• The latest story from the forefront of DVD websites, the Digital Bits, comes word that the “Judge Not” documentary will not make the release this June, due to a disagreement with Buena Vista over its content. That was the last we’d heard, as well, though we were hopeful that things could have been worked out. It seems now that this will not be so.

Let’s hope that Kevin and Scott can come to some sort of agreement so that JM’s documentary can see the light of day SOMEWHERE, whether it be at a Vulgarthon, a future View Askew DVD project, or maybe right here on the web at News Askew. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have learned more. For now, assume that documentary is going to be, sadly, missing from the Special Edition this summer. Believe us, this isn’t a ploy to come out with a super-special edition DVD down the line. Everyone had really been fighting to get the documentary included.

• Mysterio checks in with his final report from the set of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back in Los Angeles, which reminds me, there’s probably a few words that can be said here about the Jersey stuff. Oh well, add it to the list of stuff to do, including the Clerks cartoon drinking game and DVD review, as well as the Better Place soundtrack review. So much to do, so little time!

Anyway, this report reveals a few more sight gags and other secrets (this movie is PACKED with ‘em!), as well as goes into some detail on the frustrations of a day that just doesn’t go as planned. Good, interesting stuff. It’s also revealed that they desire to get the film down to around 100 minutes of running time, but the last we’d heard it was coming in at well over 2 hours. It’s going to be another challening edit for Kevin and Scott, as it’s got to be hard to let some of this stuff go. At least it’ll all return on the DVD, as it always does. Here’s a clip of the write-up from today:

It’s early Saturday morning, and the day’s already gone into a tailspin of sorts, as Vincent and his team are having mechanical problems with the dog, and desperately trying to fix it, as time is money, and today’s schedule is tight, including a company move later to an outside location. So a delay like this can obviously be a time consuming as well as costly one at that.

Aside from the dog, Jay was also a bit tardy to makeup this morning, which involved a 2-hour makeup job.

Scott and line producer, Laura Greenlee are on set to oversee the filming of the dog, while Kev is catching up on viewing some dailies, and 1st AD, Tim Bird works on directing the dog. Now Laura’s job is primarily to make sure that everything goes smoothly, timely and most importantly keeping the picture on schedule and under budget. So these little set backs don’t do much to help her, as things already seem to be running bit behind.

Once the dog’s back up, Laura calls Kevin from dailies to approve the dog’s movements and camera set up. Once Kev arrives and cameras roll on the dog, the mechanical eyes die and soon the head of the pooch begins to smoke ala ‘Scanners’. After closer examination, it’s learned that the wiring or battery has been fried.

Read the historical last set report at Aint It Cool News right HERE. We hear they’re going through a server upgrade right now, so don’t forget you can also catch it over at our Scooping The Monkey website as well (see below for more info on “Scooping”, by the way…).

• Just a reminder to those of you who are wondering where the in-depth Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back coverage is located…It’s all happening over at our “Scooping The Monkey” site, where you can find TONS of cast information, photos, on-set reports, and lots more, often stuff that’s never even appeared on the front pages of News Askew (check out the bios for Mark Hamill or Will Ferrell’s characters in the film, for example). Every photo we’ve printed relating to the film is archived there in one easy to find spot. We’ve even got the full text of the extensive AICN reports and, recently added, carbon copies of the Developing The Monkey columns from the now-defunct Psycomic site.

As we get closer to a release date, soon ALL news relating to J&SBSB will show up exclusively over there, so you’ll need to start making it a part of your daily surfing to make sure you’re not missing out. It’s only gonna get bigger, folks! Check out Scooping The Monkey today and see what you’ve been missing.

• Details and articles keep rolling in from the press and fans that attended the filming which took place at the Quick Stop in Leonardo, NJ. The article is from the Independent, which is a free weekly paper from Middletown, NJ. The article’s two pages, which we’ve got scans of. Click the thumbnails to check out the photos and view the article. It’s a good little read.

We’ve also got a couple of fan shots taken of Kevin and Scott inside the Quick Stop (in full color!) following the end of filming on Monday night (April 2nd). A very special moment indeed, when everything came full circle for the duo.

• Well, it seems that official announcements on the Dogma SE release date are finally starting to make the rounds, after we’d heard last month that the disc was finally going to street on June 29th. The set sounds outstanding, though we’ve been hearing conflicting reports and rumors on whether the “Judge Not” documentary will be included…Personally, it would be a crime and a shame for this piece to be omitted, as JM’s done some outstanding work in the past and we hear this one’s a real gem, though we’ve yet to feast our eyes on it. Still, even without a documentary, it’s a nice package, the commentary and deleted stuff worth the sticker price alone. There’s no way you’re not buying this if you own a DVD player, so don’t kid yourself! Here’s the details:

• MTV.COM currently is asking viewers to nominate folks for this year’s MTV Movie Awards. Why not throw some props to Jay & Silent Bob for best cameo in Scream 3 or Jason Lee in there for Almost Famous? Stop by HERE and get those votes in, nominations close on April 24th!
• Diamond Comics have announced that the third printing of Green Arrow #1 comes out tomorrow (Wednesday). If you missed out on printing #1 or #2, you should have no problem finding this one.
• While pigs will likely take to flight before this happens, one guy’s hosting a website dedicated to getting Clerks: The Cartoon back on the air. Just goes to show you how much the show was loved. Here’s hoping that animated film becomes a reality! In the meantime, visit his site HERE.
• A bit of a correction to the last edition of NewsBites: Encore is showing Chasing Amy in MAY, and only once this month (April 27th). Sorry for the confusion.
• A Kevin Smith Film Festival is taking place down South at Clemson University in McKissick Theatre this Friday and Saturday (April 20-21). Friday night, Clerks and Mallrats will screen starting at 8 PM & 10:30 PM consecutively. Chasing Amy and Dogma will be shown on Saturday night, starting at 8 PM as well (Dogma at 10:30).