Archive for April 26th, 1999

Dogma FX Corrections…

April 26th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Vincent Pereira

  • Vincent was kind enough to check in with some corrections on a story that we posted here a while back regarding Dogma’s FX. Apparently, we somehow crossed companies on who exactly was working on certain digital effect for the flick. By now, you probably know that 2 companies are working on different shots, Station X Studios and Threshold. Many of you were treated to 2 such shots (of Ben’s wings and NoMan) at the Stash Gala, which we mistakenly attributed to Station X. The truth is, these were actually shots that came in from Threshold studios — They were excellent, and we just wanted to make sure they got their due credit. Vincent explains:
The wing and shit monster effects shown at the Stash Bash were NOT doneby Station-X, but by Threshold, the second digital effects house workingon DOGMA. Station-X did do a shot of the NoMan rising from the floor,but not the “shit throw” seen in very early form at the Stash Bash, andthe flapping wings as Bartleby descends were also not done by Station-X(they did three long shots of Bartleby flying in the sky)- these arethe shots that Threshold handled, and they did an amazing job. They arealso now complete.

Threshold also did digital effects work on I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER – although a truly awful film, the Threshold shots areamazing in that they DON’T look like digital effects shots- one is thehook going through the confessional in Jennifer Love Hewitt’s dream-this shot was done entirely digitally because the director wanted thehook to remain in focus and that wouldn’t have been possible if done onset due to the low light and anamorphic lenses. They also did the shotof the hook going through the one guy’s throat – again, the hook andeven the very-real looking blood are entirely digital. While in LA Itoured their studios with Monica Hampton and they are doing somefantastic work there (without charging an arm and a leg) and deservetheir just credit for the shots that Kevin showed to the folks at theStash Bash.

Filed in: News

News Askew Hits 900,000!

April 26th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Wow, who’d have thought THAT number would ever be atop our page? Not us, that’s for sure. Earlier today, we celebrated our big 900,000th hit! Yow. That’s quite a number. And ya know what’s next – ONE MILLION! We’re excited about getting close to that milestone, but are equally pleased that we were able to come even THIS far. Thanks again to all of you for your continued support, including your visits, scoops, notes of praise, and the like. Couldn’t do it without ya.

Oh, and by the way, we’re hoping to cook up something really special for big #1,000,000 when it happens, but we’ve got no idea what that’s gonna be as of now. But there’s time. Stick around, it’s gonna be exciting!

Congrats, by the way, to Kelly Majchrzak for being number 900,000!

Filed in: News

Commentary

April 26th @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • HEY Internet Explorer 5.0 users – Ya wanna see something neat? Remove us from your FAVORITES list and re-add us (if you’ve got us there at all). You should see a nifty little icon that’s much more attractive than that stupid white paper with the blue E on top of it. Just something cool we discovered we could set up – Thought you might want to take advantage of it as well.
  • And so…We being another week with a milestone, some corrections, NewsBites, as well as some beautiful weather here in Central PA (making it tough to sit inside as we work on this update!). Never the less, we figure it must be ugly out somewhere, and in those places you fine people trapped at your PC screens wanna hear SOMETHING…So here we go:

Filed in: News

Indianapolis Screenings…

April 26th @ 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…

Filed in: News

Clerks DVD Progonsis: Bad…

April 26th @ 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.

Filed in: News