Archive for April, 1999

View Askew NewsBites™

April 29th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Chris K., DiscoBuc, Robby, & Aug

  • Mallrats is hitting cable, complete and uncut (unlike that ABC debacle earlier this year), on the cable channel Starz this Tuesday at 2:45. Set those VCRs or tune in if you’re a night owl!
  • Salon Magazine was kind enough to give us a nice plug…Too bad it’s yet AGAIN credited to the View Askew site and NOT the News Askew site! All the same, at least they like us:
ViewAskew.com: Director Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Chasing Amy”) has more than made up for inflicting “Mallrats” on an unsuspecting public with a fantastic site that is the first and best destination for his fans. As he puts it, the site gives you “the power of communication, as you can actually interact with the losers who hit it big with their movies of smut and conscience!” Interested in the controversy surrounding Smith’s upcoming Matt Damon-Ben Affleck flick “Dogma”? Click over to the “Dogma: Rumor Control” section, in which the filmmaker gives his take on the brouhaha and offers the curious a bushel of info on the pic. View Askew also offers one of the better collections of celebrity merchandise, including signed editions of the Smith-penned “Daredevil” comic book series and Jay and Silent Bob action figures. And let’s be honest: How many directors would go to the trouble to explain how to play drinking games to their films? Spielberg? Scorsese? Not a chance. The site even gives you the option of printing the rules out in an easy-to-read format, perfect after you’ve had one too many. Finally, a celebrity who cares about the little people.

Okay, so the signed stuff IS View Askew…But drinking games and Dogma RC? Oh well…We’re glad they at least gotnoticed, even if it WAS erroneously! But please, press-type people, realize we are NOT View Askew! Thanks.

  • The current issue of Spin Magazine has a 1 page piece on Ethan Suplee. It covers his past work and he mentions Dogma and how Kevin wrote the shit demon part for him. Ethan mentions that it was taken as a huge compliment. Check the issue for the full story, available now at your local newsstand.
  • The latest IndieWire mentions our story on Kevin’s marriage and gives us a nice plug…Thanks guys!

Clerks DVD Petition: A WIN?!?!?

April 29th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Have we WON!?!?!?! Minutes ago, we (along with TONS of YOU) started receiving a response from Disney on our Clerks DVD petition. Here it is:
Please excuse this bounce-back response.

There is 99% possibility that the CLERKS Collectors Series Edition will be back on the summer schedule; however, the planned June 29th release date will probably not be made.

Look for future announcements as to the date.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who participated in the petition, as well as thank Disney/Buena Vista for their reconsideration and response. If a representative from Disney could be kind enough to contact us directly on details on the release (whether anything will be deleted/changed or everything will remain intact, as well as a proposed release date), we’d love to hear from you…Even if you’d like us to keep it confidential for now. Thanks again, everyone! All of you loyal Clerks fans are the reason that we were able to make this happen. We’ll keep you posted.

Stash Pics & More In Wizard…

April 29th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Sounds like Kevin’s heading back to the comforting east coast of New Jersey! He’s also got some details on what else is up. Read on, folks:
I’ve read the first draft of the ‘Clerks’ pilot (by me and Dave Mandel), and I must say…

It’s pretty fucking funny.

It’s also ninety seven pages, which means there’s a world of cutting ahead of us. Thankfully, it’ll just be a matter of losing good material in favor of the better stuff we’ll keep. Not a bad position to be in, that.

Our work at Skywalker comes to a close, and so I’m outie tonight, bound for home (after three weeks away). The movie sounds phenomenal. Kudos to Gary, Tom, Phil Richard, Shannon, Juan, Shari, Joe, and everyone who smoothed the flick out aurally, and even improved it in places.

Next week, there’s a table-reading on the show out in LA, where Brian and Jeff will climb into their respective roles for the first time in five years. Jay will be there too, but he’s – of course – been down the Jay path since his first outing (hell – he lives it). Should be a good time.

It’s been an eventful trip, to say the least, and I’ll be happy to tread the mother-soil anew.

Gotta carry that bride o’ mine ‘cross the threshold, ya know.

Thanks for giving me something to do during the mix.

Wow. We can hardly wait to see Dogma with the new sound mix, score and FX in place!

View Askew NewsBites™

April 28th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Vinnie Bartilucci, Robert LaRock, & VideoGuru

  • HBO is launching a couple new cahnnels, one called HBO Zone, aimed at a young adult audience. “HBO Zone, which the network hopes will attract young adults with an alternative sensibility, will feature primetime movies at 9 p.m. each night. May’s titles will include “Clerks”, “She’s Gotta Have It”, “Wayne’s World” and “The Grave”. Sounds like a perty cool channel to us.
  • Finally today, in the “amusing news” department…It looks like the Clerks “snowball” isn’tthe only one flying around at the Disney offices…Coincidence?
Ex-Disney boss says owed $250 mln

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Top Walt Disney Co. executives waged a secretcampaign called “Operation Snowball” to deprive former studio chiefJeffrey Katzenberg of tens of millions of dollars he was owed formaking the company a success, his lawyer contended Monday. A Disneyattorney scoffed at that and said Operation Snowball was nothing morethan Disney’s effort to keep track of how much it owed Katzenberg andthe snowball of paperwork required to compute it. In openingstatements in the second phase of a $250 million breach-of-contractlawsuit, Katzenberg lawyer Bert Fields presented a series of memos tobolster his argument that Disney concocted a contract argument overan incentive bonus to deprive Katzenberg of the money he was owed.

Clerks DVD Petition Continues…

April 28th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Clerks Campaign Update: It appears that many (if not ALL) of you are now getting “bounced” error messages from the Disney server about the mail you sent – So either they cut it off, we somehow overran it, or it’s been down all along. We’re not giving up that easily though. If anyone has a better suggestion for a more direct e-mail OR snail mail address we can send our polite requests to regarding the Clerks DVD, let us know. Thanks to all of you for helping out so far — Even if nothing comes from it, at least our voice was heard (or read anyway). We’ll keep you posted.

Kevin To Appear At The CNCBE!

April 28th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Aimee

  • Sounds like they’ve got a great show lined up in the great white north this summer, including Kevin, Joe Quesada, and (*shiver*) Jeri Ryan…Ooooh…
The Canadian National Comic Book Exposition
August 27-29, 1999 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center

COMICS HEADLINERS

Kevin Smith
Joey Q
Leinel Francis Yu
Mark Waid
Pat Lee
(Plus 150 OTHER creators!)

SCI FI HEADLINERS

Jeri Ryan
John DeLancie
Warwick Davis
Kenny Baker
Lou Ferrigno

Tickets go on sale may 1st.
Advanced Tickets call 416-870-8000 (TicketMaster)

Sounds like something NOT to miss! We’ll have more info on the event for ya as it draws closer.

Save The Clerks DVD!

April 27th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Kevin ALSO managed to explain what went wrong with Buena Vista’s proposed distribution of the Clerks DVD. Again, we totally forgot we were dealing with DISNEY here. Check THIS out:
The reason behind the delay, I’m told……has something to do with the commentary.

See, basically, the DVD is supposed to be a DVD version of what was on the laserdisc we did, oh so many moons ago. However, that laserdisc was released by Image. The DVD was to be release by Buena Vista. And someone at Buena Vista deemed the commentary (particularly what was discussed about ‘snowballing’) objectionable for them to release. So now we have to find a third party distributor to release it.

Story of my life lately.

If you have qualms about this, contact the good folks at Buena Vista Home Video. It’s odd, considering they DID release the film on video, and while it doesn’t contain our commentary track, the film itself contains a discussion on ‘snowballing’.

Weird. Antsy. Disney.

We’re CONFUSED, considering, as Kev says, the film’s got this stuff in it to begin with — Hell, the term is DEFINED in the film. Anyway, we don’t like the idea of a third party picking up the DVD – In fact, we dunno how or if it’ll even happen. So, we wanna take a shot at getting Buena Vista to reconsider their position on relesing the DVD. It’s not too late! So, if you like, cut this text below, Click HERE, change the subject to other, enter your e-mail, and paste the the following into the text box over at Disney’s site. Be sure to put your name at the bottom, and send it along (We know it’s confusing, so if we find a better, more direct e-mail method, we’ll post it):

Dear Buena Vista,

I am sending you this email to express my disappointment in Buena Vista’s decision to not release the Clerks DVD due to what is, undoubtedly, a very small bit of possibly offensive content residing on a commentary track. Clerks is a favorite film of mine and I am very excited at the prospect of owning a copy including all special content and insight offered by the film’s creators. Reduction of that content via censorship diminishes the value of the commentary and reduces the true viewpoints of independent filmmakers like Kevin Smith.

May I suggest that the DVD be released as is, but with a warning label advising prospective owners as to questionable content and allowing each owner to make his or her personal decision as to what is or is not offensive. Other suggestions are to shepherd the DVD to another distributor, allowing Buena Vista a share of the profit while preserving the integrity of the commentary; or to briefly mask the offensive commentary while retaining the bulk of the content.

Considering sales of Clerks in the VHS format, total suspension of the DVD format does not make financial sense.

I am a big fan of this film and hearing the news of its release cancellation ruined my day. Please reconsider your stance on this issue and make Clerks available on DVD to the public. Let the fans that enjoy this type of entertainment decide the value of the commentary. This will, in turn, continue broad fan appeal and support for future Miramax releases that provide a breath of fresh creativity in the movie industry.

I look forward to owning Clerks on DVD in the near future and appreciate Buena Vista’s efforts in bringing it to this medium. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

YOUR NAME/E-MAIL HERE
On Behalf of News Askew’s “Save Clerks” DVD Petition
http://www.newsaskew.com

Feel free to use the letter above OR, better yet, write your own, but REMEMBER: Don’t yell, swear, or be crude in any way. Just send them a kind note requesting that they release the Clerks DVD in so many words. Intelligent, coherent e-mails are more effective and accepted than those that insult. Also, if you know of a site that may want to join the cause, feel free to inform them. Good luck, and we’ll keep you posted on Buena Vista’s response. We CAN make a difference!

Congrats To Newlyweds Kevin & Jen Smith!

April 27th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • It’s normally our policy here at News Askew to stay out of the personal lives/affairs of the Askew crew, out of respect, admiration, and just to show that not all press outlets hafta leech on to EVERY single piece of news that they can dig up (though we do come pretty close from time to time).

That being said, we’re going to break that policy, just because it’s too big of an occasion, and say a heatry CONGRATULATIONS and very much happiness to the newly wed Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Smith – To quote an old wedding adage…May all your ups and downs be between the sheets. Read Kev’s post about it HERE –He got married at the Skywalker Ranch, of all places. Cool.

Count on a similar break in our policy in about a month or so, too…

Clerks DVD Progonsis: Bad…

April 26th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Robert Pouria & John Dorman

  • Wow. This ain’t good. DVD File reports back today with even more information on the Miramax Collectors Series DVDs and, most importantly, singles out Clerks with some information right from the source. We chopped that part out for ya and have it below:
Well, now about five months after the release of the initial Miramax special edition offerings, all subsequent announced titles (Il Postino, Switchblade Sisters, Halloween H20) have been pulled from the schedule, and though retail order sheets went out for a June 29 release of Clerks, Buena Vista PR late last week announced (via email to me, anyway) that it, too, was yanked with no new date set. Further, aside from the pulled titles, some of the other titles thought to be on the way, such as Chasing Amy, Jackie Brown and Life Is Beautiful, are all MIA.

The answer, according to Buena Vista’s statement, is pretty straightforward. “The main reason we have many Collectors Series DVDs on hold or delayed is the legal clearances for bonus materials turned out to be much more complex than we imagined.” Okay, fair enough, because though I’ve never had to negotiate the complex waters of rights and clearances personally, from just trying to keep track of the Request Line and titles announcements here, I can relate. And Buena Vista further reassured me that “everyone here is just as frustrated at these delays, but we are working to resolve them.”

However, there are some possibly ominious signs ahead. Clerks has been pulled “for a different reason, but it’s under discussion right now” for a future release. Buena Vista PR will not be including it in their June nor July announcements (I was unable to confirm with Buena Vistamarketing that the Clerks disc had been pulled from their retailer preorder lists.) Though this site and myself have not always been completely enamoured with Buena Vista’s output, they did add at the end that “we are a very cautious company, and we want to make sure all filmmakers are happy and consulted in the process and that all rights clearances are obtained”.

Quite frankly, the only thing we can possibly think up about the Clerks DVD is the Soul Asylum video, since all the other material does seem to be owned by Kevin and Miramax (the commentary & deleted scenes). Plus, all of it’s out on laserdisc already and, frankly, we’re confused why a DVD with similar material would be a problem. We’ll dig a little deeper and check with some sources on clarifying this issue. Hopefully, it’s about possible 16:9 enhancement that’s being mandated by View Askew, which would be FANTASTIC — Hold out until they do it! Anyway, we’ll get to the bottom of it. For now, sit tight.

Indianapolis Screenings…

April 26th, 1999 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Marc LoCascio

  • It’s always interesting to hear what kind of crowds and success some of these screenings of View Askew flicks do in other parts of the country. Our scooper, who caught Clerks and Mallrats out in Indianapolis this past week, checked in with some info on the audience type, size, and how things went in general.:(Amy on 5/14)
My wife and I went to the screenings of Clerks and Mallrats this past weekend in Indianapolis The theatre was packed for both shows. Based on conversations that I had with people at work, I had no idea that people out here had even heard of the movies. I recognized many of the folks at Mallrats from Clerks.

When we got tickets to ‘Rats, the ticket attendant told us that they were asking everyone who was seeing it where they had heard of the movie. Had to think about that one for a minute and finally figured that the first place I’d heard of them was Wizard. He also told us that Clerks was the most attended movie of the festival thus far. From a head count in the theatre, I think that Mallrats surpassed it.

Good too see the flicks are packing them in. By the way, Chasing Amy plays out there on May 14th to close out the trilogy.

  • Just a few final thoughts for today: First of all, Indepedent’s Day, a documentary that Kevin appears in for a bit, hits video shelves tomorrow, April 27th. And finally, we forgot to credit Mpresscom@aol.com for the poll topic idea last week – So thanks!

Catch ya next update…