• Well, after a week of fun in the sun on our respective vacations, we’re both back here in Wintersylvania, and it feels COLDER than ever. A fine time was had by all, met some great people, hit Clearwater Beach and soaked up some sun, drank way too much alcohol in and around the Tampa party scene, you know…The usual stuff that should be done on a vacation. Can’t wait to go back. Thanks to all who asked about our vacations. Chris tells me he finally got to ride the Spiderman ride at Universal Studios (which has gotta be the coolest ride in the world right now). Oh, and by the way, Chris turned the big 3-0 yesterday, so be sure and send the dude a birthday wish, it’s gotta be rough saying goodbye to your 20’s (not gonna be any fun when I do it in 3 months either). Can you say “Vacation #2?”. I knew that ya could. Fred Rogers, you will be missed.

Anyway, feel free to resume using the ‘ol SCOOPS address when sending stuff in, and watch for updates to go back to a more even pace now that life’s getting back to normal. Bleh. At least summer’s only a few months away here. Got some great news for ya today, so let’s get movin’!

• Yes, you read it right. Write it down, spell it out – F-R-E-E! Kevin’s coming to the University of Minnesota, and we’ve just been told that Q&A is now FREE and on a first-come, first-served basis for seating. Everyone STILL needs a U of M ID card to get in, so unless you’ve got a friend that looks a lot like you and isn’t attending, it’s still gonna be tough time for a non-student. Expect a big line, as we’re sure they’re gonna start showing up early. Don’t miss it, though, as you saw on the “Evening” DVD, it’s a fantastic time.

• “Drop Dead Roses” (starring Brian O’Halloran for those of you unfamilar with the flick) will screen at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival on Friday, April 4th at 6:10 PM, Village East Cinemas, Screen 6. The cinema only has 168 seats, so it’ll be a nice, intimate showing. We know director Jessica Hudson will be in attendance, and also believe Brian and the cast will also be hanging out for the showing. I’m even trying to swing a way to get up there to finally screen the flick (mostly because I think Jessica will kill me if I miss it AGAIN!). For more information on the movie, check out Dark Features, and for tickets and festival info, hit the Festival Site. Tickets are $10.
• Jay & Silent Bob show up in the most recent edition of web comic “It’s All Been Done”. Check out the final frame.
• The Varsity Theater on Lincoln Way (Ames, Iowa) is going to be having a special Midnight Showing of Clerks on Friday March 28th and Saturday March 29th. Go jump in line that weekend and check it out on the big screen!
• An absolutely beautifully framed, and incredibly rare Daredevil cover from Kevin’s run is on sale at eBay. It’s the one-of-a-kind, signed, cover from Guardian Devil #4. Too rich for these two webmasters, but if you’ve got the scratch, it’d sure look cool on your wall.
• The Syracuse NewTimes make a few mentions of Kevin in their Daredevil review (including “Mutants, Monsters and Marvels” among other things). Here’s the portion that deals specifically with Kev:

The story can be viewed in its entirety HERE.

• And finally today, Jay Mewes: Rock singer? Apparently, he’s been spotted practicing with a Rhode Island ‘hardcore punk/emo/rock/metal’ band called Transparent. Check out Jay on thier Pictures page.

• Here’s some fresh scans from the latest issue of the UK’s FHM magazine featuring Jennifer Lopez that we mentioned in yesterday’s news.
• Jason Lee answered some questions about FLETCH WON and his new film DREAMCATCHER over at Ain’t It Cool News.com today. Click HERE to read all about it. But be warned, the article contains mucho spoilers for DREAMCATCHER and TERMINATOR 3!
• The Amherst 3 theater in Buffalo, New York will be screening Clerks starting April 25th.

• Finally today, above you will find a shot of the other poster that appeared for JERSEY GIRL at the recent ShowWest convention.

• Check out the above scans from the latest issue of ARENA magazine for a rather lengthy and interesting interview with Jason Lee. And if any of you AOLers need more of a Lee-fix, you can check out a video clip from “Dreamcatcher” at Keyword: First Look. Lee is featured prominently in the scene.

• Here’s 2 vastly improved scans of that great Japanese J&SBSB poster sent in today from the long-time scooper Douglas Fir. Enjoy!
• Jennifer Lopez is in the current issue of the UK edition of FHM. The article does mention JERSEY GIRL, so if you have a copy send a scan on in!
• In other Lopez news, seems like Sony has finally settled on a new name for the film previously known as “GIGLI”. Look out for “TOUGH LOVE” later this year.
• Ben Affleck will be a presenter for the 75th Academy Awards show to be held on March 23, 2003.
• Entertainment Weekly posted this little quote from Kevin on some possible Daredevil 2 casting:

• Buddy Christ showed up in the above photo from March 1st’s Toronto Star article on a video store called Suspect Video.
• Davies Theatre on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus will be showing Chasing Amy from Thursday, March 6th to Sunday, March 9th at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. You may have to spend two bucks for a theatre membership, but you’d be watching Chasing Amy on the big screen! Check it out if you can.
• And finally today, Yahoo.com’s WORD OF THE DAY used a nice little Clerks reference the other day:

• Aha, ya see that? I chime in that there’s no news, and suddenly…NEWS! That’s how it works around here usually. Anyway, AICN’s got what looks to be the first review of JERSEY GIRL online. First off though, let’s say this was for a TEST screening (from Arizona) and does not represent the finished film. There will likely be cuts and tweaks. Most important, though, is that this thing does have a MAJOR PLOT POINT/SPOILER involved. It will spoil a big twist in the film for you if you read this. So we’re gonna recommend you stay away from this one. But here’s a peek at some non-spoiler comments:

What’s the good news? The reviewer gives the film 4 out of 5 stars! And you know that test screenings are notorious for getting some very picky people in there. This is a very good sign, and great news for those who were worrying about the end of the “Askewniverse”. From everything we’ve been hearing, this film will make all of you longtime fans (as well as the new ones) very proud. However, the reviewer did not seem very pleased at all with Lopez’s work in the film, but loved the rest of the cast, especially Affleck. Of course, this is just one reviewer’s opinion. Still, an overall excellent rating for the film. And if you MUST read it, spoil away right HERE!

• Alright, we’ve hit a bit of a news lull here but I just wanted to check in with a few reminders. It’s pretty bad when it’s 42 degrees outside and it feels like Spring, by the way, that’s the kind of weather we’ve been having this winter. Ugly. But that’s nearly as warm as it’s gonna feel in FLORIDA!!! Muhahahah…

Anyway, don’t forget, as we’re both on staggered vacations this week, send all those scoops to the SCOOPS@NEWSASKEW.COM to make sure they get to whomever’s in charge at the moment. Starting next week, we’ll both be back and you can e-mail whomever ya want again. Ya know, if you’ve got a favorite or something. We’ll see ya with more news later.

• Here ya go, folks! The first look at an official promotional piece for Jersey Girl! We don’t expect this to be the final one-sheet or maybe even the final tagline (”Forget about who you thought you were, and just accept who you are”), but it IS possible. Studios often rush to put something together to have something on display for big events, and ShoWest is one of the biggest. The photo does enlarge, so click the thumbnail for a better look!

This shot was taken from a display at ShoWest, and comes to us courtesy of Latino Review. Thanks also to JoBlo for alerting us of the story. More news later!

• The full clip’s now online for those of you cats that missed it. Ming says: