Archive for February 21st, 2000

View Askew NewsBites™

February 21st @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Don Fannon, Ben, HBeamPiper, Pat Mcleod, Adam Johnson, Scott Otsuka & Hairbag Paul

  • As we’d announced last week, Kevin did not appear in LA at the con last weekend due to scheduling conflicts. Hopefully most of you knew this and planned accordingly, but we’re sorry for those of ya that missed it. For the curious, it appears that the con didn’t even announce the cancellation officially until folks had already paid and entered, which we were sad to hear. Guests were given a flyer upon entry, stating what happened (looks like they gathered their news from this site, actually). Click the flyer for a better look. You’ll notice that the Clerks cartoon WILL be screened at the next con on March 19th, but no word on whether Kevin himself can make it into town for it. We’ll keep you posted.
  • Jay & Silent Bob are named as selections for both best AND worst screen couple of 1999 on the IMDB’s Oscar Poll. Check it out and place your votes!
  • MTV‘s re-airing their Ben Affleck “Reindeer Games” movie special throughout the week, and Kev’s featured on it quite a bit and credited for basically discovering Ben in Chasing Amy. Good stuff. Affleck ALSO appeared on Good Morning America today. Sorry if ya missed it, we had no advance notice of the appearance.

Chasing Amy DVD Details From Criterion…

February 21st @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Virgina Thompson, Jay Gunn, & Simon

  • Quite a few of you noticed that Criterion has indeed posted an update on the webpage that used to just host info on their Chasing Amy laserdisc — The page now states that the Special Features on the new DVD will be as follows:
  • Widescreen digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer David Klein and enhanced for 16×9 televisions
  • Discrete 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital soundtrack
  • New video introduction to the DVD edition from director Kevin Smith Screen-specific audio commentary by Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, actors Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes, associate producer Robert Hawk, Miramax executive Jon Gordon and View Askew historian Vincent Pereira
  • Ten deleted scenes, plus outtakes
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Video introductions from the cast and crew
  • Special poster insert, The Askewniverse Legend: a guide to the characters in the “New Jersey Trilogy”
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

No big surprises there, as we’d heard about the new intro and widescreen transfer (YES!!!) a few weeks back, but it’s nice to see it all confirmed officially. And it’s nice to see they remembered to list Vincent in the commentary, too. 🙂 We’ll have a new release date for the Chasing Amy DVD as soon as it’s announced. Stay tuned. You can find the official Amy Criterion page HERE.

And by the way, Jason Lee‘s “Mumford” was also announced for DVD on April 18th. Pick it up or at least rent it.

This Just In! Mouse Screws Bob!

February 21st @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Kevin Smith

  • Well, it doesn’t sound like Kev’s at ALL happy about the move of Clerks TCS to the summer TV season. His fears are certainly warranted, but we’re still hopeful that the ABC press machine as well as our updates here and the strong word of mouth can save the show. Read on for that, Kev’s explanation on the Dogma DVD commentary recording and other DVD details, Kev’s thoughts on the suits, his SNL experience, and lots lots more. This is probably the most informative and action-packed post of the past year, folks. Check it out:
How we got fucked by ABC. Hard.

Yesterday, we got together and recorded the ‘Dogma’ DVD commentary in NYC at our beloved Gizmo. It was the same crew that did the ‘Rats’ commentary (me, Mewes, Mosier, Vincent, Lee, and Affleck), and this time around, the entire commentary was videotaped for inclusion.

I don’t think the stuff’s as funny as the ‘Rats’ commentary. But then, it’s a really different flick. Strong work from all involved.

Today, we’re taping interviews at the store for a documentary J.M.’s putting together as well. Should be cool.

What’s not cool is that airdate ABC gave us. Folks, May 31st pretty much insures the show’s failure, in my book. Essentially, it seems the network doesn’t like the show (odd, as they pursued it rather heavily at the start, and also told us to our faces how much they dug it). They held test screenings for the show in San Diego and Ohio at the start of February and got numbers they didn’t like. Funny thing was, the audiences they recruited for the screenings were for another show, so a very key demographic was missing from the mix: the 18 to 24 year olds. This is comparable to test screening ‘Dogma’ for an audience of 55 to 80 year old priests. It’s inane.

And it’s pretty much over, I guess. Very seldom does a show launched in the summer get picked up. And even though we’ve got great buzz (which started at the Television Critics thing and has built ever since) while their Kyra Sedgewick “laugher” was mostly reviled by the critics who saw it early, THAT show gets to debut during the season – presumably airing in sweeps, if they last – while we’re relegated to the dry gulch that is the summer, when traditionally 25% of the audience is no longer watching.

So let’s all give Disney-owned ABC a big round of applause. I can’t believe we got fucked hard by the mouse twice in the span of a year. Fucking suits, man. I don’t know why I bother…

In other news (on a far better network), Affleck was great on SNL the other night. I was there (though not all week, as I’ve read; I was only there for the live broadcast), and let me tell you: as hard as he worked during the show, he worked harder between skits, being raced hither and yon, dropping trow for costume changes, donning many a wig. Very rarely does a host show up in as many sketches as Ben did. The man deserves some major props.

My apologies to those who went to the Shrine show in L.A., only to discover we weren’t there. NewsAskew posted earlier in the week that I wasn’t going to be in attendance. I believe we’re making it up, however, on March 19th. Come celebrate a show that its own network refuses to believe in. The way shit’s going, it may be your only chance to see the show.

No offense to Regis, but how long do they think that show’s going to be a hit if they keep airing the hell out of it. I guess it doesn’t matter in short-sighted thinking, as the plan is to win this season, with little thought to the next. Which means that ‘Millionaire’ will pretty much be on ABC everytime you turn your television on, over the next few months.

This is why t.v. sucks, folks. And – with the exception of ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Law and Order’, and ‘The X-Files’ – this is why I use my television solely as a means to watch DVD’s, videos, and porn.

I guess it’s time to go back to the day job. On that subject, wait ’til we announce what’s next on the horizon. It’s a humdinger, and a helluva way to close out the Askewniverse flicks. Were it not for this, I’d be a lot bluer about ABC’s dumping of ‘Clerks’.

But then again, I’m not all that surprised. You go bottomless amongst penned up anal rapists like these fucks, sooner or later, you’re going to get cornholed against your will ’til you bleed.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

We give the Kyra Sedgewick show about 4 weeks, maximum. Shame they’re wasting a prime slot on that. Damn shame. We’re happy that the Clerks TCS shows were made, but really sad to hear that the prognosis is really BAD. However, the next announcement sounds interesting, and may have us shutting down our C2 subpage for something greater…Wait and see!

Commentary…

February 21st @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • We’re back for another week of fun & frolic here at News Askew. It’s a real newsbite kinda day today, with a ton of those little tidbits that don’t really mean much to the masses, but can be of some use or interest to a few of ya. We DO however also have a nice story headlining on the Chasing Amy DVD today, too.

Some great TV still happening in the February sweeps period, by the way…Both Sopranos and X-Files logged some fantastic episodes yesterday, and Buffy looks to be classic tomorrow as well. Good stuff. But never fear, TV’s important, sure, but it never keeps us from getting you the latest news & info. Speaking of which…