• Of course, not all the Armageddon press is TOTALLY Ben-focused. We’re sure the flick’s going to be the biggest of the summer and set some records, but the question is, how far will it go? We’ve got some advanced press and reviews here (if you’re interested, but as always, beware of spoilers…
• Harry Knowles posted his extended review/experience of the premiere at Aint It Cool News.
• The Armageddon soundtrack features a tune called “Animal Crackers”, which I heard a clip of the other day…It’s a remix of “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” featuring dialogue from Ben & Liv (like that sickeningly famous Titanic remix).
• Yet another Armageddon-related article featuring some more funny stuff from Ben ran in the Contra Costa Times (Northern California). You can find the story online HERE.

• Ready for the Ben Affleck press assault??? Here it comes…The first one comes from the Boston Globe

Mediascope also ran a nice little biography on Ben the other day…

And from Liz Smith’s column:

Had enough??? NO??? How about an interview with Ben at TNT’s RoughCut Online?

Oh, but there’s SO much more! Here’s another Ben-focused Armageddon article from Jam! Online.

And finally, here’s something a little different about Ben & Gwyneth from the London Evening Standard:

• In an unusual story today, Marilyn Ghigliotti, who you all know as Veronica from Clerks, showed up in the audience of the Howie Mandel Show today…Apparently, Howie just stops to chat with audience members and she had the honor…Howie asked her what she did and she replied, “I’m an actress.” Howie asked her if we would have “…seen her in anything?” and she said “Maybe.” “What?” Howie asked. “CLERKS!”, she said. Apparently, it didn’t seem like Howie knew the flick. Oh well. Pretty neat, although we don’t know what shocks us more: The fact that Marilyn was in the audience of Howie’s show, or the fact that 6 of you were actually WATCHING the show to let us know about it.

• Alright, we’re finally getting caught up at the boards! Kevin of course returned Sunday night with news about his trip and award…Congrats! Apparently, the guy’s HUGE in Spain, and was received very well. It’s amazing how View Askew flicks even translate over continents and language barriers, isn’t it? We’d hoped to have his summary post from the trip, but unfortunately the board went all wacky again and lost some info…But in summary, the guy had a swell time.

• Do you BELIEVE it?!?! This little ‘ol site is now NUMBER 2 according to the Global Internet Top 100! Once again, thank you ALL for voting for us! There’s only 1 more place we gotta go now, and that’s to the TOP SPOT…Numero uno!!! Think we can make it happen? Tired of us talking about this and just want us to shut up? Well, if ya visit the site, and you like what you see, all we can say is hop on over and cast your vote for us. We’ll see if we can grab the top honors for a week. Either way, this’ll be the last week we mention this stuff in the news. Even if we don’t make it, #2 is an amazing honor, and we couldn’t have done it without ya. Thanks again, folks!

• Just a quick note folks…A certain company didn’t much appreciate the Dogma pics that we posted on the site a couple days ago. Apparently they’re spreading across the net pretty quickly and the word came down…So, the result is that we were kindly asked to remove them from the site. If you’re looking for them, they’re gone, at least for now. Sorry…Hope you had a chance to check them out!

• Hey, thanks for stopping back in. We didn’t mean to leave ya hangin’ for 2 days without an update, especially with so much hoopla surrounding Ben & Armageddon going on (Oh yeah, that Kevin guy’s up to a few things, too…remember him?). In fact, I’m listening to Howard Stern say how “sick” he is of “Ben Affleck and Matt Damien” (Fred cues “The Omen” music)…Maybe these guys HAVE been in the news a LOT lately! Our coverage will continue on Armageddon, but expect a more Askew-slanted focus to be back as the news shifts into Kevin’s projects and Dogma’s progress.

So, we were about to write an update late last night, then the site went down yet again. We’re awaiting an explanation from our web provider on that one, the site’s been quite unreliable lately and we’re not digging it…Especially since we’re PAYING for it! Anyway, things are back to normal now, so after we return from work we’re going to wade through all your mail and get all caught up on stuff.

By the way, why were we gone for these 2 days? Is there a network expert in the house? I’ve been attempting to set up a LAN so we can play some network Quake 2…Unfortunately, my cable modem and ethernet card don’t want to live in harmony in Windows 98. If there’s a networking expert out there, drop me a line! I like to think I know my way around a PC, but I’m stumped this time. It’s going to take some hacking to get it working. I’ve spent my last 2 days with the 2 PCs in pieces and have gotten nowhere…So I figured I’d better just quit and get an update online.

And yep, we caught Harry’s plug for the News Askew and certainly appreciated it…It’s nice exposure for site. Thanks for all who wrote us about it.

Update on the way TONIGHT! See ya then.

• An article on angels by Constantine Von Hoffman ran in Boston Magazine. It mentions some Matt & Ben stuff, naturally, because of their Dogma roles. We’ve got those quotes below. You can also read the entire article HERE.

ViewAskew Angels

“Now that even Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are winging it in the movies, zeitgeist watchers are finding out how many pinheads can be taken in by the angel phenomenon.”

“Kevin Smith, director of Chasing Amy and the wonderfully foul-mouthed Clerks, is currently directing local flavors-of-the-month Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as two renegade celestial spirits trying to regain the heavenly kingdom.”

• Here’s yet another Ben press piece that we pulled off the newswire. Naturally, it features some of those humorous quotes we’ve all come to know and love:

Ben Affleck

Ben All Bottled Up?

Does he or doesn’t he? Ben Affleck fans might be a bit confused about their idol’s drinking habits after reading a few of his upcoming interviews.

The Oscar winner tells USA Weekend this Sunday he has become a teetotaler.

“I started regretting some things I did when I was drunk,” says Affleck, whose father successfully battled the bottle. “I have almost no inhibitions, so it’s dangerous for me.”

But turn to the pages of the August issue of Premiere magazine and the “Armageddon” star is knocking back double vodka-cranberries during his interview at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

“I drink with less frequency, but when I do, I drink more,” he tells writer Christine Spines while ordering another round as dawn approached.

On the love front, Affleck says he feels no urgent need to walk down the aisle.

Galpal Gwyneth Paltrow is “the smartest woman I’ve ever known,” Affleck tells USA Weekend. But, he adds, “What do I need to marry now for? I’m 25. Getting married now would lead into being the 32-year-old divorce.”

• The June 1998 issue of Sky International (a British magazine) has an article on Matt Damon. It mentions he is filming Dogma. It also talks about his friendship with Ben (quoted from article: “If I woke up in a hotel with a dead hooker, Matt’s the guy I’d call first”, says Damon’s best mate Ben Affleck).
• Finally today, a quote from Ben on the “Countdown To Armageddon” special, airing on the Sci Fi Channel this weekend: “”The hole they built on the soundstage cost 4 times more than it cost to make Chasing Amy“. By the way, George Cifrancis is running a site that lists all the upcoming Armageddon TV specials and when they air…In case you want to catch more of Ben’s wacky antics.

• Did you miss Clerks or Amy when they were on the big screen, or do you just want to catch them again? Well, here’s your chance. Two screenings are coming up:

First, here’s your chance to catch Clerks on the big screen! On July 3rd and 4th at 12:15 AM, the theatre Cinemark Movies 10 in Somerdale, NJ (near Cherry Hill) will be holding a special screening. If you would like more information (directions, for example), try the theatre’s number at (609) 784-7964 or click HERE for a map. Tickets are only four bucks.

Next, we’ve got Chasing Amy at the Screening Room in New York City, the weekend of July 10th and 11th. It will be part of their “Midnight Indies” summer series. The series will also have “Dazed and Confused” where everyone can catch Ben and Joey, of course, as well as “The Player” and “Pulp Fiction”. (2 more excellent films). Call 212-334-2100 for more info or click HERE for a map. Should be a great time.

• Here it is, folks! The first Dogma-related shots released ANYWHERE, and News Askew’s got ’em first! Above, you’ll see 2 “concept” images of the Noman character that were created to illustrate what he’ll look like in the final film.These suckers were snuck out of Guastini’s studios somehow and leaked to us anonymously…We’ve blurred the images here to keep you from seeing them (in case you don’t want to be spoiled). Just click the blurred images above for a blown up, crystal clear picture. Rumor has it these scupltures are now on Kevin’s desk in his office. Enjoy, folks! We hope to have more shots in the weeks to come.