here's the BIG news, some confirmed castings for "View Askew 5", spoken by Kevin to the crowd:

I'm sure he'll [Mewes] be in it. I'll be in it. That's all we need, really. [laughter] Jason Lee will be back. [Chris] Rock is coming back. Matty is coming back. And Brian and Jeff [O'Halloran and Anderson; both from Clerks] are coming back."

In addition to correcting that Matty error (folks misheard Kev as saying "Ivy" for some reason), we can only assume Affleck WILL be back, since Kevin does promise that the open-end from Chasing Amy between Holden & Alyssa will be solved (though we're not sure we WANT to know what happens) as well as unanswered questions from the other 3 films. And so, as all of us fanboys and fangirls dreamed, it does look like this will be a sequel of sorts to ALL the films rolled into one.

Production on the still untitled "View Askew 5" project is scheduled to begin this fall, in October or November, with a planned release of Summer 2001. Those of you checking your calendars would be astute to notice that filming may actually run at the same time that Vulgarthon 2000 is happening. Pretty damn cool, huh?

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