- This week’s retro takes us back to 1997, when Chasing Amy was fresh in our minds and Kevin was again the talk of the critics with his return to smaller, lower budget projects. Sight & Sound’s November 1997 issue not only features their take on Chasing Amy (an uneven one at that), but a rarely-seen article from Kevin touting his love of “A Man For All Seasons”. Jump in the wayback machine and enjoy…
Archive for September, 2003
View Askew NewsBites™
- We mentioned last week that Clerks will be at the Brew & View in Chicago, but didn’t also realize THAT more Askew flicks would be showing there as well — From September 19th through the 25th, Dogma runs at 8, followed by Chasing Amy at 10. Bring those copies of the drinking games and have yourself a blast!
- Film Threat again featured a classic Askew quote at their site last week: “I didn’t come in you, Pete, I swear.” – Jay from “Dogma” (1999).
- Jersey Girl gets a small mention (along with the obligatory Gigli burn) in today’s Parade magazine which appears in most Sunday newspapers across the country.
- In other newspaper-type stuff, last week’s USA weekend (from USA Today) ran a cartoon that alluded to the fact that Jersey Girl is coming next year (though didn’t exactly name the film). Again, Gigli is targeted.
- A promotional video over at Gemini Films has a small reference to Kevin’s efforts to get “Clerks” made when citing past independent film directors and projects.
- Seems that the New Jersey governor is backing a program that will allow financial grants to filmmakers who come to the state with their projects. Jersey Girl is cited as a recent example of a film that brought attention to the area.
JG Producer Phil Benson Interviewed…
- Phil Benson, Jersey Girl’s Associate Producer, is interviewed at MoviePoopShoot.com. Surf over to read the piece and check out some new behind-the-scenes photos from Ratface.Here’s a preview:
Phil Benson: I’m the guy who loads the BetaCam SP tapes the footage comes on into the AVID. The person who establishes the relationship between each frame of film and the video that gets loaded is the guy who actually transfers the film to video. There’s a machine that not only converts the film into video, but actually reads the number on the edge, and transfers those numbers to a data file that we receive. Every day, I receive BetaCam tapes of the previous day’s shoot, and I also receive a floppy diskette that tells the AVID exactly which scenes and takes are on that tape.
Antony: What has been your best moment?
Phil Benson: I was just talking with Scott [Mosier] about this. On JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, the first time we had to do an audience preview, we got crushed with our time and we had to quickly mix everything together for an audience preview. Then we had some technical problems, and our mix was going late, and we had to be on a plane to San Diego for our first test screening. We ended up mixing all through the night with no sleep, and then Scott and Monica and I went straight from the mixing stage to the airport, went straight to San Diego, got off the plane, and did a run-through. The test screening went fantastically. We hadn’t slept for days. I remember thinking at the time that the kind of euphoria that comes from working non-stop for days, and then finally having a great test screening with all the Miramax people there, and Kevin being totally ecstatic, made it all worth it. It was probably one of the best moments of my career.
Paulsboro Residents Look Forward To JG…
- Residents of Paulsboro, NJ, where many of Jersey Girl’s exteriors were shot, are as excited as ever for the final product to hit theaters. This story, from Tuesday’s Gloucester County Times, explores that very notion:
By Theresa Katalinas
PAULSBORO — Tasha Frisby has crossed her fingers for the upcoming release of “Jersey Girl,” which was filmed in large part in her hometown.
Unlike other borough residents, Frisby has different hopes for the film which stars Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Instead of merely wishing for box office success with its planned March 19 release, Frisby longs to share the spotlight with Affleck, her favorite actor.
“I hope they pick me,” Frisby, 26, said excitedly of her role as an extra in the movie.
Despite the rumored break-up of Affleck and Lopez just days ago, Mayor John Burzichelli, a co-owner of Hill Studio on Broad Street, said he doesn’t think Paulsboro will lose its 15 minutes of red carpet fame.
“In the motion picture industry, any publicity is good publicity,” Burzichelli said. “If they don’t stay together it probably helps. It certainly doesn’t hurt.”
Matthew Hiltzik, Miramax spokesman, said “Time will tell” if the movie has what it takes to withstand the alleged break-up.
“We feel very strongly about the quality of ‘Jersey Girl,’ ” Hiltzik said. “There’s a great story here and a great performance by Ben. We’re hopeful that the film will speak for itself.”
Hiltzik said the movie was set to hit the silver screen in the third quarter of this year, but the third installment of the “The Matrix” and the December release of another Affleck film pushed back the “Jersey Girl” debut to March 19.
Romeo and Emily Dixon, owners of Romeo’s Records on North Delaware Street, said they doubted that curiosity about the movie would fade because the couple split up.
“People could care less,” Romeo Dixon said. “It’s Hollywood.”
Emily Dixon added that Christmas music thought to be featured in “Jersey Girl” prompted a holiday harmony buying spree when a rush of people flocked to the two-square-mile town during filming. She said a display window featuring “nothing but Jennifer Lopez” helped J.Lo’s albums fly off the shelves.
“Everybody wants to see the movie,” Emily Dixon said. “People who know Paulsboro were like, ‘I was there.’ ”
Despite the flop earlier this summer of “Gigli,” a film which also stars Affleck and Lopez, Judy MacKenzie, Paulsboro Chamber of Commerce member, said the release of the highly anticipated “Jersey Girl” will cause a local frenzy. She said the following for Director Kevin Smith will bring masses of people to see the buildings, streets, and Tinicum Lighthouse used as movie backdrops.
“I really think there’ll be the ‘Kevin Smith Jersey Girl tour,’ ” MacKenzie said. “That’ll bring hundreds of people to this town … All of that is just a positive for us.”
You can also find this piece online at NJ.com.
View Askew NewsBites™
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- The latest issue of Simpsons Comics (#86, out today) features a few neat Askew gags. First off, Springfield’s Aztec Theater hosts a film festival and at one point we see Apu and his wife watching a black and white film:
Manjula: Apu, have you ever seen “Clerks” before?
Apu: Seen it? I was the creative consultant!
(Onscreen is a rendering of Dante, hair seemingly patterned after the TAS version, saying, “Thank you, come again!”)
Panel 3:
Apu: The director liked me so much, he based a later film on me. The studio made a few changes in the final cut.
(Apu brandishes a “Chasing Apu” poster that features a close up of him, a la Joey Adams.)
If anyone’s got some scans, send ‘em on, we’d love to post them.
- Quite possibly a Mallrats reference tucked into the latest Buffy The Vampire Slayer game (Chaos Bleeds) for the home consoles: One of the levels take place in an abandoned mall full of store fronts, one of which is called “Buy Me Toys”.
- Here’s a quick quote from a Seann William Scott interview in the latest “Maxim”:
Seann: It’s hard to do a comedy and play an intelligent guy. It’s always about some guy who’s not too bright and has to get himself out of a big mess. But I really don’t think my characters in Old School or Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back were doofuses. They were more like eccentric weirdos.
- Clerks plays the midnight show on 9/19, 9/20, and 9/25 at Chicago’s famous Brew & View Theater. Be there with your carefully laminated copies of the Clerks Drinking Game in hand.
- View Askew alum Joey Lauren Adams has a new thriller/drama on the way, titled “A Promise Kept” (also starring Sean Patrick Flanery and Mimi Rogers). The film will be screening on the 22nd of this month at the Angelika Theater in Dallas. Screening time will be 7:00 PM. Tickets are $8 and available online to purchase 3 days in advance of the screening. Visit the official website for the film for more info.
- And finally today, thanks to Salon.com’s gossip column “The Fix” for the site credit and link in their latest blurb, which lifted Kev’s quote regarding Ben & Jen’s “breakup” that appeared here over the weekend. ‘Til next we meet…
Kev On Stash Bash, Brodie, & More!
- Kevin chats us up on another possible weeks’ delay for Stash Bash 2, the creation of the Brodie dixie cup inaction figure, release schedules, more Nuart screenings, and more:
We’re still working through all the essays. Results announced next week, probably.
I’m shooting another Panasonic commercial this week, Thursday and Friday, this time for the Panasonic DVD Recorder. The difference this time out is that I’m not only directing the spot, I’m in it too. I’ll throw it up here as soon as it’s done.
For those in L.A. – looks like we’ll be doing another midnight screening/Q&A at the NuArt in November. The Cannes cut of “Dogma” will screen the Friday after Thanksgiving.
You’ve seen the Dixie Cup Brodie figure already. Pretty cool. For the youngster who asked about doing the interchangeable hands: good idea. Wish I’d thought of it. Sadly, all the Brodie figs holding the comic were done months back (cast, painted, carded) and are on their way back from China as we speak, and the Con exclusive. In order to include a Dixie Cup hand with each, we’d have to send all the figs back, trash all the packaging, alter each figure by hand to make the appendages interchangeable, re-card and package the figs, and send them back here for distribution – all of which would be cost-prohibitive unless we double the price of the figure (not to mention defeat the purpose of the “Inaction” figure). I wish we’d thought of doing the Dixie Cup from the get-go, but we weren’t that clever, apparently. In fact, it wasn’t until Brad and Chris started lobbying for the Dixie Cup Brodie that it occurred to me that THAT would’ve been the ideal Brodie figure. Happily, the Dallas Wizard Con came up, which afforded us the opportunity to do a small run of Dixie Cup variants to at least somewhat rectify our error (besides – it felt too early to roll out the Golgothan, the original choice for the Con exclusive).
Anyway, don’t know why I’m over-explaining this. But when I read the kid’s post, I was like “Yeah – why didn’t we do that?” So I guess this post is more me thinking aloud than anything else. Sorry.
[On the Dogma Inaction Figures]: “As for when they’ll be released, we’re doing two waves a year. So six months from the “Rats” figs release, the “Dogma” Inaction figs will come out. “
Normally Kevin wouldn’t bring up a date change without it being pretty close to true, so expect that October 12th date to probably become official this week. Hopefully that doesn’t mess with too many schedules. We’ll let you know when we hear more.
And can we say again: Dixie Cup Brodie! Yes!!!!
More news later, we assure you.
“Fill This Up With Coke, No Ice.”
- So who thought that wishful thinking was pointless? Since the Mallrats line of inaction figures were announced, we’ve been lamenting the fact that Brodie’s character wasn’t holding his famous dixie cup (check the archives, really)! Well, from this photo, courtesy Wizard Universe, it looks like our wish has come true!
That’s right, it looks like the figure planned for an exclusive run in WizardWorld Texas is Dixie Cup Brodie! Obviously this shot is of a work in progress, but check out the coolness already! We’re stoked. Kevin recently stated that this was the plan, contingent on if View Askew is going to have a presence at the show. It seems pretty official that at the very least, Graphitti Designs will be there selling this figure. As always, there will be a limited supply, and once they’re done, they break the mold, so you wanna get your Brodie while ya can.
Wizard World Texas happens from November 21-23rd, so they’ve got plenty of time to get Brodie all painted and produced for the show. We seriously hope this one becomes a reality, as this is the Brodie we’ve always wanted! Click the pic for a larger view of Brodie in all his dixie-cup holdin’ glory.
Kevin @ The Key Art Awards!
- Kevin had the honor of presenting the award for ‘Movie Marketing on the Internet’ at the 32nd Annual Key Art Awards which originally took place on June 20, 003. Over at the View Askew site , you can watch the clip as Kevin takes a few digs at himself and at Tim Burton in his 5 and a half minute presentation speech. Enjoy!
RSVP Contest Ends This Month!
- Just a polite reminder to you all – The RSVP “Killer Trivia” contest runs through the end of September. So, if you haven’t entered yet, you’ve still got time to go buy or rent yourself a copy of RSVP on VHS or DVD, answer our 5 questions, and win yourself some VERY cool prizes, including the grand-daddy of them all, Jay Mewes’ actual screen-worn outfit from the film! There’s also signed posters, DVDs, and more. And trust us when we say this: We’ve gotten some entires, but you have a FANTASTIC chance of winning a prize if you get in on this now. So don’t delay, and don’t think you can’t win — If there was ever a contest to enter with a great chance of victory, this is the one! Click HERE or on the RSVP trivia logo at the top of the page to learn more.
View Askew NewsBites™
- It’s official – Stash Bash 2 will be held a week later than originally planned, on October 5th. Coincidentally, this happens to be the same weekend as the Red Bank Film Festival, so come in early and make a weekend of it! See ya there.
- Kevin shared a couple of never before seen photos from his famous “Dogma” protest at the View Askew WWWBoard. The top one is a gem, as you can see what Kevin and Bryan Johnson’s signs read as they protested the film.
- “Clerks” will be shown as a part of Midnight Movies at the Bijou on September 27th at the University of Iowa. Details are HERE!
- The screenings continue! The Beverley Cinema in Champaign, IL will be showing Mallrats on October 3rd and 4th as part of their annual rerun film series (four shows total, it would seem).
- There’s a fun nod to “Clerks” in the new paperback “The Last World War” by Dayton Ward. In Chapter 15, a TV reporter and his camera operator featured in the plot make a stop at a convenience store run by a couple of familiar-sounding dudes named Brian and Jeff. It’s a funny homage written by a guy who obviously is a Smith fan. The whole book, a science-fiction/modern military novel, is worth checking out, but fans will dig this particular scene.
- The evil, addictive online Hollywood Stock Exchange game has started trading Ranger Danger stock! Talk about advanced availability.
- And last, but certainly not least, the gang at IO Comics today again shows what HUGE View Askew fans they are in the latest installent. Let’s hope these guys entered the essay contest. We’ll see ya next time!





