- Have you been to the News Askew Forums J&SBSB reviews area yet? This is what will serve as our review database for the duration of the film. Whether you’ve seen it yourself and would like to contibute your own review, or found a review in the paper or on the web elsewhere that you’d like to add in, our goal is for this to be the largest collection of J&SBSB reviews anywhere. Surf over to the Reviews area and add your own, someone else’s, or just read up!
Archive for July, 2001
More “Black Cat” Stories…
- Kevin’s announcement about Black Cat has settled in now, but there’s still a few more lingering articles that are showing up. This one was available to subscribers of Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine:
KEVIN SMITH TRIES HIS LUCK WITH BLACK CAT
While it probably doesn’t come as an enormous surprise that today at the San Diego Comicon, Marvel Comics announced writer Kevin Smith would make a return to the publisher to launch a new ongoing series, let’s be honest…how many people thought they were going to announce it would star Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat? Well, they did, and it does.
After earning something of a Midas-reputation for turning two previously floundering properties – Marvel’s Daredevil and DC’s Green Arrow – into sales gold, Smith will get to show if he’s a true alchemist next year when he launches the sometimes-supporting character of the Spider-Man titles into an ongoing series of her very own. Details are still early and sketchy, however. No artist has been assigned yet and the plans are for the series to launch sometime in mid 2002.
The series will be set in current Marvel/Spider-Man continuity and Smith calls the wall-crawler “integral” to the launch of the series. “I think we’re doing a Spidey one-shot that leads into the ongoing Black Cat series,” he said. Though it’s too early to say how closely the new series will tie into the Spidey titles.
Alonso says her adventures will occur in the Spider-Man universe, so he expects that their paths will cross, though asked if she’ll be back in the Mafia-esque New York scene with Silvermane, Cloak & Dagger, and the rest of the Spidey-crew from her heyday, Smith said she’d instead be out and about in new directions.
Alonso said it will be the same character readers have already come to know (”with nuances”), and Smith said he’ll be strictly focusing on the human element of the one-time super-powered character. “But I’ll handle her far grittier than she’s been handled before,” he said. “We’re going to take her in the least likely direction imaginable. Thank God Marveldumped the Code, is all I’m saying.”
The current plan is that like Daredevil and Green Arrow, Smith is committed to the first year of Black Cat, when he’ll then likely move on and let another writer take over the series. But that said he’s winded up staying around Green Arrow longer than first anticipated. His current thinking is he’ll stay on that DC series at least another half year beyond the first, and maybe more.
As to other future Marvel plans, Smith says there may be a Dr. Strange project of some kind in the future, as well as possibly a Daredevil graphic novel illustrated by Quesada.
“But that would be way down the road,” he said.
There’s also a few more notes on the upcoming series in this new article courtesy of Comic Book Resources. Check that one out as well.
View Askew NewsBites™
- A TVO talkshow which recently featured Pat Mastrioanni from Degressi Junior High fame (he played Joey Jeremiah on the show) and a question was directed at him about Kevin’s upcoming appearance on the film. Pat spoke very fondly of Kevin but said that due to scheduling conflicts with Kevin on the set of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back that Kevin will NOT appear on the show. The role is set to go to actor/writer/director Don McKellar (of the very fun “Twitch City” program) instead.
- Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back got a mention in the current issue of US Weekly. The text is as follows:
James’s Dig At Jason
They may be teen idols, but James Van Der Beek and Jason Biggs don’t mind making fun of there young careers. When Biggs flubbed lines while playing himself in the new comedy Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Van Der Beek cracked, “You wouldn’t last a day on the [Dawson’s} Creek.” Later, when Biggs was recognized for his infamous scene in American Pie, he screamed, “It always comes back to that f—ing pie!”
A scan of the article appears above.
- Marc Spitz made a full page pseudo-game on p. 84 of September’s SPIN magazine (currently on newsstands). It appears to be plugging Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, every other “Jersey” film, and even mentions viewaskew.com and the ruckus on the message boards there. If anyone’s got a scan, send it on!
- The Channel Ten television network in Australia has announced that this Tuesday, July 31st, they will be hosting Chris Rock on the show “Rove Live” that will air at 9:30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time. There’s no set focus of the interview, but as it will be a live program, J&SBSB will likely at least get a nice mention.
- J&SBSB is currently the #1 most visted preview at Upcomingmovies.com.
- Vulgar is now set for an October 12th limited release.
- The syndicated alternative rock countdown program “Out of Order”’s host Jeb played Afroman’s “Because I Got High” and then went on to say, “If that was the first time you’ve heard that, you’re lucky. Clerks and Chasing Amy director Kevin Smith did that video and his new movie, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back will be in theaters next month.”
- Mike Avon Oeming will be appearing this weekend at Super-Mega-Show at the Meadowlands Expo Center. It’s mostly a sci-fi/celebrity has-been show, but it’s also your chance to say hi to Mike and maybe get your own Bluntman & Chronic sketch! All the details can be found right HERE.
- Jeff Anderson’s “Now You Know” now has a review available at the IMDB. Check it out HERE.
Jay & Bob In Green Arrow #6!
- Those of you reading Kevin’s Green Arrow “Quiver” series might have noticed a familar looking duo on page #15. Sure, it’s from the back, and, while it MIGHT not be intentional, they sure do look familiar. Check out the scan above and see for yourself. By the way, if you’re not reading the books, CHECK THEM OUT! The storyline, writing, and artwork have all been top notch. Another can’t miss series from Kevin and crew. Get the Green Arrow books while you can still find them.
Official Jay & Bob Soundtrack Site Online!
- A small site located at http://www.jayandsilentbobmusic.com has gone online to promote the soundtrack’s debut in stores next month. There’s not much there yet, but they promise updates and include a mailing list for you to join. The incredible radio popularity of Afroman’s “Because I Got High” track will likely give this soundtrack a big debut and, with the free movie cash inside, will also get awareness of the film’s release out there in a BIG way. So far, Kevin, Dimension and Universal are doing a fantastic job at getting the press out there for J&SBSB. It’s all falling into place!
View Askew NewsBites™
- Here’s what Kevin said on the Planet of the Apes TV special: On the show, he said how he watches the original “Planet” all the time. He also talked about watching it with his daughter Harley who points at the screen and says “monkeys”, in which Kevin replies, “Yeah monkeys, and one day they’re gonna take over, so be good.”
- Here’s a quick listener summary of Kevin’s John & Frank show radio appearance from this week:
He called in and seemed really really tired. Some people asked him some questions that we all know the answer to, but this one guy asked about a Clerks:10th Anniversary special. And Kevin said it will happen. This time with the whole cast and the entire 4 hour documentary of Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back. I got through and asked about the Mallrats comic and he said he hasn’t even started writing it and it’s at least going to be a year or two before it even comes out.
- DVD supersite The Digital Bits is giving away a Kevin Smith signed Dogma: SE DVD as part of the Grand Prize for their current trivia contest. Get your entries in now!
- Thanks to David from The Breakfast Club radio show in Seattle for sending us this short clip of an interview they did with Jerry Cantrell last week to promote his new Degradation Trip EP. In it, he talks briefly about Kevin and having a song on the Clerks soundtrack. Check out the MP3 HERE!
- The release date continues to shuffle around – Upcomingmovies.com now lists Vulgar as having an OCTOBER release date. Well, at least we can say it’s coming this Fall. Hopefully we can have a solid date for you soon.
- George Carlin was on Imus’s morning show plugging his new HBO concert DVDs, and found time to mention J&SBSB (although he butchered the title). He noted that it was the new Kevin Smith film and referenced his appearance as being short, but funny.
- Seems our mention of those skins for the computer game “The Sims” last update stemmed some more interest. If you’d like to give your Sims some tasteful movie posters on their house’s walls (View Askew posters), check them out right HERE.
- E! Online featured the Jay & Bob trailer as their clip of the day yesterday.
- Finally today, on an amusing note, Chris Rock’s memorable line from the Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back trailer might have been a prophecy! Check out the story HERE.
Kevin On Upcoming J&SBSB Promotions…
- Kevin stopped by with a TON of information regarding the plans that Dimension’s got for promoting the film and WOW, is this ever going to be a HUGE push. The trailer is screening in front of ALL the big summer releases (That Rush Hour 2 tie-in is a MAJOR one), and it sounds like television and talk show promotion is going to be HUGE. Read on for details on all this stuff and a lot more. Heeeeeeeere’s Kevin:
Looking Ahead
I’ve read some speculation about where the big ‘Jay and Bob’ push is, so let me put some of those fears to rest.
Comedy Central is running a special called ‘Reel Comedy’ featuring Jay and Silent Bob in about two weeks or so. Jay and I are doing a sit-down for that (as the characters) Thursday.
After that, we’re doing that ‘The Test’ show for an all Jay and Silent Bob night on FX, featuring airings of ‘Clerks’ and ‘Mallrats’ (the cut editions, no doubt), and a pair of ‘Son of the Beach’ episodes with Mark in them, all wrapped up by pre-and-post commercial break intros with yours truly (that we’re also taping on Thursday). This will all air closer to release.
On Wednesday, August 22nd (the day the flick opens), I’ll be on the Stern show, in-studio. Very cool, and always very helpful.
Later that afternoon, both Jay and I will be on Total Request Live. Love this show or hate it, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how many people it reaches.
Throughout August, lots of the cast will be popping up on talk shows. I’ll let you know who and when once the schedule is completed.
But I suspect the reason folks are feeling a lack of ‘Jay and Silent Bob’ are because you haven’t seen any commercials yet. That’s because the network ad buys (ie – commercials) start airing the last week in July. Two or three weeks out (from release) is usually how a movie is marketed (we had even less than that on ‘Dogma’). It makes no sense to throw up spots prior to the opening of ‘Planet of the Apes’, as it’s kind of a waste of money; this weekend, nobody wants to know from anything EXCEPT ‘Planet of the Apes’.
The trailer was, indeed, on ‘Scary Movie 2′, but has also been on many ‘Jurasic Park 3′ prints. It’ll be “chasing” at least half the run of the ‘Apes’ prints, and be attached to ‘Rush Hour 2′ for August 3rd. I imagine it’ll get it’s fair share of play on ‘American Pie 2′ as well.
Look for the poster to be up in some places this weekend, everywhere next weekend.
The press is responding incredibly well to the flick, so there will be a lot of print and TV media running when the flick opens, as well as the aforementioned commercial spots.
On the subject of those spots: like the theatrical trailer, it may not be your cup of tea. However, they’re not made to preach to the choir. We’re hoping you guys are all going, so there’s no need to “sell” you on the flick. Who we’ve got to go after are folks that don’t know/care what or who a ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ is. And those folks have to be spoon-fed the stuff you’ve been hip to for the past seven years.
That being said, I’ve seen the TV spots. They’re pretty funny (as funny as you can be on network television), quite effective in relating the story in thirty seconds, and best of all, testing huge. Major props go out to Josh Greenstein for the trailer and the TV spots, not to mention the poster. He’s been working tirelessly on a campaign that’s going to be aired so often and much, you’ll wish you’d never heard of Jay and Silent Bob.
And Bob’s backing us 100%. The P&A budget on this flick is pretty huge – far more than has ever been spent on any of our other flicks – and that’s a vote of confidence from our fearless leader at Dimension.
Rest assured, kids – all is well. A big push for the flick IS coming. Dimension is sparing no quarter.
Which means that the burden’s on our shoulders. If the movie doesn’t work at the box office, it won’t be because Dimension didn’t sell the shit out of it; it’ll be because Jay and Silent Bob struck back… and nobody really cared.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a healthy opening, and even more importantly, a nice, long run at the box office. I can think of no better way to send Jay and Silent Bob off into the sunset than with a fat bag of cash.
Huge Wizard Set Report Online!
- Once again, Wizard outdoes themselves with View Askew coverage. Their latest issue sports a “Kevin Smith Film Diary” written by Wizard contributing editor Jim McLaughlin when he visited the set and had a cameo as “Clapper/Loader” for the “Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season” scene. It’s a three page article, so we won’t feature it all here. Having been on the set for a few days, we can honestly say that Jim’s done a fantastic job at capturing the mood and the feeling of what it’s like to get thrown into this world. It’s a fantastic read — Don’t miss this article! Here’s a choice selection:
7:01 AM
Kevin takes a few seconds to introduce me to Ben Affleck. He’s tall. Like 6-foot-4 tall. We slug down coffee at the massive free food tent, and Affleck pours through it like a college student. He says he’s filming two other movies simultaneously, and will only be in L.A. for three days. He read his lines for the first time on the plane ride in this morning. Still, he’s smiling, even though he’s a little disappointed that they’ve run out of strawberry jam for his bagel. Whiny little pretty-boy actor.
7:36 AM
Scene one, take one. Despite the fact that he just learned the lines, Affleck delivers. And Jason Mewes (”Jay”, duh) is a machine. He never misses a line. Some scenes are done in one take. Others, even though they look perfect, are filmed several times so there are multiples to choose from in editing. A simple Mewes saying, “C’mon, Silent Bob-We’re going to Hollywood!” takes three tries, with Mewes using a different tone of voice each time.
You can read the whole story, which features the same text but a ton of different pictures from the Wizard print edition, right HERE! Thanks also to Wizard for the weblink to our Scooping The Monkey website, where they announce that the Bluntman & Chronic graphic novel is set for August 4th! Could it be that soon? We’ll keep you posted.
J&SBSB Reviews At The Forums!
- Howdy folks…With the film’s release less than a month away, and a TON of reviews already out there, we’re starting to realize that we’d both hafta quit our day jobs to even attempt to keep up with the amount of fan and critic reviews that happen for this movie. So, we’ve devised a system to allow everyone to post their reviews over at our News Askew Forums in a new category. As of today, instead of submitting a review as a scoop, please post it over at the Forums! In the topic for the post, mention if it’s a fan or critic review, if spoilers are included, and if it’s a positive or negative review. Check out the News Askew forums for an example, and, if you’ve seen the movie or know of a review that’s not included there, post it on up! This will allow the reviews in a quick, easy to find index, as well as save us some work and allow us to devote more time to all the other things to do surrounding the film’s release.
Preorder Your SIGNED J&SBSB One Sheets!
- You can now pre-order your very own, Kevin Smith signed Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back one sheets from the Stash. Each poster measures 27 x 41 inches and and features full color images of Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, Will Ferrell and Ben Affleck. It’ll look way cool framed up on your wall. $22 gets you a signed one, $17 for a plain one (but why not spend the extra 5 bucks, right?). We might even have a chance for a few lucky readers here to be the first to own a signed poster, so stay tuned. Get your orders in while they’re still around!
Also, since everyone keeps asking, here’s a slightly better scan of the one-sheet. We’ll keep adding better versions of the poster over at Scooping The Monkey as we come across them, so always check there for the latest.