• Usually we hear about this stuff before the public, however, this could be a BIG inside scoop, so listen up! One of our loyal readers
  last night received an email from Brendan Theaters, located at the way cool Palms Casino/Hotel in LAS VEGAS, announcing that Kevin and other Clerks cast
  members would be on hand, live, this Friday, September 10th, for Q&A and a FREE screening of CLERKS! This is to promote and celebrate the 10th Anniversary
  DVD. Here’s that text:

If we hear different, we’ll let you know. Otherwise, if you’re in the area, BE THERE! As if you needed ANOTHER excuse to go to Vegas! The Palms is easily one
of the coolest casinos to see in Vegas, hell, you might even have a few minutes to make it up to Rain or Ghost Bar after the show (ooooh!) We’ll keep you
posted on this very exciting news. Sounds like some of you better book a vacation day to wait in line this Friday…

• The gang was all there at the grand opening of Secret Stash West yesterday, where Kevin, Scott, Jay, Brian, Jeff, and many other familiar faces staged a marathon meet-and-greet with a huge line of fans, all eager to meet the stars, take some pictures, and get their mitts on the newly-released Clerks X and Jersey Girl DVDs. Kevin stuck around the store for over 9 hours to ensure that every fan waiting in line had a chance to come in, say hello, check out the place, and get their discs signed. The lineup was even longer than anticipated, though we hope all in attendance found it to be worth the wait. The Evening With Kevin Smith 2 DVD crew was even on hand to record new interviews for the upcoming production.

Kevin ushered in the event in the early evening, personally ripping the sign down covering the front door and inviting the first customers inside.

The Shoot’s Antony Teofilo (he of the Jersey Girl writeups on the DVD) was on hand to take some shots and filed a report that you can read now over at MPS. He uses photos with detailed captions to cover some candid moments from throughout the day.

You can find tons of stories and posts from the lucky attendees over at the View Askew Web Board, where we’re sure stories will continue to be spun over the next few days.

Subscribers to WireImage can view photos from the event in high resolution. The rest of us can check out some thumbnails, anyway.

The top batch of photos we have here at News Askew come to us courtesy of The IESB, who have posted the biggest and best gallery of photos from this event anywhere.

Exclusive photos at the end of the batch come to us from Jeff Tucker, who also appears with his wife Rachel in the opening of the Snowball Effect documentary. Special thanks to them! The store looks fantastic, and we certainly look forward to feasting our eyes on the cool props and design in person. Until then, we’ll live viaciously through you all! If you’re in California, make it a mandatory stop, folks.

• An excellent piece on Kevin, Clerks X, and the upcoming Clerks sequel appears at CNN
  today. They’ve conducted a new interview with the man, so we’re got a few new quotes in this piece along with some fresh info. Here’s a few choice passages
  fer ya:

Don’t miss the entire article at CNN!

• View Askew sure does make the rounds in the press these days, with the sequel news and the DVDs flying off shelves, it’s hard to keep up
  with all of this stuff. Nothing but praise comes across the newsdesk today, with more from across the web:

• Box Office Prophets give mad praise to both the products in their report
  today:
  For anyone who has ever seen yet another magazine cover with Jennifer Lopez on it and thought: “DIE!”: Jersey Girl (2004)

  Mostly as a result of the incredible press attention on the relationship with Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Jersey Girl was buried under the weight of the relationship. As a result of their on-screen relationship in the film, neither critics nor audiences could get past the Ben-J. Lo aspect of the film, which is a real shame, particularly considering that it’s actually a pretty good movie. I’ll not attempt to make a case for greatness, few could, but the simple fact that something happening off-screen overshadowed what was happening on-screen, good or bad, is a shame. Jersey Girl is not a perfect movie, but Kevin Smith’s writing, as always, is interesting and the acting performances are pretty outstanding. Yes, even Ben Affleck. As with most View Askew-related releases, the DVD features on this disc are excellent, particularly considering the film’s lukewarm reception. On the disc, you’ll find an audio commentary with writer/director Kevin Smith and Affleck, as well as another one with Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and special guest Jason Mewes. Kevin Smith’s commentary tracks are always first-rate, so the presence of two makes this a worthy buy. Expect extreme candor on his feelings about the film. In addition, you’ll find interviews with cast and crew; Smith’s “Roadside Attractions” segments from the Tonight Show and featurettes. Jersey Girl isn’t the best movie of the year, but it’s certainly underrated.

  For people wondering if there’s ever a time when it’s okay to buy a DVD “special edition” after there’s already been a “special edition”: Clerks (3-Disc Anniversary Edition) (1994)

  Good things about Jersey Girl aside, if you’re only going to buy one View Askew DVD this week, this 10th Anniversary edition of Clerks is the way to go. It’s extremely rare that a “more special edition” of a previously released “special edition” will get my approval, but this is certainly it. Clerks: 10th Anniversary Edition is the DVD Pick of the Week, running away.

  Clerks itself is certainly familiar to many people ten years after originally being released, but as with most of writer/director Kevin Smith’s work, the DVD is an outstanding addition to the legacy of the film. From the original release of Clerks, which included deleted scenes, and a commentary track (featuring a drunk Jason Mewes passing out at the beginning and waking up near the end of the film), Smith’s movies have gotten progressively better treatment on DVD (the medium they end up making most of their money in). Smith, a writer who mostly uses his own personal experiences (and thoughts) as a way of publicly having no inner monologue, went from bored convenience store clerk to $27,000-in-debt filmmaker to, believe it or not, international stardom with the release of the film. Clerks is not particularly impressive technically (a $27,000 budget and no experience will do that for you), but it’s notable, as with most of Smith’s films, for dialogue. There really would be no other way to follow the boring day in the life of two clerks unless they were impressively verbal and willing to express their opinions. Having that gift has become Smith’s meal-ticket, and the subject matter is so close to his heart that he’ll explore it again in a sequel, The Passion of the Clerks, out next year.

  The 10th Anniversary set features literally three different versions of the film, all with separate features. Disc one is basically a re-print of the original DVD release (with original 1995 commentary track referenced above), while disc two features the original cut of the film with an all-new audio commentary featuring Smith, Mewes, producer Scott Mosier, and stars Jeff Anderson and Brian O’Halloran. Also included on discs two and three are deleted scenes; trailers; Jay and Silent Bob’s MTV commercials; outtakes; photo gallery; articles and reviews; the screenplay (via DVD-ROM); a 10th Anniversary Q&A; original Kevin Smith journals; Clerks auditions; and featurettes. It’s an absolutely outstanding set and the DVD Pick of the Week.

• The Augusta Free Press reviews Jersey Girl (the film) and says some very nice stuff.
• And…Straight B’s across the board from Digitally Obsessed on the Jersey Girl DVD,
  who enjoyed the film as well as the release’s multitude of extras.

• The clip from today’s “Extra” (filmed last nite at the new Stash, including an interview with Kev) is online, courtesy of
  NonsenseGraphics. The clip is in AVI format, so most media players should be able to bring it down (of
  course, until you all bring their server down first!).
• Reports are flooding in that the Clerks X DVD set is selling like crazy and is in short supply across the country! Thanks to everyone
  for picking up the disc and making it a BIG seller.
• The Arizona Daily Star gives a small blurb to the Clerks X DVD today.
• Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio will be showing free View Askew films in their student untion every week, starting
  September 15th, Wedensdays at 9:30 PM. It’s going chronologically from “Clerks” to “Jersey Girl” for six weeks:

If it’s like other campuses, we imagine you could just show up and watch the flicks for free, student or no. They’ll likely just project off DVD.

• Comments Kevin made on yesterday’s Kevin & Bean program seem to indicate he’s still very
  much off the table as the director of “Green Hornet”.
• Alright, that’ll finally do it for today. Whew, if this keeps up it’ll be time for the no-doze soon! Thanks for stopping by today,
  folks. Until next time…