• Well folks, welcome to another News Askew draught…It’s funny, we all know there’s a TON of stuff going on, between the live appearances, View Askew 5, Green Arrow, Vulgarthon, the Special Edition DVDs, and more, but this past weekend, news as a whole seemed to be at a minimum. Of course, the second we say things like this about 20 or 30 items pop up, so if the trend continues, expect a real update here soon. In the meantime, though, let’s take a look at what’s going on from a summary-style point, and talk a little bit about what’s planned for the future. By the way, yes, we saw the AICN stuff today, but considering it’s the same story we posted on Bloomsburg last week basically, we saw no need to rerun it.

Alright, let’s talk View Askew 5. The gang’s doing a great job at keeping all the details under wraps…We don’t know any more than you folks do, believe it or not, and nary a plotline has been leaked. We’ll definitely be back to Mallrats territory from the sound of things and, though Kevin’s working on keeping the draft simple enough for a new fan to follow (reports say he was recently working on DRAFT 7), we think this film’s really gonna be the ultimate film for fans of the other four. Hell, more news on the second Star Wars prequel has leaked out than VA5 news. Ah, the benefits of having a tightly-knit operation. Still, we KNOW that all the major cast members from the past flicks are coming back on board, at least, the ones that are needed — We’re nearly 100% sure that both Joey Lauren Adams and Michael Rooker won’t be back, but don’t think we’ll miss them much, either. Theories about the plot that will drive this “road picture” are abound, and the possibilities are so endless that we’re not going to speculate. We imagine that elements of all four films will be present as well as a ton of new material that ties it all together. We’re psyched, and look forward to bringing you the best coverage on the net on VA5.

There’s a few DVDs coming out this Winter that will definitely be the crown jewels of your DVD collection: Many folks keep asking us when the DOGMA: SPECIAL EDITION DVD is arriving, and, while a date has yet to be set, we’re guessing in December or January. That one’s a 2 DISC set with not one but TWO commentary tracks, a brand new documentary, an hour of deleted material, stills, and TONS more. The cut of the film will be the same as what’s on the current movie only disc.

We’ve also got the Clerks Cartoon Series DVD on the way, which is also getting the royal treatment, especially given the fact that the show was so short-lived on the air. All six episodes will be presented on the disc, with full commentary and brad new live introductions by Kev & Jay (as Jay & Silent Bob). Expect some more fantastic behind the scenes material on the show, including stills, storyboards, and the like…This one’s going to be another packed Special Edition. You’ll finally get to see our personal favorite of the bunch, too, the hilarious Episode 6.

Don’t forget about Vincent Pereira’s A BETTER PLACE DVD that’s in the final phases of production as we speak. Vincent has spent hundreds of hours creating this one, and it’s going to be worlds above any screened version of the film so far. He’s cleaned up the print, remixed the entire soundtrack, changed a few scenes around, and packed the disc with a TON of extras. We also believe Vincent’s going to show this new version for the first time at Vulgarthon next week.

Speaking of Vulgarthon, it’s just ONE WEEK away! Came up pretty fast, didn’t it? The goal of this one is to make it even more memorable than the last…Which, if you remember, featured surprise appearances by Jason & Carmen Lee, Brian O’Halloran, Ethan Suplee, and more. We’re sure that this year will be no exception. In addition to your chance to be face to face all the View Askew folks, you’re going to see FIVE flicks, the rarely seen “DRAWING FLIES”, Dogma’s Cannes cut, the first fan screening of “BIG HELIUM DOG”, Vincent’s new A Better Place cut, and a special surprise screening towards the event’s end. We’ll be there with full coverage, and, if technology cooperates, live updates from the scene for those of you who were unable to attend.

Thanks to all of you for sticking with News Askew over the past few years. We’re nearing another milestone (4 milliom hits) and that always reminds us about how lucky we are to have such faithful and helpful readers. We’re hoping to keep the site running strong for many years to come. Life’s been busier than usual lately for each of us, between moves, day jobs, family commitments, trips, and the like, but with the colder weather coming, there should be a lot more time to make some general improvements to the site, including speeding up the Talkback post process, cosmetic improvements, new features (including an in-depth VA5 coverage site) and lots more. Thanks for making News Askew a part of your regular surfing routine. We’ll see you next update!

• The second of Kevin’s “Developing The Monkey” columns has been posted at the Psycomic website. This week’s edition focuses on the meet & greet that he and Scott are doing with potential actors and actresses for the new film. In addition, Kevin elaborates a bit on what to expect from View Askew 5, and how he’s expecting a backlash due to it being a big step backward to the Mallrats days. Here’s an excerpt:

Read the whole thing today at Psycomic, along with a new column each and every Friday!

• As many of you know, Kevin appeared in our home state of Pennsylvania last night for a 4+ hour Q&A session at Bloomsburg University. Fans were treated to the hilarious episode 6 of Clerks:TCS and a TON of Kevin’s anecdotes, jokes, and insights. We’re sure that some of the same stuff that many of you have heard at other shows got mentioned, as folks always seem to come up with the same questions (The Supes script and the Jon Peters “spider” story being one of them, how Kev manages to tell that story so well every time like it’s the first time it’s asked we’ll never know) but we DID learn a few small things about View Askew 5:

• The film will be filmed mostly in LOS ANGELES (!) with just a few bits and pieces done in Red Bank. Wow. So our prediction was right yesterday. How about that? This is definitely a surprise, and might make that set coverage a bit tougher for us…Anyone got any extra plane tickets they want to get rid of this Winter?

  The reason for this MAY be that the film has quite a bit of action that takes place outdoors, thus, the better climate of the west coast is needed, or perhaps it was just the use of a soundstage or the convenience of the actors and actresses that was taken into consideration. At any rate, we’re sure Kevin will elaborate.

• “Developing The Monkey” refers to a note Kevin got back (we assume from the studio) on the VA5 script, which contains a monkey as one of the characters. The person who wrote the note asked Kevin to “Develop the monkey” as a character. Whoa.
• Affleck and Lee are on board for dual roles, Lee as Brodie and Banky, Affleck as Holden (and we assume Shannon Hamilton though Kev kept that one a secret).
• The film is a road flick (again supporting the idea of the outdoor, warmer climate shoot).

We also learned that Jay Mewes is now engaged, so congrats to him…And finally, a scooper has a pretty funny story to tell about the event that makes us wish we were there in person:

• WizardWorld has posted a small Q&A session with Kev where they tackle some big issues, mostly about Green Arrow, but also manage to squeeze some View Askew 5 tidbits in there. The strange bit is the intro to the story, where they claim Kev will be in “Tinseltown” from November through February filming VA5. Hmmm. Anyway, here’s a taste of the article:

Surf HERE to check out the rest!

• Fandom has reported that Kevin’s Green Arrow will indeed debut this February on a comic shelf near you. See the news story above for Kevin’s confirmation of this fact, as well. The book is running well ahead of schedule.

• A new article featuring Jason Lee appears in the latest Flaunt Magazine. We don’t have a transcript, but a scooper has been kind enough to send us the JPGs of each page right here for your clicking and reading pleasure.
• Last, but not at all least, Jeff Wells gives Kevin’s Psycomic column a nice mention in his latest column:

This was exactly what we were hoping for as well. Remember, a new edition appears at Psycomic TOMORROW – We’ll have the direct link and a capsule review right here at News Askew for ya. See you then!

• Kevin’s going to be doing a big meet & greet as well as signing whatever you want at the Suncoast Pictures store in the Willowbrook Mall a week from this Saturday. The mall’s in New Jersey, and Kevin hopes that many of you might come to this appearance for the signings and stuff, as he hopes to make Vulgarthon more about the flicks and the Q&A and less about the signing stuff, from the sound of things. Good idea, too, as most of you know the theater doesn’t really have any set area for a lineup of autograph-seekers, and it’d be a less hectic, more personal chance to take care of it before the event. Here’s Kevin’s announcement:

For those who care…

On Saturday, October 28th, from 1pm to 3pm, I’ll be signing stuff at the Suncoast store in the Willowbrook Mall, here in the lush Garden State. The mall’s located at the intersection of Rts. 80, 46, and 23. For more info on said event, call 973-890-0240.

As I’m not going to be doing a heckuva lot of signing at Vulgarthon, this might me a better opportunity to meet-and-greet. Get a jump on the rest of the guys and gals at the ‘thon, and pop by.

‘Dogma’ is coming out on video as a sell-through title that week, in case you’re wondering why the weird, sudden mall appearance.

And hey – malls worked for Tiffany. Why not me?

We assume that Suncoast prefers that you buy a copy of the Dogma VHS, but we also assume Kev won’t mind signing something else for ya. Just don’t be that guy or gal that drops a bag of 20 items on the table and asks the poor guy to sign away. It’s only a 2 hour stint and we’re expecting some pretty hefty lines. As always, if ya want to share a pic or two of the event, shoot ‘em our way. Have fun!

• According to The Hollywood Reporter and the Popcorn website, Jason Lee has signed on to play the best friend of Tom Cruise’s character in Cameron Crowe’s next flick, which surprisingly actually HAS a title already, “Vanilla Sky”:

• Finally today, just some more solid info on Kevin’s upcoming Kansas appearance:

• Yep, we’re still here! It was one of the slowest weekends on record at the site, with all the behind the scenes type stuff going on, but happily things have perked up a bit today. There’s a new poll topic here for you to chime in on, some interesting View Askew 5 tidbits, and a couple of newsbites. Hopefully you all had a good weekend…Thanks for sticking with us during the slower times. Remember that Kevin’s Psycomic column continues every Friday and that regular posts from Kevin and others are bound to happen over at the WWWBoard. Vulgarthon guests and that mystery movie are still a secret and frankly, we hope it stays that way. Alright then, let’s take a look at what’s new in the world today:

• Wizard Magazine features an interesting article in their new November 2000 issue, featuring some of the same ‘ol news, but some way cool new tidbits as well, including the fact that Kevin does indeed hope to invite YOU back into town to participate as extras in the flick, just like they did with Dogma! Could it be yet another chance to be in a View Askew film? Even better, the FINAL Jay & Silent Bob film?

Other interesting stuff: Chris Rock’s involvement is tentative, and Kev plans to touch on obscurities such as the Superman script fiasco. Sounds like this one’s really gonna please us die-hard fans. Filming is still slated to start in December. Here’s the details, couresy of Wizard:

Speaking of View Askew 5, we’ve added a small, yet still useful, section to the SUMMARIES with the tidbits we know so far. Expect a much more extensive VA5 page from us soon, as well. We still haven’t decided if we want to wait for the official title announcement or not!