- Howdy folks…Got here a little late today, for a couple of reasons…First of all, there was very little goings on in the realm Askew today, except for the Celebrity Deathmatch, which leads us to part 2…We wanted to wait for that to actually happen before we posted today’s update. At any rate, read on for that big story and a NewsBite or two…
Archive for February, 2000
View Askew NewsBites™
- There’s a new article on ‘Clerks: TCS’ in the Wizard that came out today (#103) on pages #s 78 & 79. It’s pretty extensive, but it’s highly inaccurate, mostly due to all the changes that recently happened too late for presstime. It’s got some new quotes from Kevin, too. Look for it at a comic shop near you. We may summarize some of it if we get the issue or a transcription.
- Affleck’s press onslaught for “Reindeer Games” continues…He’ll continue it with an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn Thursday night.
- Australian Dogma News: Last evening on Australia’s “The Movie Show”, ‘Dogma’ was featured. They gave it three and four stars, mentioning that there was nothing worth protesting about, but also saying it should’ve been cut even more. More interestingly, their interview with Kevin is online at the show’s site in VIVO format. You’ll need VivoPlayer to view it, though.
- Speaking of Australia, here’s a humorous little letter to the editor from the Sydney Morning Herald:
“Flatfooted”
I am outraged by the heresy in the Kevin Smith film “Dogma”. In the opening disclaimer, Mr Smith uses “platypi” as the plural for platypus. As all good English speakers know, platypus comes from the Greek for flat foot and so its plural is platypuses, although some might prefer platypodes. Let Mr Smith say what he likes about God and the Church but English is still sacred, at least outside America.
Peter Fyfe,
Lavender Bay.
- “Tail Lights Fade”, the followup to the VA production “Drawing Flies”, hit shelves this week on VHS and DVD here in the US. Fans are enjoying the flick quite a bit, and Entertainment Weekly gave it this kind write-up:
Tail Lights Fade
Breckin Meyer, Denise Richards
Breckin Meyer, Denise Richards
As an affable classic-car buff, Breckin Meyer is flawlessly appealing in this road-trip comedy-although you may wonder how a nice guy like him got hooked up with the buzz killer in the next seat (Tanya Allen). You may also wonder just where the plot is meandering to-as Meyer and friends race across Canada to destroy a stash of Marijuana before a sliky pothead (Elizabeth Berkley) nabs it. Still, you have to appreciate any movie that makes Denise Richards and Jake Busey-as the nutty friends-seem genuinely likeable.
Reel Goodies (0:49)-She speaks! The statuesque Lisa Marie, mute of late in beau Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks and Sleepy Hollow, snags a few lines-and reveals the savviness of Burton’s strategy.
The Last Detail-Margot Kidder’s role didn’t make the final cut-in the credits, the producers thanks her for “being so talented, dedicated and, in the end, so understanding.”
Grade: B-
- This week at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY is Kevin Smith Week. They’re showing Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy tonight, and will show Dogma tomorow (Thursday Feb 24) at 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. Interestingly enough, Fordham U is a Jesuit University, thus, the Jesuit Priests will be holding a discussion about Dogma in between the two showings.
- Finally today…News of the strange…Carlos Santana, ya know, the dude that’s up for like a zillion Grammy Awards tonight, cites the angel METATRON as the reason for his success according to a New York Times piece today. Huh.
Another positive thing about Mr. Santana’s winning these awards is that his speeches are bound to be much more interesting than the usually Grammy thank-yous. This spiritual thinker says his comeback was prophesied by an angel named Metatron, and he is not one to let an opportunity to share his ideas on peace, love, light and divinity pass by.
Kev At UMASS Amherst…
- Thanks to all of you who wrote in on Kev’s UMASS appearance. A summary of the events, most of which we’ve repoted here at some time or another, appeared over on AICN earlier today. Dark Horizons ALSO ran a small piece. Here’s a few of the more interesting tidbits that came out of the session anyway, some that we may have referenced at one point, but it’s always nice to hear it from the man himself:
- Clerks 2 will NOT be the next movie that Kevin writes and directs. He promises that it’s nothing that can be guessed at, but has hinted that it will indeed be the flick that wraps up the Askewniverse and allows him to move on to new things filmwise.
- New stories (we haven’t heard ‘em, anyway): Something about “donkey punching” (Don’t ask us!), an anecdote about “Jay’s first time”, thoughts on the Catholic League and ABC.
- Old story: The death of the Supes Lives project (featuring Jon Peters). Seems this question ALWAYS has to come up!
- Episode 2 of Clerks TCS (The “flashback” show) was shown to the audience.
- The Dogma DVD will contain over an HOUR of unseen footage (all the stuff we caught in the workprint back in 1998, and you’re gonna LOVE it!)
- Kevin is beginning work on the Green Arrow comic.
Kevin’s a great guy to see live because he pulls no punches. He’s not afraid to talk about anything and it makes for a fantastic time. Glad to hear that a lot of you got to catch an episode of the show and enjoyed the appearance. We hear that Kevin stayed extra late again after the 3+ hour appearance to sign stuff for everyone. As always, a real class act.
View Askew NewsBites™
- 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…
- 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!
- 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…
- 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…
View Askew NewsBites™
- AICN (who we hear are in a bit of trouble over that Oscar gag) ran a story from a scooper who also sent us some info onthe screening of the first 2 Clerks TCS episodes late last week. Check it out if ya dare, but we warn ya there ARE some spoilers in there! It may be better to wait and enjoy the shows on your own. We are toying with the idea of adding more detailed descriptions we’ve got to our Clerks TCS page as well, but aren’t sure we wanna risk ruining any surprises yet. At any rate, sit tight, the shows will be worth the wait, we know it!
- Another chance to play that Dogma drinking game…This time in Portland, Oregon at the Bagdad Theater Brewpub from Friday 2/18 to Thurssay 2/24 at 8:00 PM. 3 bucks gets ya in. Bring your beer money.
- Dogma has conquered yet another country…Thailand!!! The flick’s now hit theaters over there, and ads are running in local papers. Here’s a taste of a review from a paper called THE NATION. Seems they were a bit lukewarm on the flick. It’s just interesting to hear what they saw anyway, even though they didn’t seem to like the flick:
DOGMA, a Catholic-baiting, wildly irreverent comedy from director Kevin Smith, is like PRIEST, THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST and other works that have left the pious riled and spluttering. It’s both sacred and profane. A series of hilarious disclaimers set the tone of the film.
Overall, it is an ultimately sanctimonious fable about a ragtag assortment of humans and celestial beings who strive to prevent a pair of fallen angels from reentering paradise via a loophole in Church dogma. Should the renegade seraphim succeed, humankind is toast. Cut out the film’s obscenity, violence and purposeful, parochial button-pushing, and what’s left is a Catholic schoolboy’s adolescent, though wholly sincere, rebellion against the rigidity of religious doctrine.
But Smith, who previously directed CLERKS, is by no means in a league with the stylish, savagely unorthodox filmmaker Luis Bunuel. He’s a true believer who came of age during the ascendancy of Beavis and Butthead.
For a while, the film is screamingly funny, but the further it goes, the more muddled the narrative becomes. Originally three hours long, the story may well have been more coherent before Smith made an hour’s worth of cuts. But despite the frantic pacing and antic performances, it begins to stall in the middle of the second act when the silliness is supplanted by preachiness, the tone becomes needlessly dark, and characters who do not seem so inclined become gratuitously violent.
Though lumbering and overwrought, Smith’s DOGMA sometimes succeeds thanks to his unpredictable imagination. But perhaps the main problem is that it is grounded in his mantra as professed by the Muse in the film: “It doesn’t matter what you have faith in – just that you have faith.” Ooohh. Something tells me he’s not about to win any new converts.
- Finally today, an article from the Arizona Republic talks about Ben Affleck and ultimately Kev & View Askew’s exposure on the web (though they didn’t talk about us, dagnabbit!!!). Check it out HERE.
See ya next time…
Affleck on SNL…
- Ben just finished up his hosting gig on SNL tonight and did a fantastic job. Gwyneth appeared for the monologue (The WHOLE monologue)…Affleck played himself PLAYING Matt Damon “Ripley”-style, one of those over-quoted movie critics (a dead on impression) and lots more. We thought Kev or Jay might show up somewhere, but we assume Kev is just there to hang out and enjoy the festivities. About 10 minutes to go in the show, so we figured it’d be a good time to post the update. For the first time we’ve checked out SNL in a while, it seems like a pretty decent show, though it still seems the players have lost a bit of that luster that the old casts had. Then again, that always seems to happen and then we warm up to them later. Or maybe it’s just late and this isn’t making sense! At any rate, Ben seemed right at home. A fine fine hosting job indeed.
Commentary…
- Hey there everyone. We hope you’re having a wonderful weekend. Been a good one ’round these parts. Dug out from the big snowstorm, wasn’t as bad as they said, but still, enough is enough! We had our fair share here in good ‘ol Pennsylvania this year. Caught “Pitch Black” tonight…Really fun flick. If ya go in expecting a chessy little sci-fi, ya won’t be disappointed. We’re big “Aliens” fans and, if you’re gonna do a knockoff of that type flick, this isn’t bad at all (on a much smaller scale, granted, but still). I got carded at the liquor store today, too. Man oh man is that ever a good feeling! Must have been the hat or something.
By the way, if anyone out there has an old DirecTV system they don’t use anymore, and wants to get rid of it, drop me a line if you wouldn’t mind. I may take it off your hands.
Alright, we’ve got some newsbites for ya, a brand new poll topic (really interesting results from last week’s poll again too, read them on the Poll Results page), and of course the latest from the just-airing Ben Affleck SNL gig! Let’s rock and roll: