…And indie imp-guru Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) notes, “There is a Panasonic camera, the 100, that gives a picture that’s about as good-looking as 16-mm or 35-mm film. The kids today who are making their do-it-yourself features are doing it with high-definition video. If I was shooting Clerks today, I’d probably use that camera.”

Smith wanted to use a digital camera for Clerks II, the sequel to his 1994 debut hit, but his director of photography didn’t feel comfortable with the process. “A lot of directors and directors of photography are resistant to put down what they’re familiar with,” Smith says. Besides the shock of the new, there’s the love of the old. “Most people in film have a great affection for film stock, for the medium. And they feel that moving in a digital direction is kind of leaving their history behind. It’s more sentimental than anything else.”

…

Finally, film degenerates, the way a vinyl record does under a stylus or a videocassette does with frequent use. “With film you have degradation problems,” Smith says, “where the stock starts breaking down. Frames get lost when they cut reels together.” The digital look will stay fresh for the life of the theatrical run.

…

Some blame the shrinking theater audience on the narrowing gap between a movie’s premiere in theaters and its debut in video stores–from six months a few years ago to about four months or less today. “With the window getting smaller and smaller,” says Smith, “people don’t want to leave the house. The audience is being trained that they don’t have to run out to the theater to see something.” For many viewers, especially adults, the kids who see the big blockbusters and the critics who review the little indie films have essentially become focus groups that help them decide whether they should see a movie–when it comes out on DVD.

The genius of late 20th century entrepreneurism was to get people to pay a lot for things they were used to getting cheap (coffee) or free (water). A quarter-century ago, Hollywood made most of its money from showing films in theaters. Now the biggest bucks come from DVDs and pay TV. Producers also got something for nothing by packaging recent and old TV shows for the DVD market. All those revenue streams give folks more reasons to stay home, encased in their all-media cocoons, in some cases chained to the desktop deity that can never get enough attention. Just as the computer helps them do many things that used to take them out–work, shopping, buying books, renting movies–so will it soon allow them to download movies to watch on it. As Smith notes, “It’s tough to cram three or four people in front of a computer to watch something. But no doubt Steve Jobs is working on this.”

…

Whatever is lost on the smaller screen, DVD has become, in Smith’s words, “historically the final record of your movie. That’s the one people watch over and over.” Rodriguez has said that the “real versions” of his movies are the extended, unrated ones on DVD.

www.VAChat.net Presents:

What: The Vulgarthon Kick Off Party and RAINN Benefit
Where: Upstairs at Ashes Steakhouse and Cigar Club
When: Tuesday May 30
Time: Upstairs room opens at 6PM with wait staff for dinner.
Party starts at 8PM with Live Band starting at 8:30 PM.
What Live Band?: The Band is Fabulous Johnson featuring the board’s very own Roger on Drums and Vocals. Plus 70’s and 80’s Dance music between Band Sets!
How Much?: $5 per Person Cover Charge (explained below), Cash Bar

The Party to kick off an awesome week and support a great cause!
Ashes is located 3 doors down from Jay And Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank.

OK, the deal is I need to have a certain amount of people confirmed as attendees by April 15th, to lock in the band and venue. I encourage all interested attendees to pay ahead of time via PayPal. Therefore, the price of $5 will be for advance tickets and the price will jump to $7.50 April 16.

If you want tickets, PayPal $5 to vachat@comcast.net. Or use the “Make A Donation” Button at the bottom of www.vachat.net.
Virtual Checks and Credit Cards accepted!
Be sure to include your board name and real name in the PayPal message.

Any Other Questions? PM or e-mail me at roger@vachat.net

Kevin Smith, in his trademark shorts, and wife Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, in her little black dress, celebrate the eighth anniversary of their first date at the Independent Spirit Awards. Smith told this year’s horrified Spirits audience he “got lucky” with Jennifer eight years earlier at the show, when he won his “Chasing Amy” Spirit award. May we add he’s still lucky. How many guys have a wife so hot they get to shoot her for Playboy?

And just as it becomes clear, it gets mucky again…

“Clerks II” may not be one of the Weinstein Co. flicks that wind up in one of the MGM slots, because MGM is a signatory of the MPAA – which means that “Clerks II” going through MGM would require an R rating, and that’s not gonna happen. So unless the flick’s somehow allowed to go out unrated through MGM, it’s not likely that we’ll occupy one of the aforementioned slots after all.

11:30-11:55pm: Old school rap video’s play. It’s a TV show circa 1984/1985 featuring Run DMC, Jam Master Jay, Kool Moe D and more.

11:55pm: John Pierson speaks briefly and introduces the first 5 minutes of a documentary named “Jam”, about Roller Derby. The film is about over-the-hill 50 somethings addicted to Roller Derby. It was truely hilarious stuff! The World Premiere is at SXSW this week, and John urges everyone to go see it. I highly recommend it, from the 5 minutes I saw.

12:00am: We see a 5 minute short named “Directions Guy”. Unfortunately, there are no words that can do this clip justice. It’s a guy giving ridiculously complicated directions. Yep, that’s what it is. Great ending though! I hope we see this again, perhaps at Vulgarthon.

12:05am: Kevin takes the stage. Someone asks if Jason Lee is truely a Scientologist. Yes he is, and Ethan Suplee has been a life-long Scientologist, but neither of them EVER try to push their beliefs on anyone.

Someone asked if Kevin can do the “Two Step” from House Party. Alas, Kevin cannot, but Jason Mewes and his friend Mustard apparently have it down.

Clerks: Sell Out will definitely be the title of the animated flick, and it definitely will be made. It will use Powerhouse Animation. The plot was confirmed as being about 2 guys (Dante and Randal) who work at a convenience store and make a film about it.

We learn that George Clooney would have been Kevin’s ideal Green Hornet, although Jake Gyllenhall would be good too.

Kevin’s work on The Southland Tales was filmed in 5 hours on one night, but was still a pretty major role. Apparently, all his scenes will feature Janeane Garofalo, although she was not at the shoot. Kevin does share scenes with The Rock, and also Moonlighting’s Curtis Armstrong.

When asked about “Poopie Trim”, Kevin said that Ethan had given him a heads up. He told Kevin “You HAVE to watch this week”, to which Kevin responded “Why, do you say “Poopie Trim” or something”?.

Kevin doubts the live action Clerks sitcom pilot will ever see the light of day, although a scene from it WILL be featured in an upcoming “Train Wreck”! Now THAT is something to look forward to!

1:00am: Kevin screens for the first time the Clerks II teaser trailer. The trailer was fantastic, and although it contains a couple of spoilers for those who want to go it cold, it doesn’t touch on the films major plot, or the films most memorable scene.There is a great “Jersey Girl” joke in the trailer, which the studio wanted to do, but had to wait for Kevin to suggest it. The trailer was approved by the MPAA, but Clerks II has not yet been submitted. I actually ran into Kevin at Los Angeles airport later that morning and spoke about Clerks II’s rating. I am convinced it will get an R, and although Kevin doesn’t think it will, he actually hopes it does.

1:05am: House Party!!

Since I live just a few blocks from the set of Clerks II (opening August 18th, 2006), I thought I would share this. This is (was) the filming set of the fast food joint, Mooby’s, where a majority of the film takes place. In the film, Mooby’s is set in New Jersey, but was actually filmed in Buena Park, California. Near Knott’s Berry Farm.

This was originally a Burger King which I occasionally visited. It wasn’t a very good Burger King – kind of run down and the food was so-so. After it closed down, it wasn’t much of a surprise that it would be demolished. Little did I know that it would be the future set of Clerks II before it’s demise. I was lucky enough to see the transformation into Mooby’s take place prior to the October 2005 filming, which was pretty cool.

I drove by the location everyday on my way to pick up my son from preschool. Always checking for signs of the impending demolition. On Friday March 3, 2006, there was a bull dozer in the now defunct Mooby’s parking lot – not good. Monday 6, 2006, it was gone.

Sunday March 5, 2006. Aware of what was about to happen, I took some pictures of the dilapidated building.

It’s kind of sad to see it that it’s gone now.

Earl Hickey, Meet Stewie Griffin

‘Earl’ DVD to feature mini-episode with ‘Family Guy’ character

LOS ANGELES — Imagine for a moment a TV world in which Earl Hickey, after winning his $100,000 and getting run over by a car, doesn’t see Carson Daly talking about karma from his hospital bed.

Imagine, instead, that he instead took a life lesson from … Stewie Griffin.

Or, save yourself some imaginative effort and just wait until the first season of “My Name Is Earl” is released on DVD sometime later this year. Because then you’ll find out.

Greg Garcia, creator of the hit NBC comedy, unveiled plans for the show’s first-season DVD set Tuesday night (March 7) to the audience at the Museum of Television & Radio’s annual Paley Festival. He says it should be released before the show’s second season begins in the fall, and it will contain a fair number of bells and whistles including commentary tracks and selections from “hours and hours” of gag-reel footage cast and crew have accumulated this year.

“We’re actually doing 15-minute mini-episode [that asks] what if Earl [Jason Lee] passed by Carson Daly and landed on Stewie from ‘Family Guy,’” Garcia says. Garcia is a former producer on “Family Guy,” and both it and “Earl” are produced by 20th Century Fox TV.

Lee and Garcia also discussed the origins of television’s most famous facial hair since the heyday of “Magnum, P.I.” Garcia says that NBC initially was hesitant about having a mustachioed Earl, “but Jason said, ‘Trust me, I look funny with facial hair.’”

The network did, however, convince Lee to trim the ‘stache back a little bit. “I originally went for a fu manchu, but NBC said no. I guess it made me look a little bit too trashy,” he says. “So we sort of shaved off the chu and left the fu man.”

“My Name Is Earl” is in the homestretch of production for this season, with three episodes and part of a fourth left to shoot. Garcia says in the season finale, we’ll find out the No. 1 item on Earl’s karmic to-do list, which was the misdeed he performed just before he won the lottery.

Other upcoming episodes include two that were screened for the audience Tuesday: one in which Earl and Randy (Ethan Suplee) try to make up for all the bad Mother’s Days they’ve given their mom (Nancy Linehan and Beau Bridges reprise their roles as Earl’s parents) and a flashback-heavy episode that shows how Earl, Randy, Joy (Jaime Pressly) and Darnell (Eddie Steeples) lived through Y2K.

I shot the menus for “Evening Harder” yesterday.

Those who recall the “Evening With” menus will remember me coming out, waiting impatiently for the viewer to choose “Play” or whatever. We’re doing that again, though with British and Canadian flavors (i.e. – you’ll see me with hockey stick and gloves in/on hand; on roller blades, no less).

When I ask Rosario about her childhood, she starts at the beginning–right at conception.

“I was conceived on Avenue X in Brooklyn with a prison condom that broke,” she says (a prison condom being a condom they give you when you leave prison, just to clarify). “My mom was ready to get an abortion. She was at the clinic, had an appointment. And then she says she felt me move, and she fell in love with me right then. But I was just a speck, so it wasn’t me moving. It was probably gas.”

Okay, but what about after that? What about her life growing up?

Also not so ordinary. Dawson–a mix of Puerto Rican, Native American, Cuban, African-American, and Irish–grew up in a squat on the Lower East Side. When the family moved in, there was no electricity, no water, a hole in the floor, and a crack house across the street. Her mom was sixteen when Rosario was born and kept her in line with an interesting discipline technique: licking. “She’d lick me right across my cheek like a cougar. And it was just so humiliating.”

You can find the full Rosario article in the April 2006 issue of Esquire.

12. The Girl who ‘Lights up a Room’: Of the dozens (hundreds?) of evaluations that have been conducted over the years be it for Playboy, or the Intern Beauty Pageants this one from 1997 stands out. Judges Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes and AJ Benza had to hand down the bad news to an aspiring actress who thought she lit up a room. Not only did she not light up a room, Howard recommended that she go light up a cigarette.