• It came up so quickly! Yes, folks, in just 5 short days Vulgarthon returns to its roots in the place where it all started: Red Bank, New Jersey. We’ll of course be on hand to cover the festivities, and look forward to meeting and re-meeting with you all. Details on the fest remain secretive, though you can be sure that many of the stars and filmmakers of the features playing the festival will be on hand for meet and greets, autographs, photos, and the always entertaining Q&A sessions. We’ll have a quick primer and some do’s and don’ts to go by on the site early next week, which may be especially useful to those of you attending your first ‘thon. We’re excited yet again to be a part of this one, and look forward to a fantastic event. Until then, have a great holiday weekend, and watch News Askew for the latest news all weekend long, and, of course, the latest Vulgarthon information as the event closes in on us.

“Clerks 2 At Cannes 2006”

• The famous Clerks 2 video blog series “Train Wreck” begins a run from Cannes, France with today’s edition — Take a peek at what the world famous festival looks like as Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier introduce this series. Clerks 2 is mere hours away from screening tonight at the festival, so we’re obviously looking forward to hearing stories of the audience’s reaction (audiences at the festival are known for their quite vocal responses to flicks that screen there on many occasions). Stay tuned, and, for now, check out Clerks 2 At Cannes 2006 exclusively at the official Clerks 2 website! And of course keep it here at News Askew this weekend, and we’ll let you know how that Cannes screening went tonight.

• Kevin’s interviewed by Canadian channel CBC’s “The Hour” and they’ve been kind enough to post both clips of his appearances in streaming formats on the web, so they can be viewed by the world. The clippage appears in two segments, both in streaming Windows Media and Quicktime formats. Both clips kick off with a nicely summarized biography of the man, then move to some brand new interview footage filmed on the steps of the west coast production offices, focusing on Clerks II, but covering Mewes, living in your 30’s, and more. Clip 2 concludes the rest of the conversation with Kevin with topics such as working in Hollywood, Jersey Girl, and more. Direct links straight ahead:

The clips run around 6 minutes each. Enjoy!

• As many of you know, “Snakes On A Plane” is fast becoming a crazy breakout hit on the internet, with folks already anticipating its cheeze factor when it hits theaters later this summer. And thus, it was inevitable that Clerks II would somehow get worked into a “Snakes” spoof, especially considering we once shared a release date with this Sam Jackson-starrer. So, without further delay, YouTube brings you the first of what we guess could be many more…“Clerks II On A Plane”.
• SCREENING CHANCE! Mallrats will be playing at Midnight on Friday and Sat night (26th and 27th) at the Drexel Gateway Theatre in Columbus OH. Tickets are $5. This is certain to be a blast of a show — If you’re in the area, stop in and watch one of the true View Askew classics with a crowd on the big screen.
• Watch Bravo Canada for a profile on Malcolm Ingram and his film “Small Town, Gay Bar” (screening at Vulgarthon next week). The story will air on “Arts&Minds” across Canada on Bravo! on Saturday June 3rd at 6:00pm and Sunday June 4th at 7:00pm. If anyone’s kind enough to vidcap this for us, we’ll be happy to run it here at the site for your viewing pleasure, as well.
• And finally today, here’s a photo of some graphitti that must have been inspired by a true View Askew fan. See ya next time!