Archive for April 7th, 2006

Clerks II – Distributed By MGM???

April 7th @ 3:57 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Kevin Smith, Richard Minter

  • MGM recently listed Clerks II in a March press release regarding their upcoming releases, sparking quite a bit of debate considering the fact that we’d assumed it’s have The Weinstein Company banner in front — Especially given the fact that we’re wondering if MGM would even be willing to fly with the unrated release. We were WAITING to see what the controversy would be with this one! Could this be it!?!?! Kevin’s got more:

Clerks II – Distributed By MGM???
The interesting wrinkle in all of this has been MGM.

Weinstein Co. made a deal with MGM to distribute some of their titles through the studio, recently acquired by Sony. Problem is, MGM being an MPAA signatory, that would require all of the Weinstein Co. flicks to be “R” rated at their hardest. For months now, we’ve been talking about (with Harvey Weinstein’s blessing, naturally) going out with “Clerks II” unrated.

So even though “Clerks II” was one of the titles MGM announced it was distributing with the Weinstein deal, the uncertainty of our rating has left the issue up in the air, as far as Scott and I were concerned.

Nevertheless, we’ve now been instructed to include an MGM logo on the exclusive online trailer… even though we don’t know whether or not MGM will ultimately distribute it.

Ah, the ever-changing movie biz…

It’s not like we don’t want to be distributed by MGM; Lord knows they’ll be able to get us into a bunch of theaters as well as secure a big pay cable fee for the flick when the times comes, which makes the Weinstein Company very happy (remember, folks: called it’s show BUSINESS). There’s also a bit of perverse joy in seeing the Lion that roared in front of Dorothy and the Tin Man do the same in front of our dirty little flick. However, if it means we’ve gotta cut the guts out of our movie to secure an “R”, the whole thing is a lot less appetizing for me – regardless of how much more money there is to make.

So what it all comes down to is the MPAA screening of the flick, come mid-May. If, in a perfect world, they hand “Clerks II” an “R” rating, with zero cuts necessary, all’s well that ends well. But if the MPAA slaps us with an NC-17… well, things could get dicey.

Filed in: Clerks II, News

Don’t Miss “Me And My Shadow”!

April 7th @ 3:57 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Kevin’s continuing to pump out what has to be one of the most compelling online blogs EVER, the story of his relationship with Jason Mewes, FREE of charge via his Myspace blog and “Boring-Ass Life” site. If you’re not reading, get started, as all parts are available, and each section grows more compelling, heartbreaking, and enlightening than the last. A true tale of additiction, redemption, and true friendship, this is some fantastic storytelling from one of the best writers in the business today. Do NOT miss “Me and My Shadow”, now playing at Kevin Smith’s blogs. ONLY online.

Filed in: News

Clerks II Logo DECIPHERED!

April 7th @ 3:57 am | No Comments » | Scooped by John Lovegrove

  • We’d like to congratulate John (The Kiwi) and his pals over at the View Askew Board on doing the legwork to determine exactly which fast food chain letters made up that distinctive new “Clerks II” logo. It took around 24 hours, but here’s the final list:

C from Carls Jr, L from McDonalds Large Fries, E from Burger King’s Whopper, R from Burger King, K from KFC and S from Popeyes.

The logo you see above was made by John himself, from the letters from the actual company logos (not a copy!). Nice detective work, all.

Filed in: Clerks II, News

View Askew NewsBites™

April 7th @ 3:56 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Whitney, Lo Evans, Mike Heyes, Mike Shirley, Jesse L, Roger

  • Kevin chats with “Atlantic City Weekly” for a new interview promoting his upcoming April 10th Q&A at Stockton. Here’s a highlight:
KS: “I visited Stockton back in late 1988-89, when a friend of mine was going there. I went down there and hung out at a campus party. It was a cool campus. It was during a time when I was wondering if I should go to college or not. It was also at a time when I was using a lot of weed. My girlfriend and I broke up and I spent the summer [after high school] just getting stoned. I went to Stockton to visit Paige and she said, ‘You’re not funny anymore ever since you started smoking weed.’ That’s when I stopped. A Stockton student set me straight.”
  • There’s a nice grade and writeup for Kevin and Jay’s upcoming Degrassi conclusion, “Lexicon of Love I/II”, in Entertainment Weekly from this week (Howard Stern’s on the cover). Those of us in the U.S. get the episodes first tonight at 8 PM EST on “The N”.
  • Those of you intrigued by the concept since the Dante & Randal short might find “The History of the Flying Car” at AOL Autos a fun read.
  • Here’s an interesting one from the UK: The flick “Southland Tales” (in which Kevin appears in a small role) has been given a release date of September 15, 2006. No UK date for Clerks II has yet been announced. As for a US release of “Tales”, same deal — No date, though it likely will be September 15th or before, given this news.

  • Everyone’s favorite “Buddy” appears in the new Wizard (#175). See that scan? There ya go.
  • Congrats to former MoviePoopShoot.com editor Chris Ryall on being nominated for a 2006 Eisner Award (Best Short Story).
  • Finally today, a reminder that there’s a big party happening to kick off the Red Bank Vulgarthon next month. If they get 100 paid attendees by April 15th, one board member will donate $100 directly to RAINN and another will donate $50 directly to RAINN. Learn about the new challenge to fill up registrations HERE. If you want more info on the party itself, check it HERE. We remind you this is not a View Askew-run event, but sounds like a fine time all the same, and a great way to meet some fans before you hafta pick your seats the next day!

Filed in: News