Archive for April 22nd, 1998

View Askew NewsBites™

April 22nd @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Scottieboy & Katie

  • We know this is like beating a dead horse, and that this was certainly unintentional and blown over, but it’s a nifty little piece from Peter David’s “…But I Digress” column for the current issue of Comics Buyers Guide.
OK. Here’s the scene. Identify it.

Some puzzled people scratching their heads, saying, “I know we forget something…What was it? … Lemme think…It’s something just nagging at the back of my mind…”

And suddenly one of them shrieks with alarm, “Kevin!”

Is it:

A)Catherine O’Hara in an airplane in Home Alone?

B)Matt Damon and Ben Affleck after the Oscars?

Either answer is acceptable, but in this case I was specifically referring to (B). As the two winners for the screenplay Good Will Huntingthanked a whole bunch of folks for their Oscar win, they became naggingly aware they were forgetting someone. And I was sitting there saying to the screen, “Kevin Smith. You’re forgetting Kevin Smith.”

The Clerks writer-director, you see, was responsible for taking the film to the head of Miramax, when the low-level readers had already passed on the material. (Because that’s what low-level readers are paid to do. They’re not paid actually to assess marketability or even really read if they don’t feel like it. A couple of studio readers passed on Sachs & Violens claiming that it “was just like Barb Wire” –indicating that they hadn’t even bothered to open the comic book, since the two series are nothing alike.) Without Smith, Good Will Hunting wouldn’t have been made — or at least wouldn’t have been made at this point.

You’d think that, since they were up for writing, they might have actually written something to have in front of them.

  • There’s a small poll going on at Entertainment Weekly Online about independent films. It asks what debut independent film is your favorite and Clerks is nominated. You can cast your vote HERE.
  • Finally today, Conan O’Brien got did a Matt Damon “SAT Analogy” the other night…Matt Damon is to: Acting First, Writing Second as Keanu Reeves is to: Socks first, Shoes second. Funny stuff.

Stairway To Kevin…

April 22nd @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Matt Ebert

Read The Entire Article Here!

  • The famous In Pittsburgh article is online, and features a nice retrospective on Kevin and crew, as well as some of YOUR quotes (remember the ones we asked you to mail in?). It’s got an interesting, different angle on the entire Askew phenomenon, and definitely worth the read. Check it out right HERE.

‘Dog..’ uh… ‘Bearclaw’! Starring Brad and Chris

April 22nd @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Matt Ebert

  • Well, we actually made Kevin‘s set report for today, which gives a brief overview of the goings-on with the airport stuff that took place. We’d hoped to head to the Better Place screening at CMU as well, but after being up for close to 24 hours straight, we just didn’t have it left in us…
‘Dog..’ uh… ‘Bearclaw’! Starring Brad and Chris

Posted by Kevin at proxy-157.iap.bryant.webtv.net on April 22, 1998 at 00:36:21:

That’s right – your fave NewsAskew-hounds did a little thesping today. Expect to read about their three-picture deal in the trades this week.

Also on tap today – Team Askew’s own Brian Quinn, Bill Woods, and occassional-Askewer Nick Giovanetti.

Oh – and Ben and Matt.

We shot the airport out today, and considering we were dealing with almost two hundred extras and the constant thunder of the FAA-regulated p.a. system, it went pretty damn well. It’s actually a very funny scene now, considering the amount of exposition it contains, and sports my two favorite lines of the week (“…that says, that says “I’ll… I’ll fucking spank you! ” and “WHO CARES WHO SENT THE PAPER?!?!”, both of which I’m not doing justice here), not to mention Affleck’s funniest delivery of the moment (“A killing spree is not going to make things better for us!”). Following the shoot, Ben was whisked off to the NY ‘Sliding Doors’ premiere, and I caught some much-needed zzzz’s, before heading out to catch Vincent‘s Q&A at CMU (a whole lotta abreviations in the above thought; we’re a lazy people with a lazy language, aren’t we?).

Tomorrow, we start a complicated two-day sequence with more set-ups planned than my tiny mind can possibly grasp (trying to expand my craft here, folks). If it goes as well as today did, I think we may just have a decent picture on our hands.

As we said, the day was a total blast…In fact, as soon as this update is finished we’re going to get right back to work on the Dogma Diary…Which will cover the stuff Kevin mentioned inthis post in much further detail, from an extra’s point of view. We think you’ll like it.

Commentary…

April 22nd @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • *YAWN*. We’re back, and desperately trying to get caught up on some much needed sleep after a FANTASTIC day on the Dog…er…Bearclaw set yesterday. We’ve got a great story to tell, in fact, our Dogma Diary is about halfway complete now and already epic in size (even compared to the Vulgarthon Wrap-Up!). We’ll be feverishly working to complete the diary which we promise will contain every excruciating detail we can think of, except for the top secret stuff that we promised not to mention, for spoiler’s sake. Let’s get caught up…