“The 360 Shot (Part 1)”

• Kevin is back from his triumphant appearance at last weekend’s WonderCon with an all-new behind the scenes clip form Clerks 2. In this clip you will see how much time and effort goes into a single 360 degree shot in a pivotal scene from the film. Click HERE and enjoy!

• Did you miss Kevin’s appearance Friday on the Alice Morning Show? Never fear, our old friend Will Wilkins from Radio Askew was nice enough to post the show in it’s entirety right HERE! And speaking of Radio Askew, make sure you get over there and check out this week’s all new podcast.
• The first full-length on-screen reunion of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck since DOGMA is quickly taking shape. They will team up as two Philadelphia lawyers fighting to keep one man off of death row. Yahoo has all the details:

• In other Affleck movie news, It looks like his upcoming George Reeves biopic “Truth, Justice and the American Way” has undergone a name change. Now entitled “Hollywoodland”, the film follows the rise and the untimely, some say suspicious, fall of television’s first Superman.

• Finally today, we think we finally have solid proof of Randal’s flying car thanks to this LINK from the Radiohead site ateaseweb.com!

“Skid Marks”

• Here’s what Kevin has to say about the big 20th entry in the Clerks 2 “Train Wreck” web-doc series:

Don’t worry though, these aren’t the kind of “spoilers” you need to be afraid of. Watch away as the guys speed around the go-kart track with glee, filming a memorable, poignant scene you’ll see in Clerks 2.

• Kevin’s on a small appearance circuit now, telling tales new and old to audiences far and wide, some of which tie directly into experiences working on “Clerks 2”. He’s recently made two stops in Canada. One of those, Calgary, has been reviewed at CalgaryMovies.com, with very positive things to say. Due to curfew rules, it seems only 7 or 8 actual questions got asked, but it sounds like they made the most out of the evening. A snippet:

Wonderful photos and the full review right HERE.

• This one’s news to us (dunno how we missed it), but the View Askew production “Reel Paradise” will hit DVD in less than a week – February 14, 2006! Had we known this was arriving so soon, we’d have tried to snag an advance copy and get a review up for you. Luckily, the always thorough DVDTalk has their own review of the acclaimed documentary up for your reading pleasure. Doesn’t look like a project Kevin or Scott got involved with as far as the disc goes, though. Here’s what they list for extras, in addition to the film itself:

Unfortunately, we were unable to make it up to the NYC premiere of “Reel Paradise”, so we’ll be watching it for the first time along with the rest of you. We look forward to it, and recommend you pick it up in stores next week. Tell your sweetheart you’ll take it in lieu of flowers and chocolates and stuff.

• AOL Movies has posted a the behind-the-scenes featurette on the CGI animated “Doogal” flick, the UK import for which Kevin provides a voice. In the short, we learn Kevin performs the voice of the moose.
• A movie theater called Xenix (located in Zurich, Switzerland) is showing CLERKS once again. A year ago, they were showing a ton of Askewniverse flicks. The theater is known for having actual sofas where you can sit in comfort to watch flicks. Clerks is on the program from February 23rd through March 1st. Full schedule HERE. Could be a fun diversion if you live in the area or plan to visit.
• Kevin appeared on VH1’s “Best Week Ever” program last Friday. He was at Sundance where David Wain was showing his film to many people, Kevin being one of them. As always, Kevin had some funny things to say. You may be able to catch a replay sometime this week.
• Those of you looking for those cuddly little Jay & Silent Bob bears can order them as a set (along with some other fun movie bears from Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction). Pricey at 80 bucks, though.
• The very Clerks-ish “Waiting” hits DVD this week, and on the “Making-Of” on disc one, director Rob McKittrick credits Kevin as his “inspiration”.
• Kevin’s self-proclaimed “biggest fan” in Edmonton, Alberta blogs about his experience meeting Kevin at his recent Canadian appearance. The Edmonton Sun reportedly said that Kevin can do a stand-up comedy gig if he ever got tired of doing movies, and scored his appearance a healthy 4 out of 5 stars.
• Kevin gets a positive mention from Matt Singer of the Village Voice in a capsule review of a flick called “Film Geek”.
• Brad’s getting some warm vacation sun for the next few days…So send all those updates and scoops to the scoops box or directly to Chris ’til next week! Catch ya next time.

• For a flick that’s not coming out until the end of this summer, USA Today gives “Clerks 2” some wonderful press today, with one one but TWO great stories in their Movies section today. Summaries, highlights, and links to the complete articles dead ahead. We will say, some minor plot-point spoilers do show up in these articles. Nothing that will ruin jokes, but certainly a bit of background information that we haven’t seen made public before. Read at your own risk, but don’t worry too much about it. These also appeared in actual PRINT today in the paper, not just on the website:

‘Clerks II’: Growth and gross-outs

“”I wanted to see what happened to the characters when they lost their center point,” Smith says, sitting on the creaky merry-go-round outside the restaurant building they’ve co-opted for the shoot. “It opened up a world for Dante. He met somebody, fell in love and got engaged, then he met somebody else (the restaurant manager, played by Rosario Dawson). He reacted well to the outside world, while Randal just got more closed up and scared and angrier.

“The whole flick comes down to whether or not the two of them can reach a compromise of some sort,” Smith adds. “It really comes down to the choice a friend makes for another friend.”
Sequel or sellout? Smith feels heat

“”I never want to taint the original,” Smith says. “But that’s not a reason not to tell this story, just because you’re afraid of the potential reaction.”

The sequel, he promises, is not a “money grab” after the poor response to his Jersey Girl. He says it’s a chance to catch up with some characters who used to be like him, and further explore their non-lives.

Among those who are nervous about it were the two stars, Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson — two local Jersey guys plucked from obscurity by Clerks who are hoping not to fade back to obscurity this time. “You’re touching a film that is beloved by a rabid following. I was excited about the sequel, but at the same time I was like, ‘I hope we can do it right,’ ” O’Halloran says.

Offbeat original shattered barriers

“Smith says Clerks “said something about a certain time in American culture, when there were a lot of kids coming out of college and not getting jobs, overeducated and underemployed, with a sense of entitlement.” Now finishing Clerks II, he says, “these are those same kids, 10 years later. Not all of them found their place in the world.”

Congraulations to Kevin and the Clerks 2 team on some excellent press for the film today — Let’s hope they have some ink left for us in August, as well. If that “unrated” plan goes through, something tells us that they will…

• A new horror flick with Mewes is on the way, according to Empire Online:

First we’ve heard of this one, so we’ll keep watch on it for ya!

• We mentioned this a while back, but since it’s airing February 10th, just a reminder – The brilliant Arrested Development airs its premature season (probably series) finale on that date, and steals a device invented by Clerks: The Cartoon many years back. In the episode, George Sr.’s new attorney gets the Bluths to take part in a mock trial to prepare for the real thing. Judge Reinhold, launching a new courtroom show, presides over the faux proceedings. Buster, meanwhile, fakes a coma to avoid testifying.

• After a software bug disaster claimed a lot of our archive data here at News Askew when the New Year kicked in, we have been able to restore most of it through the magic of backups and programming — We’ve got all but the last few days of 2005’s news restored (sadly, the year-end wrapup we worked on for quite a while has gone into the nether). We’ll be manually re-entering news from May 2005 through the end of that year shortly, as well. So, feel free to use the Archive search again, as results should now be MUCH better than you’ve been seeing. As always, if you notice any odd behavior with the website before we do, please drop us a line so we can get it fixed up for ya. And now, the pre-Superbowl news…

• In less than two weeks, Kevin will appear for another of his famous Q&A sessions — This time, for the FIRST time, in St. Cloud, Minnesota! The St. Cloud State University Program Board has made this a wonderful value, too — Staff and students can come see the show ABSOLUTELY FREE, and non-students can come for the BARGAIN PRICE OF FIVE BUCKS! That’s right, you heard us — Five dollars! At this price, we’ve expecting the event to fill up FAST, so we do highly recommend you pick up your tickets as soon as possible. At this rate, it’s well worth the gas to drive you and a carload of pals in, as well.

And talk about easy ordering — You can order these amazingly cheap tickets directly at SCSUTickets.com.

For more information on the event itself, visit the University’s website. The event kicks off Friday, February 17th, 7:00 PM, at Halenbeck Hall. An entertaining way to spend a cold February Friday, for sure. Much cheaper than going to the movies, even. No reason not to be there.