- Alright, so sadly we all couldn’t attend the big Mallrats signing event at Stash West (we’re bummed to have missed this one, as we’ve heard it was a total party atmosphere)…Lucky for you, we’ve got a boatload of coverage for you to enjoy today, including photos, audio, reports, and news a’plenty.
Above, you’ll see some exclusive photos from the amazing Albert L. Ortega Photography. Click them all for much more detailed looks, as Mr. Ortega always seems to capture those perfectly unique moments at every gig. We again thank him for his contributions to News Askew, and hope you enjoy his work, which includes photos of the new painting in progress, the in-store DJ, the fans, Harley, and, of course, the wonderful signing panel (a couple faves of ours being Kevin with the pretzels and those groups shots behind the table).
The event turned out a HUGE success, even more amazing was the fact that the gang ran things so well that they got outta there before midnight, which has to be some kind of record. Reports tell us that many fans even double dipped the line, getting their swag taken care of by the main group, then following it up by jumping BACK in line to wait for Jason Lee’s evening arrival. Here’s Kevin’s final thoughts on the day:
Thanks to the Stash staff (Xtian, Bob, Gina, Emile, Dave, Alberto, and the new chick), for taking care of all our guests.
Big thanks to Gail, who kept the line moving, insuring that not only did nobody leave without getting their stuff signed, but insuring, also, that we were all out of there by ten o’clock.
And thanks, especially, to Brian O, Jason L, Ethan S, Jason M, Scotty M, Renee H, and for showing up and signing ’til everyone was taken care of.
It was a big, successful event, kids. We started with a line that wrapped the block, and still managed to get out of there before midnight. Amen.
In lieu of our absence, our dedicated west coast reporter, Mike Lengyel, came to the scene and filed an insightful report of his own, complete with more exlusive photos, which we’ll now present straight ahead:
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THE DAY OF THE ‘RATS
By MIKE LENGYEL
News Askew Writer
LOS ANGELES, California (NA) – September 24, 2005
October 20, 1995. That was the day that MALLRATS, the follow-up to Kevin Smith’s debut indie hit, CLERKS, opened nationwide on 800 screens. Three days later, the film was unapologetically deemed dead on arrival at the box-office. But afterwards, almost seemingly by divine intervention, MALLRATS was resurrected and found its audience, where it was unable to before, on home video. Now nearly ten years later to the date, the film is being celebrated with the release of a 10-year Anniversary Edition DVD from the very same studio that had previously wanted to bury the flick after opening weekend, to being the same studio that has now produced and released not one, but now two DVD editions of the film on the market.
Today though, marks a high point for Smith and company as after nearly a decade, vindication comes full circle. That’s clearly made evident by the hundreds of fans who showed up, some standing in line as early as 2pm Friday (with the festivities actually scheduled at 2pm Saturday mind you), and by the start of the signing had already begun wrapping itself down the block and around Westwood Village.
Smith, joined by fellow cast mates, Jason Mewes, Renee Humphrey, Ethan Suplee, Scott Mosier and later on into the evening, Jason Lee and an un-announced surprise appearance by Brian O’Halloran (who’s currently in-town prepping to shoot the sequel to CLERKS), fans were eager and patient outside, while inside, groups were ushered through at about 20 at a time, with an average of 100 fans getting in and out each hour. Even some other surprise notables were caught stopping by the signing. “Hey wasn’t that Paul Dini and isn’t that MTV’s Andy Milonakis over there?!?!”
(Note the Fliptz bag of chocolate cover pretzels on the table.)
Just as one lucky female fan got her backside signed by Smith, another learned the cold hard truth about purchasing those signed movie posters off E-Bay when he asked Lee to verify his signature on cast signed ALMOST FAMOUS poster he purchased off the site. Lee quickly dismissed the poorly forged signature as a fake, and then proceeded to show him how he actually signs and prints his name on the poster and then adding “the REAL” above his freshly signed, now authentic, autograph.
This was easily by far and large the best possible signing Smith has ever held to date. Backed by nearly the entire ‘RATS cast, Smith also lined up CLERKS TAS and comic artist, Jim Mahfood, to do a live wall painting of the various characters in the View Askewniverse, that fans could watch inside being done as well as groove to some sweet jams being spun live in-store.
It helps that Smith now has a store to call his own out here on the West Coast, which allows him far greater control of how to handle and sponsor such in-store appearances. And because of such, once inside, especially during this signing, one almost feels like they’re at a party hosted by Smith where they can relax, and freely meet and greet cast and crew all without feeling like being ushered in and out all too quickly by store security.
By 9pm, the last in line was in, signed, sealed and delivered, while some attendees chose to leave, others decided to stick around and continue to mingle with the likes of O’Halloran, Smith and his wife, who grooved the night away to the beats and rhymes while Mahfood and company continued to rock the back wall.
In other coverage, Will and Scott at Radio Askew managed to nab an exclusive interview with Kevin during the signing gig. You can check that footage out by clicking here and listening to Episode 5 of Radio Askew! We can’t stress enough how much we think you’ll enjoy this latest episode, with tons of audio coverage from the event, including interviews with folks on the line, Kevin Smith, Renee Humphrey, Ethan Suplee, and Jason Mewes. There’s a surprise Clerks 2 cameo casting revealed, which we’ll respectfully save from mentioning here for a couple days — So listen to their podcast to learn it now! Will and Scott do a fantastic job.
Rosario Dawson, whose performance in ALEXANDER is nothing short of brilliant, has signed on to star in a pair of movies for the new Weinstein Co. First up, Dawson will star in KILLSHOT, the Tarantino-produced flick that co-stars Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Mickey Rourke and Johnny Knoxville. In the film Dawson will play the girlfriend of one of the gangsters pursuing a couple (Lane, Jane) trying to hide in the witness protection program. John Madden (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) will direct the film starting in October. Dawson will then seque into a leading role in Kevin Smith’s PASSION OF THE CLERKS. Her details in that film are a little sketchy but one might assume she’d play a romantic interest for either of our two leads, Dante and Randal. CLERKS is scheduled to begin filming in Los Angeles in January. Dawson can be seen next this December in RENT. But seriously: go get ALEXANDER on DVD. Thank me later.
JOEY FINALLY GETS HIS BIG BREAK, BUT IN TYPICAL JOEY FASHION, IT’S NOT THE NORMAL WAY – Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Alex (Andrea Anders) wake up together and realize what has transpired between them. Joey and his new friend Zach (Miguel Nunez) get into a mess when they steal a director’s dog only in an attempt to return it and win an audition from the director.