• When it rains, it pours. Yes folks, we’ve hit another milestone here at News Askew, a big FOUR MILLION VISITORS. The big number took a while to get to this time, which we attribute a lot to our new counter scheme (we don’t count multiple hits on the homepage within certain time frames, reloads, and stuff anymore) plus things have been a bit slower with less updates happening after Dogma. But hey, that’s all in the past now – Four million hits in 2 1/2 years ain’t too shabby at all!

Thanks to all the folks who mailed in the big news as they feverishly tried to hit the magic number. We didn’t have any set prize or contest this time around, but we’ll see what we can work up for the big five million. By the way, my girlfriend Aimee is the one who hit the big number. Yep, she swooped right in there and stole it from you guys. So maybe it’s good that we didn’t have a prize, though I’m sure she’d have given it up to the one that came closest…Well, unless it was something really, really cool anyway. 😉

Finally, and most of all, thanks to all of you for your continued visits, support, scoops, and general e-mails. If it weren’t for you (Yes, YOU, that’s right) this site wouldn’t be around. We know there’s just 2 names over there on the left under the webmaster heading, but this site continues to operate and stay current because fans like you make it possible. Sincerely, thanks very much. Now let’s get started on that next million, shall we?

• Happy Halloween, folks! It hardly feels like it, maybe because things were so busy with Vulgarthon, or maybe because all the trick-or-treaters came around last Thursday in this area (anyone want an extra 50 or 60 candy bars that I’ve got left over?). Anyway, we usually like to do something fun with the site on Halloween usually since the both of us dig horror flicks so much, alas, this year due to the ‘thon activity it’s been tough to throw something together. Forgive us. Still, there’s bound to be some great movies on tonight around the pay channels…Oh, and DO NOT FORGET – The Simpsons will air a BRAND NEW TREEHOUSE OF HORRORS (some of the most classic episodes are the Halloween shows) TOMORROW NIGHT (That’s Wednesday) on FOX. Check your local listings and do not miss this one. And speaking of Fox shows, I hate to ask this, but if anyone taped Boston Public and Ally Mcbeal on Monday night, I stupidly forgot to set the VCR timer and was at the ‘thon at the time, so sadly missed them. Drop me a line, I’d be happy to reimburse for tape and postage costs.

On to a few other things – The update last night made it over to Aint It Cool News, and we thank them very much for the plug. It’s great when things we do here get picked up elsewhere on the web, as it brings in some new fans, or even some existing ones who never knew that the site was around. So thanks to Harry and everyone else over there for that. We only wish ourstory was a bit cleaner (though at 1:30 AM after 14 hours of movies it’s kinda tough to write). We neglected to mention that Clerks star Marilyn Ghigliotti will NOT return in VA5. We’ve added that tidbit and cleaned up the story a bit below, so take a look for that, especially if you missed the original posting.

The Vulgarthon wrapup’s coming, along with lots, lots more, so stay tuned. For now, enjoy your Halloween. Here’s a small treat in the meantime: Some non Vulgarthon related newsbites to tide you over:

• Kevin politely asked folks at Vulgarthon not to tape any of the Q&A sessions, as that stuff usually is kept reserved for the folks in attendance, however, a classic 20 minute story from Kevin on the Superman Lives fiasco (from his appearance at the San Diego Comicon) has been posted a link to Hollywood On-Set via
  MSN. Msn offers the file in three parts, in 100k and 300k streaming versions for Windows Media Player. Those of you who have seen Kevin talk about the flick in person before probably know what to expect, but those of you who missed that are in for a real treat. Enjoy!

Chasing Superman Kevin Smith gives us the unabashed,uncensored truth on the superhumancontroversy.

CLIP I CLIP II CLIP III

• Dark Horizons ran a scoop on a new role that Jason Lee is tipped to be offered: “On Angels Wings” is the latest scriptfrom “Cold Hearts” writer/director Robert A. Masciantonio and follows a man whose son is killed in a drive-by shooting – a tragedy so devastating it unhinges the guy who decides to deliver his own brand of justice in the costume guise of an angel. Shooting happens in Philadelphia in early 2001. We’ll let you know if Lee gets the offer and climbs on board.
• And finally today, Jay Mewes as Shaggy? DVD-Depot would love to see it:

• And so, another big event in View Askew history has come and gone. Vulgarthon 2000‘s in the history books, but our coverage is just heating up. Due to our lack of time and talent when it comes to photography, we’re relying on YOU to send in your pictures from the event for the massive wrapup page we’re in the process of throwing together. We can’t use EVERY shot we get, but we’re hoping to throw up a variety of stuff…Especially candid shots you may have caught of folks outside or around, but of course the usual Q&A shots as well. Anything you think would be a welcome addition to the recap. Also, if you’ve got a funny story to tell or would like to share your tales from the event for possible inclusion in the wrapups section, please feel free to do so. Depending on the response, we’re not positive we can post each and every one, but we’ll get as much up there as we can.

It was great meeting everyone, thanks to all who attended for making it another memorable event. For those of you who missed this one, fret not, there’s more planned from the sound of things. And, as mentioned above, our own coverage of the event is coming soon…As soon as things settle down and the haze of only sleeping for 2 hours last night wears off. Until then….

• Well it almost seemed like the day was going to fly by without any View Askew 5 news to share with ya – Luckily, Kevin ran down the cast for the new flick by allowing audience members to shout out actors names and confirming or denying their involvement with View Askew 5. And boy oh boy, do we have some great casting news for you:

• The thon’s over now, by the way, and we’re tired as hell. It’s close to 2 AM and we’re gotta get up at 6 AM so I can be at work at a decent hour tomorrow. Before we go, though, here’s a few more VA5 tidbits. Enjoy!
• Randal and Dante will serve as bookends and open and close the movie.
• The budget for the film is estimated at 15 million, the highest budget for a View Askew production so far (Dogma came in around 10 million).
• The majority of the filming will take place in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, with the final week of filming taking place in New Jersey. Extras will be needed and Kevin plans to announce how to be a part of that sometime in January. We’re not sure if extras will be needed on both coasts or just for the California stuff. We’ll keep ya posted.

• Howdy folks….Just taking advantage of a little downtime to check in. Actually, this is the first update to be written and posted from inside of View Askew Productions! We’re in and amongst the new View Askew offices, so we thought we’d take a second to check in and let you know what’s been going on.

The group has been very acessible so far, with Jason Lee and Kevin outside after the last Q&A session taking pictures and signing autographs for over a half an hour. Everyone’s here at the office now for a quick break. While we’re at it, here’s a few interesting tidbits we thought you’d want to know about as soon as possible (we’ll go into more detail on all of this in the Vulgarthon 2000 Wrap-Up):

• The next action figures to see release will be Bluntman & Chronic. Kevin revealed that this is to TIE INTO THE NEW MOVIE. So, from the sound of things, the duo will make their first onscreen appearance. Somehow. Following that, action figures based on the Clerks Animated series will hit shelves.
• The new DVD video box prototype is at the Stash and in the office and it’s sweeeet. It’s silver in color with some cool engravings, and the perfect home for your Jersey Trilogy on DVD. We’ll let you know as soon as you can get one.
• “DRAWING FLIES” is being prepared for release on DVD! Those of you not at the ‘thon who have continuously asked where they can see this flick will soon have your chance to own your very own copy. A commentary track will be recorded sometime around December, for a DVD release in the first half of 2001 (approximately).
• Finally, both the Dogma Special Edition DVD and the Clerks Cartoon Series on DVD are slated for a release in mid-January. No solid dates have been set by the studios, but we expect those will be revealed soon.

More news from the field as we get the chance to post it! Oh, sorry for the lack of photos, but there’s just no way these webmasters can work a camera from the look of things. Fans are taking shots all over the place, though, and we’ll be potsing the best of those here on News Askew for all to see. See you again soon!

• Howdy folks…Well, we’ve survived the first night of festivities here in Eatontown, New Jersey. Lots of folks from all around the world were downstairs at the Holiday Inn last night as the View Askew group basically took over, much to the restaraunt workers’ chagrin. There were a TON of great people down there, and some celebs even showed up as the night went on (though you’ll hafta wait for our massive Vulgarthon 2K update for all those details). We’ve got no idea how late the party went, but things were still going pretty strong around 11:30 PM when the hotel folks asked us to move into one area of the bar to try and calm things down. There were at LEAST 100 people downstairs at the Holiday Inn last night. Thanks to all the folks who stopped up to say hello and that they appreciated the website. It’s always nice to meet everyone and hear that the website’s helpful and fun to visit.

Special shoutouts to the following folks who were kind enough to give me a piece of paper with their names scrawled on it that I stuffed in my back pocket so I didn’t forget them: Stroker (who bought these webmasters a pitcher of beer, muchas gracias), Hungry Joe, Omega, and a group of crazy kilt wearing guys who drove something like 42 hours from Calgary – Matt Bird, Mike MacKillop, Kevin Jones & Xay. We know there are TONS more of you down there….John from Video ETA…Paul from the UK…And there’s tons more. Hopefully that list will grow even more today.

Anyway, no reason to go into much more detail than that, this and more all in our V2K update after the event. See you next update, folks!

• Hey folks, it’s 5 PM and it looks like the hotel’s got a local access number for the Internet provider, so it’s all good. They charge 50 cents a call, so we won’t be checking in constantly, but it’s nice to see we’ve got access. Looks like the restaraunt/bar downstairs is very nice, we’ll probably head down there for a couple beers and spot of dinner sometime soon. The Holiday Inn’s got a nice setup here, here’s a shot of the room. Not too shabby. We’ll be back with more as the big Vulgarthon event continues!

• Well the time has come, folks. It’s late Sunday morning and we’re hitting the trail for Red Bank, New Jersey. Did everyone turn those clocks back last night? Gotta love that extra hour of sleep! If the event runs as late tomorrow as it did the last time, though, you’ll want to turn the clocks back a few more hours, for sure. Everything’s going just as planned though, and it looks like we’ll have a nice sunny (cold) day for tomorrow’s event. Rememeber, you can pick up your tickets at the Stash today and tomorrow…Don’t forget those IDs.

We’ll be arriving in Red Bank sometime around 5 PM or so, we gather. It’s a COLD one out there today (probably the coldest day so far this Fall) so dress warmly. We’re looking forward to getting the chance to meet all of you, so be sure to come up and introduce yourself, or at least say hi. A sidenote: Our Vulgarthon 2000 Wrapup Page will begin construction as soon as the journey begins, as we’ll be keeping a journal of the entire experience from start to finish.

More from Red Bank soon…So stay tuned!

• Kevin chalked up another amazing appearance yesterday at the Willowbrook Mall’s Suncoast Pictures store. Rumor has the line stretching well through the entire mall, just for a chance to meet and greet Kev (and special guest Jay Mewes). Kev and Jay took the time to chat with everyone and allow them to get up to TWELVE THINGS signed (wow, their hands must be killing them today). Items were all personalized to avoid eBay sales, and rightfully so, we might add. Here’s some shots from the event courtesy our scooper — Wow, check out that line.