• Synapse Films Followup: Vincent contacted us yesterday with some reassuring news about Synapse’s DVD release date issues. They’ve all been due to oversights not on Don May’s part, but on unreliable sources providing inferior prints, unavoidable delays in recording commentaries, etc. Rather than release a bad product on time, May always opts to delay the production of the discs until everything is PERFECT. We like that. Related to that, Vincent tells us that yes, he and Don DO have a release date in mind for “A Better Place”, and that it’s coming along nicely. There’s still quite a bit of work to be done, though, including the insertion of additional scenes, the commentary, and a possible remix. Therefore, IF a date is announced, it will likely be later than expected, just to allow for that extra cushion. Vincent also states that he’d have no problem falling back on a release date a month or more if it means he can produce a superior product. So, in a nutshell: “A Better Place” WILL be worth the wait, similar to the wait for Mallrats. We’ll just all need to be patient.
• The newest issue of ‘Premiere’ presents a blurb about “Dogma”, which may contain some MINOR SPOILER MATERIAL about the theme of the flick’s ending, so skip down to the next bullet NOW if ya don’t wanna see it:

We don’t know where this comes from, really. Here’s why: The UNCUT version of Dogma we saw? It wasn’t bloody! It wasn’t THAT violent! And, get this…It has NOTHING to do with Columbine! If ANY piece of violence is going to be related back to Columbine now, even when it’s not school-related…well…we just don’t get it. Our opinion though? Kevin won’t touch a thing. At least, we hope not. After losing an hour and change, we’d hate to see even another SECOND go!

• Nothing new here, especially if you read our Wizard World coverage a couple weeks back, but Another Universe has done their own summary of the Marvel Knights panel:

• Another glowing review for a View Askew DVD! The August 10th issue of The DVD-DAILY Magazine is currently available online at their issue archive site, praises Clerks. Check it out.

• Dogma’s UK Release Date is being confirmed, by the Popcorn Site, the date itself is one sure to irk some religious groups somewhere:

They of course list the OFFICIAL SITE, this one, as Kev’s…AGAIN. What are they gonna call Ming’s Dogma site when it goes online? The OFFICIAL official site? We wonder.

• As we reported a long time ago, Another Universe, is now confirming that Marvel will be putting out a collection of the first issues of Year Two of Daredevil…But now we hear there’s gonna be a foreward written by BEN AFFLECK! This trade will cover all 8 of Kev’s issues, from what we’ve heard, and will be a must-own.
• Dogma catches a few small mentions on the Movie Monologue page.Surf on by for a gander.
• Cinescape did a write-up for “Detroit Rock City” in the past couple days, and one of the lines stood out. Many of you have written us asking about this interesting similarity and, now that we’ve seen the trailers and TV spots, we tend to agree:

• Vincent stopped by the board to field a question regarding how the FantasiaFest screenings went (the answer: REALLY WELL!), and also to update us on the status of A Better Place’s new video transfer preppin it for DVD:

We’re HIGHLY anticipating seeing this one again, since we seriously dug the flick when we caught it for the first time at Vulgarthon (and have only seen it one other time since then). Sounds as if we’re in for a real treat when this thing finally sees home video release sometime this Fall. We just hope that Don May & Vincent can keep working on the project enough to speed it along – It’s no secret that a lot of Synapse‘s stuff doesn’t make release dates (like the Brain Damage disc I’m currently awaiting), but perhaps that’s why they’ve been careful NOT to give a date yet. Maybe they just wanna finish it first.

• It’s been predicted for a long time now, and it doesn’t surprise us in the slightest…This morning, indieWIRE announced that Lions Gate will indeed be officially coming forward this weekend as Dogma’s distibutor! This is excellent news for the film, as the studio has handled (and continues TO handle) some delicate projects, and many excellent films. We think that Lions Gate will be a natural fit, and hope they give Dogma the wide, highly publicized release that it deserves. Here’s indieWIRE’s blurb on the announcement, by the way:

The piece goes on to summarize Kev’s post that you can find in our weekend update, as well as give News Askew another nice plug – Thanks, guys! Good job breaking the big story. We’ll certainly be following up with the official news when it arrives, probably today or tomorrow. Next steps: A teaser poster and that wonderful trailer!

• A word of warning to those of you placing orders for that Chasing Amy DVD: We hear that 16:9 support is still RUMORED, but has NOT been finalized at this point. As soon as we can confirm this, we’ll let you know, but in the meantime, keep in mind that there IS a possibility that this disc will not be anamorphic. We figured most of you would want it, regardless, as we do, but we still hope for a nice 16:9 transfer on the sucker! Stay tuned.
• Dogma’s mentioned in a couple online polls – You may wanna go and place your vote and help the flick out (if that’s how you feel about the film compared to the other choices, of course…Be honest!).

First off, Cinesape’s asking what flick you’re most looking forward to: Sleep Hollow, End Of Days, Dogma, Screm 3, JamesBond 19, or Joan of Arc.

Also, Achiew.Com is asking what you favorite Kev Smith flick is. We did this one a lonnnng time ago, but if you wanna vote again, hey, go for it!

• The BBC is premiering Mallrats (in widescreen, no less) in the UK on BBC2 at 11.55 PM, Sunday, August the 15th. They say:

• Clerks gets a very small mention among history-making indies in a Newsweek article inspired by Blair Witch’s success. Here’s the snippet:

• Finally today, scooper Mike’s running a site called The Banky Hat Campaign. It’s a campaign to get Banky’s Hat from Chasing Amy re-released for purchase at the Stash. You just go and sign a virtual form saying that you’d buy a hat if they are re-released. If you missed one, and wanted one, here’s your chance to at least let your voice be heard!

• Another fairly quiet news day, though we expect a big announcement regarding Dogma’s distributor very soon, just because it seems that, with a release date and a teaser poster on the way, that’s the next logical step (followed by a trailer). We do have some FANTASTIC news regarding the raffle, thanks to the generosity of Mr. Kevin Smith. We hope you’re all enjoying the new server. The forwarding page still hasn’t disappeared for us when we point our browser to www.newsaskew.com, so it seems like the domain people are just GOD AWFUL slow at changing things over. Please let us know when you stop receiving that forwarding page, so we know the system is indeed working. Until then, forgive the weirdness that you’re seeing. We ARE holding off on some of the site’s new enhancements until the old server goes totally offline, though.

• Cinescape Online reports that the “Men In Black” sequel no longer has Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones in the picture, rather just Dogma vets Linda Fiorentino and Matt Damon! It’d be kinda neat to see the pair back together after Dogma, though the idea of a MiB sequel just doesn’t thrill us very much.
• Scott Morse checked in with us — He’s the guy working on the Loki & Bartelby comic, remember? Anyway, Scott says that he’ll be at the San Diego ComicCon with some sketches from the book, so be sure and stop by and say hello! He’ll be forwarding the stuff onto us afterwards for those of you (like us) that can’t make it out to the west coast. Scott’s also working on a few more things: In addition to just finishing up his work on the Clerks series, as well as getting ready to shoot a little indie film that Mosier’s offered to consult on. This is all VERY sketchy information at this point, which we’ll clarify for you in a week or so.

• Kevin made a triumphant return to the land of the living with this post about what’s been going on, family life, the church and, oh yeah, a release date for a little flick you may have heard of, called “Dogma”:

Ya know, we’re inspired. If Kev’s dieting again, so are we. No more burgers, no more pizza, no more beer…Well…hmmm…On second thought, screw that, we’re not dieting.

DOWNLOAD THE DOGMA CLIPS HERE

• We’re proud to present the long overdue QuickTime versions of the Dogma clips we debuted here about a month ago. Now those of you without good RealAudio access or that just wanted to grab copies of the clips for yourself can finally get your wish. Along with that, we’ve given RC a facelift and added some new info, including the release date Kevin just announced. If you’ve been reading News Askew though, RC will be pretty much rehash, since we’ve been keeping up with stuff pretty well on the front page here.

• The LA Times did a review of the recently released Clerks DVD if you wanna check it out.
• The site for Jason Lee‘s new flick, “Mumford”, has some cool stuff about the dude on there. His part in the flick was written specifically for him, according to screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. You’ll also find a biography on Lee as well as the rest of the cast.