Archive for August, 1997

“Dogma” Casting Shaping Up…

August 14th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

Linda FiorentinoChris RockMatt Damon

Fresh from “Men in Black”, Linda Fiorentino has landed the female lead in “Dogma”, the next film for Kevin Smith at Miramax, where he last directed “Chasing Amy”.
Chris Rock will play the role of an angel in the film, which will also star Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.
Fiorentino scored her biggest splash since “The Last Seduction” with her role as an inquisitive pathologist in “Men in Black”.

Rock returns to his HBO show Sept. 12, and hosts the MTV Music Awards Sept. 4. His book, “Rock This,” is out from Hyperion this October. “Dogma” gets underway in February.

So, Linda and Chris! Not bad, Kev! There ya have it, folks…I’m not sure how big either of their parts are going to be, since I refuse to read the Dogma script, but I assume with the relative visibility of each of them that their parts will be fairly sizeable. This is also the first I’ve seen Matt Damon’s name mentioned as a definite cast member. Remember where you read it first!

The Facelift Continues…

August 14th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Well, unless your name is Willam you probably noticed that we’ve got a new graphic behind the frame you see on your left there. This is the master work of Steve Rettinger, who’s going to be creating some custom graphics for the page from time to time. We’d like to publicly thank Steve for a job well done. You can visit Steve’s page here.

Stuff We’re Working On…

August 13th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Sure, we love bringing you all the latest Askew news every day, but we can’t help but feel a little empty sometimes. Sure, we’ve got the drinking games, too, but for a lot of you even THAT’S old news. So, we decided to work on trying to get a few exclusives to brighten up the site a bit.

First of all, I actually called the VA Offices last week, talked to Kim (and she’s just as pleasant on the phone as the legend says!) to see if something could be set up for a brief Q&A session with Kevin for the page, hopefully with a lot of original questions that you haven’t heard a million times on the web board and elsewhere. Kim took my number down and said she’d pass it on, but we’ve yet to get a response. Judging by Kev’s relative absence on the board for the past few days, he’s probably pretty busy, or then again, maybe he’s just plain afraid of us. Anyway, if any VA Insiders or the big man himself is reading this, get in touch with us! We’re not gonna call and hound the office like a bunch of desperate fanboys, but we’ll keep hoping that this will happen sometime in the future. Stay tuned for more info.

Also, although we’re not really even sure how to go about it yet, we hope to try and somehow swing a Big Helium Dog set visit sometime as well, for an inside report of what’s going on with those wacky guys during filming.

Remember, nothing’s definite yet, but we’ll keep ya informed as always. Take it easy.

Chasing Amy Laserdisc (Extra Scenes)

August 13th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Okay, so we’re all a little curious (or maybe a LOT curious) about what we’re going to be seeing as far as extras go when the ‘Chasing Amy’ Criterion Laserdisc arrives in December. In regards to some of the extra scenes and the way they’ll be handled, Vincent had this to say :
Kevin considers the final release version of CHASING AMY to be the “director’s cut” (that is, the general release version, with the shortened “Alyssa tells her dyke friends she’s dating a guy” scene)- that’s the film that he and Scott cut, and it’s the version he approved. All of the extra footage on CHASING AMY will seperate from the actual film. The scenes MAY be placed at the end of each disc side in seperate chapters, with the option of programming your LD player to play back the longer scenes in place of the final cut ones, but this is not definite yet.

I believe Criterion used a similar tactic on the beautiful Halloween disc with the TV clips that used to pad the edited version. Instead of grouping everything at the end, the clips were put on seperate chapters so you could program your player to insert the scene. Still a bit of breakup in the film, but it works. I like that idea.

Some New Swag For Ya!

August 12th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

Walt Flanagan's Dog Chasing Our Heroes
Walt Flanagan’s Dog T-Shirt

  • The world’s most famous rat terrier gets his very own t-shirt! See the much talked about but never before seen canine that just happens to be the second arch-nemesis of Jay and Silent Bob. This high quality t-shirt depicts Walt’s dog hungrily chasing the other dynamic duo. The back says simply, “Walt Flanagan’s Dog.” Order it here!

Vinnie, Keith, & A Big Helium Dog…

August 12th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Had an opportunity to chat with Vinnie Pereira and Keith Miller last night for a while. Couple of real nice guys there. We talked about pretty much everything EXCEPT Askew stuff…Kind of a nice departure from what we’ve been chatting about and writing about lately. Vin’s movie, “A Better Place”, is currently scheduled for an October 23rd premiere (If I remember correctly) at the Walter Reade Theatre at Lincoln Center. Should be open to the general public. We’ll let you know if that changes. Keith’s doing a fine job working on the Big Helium Dog Website, in fact, they’ve got their very own Web Board now. Be sure to look around the rest of the site as well!

Supes Article in Cinescape…

August 12th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • The new issue of Cinescape has an article about the revival of the Superman franchise. Here’s what they had to say about Kev’s involvement:
“Now that all the licensing deals have been done, all the filmmakers need is a shooting script. Last year, Kevin Smith, the writer/director of the acclaimed indie films Clerks and Chasing Amy, was commissioned to provide his take on Supes’ newest screen adventures. This past spring, however, when Tim Burton took the helm of the megabudget project, Smith was unceremoniously booted from the project, and writer Wesley Strick (The Saint) began re-working the Superman Lives screenplay.”

Further down in the article…

“Eventually Jonathan Lemkin [Screenwriter] was replaced on the project by Kevin Smith. Peters’ decision to hire Smith surprised many people, particularly the writer/director himself. Last year Smith jokingly wondered, ‘Did [Peters] see Clerks and say, ‘Hey, big-dick jokes–this guy has to write Superman?” The script that Smith produced, which is loyal to the recent storylines in DC Comics, has some sparkling banter, but the battles are underwhelming. It is apparently Peters’ hope that Wesley Strick will pump up the film’s action quota.”

Aside: Actually, I thought the action was fine, but I guess we’re not smart big shot Hollywoodproducers, either…What do we know? Oh, and check out this last piece we wanted to share with you from the article:

“At one point Jon Peters [producer] was talking about a character named the ‘Eradicator having an ‘Eradicator Stick’ because he had images of posters and toys coming out of it.”

Sounds like they’re making the movie just to market a toyline now. Unreal. That’s Hollywood for ya, though.

We’re Only Human…

August 12th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • We’re supposed to make mistakes. Too many ‘Cons, my brain’s getting fried. Anyway, in August 10th’s update below (Don’t bother to check anymore, we fixed it) we mistakenly mentioned that Kevin will be at the “San Diego DragonCon” when we actually meant he’d appear at Atlanta’s DragonCon September 3-6, 1998. The link was wrong as well. This is now fixed. Thanks a lot to David Tumarkin and David Snyder (Hey, Dave & Dave! Weird.) for correcting our foolishness.

Finally, On A Personal Note…

August 11th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Hey you. Yes, YOU. Thanks a lot for checking in with us. Whether you’re a new visitor or a regular, it’s nice of you to drop by and support us. Feedback’s been great lately, and we’ve been hearing lots of positive things from the common fanboys (like us) all the way up to the bigwigs at and around View Askew! Nothing like a nice e-mail to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside…It makes working on the page more of a joy, as well. Don’t forget we’re here to serve, but also to listen. Scoop us with your news and rumors! Be a part of the action!

By the way, sorry for the lack of, as we say, “real news” around lately. Those of you who read the web board fairly regularly can probably see not a whole lot is going on. Probably just the calm before the storm, though! We’re even hoping to get some first-hand, inside scoops on some of goings-on in the Red Bank area in the next couple months, so stick with us. See ya next time.

Or Perhaps, You Prefer…

August 11th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Snooganburg! Add this authetic, little-known New Jersey town to your Sim City 2000 Arsenal (If you play the game, I personally never got into it, but…) Anyway, here’s what the author, Pythomas, had to say about it himself:
The schools are named after VA staffers (and actors): Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Kim Loughran, Walt Flanagan, Vincent Pereira, Jason Mewes, Ethan Suplee, Brian Johnson and Ming Chen.

The pro sports teams are: in NFL football, the Snooganburg Mallrats (who play in the SegaDome); and in Major League Baseball, the Snooganburg Clerks (playing at Olaf Berserker Stadium).

The golden tower is called the “Dogma Dome” (instead of the Braun Llama Dome).

The bus and rail stations carry the standard NJ Transit (MetroRail) moniker. The subways, however, are called the SnoogWays.

I’ve zipped the city file…. hopefully it’ll work. If not, let me know of a good way to send it and I will.

There’s a map of the town that exists, also, but we just don’t have the space to post it here. It’s really very well-done, and humorous as well, so if you have access to Sim City, it’s worth taking the time to dowload and look at.

Download Snooganburg Here!