• There’s been a lot of speculation out there as we approach our 10 MILLIONTH visit here at News Askew — What are we going to do to celebrate that milestone? Well, thanks to Kevin Smith, we’re happy to report that we’ve got quite a spiffy little prize for the fan that hits that lucky number — How’s this for a prize?

A featured walk-on role in “Jersey Girl”!

Yep. You read it right.

Now, here’s the one catch — Transportation and lodging WILL be up to you, as this prize is being offered directly from Mr. Kevin Smith himself, and not affiliated with Miramax or related companies. So, if you are the winner, YOU are responsible for getting to the set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (or surrounding area) when the time comes. We’ll do the best we can to get you as much notice as possible on the date, etc. in case you need to make travel arrangements.

For this contest, we’re going to need to list some official rules and disclaimers, as this is a BIG PRIZE. We waited to unveil this contest until now because we’d like the devoted News Askew readers to have a crack at it. So, we suggest that you keep this one amongst yourselves, and play fairly. If this contest does well, you can expect more of the same to come along in the future. So, in other words, let’s all work together, and we’ll have a lot more prize-type stuff to give away in the future. Check out the rules, read them ALL:

• OFFICIAL RULES:
• How to Win: See that counter at the top of the page? The person who hits 10 MILLION is the prize winner. If you are the lucky visitor, send us a screenshot (see below) and you are the GRAND PRIZE WINNER.
• Counter Manipulation: Yes, we ARE tracking this. Running up the counter is UNACCEPTABLE! This consists of an individual sitting in front of their PC and continuously pressing the REFRESH/RELOAD button on the front page of News Askew. From this point on, this information will be logged. If we look back in the logs, and see that you have been driving up the counter with the refresh button, you WILL be disqualified. If this rule is not followed, we reserve the right to end this contest immediately. This procedure starts NOW.

  ONE consecutive hit is allowed on either end of the 10 million mark. In other words, if you have the hit just before or just after 10 million, as well as the winning entry, that is still a valid entry. No more than two consecutivehits are allowed from the winning entry at that point.

• Prize Awarding: The winner of the walk-on role will be the individual that successfully hits number TEN MILLION (10,000,000) at News Askew.com. A screenshot is REQUIRED to claim your prize. So, if you don’t know how to take a screenshot, it’s a good time to learn. All computers offer screenshot methods, we know for a fact a screenshot on a PC is as easy as hitting the “PRINT SCREEN” key and then pasting into a Microsoft Word document or otherwise. Get some practice.

  There is ONE (1) “Grand Prize Winner” for this contest. No further prizes are offered at this time. If you do not accept the prize for any reason, News Askew reserves the right to fall back on a “runner-up” and offer the prize to them. In other words, if you come close, take a screenshot anyway, you might still be the winner.

• Screenshots & Disqualification: We have methods in place to detect genuine screenshots. If you attempt to send in a forged screnshot, you will be disqualified from this and any future News Askew or View Askew contest offerings. In other words, don’t be stupid — If you don’t win, just accept it.

  DISCLAIMERS:

  News Askew and View Askew shall have the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the sweepstakes at any time without notice. Please note that by submitting a screenshot that you are also submitting your name as an entrant to this contest. You will be agreeing to abide by the official rules and regulations as stated here. You further agree that all information can and will be published on the close of the contest, including the name you provided. Addresses, phone numbers, and emails will not be published without the further consent of the entrants.

  There are also no guarantees with this prize, as the producers of “Jersey Girl” reserve the right to make changes to or relinquish this offering at any time during production. In other words, no promises! If you are filmed for the movie, your part may or make not make the final cut (though, as we know, the last contest winner did earn his very own “Deleted Scene” chapter on the Jay and Bob disc, quite a feat in itself).

These rules will be viewable by clicking the special graphic at the top of News Askew at any time in case you need to refresh your memory. If you have any questions regarding this contest, ask them here in the TALKBACK AREA, we will address them as quickly as possible.

Good luck to all of you. Thanks to Kevin Smith for this excellent prize and thanks to you, the fans, for helping News Askew reach our 10 million mark. Best of luck to you all!

• A Philadelphia Inquirer article today discusses the popularity of Philadelphia for film shoots lately. With M. Night Shyamalan shooting all his stuff in the area, and “Jersey Girl” starting up soon, the city’s got a lot of Hollywood type activity going on. The piece reveals that JG may need up to 3,000 extras (could be YOU!) and discusses why Philly got chosen over Toronto. Here’s a few tidbits:

• A feature film can have 45 speaking roles and more than a thousand extras. Unbreakable used 6,000 extras; Jersey Girl’s people have indicated they may need 3,000.
• Jersey Girl’s $35 million budget is deceptive because nearly half goes to pay Lopez and Affleck. But the film will spend up to $15 million on hotels, cars, food, building materials, fuel, phones and other requisites.
• Kevin Smith, the director of Jersey Girl, faced a similar dilemma. “Miramax was pushing ‘Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, where you can get 50 cents on the U.S. dollar,’ ” he said. “What pushed Philadelphia over the top for us was the proximity to New Jersey, the experienced crew base, and the film office, which sweetened the deal with incentives like helping us outfit a soundstage.”

Read it all right HERE!

• We’ve received a couple small reports from San Diego — Daredevil movie footage featuring Kevin’s cameo screened during the X-Men/DD panel on Saturday when Affleck showed up. AICN also has a spoiler-laden report on DD and “Dreamcatcher” if you’d care to check that one out as well. Hope everyone had fun at the con!
• An astute viewer points out that, in Roger Ebert’s review of the new Martin Lawrence concert film, he points out that the film proves it’s impossible to get an NC-17 rating for language alone. Not true, Mr. Ebert! Don’t forget, the MPAA demanded verbal cuts to both Clerks and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, initially slapping them with NC-17’s.
• Hey, at least it’s getting some press — Vulgar is currently ranked #3 on Metacritics worst 200 movies list. We could name heaps worse, personally, we guess it’s just become an easy flick for them to beat on. You’ll all get the chance to finally see the film in your homes next month with the home video release — We’ll have an early review of the jam-packed disc soon!
• Jason Lee news — The official website for his “Stealing Harvard” is now online. He can also be seen giving his opinion on actor Bill Murray on an E! special called “The Top 25 Funniest People in the Entertainment Industry”.
• USA Today reports:

• This website ran a poll asking folks who’d they like to see appear in the TV remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in February of 2003. Those who answered the survey gave diverse answers, however a good chunk of people wanted to see Kevin Smith portray the part of Eddie, made famous by Meat Loaf in the film. Ben Affleck got numerous votes from fans to play Brad Majors, made famous by Barry Bostwick. Mewes got some votes to play Rocky Horror or Riff Raff.Matt Damon got quite a few votes to play either Rocky Horror, Dr. Frank N Furter or Brad Majors. Alan Rickman got votes from fans to be The Criminologist. Check the entire list out at their website.