- We’ve got another plug to give today…Should we start charging for these? Hehehe…Anyway, Stef writes us asking if we could mention her Ben Affleck fan site, which is the ORIGINAL Ben site on the web! It was named best Ben site by Entertainment Weekly and Mr. Showbiz. We took a look at it, and it’s a very nice looking site. Check it out HERE.
- Kevin Smith has joined the ranks of Tarantino, Rodriguez, Woo, and Scorsese at the “Gods Among Directors”webpage. The site’s quite popular, and even includes a mailing list for those of you who’d been looking for one. Stop by and give it a looksee.
Archive for April, 1998
View Askew NewsBites™
- The publication we mentioned yesterday, In Pittsburgh, has a review of “A Better Place” appearing in tomorrow’s issue (Since the flick hits town on the 21st). Pick up an issue if you’re in the area! We’ll get the review online for ya ASAP.
- In today’s promotions department: We’ve been asked to promote a Ben Affleck site on the web, and, of course, we’re happy to help out: Visit the site http://www.pond.com/~jshih/ben.html for a ton of Ben stuff and some Damon thrown in for good measure.
- Finally today, if ANYONE’S got a copy or two of the article in which View Askew and News Askew were mentioned from March 29th’s Detroit Free Press, could you PLEASE mail it to us? Our mailing address can be found on our Contributors page, or you can e-mail me directly. Dig through those recyclables! Much appreciated.
Armageddon To Play Cannes…
- Here’s a cool little bite from today’s Hollywood Reporter :
Armageddon in Cannes Entertainment Briefs: `Armageddon’ will hit Cannes – Touchstone Pictures will show 40 minutes of Michael Bay‘s “Armageddon” at a special screening at the Cannes International Film Festival next month. The event will include a lavish bash billed as “The Last Blowout, End of the World `Armageddon’ Party” to promote the big-budget summer release about a team of astronauts sent to destroy an enormous asteroid hurtling toward Earth. “Armageddon” actors Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Steve Buscemi and Liv Tyler are expected to attend, along with Bay.
They’re going all out to ensure this is one of the summer’s biggest blockbusters! Honestly, we just read CineScape‘s summer preview, and there’s REALLY not much coming out this summer that’s worth seeing. We’re sure the flick will do quite well.
MTV Movie Awards Nominations…
- The Announcements were made yesterday for the 7th annual MTV Movie awards…Sure, we know that it’s not the Oscars, but it’s usually a fun show with lots of celebs and interesting awards. Good Will Hunting and Chasing Amy grabbed a few nods, let’s hope to see some of those heavy popcorn things coming our way! Here’s the noms we’re concerned with:
1998 Movie Awards
Best Movie-Good Will Hunting
Best Male Performance-Matt Damon, for GWH
Best Onscreen Duo-Matt Damon/Ben Affleck, for GWH
Breakthrough Performance-Joey Lauren Adams, for Chasing Amy
Best Onscreen Kiss-Joey Lauren Adams/Carmen Lee, for CA
Best Onscreen Kiss-Matt Damon/Minnie Driver, for GWH
Best Kiss is always a fun award…Remember when the “kiss” from Species won a couple years back?
Commentary…
- Happy Easter Monday, folks. We’re back. And, believe it or not, there’s NOT much to talk about! Sure, the God speculation is STILL going on (please, oh please, STOP STOP STOP e-mailing us with the stories about it! Heheh…Thank you), Dogma is still filming, and we’re still alive and well. The weather here in central PA has been outstanding, so it’s been a nice relaxing break.
What’s new with us, you may ask? Don’t care? Sorry, we’re telling you anyway. We just finished up an interview for a small magazine called “In Pittsburgh”, which should appear in the coming weeks as part of a HUGE piece on Kevin Smith and the Askewniverse. More on that as we get details. We’re also about to do an interview for “Art Askew” Erik’s View Askew e-zine, which premieres next month. Hopefully, you’ll be interested in what we have to say. If not, you can just breeze by us and pretend we don’t exist.
We’re still waiting for that call that will arrange for us to hit the Dogma set for a day or two, hopefully to be extras and get some inside scoop for ya. A lot of other folks have heard back from Nancy, but we’ve heard nada so far, so we wish we could tell you it was looking good…Still though, we’re working on an “arrangement” and hope to make an announcement soon.
Let’s get on with a few newsbites…We know you’ve been waiting for ’em…
View Askew NewsBites™
- Haven’t you always wanted to chat with Vincent Pereira?Now’s your chance! Vinnie will hit the keyboard at 9 pm eastern time, tomorrow (Tuesday) night at THIS webpage. Be there! We hope to stop by and watch the carnage ourselves, actually. Get those questions ready! Steve’s “A Better Place” Page has been updated with a few new photos, too.
- Tristen has set up a new Ben Affleck / Matt Damon webpage, and hey, she’d like it if you could stop by! Check it out HERE.
- Finally today, some great news for you DVD player owners out there (present company included, of course). The fine folks at Miramax are CONSIDERING releasing ‘Good Will Hunting’ on DVD in September, along with other candidates ‘Jackie Brown’, ‘Mrs. Brown’, ‘Swingers’, and ‘The Wings of the Dove’. This is definitely a step in the right direction! No news on the Jersey trilogy yet, but we’re sure that Clerks would be a big seller if they put it together, even with just the LD extras, and the rumored Mallrats disc may actually make its debut in the format. Hey, don’t get us wrong, we still love laserdisc, but it’s just not gonna last forever. And if anything’s gonna take over, DVD is pretty friggin’ cool.
Latest From The Set…
- Looks like Kev’s back in the swing of hitting the board more often and giving us starving fans some regular updates from the set! Here’s his latest post, with a few more interesting tidbits…
Anyhoo, last night went well. The boys eventually delivered magic, and Affleck even got to do an entirely ad-libbed take… which will never see the light of day (for his sake – lest they take back that writing Oscar). Count on seeing it as a nice laser extra.
The real star o’ the night, though, was Mosier – the guy who took a four line part and made it a memorable four line part.
However, shooting in the cramped confines of a bus was just the worst. I don’t know how Spike did it on ‘Get on the Bus’. I couldn’t get back to the guys (camera hogged up the aisle), and spent most of the night shouting direction back to them.
Remind me never to write a bus scene again. Ever.
I wound up staying in Pitt for the weekend, to concentrate on sundry non-‘Dogma’ stuff (Daredevil, Oni Mini, etc.).
And the next time Ms. Loughran checks in, she’ll officially be a recording artist (round of applause for Skimberly).
That’s about it for now.
That Affleck scene’s definitely gonna be a sight to see…We’re sure the Dogma disc (thinking WAY far ahead now) is gonna be a sight to behold.
LaserDisc News…
- You’ve all heard about the video release, but what’s to expect on laserdisc as far as “Good Will Hunting”? Here’s the official announcement:
Good Will Hunting (LBX/AC3)List Price : $39.99
Rated : R
Running Time : 126 min.
Street Date : 07/22/98
Starring : Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, Robin Williams, Stellan Skarsgård, Casey Affleck
Summary : The smartest student at MIT may be the one who sweeps the floors. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck wrote and star in this intelligent, poignant story of potential lost and regained by the power of love. Winner of Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams). Directed by Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy). LBX 1.85:1.
Or maybe (for some god-awful reason) you’re itching to own a laserdisc of “Phantoms”? Your prayers are answered:
Phantoms (AC3)List Price : $39.99
Rated : R
Running Time : 91 min.
Street Date : 07/29/98
Starring : Peter O’Toole, Joanna Going, Rose McGowan, Liev Schreiber, Ben Affleck, Clifton Powell
Summary : Dean Koontz’ chilling tale of terror and suspense, “Phantoms” takes place in the small town of Snowfield, Colorado where 700 people have suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. It’s up to the five survivors to decipher the mystery and eliminate the Ancient menace before it kills every human being on the face of the Earth. Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting) stars as the town sheriff and Peter O’Toole (Lawrence of Arabia) plays a professor with an expertise in ancient epidemics.
Oh, and don’t get us wrong, we love laserdisc and all, but it’s gonna be a glorious day when some of this Miramax stuff starts showing up on DVD as well.
Jay & Bob Figures In ToyFare…
MINI MALLRATS
To put it bluntly, they’re the first “Clerks” toys.
As Graphitti Designs moves full speed ahead with its 8-inch Big Blast toy line, expect heroes of a different sort to join the lineup. Following quickly on the hells of its Grendel, Kevin Matchstick (Mage) and Madman figures, this September Graphitti Designs add moviemaker/comic book writer Kevin Smith’s widely popular character Jay and Silent Bob (Smith’s own onscreen alter-ego) to its stable of action figures.
From their humble beginnings as brain-dead, comic-loving, layabout drug dealers in “Clerks,” and subsequent appearances in “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy,” Jay and Silent Bob have enjoyed cult-fave status. They’ve been featured in movies, comic books (Oni Double Feature #1, as well as an upcoming Jay and Silent Bob mini-series), as well as 11 short films for MTV. When it came time to give them the action figure treatment, Smith turned to Grendel and Mage creator Matt Wagner for the designs. “I did the model sheets for them since I illustrated the Oni Double Feature story,” Wagner said. “Believe me, these figures are going to be just as rude as that story was. They’re really rude little toys, very in keeping with the characters.”
Graphitti Designs’ President Bob Chapman acknowledged that these action figures may not suit everyone’s tastes, but he looks forward to capturing the same spirit of fun the characters always provide in their films. “There are going to have the same edge that the film characters have,” Chapman said, citing accessories that include cigarettes, stash baggies, and beer, not to mention a dog with an…attribute…that’s so large it can’t stand on all four legs. “They’re not going to be entirely politically correct,” Chapman said. “They’re guaranteed to offend, but they’re going to be funnier than hell. Still, we may have to get the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund helping us here!”
Currently on the fast track for release in September 1998, the Jay and Silent Bob figures, each sold separately, will sport some unique features. First off, Graphitti is experimenting with voice chips, so each character should hopefully be able to speak. According to Chapman, “Jay will say things like ‘Snoochie Boochies’ and ‘Noonch!’ [traditional exclamations from Smith’s films], maybe five different things; Silent Bob tentatively will have a button on his back and say nothing at all. (laughter) It’ll be the Talking Silent Bob doll!” Graphitti also plans to making Jay’s T-shirt designs variant-friendly. “We’re going to have a variety of decals for the shirt,” Chapman said, “one that says ‘Chronic,’ one that says ‘All About the Clam,’ and one with a marijuana leaf. We’re trying to find the best way to do that so they’re removable and interchangeable.”
Each figure will also come with an interchangeable set of hands. Silent Bob’s removable hand will hold two distinct types of cigarettes, one legal, one not, while Jay’s hands will make a variety of gestures, from the mildly offensive to the profane. “When I first heard about that, I thought, ‘This is great, an action figure that can flip you off!” Chapman laughed. “Maybe that’s juvenile, but if so, I don’t care. I love it.”
Matt Wagner is very excited to see Jay and Silent Bob embraced by the public at large. “Kevin’s really struck a neat balance with these characters,” Wagner said. “They’re such lovable rogues, you love to hate them and you hate to love them. They’re very defiantly rude, yet the mainstream is willing to lay down its normal aversion to such stuff and really get a kick out of them.”
In a recent Wizard: The Comics Magazine interview, Kevin Smith said, “As soon as they do the Jay and Silent Bob action figures, then I know I’mfulfilled, I’ve lived the ultimte fanboy’s life. Once they make the action figures I can pretty much drop dead, it’s all complete.” We’re only guessing here, but it looks like, come September, Smith may want to recant that statement.