• Hey, we’re back with a long overdue update — Sorry about the delays, it’s that time of summer when the weekends get busy and it seems like there’s not enough time in a day to accomplish what you’d like. We’re back now and have stockpiled all the latest for ya, so you didn’t miss a beat. Today there’s more from the San Diego con (better late than never), and of course those wonderful NewsBites that seem to be so popular when there’s not a lot of major stuff going on. We’ve got a new poll on the way today, too. Let’s roll:

• It took a while for material to surface from Kev’s con appearance, but today we’re happy to have quite a few pieces of media from the show. First off, Aint It Cool ran a small piece that summarized a few of the goings-on at the panel. Nothing really different than we reported, though it does allude to the fact that both Brodie and Banky will appear in View Askew 5, which we’re sure will happen, but hasn’t been out and out verified yet.

IGN reveals that Kevin did mention again at the con that they’re still expecting to have that Clerks Animated Series DVD ready in January, so it seems that things are going well on that one. With commentary, storyboards, and lots more, we can’t wait.

Coolest of all, thanks to the CHUD website, we’ve got 2 clips from the webmasters panel, featuring Kevin and that famous jab he made at Ron Wells. Surf HERE to check out the clips in RealPlayer format.

Finally, we’ve got a couple shots of Kev, Jennifer, and Harley on the scene. Great looking family Kev’s got there.

• In the latest Dork Tower comic (#9, Dork Storm Press, by John Kovalic, cover by Dave Sim of “Cerebus” fame) there’s a one page comic all about fanboy envy of Kevin and his multi-faceted success. Well worth checking out.
• Daily Radar has named Clerks as one of the “Top 10 Best Work Movies”.
• The highly addictive Hollywood Stock Exchange website is now offering stock in View Askew 5 (VIEW5). Get in on the IPO on what’s sure to be a big moneymaker!
• A VA movie sees a mention in some Hoyle Movie Pocket Trivia cards — Card #49 asks, “Who played the role of the comic book artist in ‘Chasing Amy’?” They post the answer as Ben Affleck, but considering most of the main characters could be considered artists, there’s lots of correct answers.
• Joey Lauren Adams plays a horny philosophy professor in “Harvard Man”. Do we have your attention now? Find out more in this article with Ms. Adams at the Canoe website.
• The Fletch Won website is starting a petition to get the original Fletch flicks on DVD. If you’re a fan, surf on over and lend your name.
• Priscilla Barnes, everyone’s favorite three-nippled topless psychic, is appearing on the Sci-Fi Channel’s new Invisible Man series. By the way, “Hollow Man” this Friday! Be there.
• “Coyote Ugly” is listed as a choice in this survey where you can select which film you’re most looking forward to.

• You’ve heard the rumblings, and from talking to Vincent as well as others, along with the website DVD Express now moving the release date, it looks like Pereira’s “A Better Place” jam-packed special edition DVD will be out this Fall. A release date of October 31, 2000 is now being predicted, but that’s just speculation. Vincent has said that the new remix makes ABP “sound like a [David] Lynch film”, so we’re certainly looking forward to all the great stuff that’s in store. As with all View Askew productions, sit tight, it’ll be well worth the wait!

• More chances to own that way cool View Askew DVD case are up on ebay right now, and we’re even hearing rumblings that these beauties may even become MORE widespread than that! In the meantime, be among the first to own one of these babies at Ebay Auction #1 & Ebay Auction #2.
• Here’s a CLASSIC Kev quote from Inside.Com that elaborates a bit on that story we alluded to from San Diego last update:

• Got some more Green Arrow for ya right here, in a wonderfularticle courtesy of Wizard World. Mostly rehash of our last news, but still, if ya wanna keep up, check it out.
• You’ll find a small mention of Kevin’s use of the online community on the IFilmPro website:

• Upcoming Affleck film news:“Swordfish”, written by Skip Woods, and to be directed by Dominic Sena (Gone In 60 Seconds), tells the story of the “world’s most dangerous spy” hired by the CIA to to coerce a computer hacker recently released from prison to help steal $6 billion in unused government funds. Production of the film is scheduled to begin this September, and will feature Ben Affleck along with Vinnie Jones and John Travolta. Affleck’s role will likely be one of the minor ones, with Travolta (hot off that awful Battlefield Earth debacle) in the lead. We think.
• Claire Forlani‘s in the news again in a couple places, with 2 pages devoted to her in the latest issue of “Gear” magazine this month:

Also, she’s up against Liv Tyler in TV Guide’s online “You Sexy Thing” poll this week.

• Whew…That was scary. We thought the damage was a lot worse but, as you can see, we’re back in full force once again after about a day of downtime. Sorry about that. What happened, if you’re curious, was that the server that houses News Askew totally filled up with data (there are other sites here as well as ours) and boom went all of our interactive data. Unlike the old site, the new site is constantly changing due to new news posts, votes, and talkbacks, which means less control from the webmaster’s end. Still, looks like everything’s been restored except the last poll topic results were lost. We’ll revisit the poll at a later time so we’ve got it for the archives.

Anyone else been watching more TV than usual this summer? It’s a couch potato’s dream, especially if you’re a reality TV lover…Survivor and Big Brother are huge hits for CBS (By the way, the Big Brother website is pretty addictive, stay away if you’re a fan of the show, that’s a warning), not to mention MTV’s new Real World and Road Rules, new South Parks on Comedy Central (the current 2-parter makes anything in Dogma look like a G-rated flick)…And more. The fall TV season’s gonna roll around and it won’t ever seem like new TV even left. Of course, it’s still recommended that you get outside at least once in a while. Can’t let all the good weather go to waste.

On the film front, caught “What Lies Beneath” this week. It was okay, ya gotta hand it to Zemeckis for making a modern Hitchcock flick without falling back on tons of digital effects or supernatural elements to tell the story. Still, I dunno how much fun that one would be to watch again. Worth a watch, though. Not much else to look forward to theatrically until Hollow Man in 2 weeks — Ya gotta love Verhoeven‘s tenacity and the look of all his stuff, he hasn’t made a movie not worth watching since he came to the U.S. (Come on, admit it, you’re watched “Showgirls”, at least). And it’s got an R-rating now, too, which means a lot more of that over the edge stuff he does so well.

But enough about all that stuff…You’re here for View Askew news, aren’t ya? Sure ya are. Since we had some downtime yesterday, a day there’s usually an update, we’ve got quite a bit going on for ya today. Let’s take a look at the happenings from the San Diego con, Green Arrow news, and some other intersting tidbits. Here we go…

• Two new stories online at the Comic websites today for your perusal: First off, a new piece on Kevin and Green Arrow at the Comics Continuum website:

SMITH TALKS GREEN ARROW

Filmmaker Kevin Smith announced that he is officially on board as writer for a re-launch of DC Comics’ Green Arrow.

At the DC Universe slide show at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, Smith said will be joined for the book by artists Phil Hester and Ande Park. DC provided a first image of a Silver Age-looking Green Arrow.

“I know we’ve been talking about this book for six years, and we’re finally ready,” Smith said.

Smith said he is writing 12 issues of Green Arrow.

“Some people say this is a maxi-series,” Smith said, “but hopefully when I leave, the next issue will be #13 with a better writer than me.”

Smith said the first issue will include Conner Hawke, Roy Harper and Black Canary and that eight issues will center around what exactly happened to Oliver Queen. He also said that Green Arrow will be using trick arrows.

“I don’t think this arc is about re-inventing Green Arrow,” Smith said. “It’s about doing a good Green Arrow book.

“If you were a fan of Green Arrow before the (Mike) Grell revamp, during the Grell revamp or the post-Grell revamp, there’s something for everybody – including some Conner.”

Green Arrow will be edited by Bob Schreck. “Everybody’s been very supportive,” Smith said. “DC’s been very cool.”

Smith said that he has requested Green Arrow not appear in any other DC books until he’s explained what has happened to him. Asked about a possible Green Arrow/Green Lantern team-up, Smith said, “It depends – who’s your Green Lantern? There’s stuff in there.”

Smith said Green Arrow is his only super-hero project, and that includes movies.

“No movies. I tried super-hero movies. Forget about it,” he said. “I’m like Kryptonite to super-hero movies.”

Also today, a new piece that appears HERE at the Another Universe website reveals that Joe Quesada will leave his Iron Man writing duties to focus more on Daredevil. We know he and Kev get along really well, so you can assume the two will team up again sometime in the future, though with Kev busy with Green Arrow, it’ll be awhile!

• Looks like Kevin’s View Askew panel is scheduled for a 2 hour panel starting at 3:00 PM on Saturday. That’s all we’ve got so far. Check this site for schedules and more. We’ll have full coverage of the event and as much more info as we can dig up.

• Wanna know what the San Diego Con was like? Here’s one man’s report:

Man, they didn’t even ask US to sit in on that webmasters panel! Damn! We’re hurt and stuff!

• We missed a couple parodies from the Penny Arcade site we mentioned the other day…Here’s a Clerks sendoff and another one from the Askewniverse as a whole.
• X-Men has set off a HUGE interest in comic book flicks, so it’s no surprise that New Regency Pictures has picked up the option to make a film about Daredevil, the blind Marvel superhero, and Mark Steven Johnson who directed “Simon Birch is scheduled to take the helm. And the answer to the question you’re all asking: Nope, Kev’s not involved. Shame.
• According to ZENtertainmment & The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Cuba Gooding Jr., and James Caan have joined Matthew Modine and Joey Lauren Adams in the dramatic thriller “IN THE SHADOWS”. The film is described as “GET SHORTY” meets “THE GODFATHER”, with its story about a hit man sent to take out a veteran stuntman who decides to become a stuntman himself.
• Kev got quoted in a recent USA TODAY, chatting about the power of the internet when it comes to net surfers spilling the dirt after they attend private movie screenings: “THANKS TO THE INTERNET, EVERYONE’S VERY POWERFUL NOW…THE FAMOUS-FOR-15-MINUTES THING HAS TAKEN ON A WHOLE NEW MEANING. PEOPLE CAN REALLY FLEX THEIR MUSCLES DURING THESE TEST SCREENINGS AND AFTERWARD”.
• We’re not usually ones to push stuff on the auction sites, but this fan has made a pretty damn cool engraved case in which to store ALL your View Askew DVDs. Check out the finished auction HERE, the dude may have some more up there soon. Nice work!
• Those in the Sommerdale, NJ area might liek to know that there’s going to be a Kevin Smith Movie Marathon later this week, from July 26-29, at the Cinemark Theater in Sommerdale. Call them for more details on shows & showtimes.
• Finally today, a scooper found a quote from Randal in an online sex survey. Enjoy.