• Last night’s episode of Celebrity Deathmatch (that claymation fighting show on MTV) announced NEXT week’s contendors…And it claims “Kevin Smith vs. Kevin Costner”! Has to be Kev, cuz it seems to be a movie-related episode for the week. Hey, perhaps Jay will show up and lend ‘ol Kev a hand!

• Rumor has it that the Chasing Amy is indeed delayed, folks. We have no new date for release at this time. Word came down to video distributors from Disney. We assume the delays can be attributed to the addition of extra material and the new transfer, so the disc WILL be worth the wait in the long run. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if the agency you pre-ordered from cancels your disc, it’s common practice. As soon as we know more about the delay, including the new release date, we’ll let you know. Rest assured, the disc has NOT been canceled.

• Yes, we realize that it’s a bit later than you’d all hoped, but we now have a final date when the first episode of Clerks:The Cartoon Series will air on ABC. May 31st. This is still a few months off, but gives the show a prime spot as most other networks start airing reruns for the summer. With nothing new to watch, Clerks should draw in an even larger audience. Variety says:

You can read Variety’s complete story, which runs down some other new shows that ABC has planned for Spring and Summer, HERE.

• Kevin’s run on Daredevil (1-8) is nominated for an Eagle Award, apparently a pretty prestigious award, at that. He’s nominated for Favourite Comics Story, and is up against No Man’s Land, Heart of Empire, Avenger’s Forever, Inhumans, and Sam and Twitch. Voting can be done online HERE.
• Superman Lives is big in the news today…Why, do you ask? Well, it looks like the project may be saved, thanks to a new script from William Wisher, the dude that wrote “Terminator 2”. Word has it that Tim Burton and Nic Cage are quite pleased with the script, and that the flick’s getting closer to materializing again. Thanks to Hollywood Reporter, the Canoe website and the Popcorn website for the story.

ALSO – Comics Scene ran a story featuring quite a few sketches that were made for the proposed Supes movie a way back, and we hear they’re pretty good. Be sure and pick up a copy if you’re so inclined. Now that Kev’s not involved with the flick anymore, our coverage will certainly wind down.

• Well, ya heard what happened to us when WE played the Dogma drinking game, now those of you within walking distance of the Brew & View pub in Chicago will have YOUR chance. Dogma and Mallrats start screening there this Friday the 18th through Tuesday (22nd) and then once again on Thursda (24th). They play at 10pm and 12am respectively. We hear it’s a great place to grab some beers and catch a good flick. Print out those game rules, folks!
• Speaking of screenings, here’s another for those of you that for some ungodly reason missed Dogma on the big screen or just wanna catch it again: Dogma is going to be shown on March 31 at von der Mehden on the University of Connecticut campus. Tickets for students are $4 and $6 for the general public. The boxoffice opens at 7 p.m. and the movie starts at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call (860) 486-2260.
• Got LOTS of mail on this, sorry if we missed some scoopers but apparently a lot of ya heard: Salma Hayek got a nod, but not in a GOOD way – A WORST actress nomination from the “Razzies” for her Dogma and Wild Wild West performances. We assume mostly for WWW, that awful piece of garbage. Oh well!
• Jay Mewes is in the news today, for picking up 2 awards! First of all, High Times magazine (which featured Jay on their cover earlier this year) selected Jay as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. He was also voted, believe it or not, “Second Greatest Man Alive” on the Apartment 3 Gazette at www.sierraice.com. Alrighty. Big day for Jay!

• Well, we’re in sort of a lull here after the big update on the 15th, but we DO have a few newsbites to share with ya that may be of interest. ALSO, we are JUST starting to hear buzzing of Reel.Com cancelling Chasing Amy DVD orders on some folks, claiming that the DVD was pulled from release. We assume this is just a mistake, and that the disc IS on schedule, of course, there may be a bit of a delay due to the new material and the remaster, but we’re sure it won’t be bad if that’s the case. At any rate, just hang in there until we hear otherwise.

By the way, if anyone has some good online sources for DVDs from other regions (outside of the US and Canada, that is), VCDs and stuff, could ya let us know?? Much appreciated.

• Vincent Pereira’s a busy guy these days as well…Not only is he busy at work on those View Askew DVDs you read about above, as well as putting the final touches on his OWN upcoming DVD release for “A Better Place”, he’s also got a couple screenings of the flick with Q&A sessions coming up. Here’s Vincent:

In addition to that, there’s an excellent new interview with Vincent courtesy of DVD File online today. Here’s a summary:

You can read the entire interview, which does indeed contain lots of great stuff, HERE. You’ll see just how much Vincent knows about DVD and film in general. It’s astounding. And it’s scary how much sense the guy makes.

• Alright, let’s get to the second bit of DVD news today: Kevin tells us that Criterion is indeed involved, along with Disney, on the Chasing Amy DVD release coming this April. Both companies have partnered up to bring us the release. So, even though the ad we printed yesterday did not convey it, Criterion is most definitely involved. Even better: Kevin just recorded an all-new video intro for the DVD yesterday. Looks like we’ll be seeing some new content as well! Perhaps he’ll explain his famous funny rant on the DVD format that appears in the current Amy LD commentary? We can’t wait!

So, summarizing this one, the quality of a Criterion DVD, a new anamorphic transfer of Amy, and some new material to boot. Nice.

• Relating to the news above about the Dogma DVD activity this weekend, we’re sorry to report that Kevin will NOT being appearing at the Clerks TCS gig scheduled at the LA Shrine Auditorium this weekend. Sorry to be the bearers of bad news. As you can see, Kev’s plenty busy with stuff here on the east coast this week. He WILL be making the Amherst appearance next Tuesday though, so anyone who’s made plans for that one, rest assured: It’s still on.

• Here’s something we bet you didn’t expect…That’s right…Word comes down from above that the Dogma DVD coming out on May 2nd will be JUST the flick and the trailer, day and date with the VHS release. The second version, the SPECIAL EDITION, the DVD to end all DVDs, will street sometime in October. Vincent Pereira is working very closely with JM Kenny (The same team-up that brought us that groundbreaking Mallrats disc) in putting together a massive super special-edition Dogma DVD that’s going to contain more content than you can believe. Plans are still to include all of the deleted material, though we’re sure the guys have a lot more surprises (kinda like that way cool live video during the Rats commentary). Already in the planning phases is another way cool documentary, this time focusing on the controversy surrounding the flick.

Oh, and speaking of commentary, it’s being recorded for the special edition THIS WEEKEND! Kevin will be hanging out with Affleck at his SNL gig this weekend, and after that, he and Kevin will meet up with Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Vincent Pereira, Scott Mosier, and possibly even Chris Rock (if he can get away from shooting his latest flick in Toronto) for what we’re sure will be another fun and informative track.

So, in summary, that’s TWO DVD releases for Dogma: The planned May 2nd release with just flick and trailer, and the super special edition this fall (presumably October, though nothing has been finalized yet). You heard it here first!

• Ah, we should have known better! Actually perhaps it was just reverse psychology…By saying that we were taking the day off, we managed to get some MAJOR news exclusives here for ya today. Want to know what’s going on with the Dogma DVD?Think the version we’re seeing in May is the be-all, end-all? Read on. What about that Chasing Amy DVD and Criterion’s involvement? Read on. Who’s on that Dogma DVD commentary and when’s it getting recorded? Read on. What’s up with Vincent’s “A Better Place” screenings & appearances? Read on. And finally, will you finally get a chance to see or even own “Drawing Flies”? Read on, dear friend. Read on.

By the way, we too are saddened that Dogma didn’t at very least get a Best Original Screenplay nod for the Oscars this year. While there certainly were some good films out there, Dogma was a good, original flick that should have at least been noticed for Kev’s writing, if nothing else. It’s a shame that we won’t have anything Askew related to cheer for this year but hey, we’ll get ‘em next time.