Archive for May, 2006

Vulgarthon 2006: TOMORROW!

May 30th @ 7:17 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • The event of the year is HERE! Vulgarthon 2006 brings the event home to Red Bank, New Jersey. We’ll be on hand tomorrow to take in the spectacle, meet and greet, and be your eyes and ears from the event. If technical difficulties don’t hurt us, we’ll be reporting live throughout the day with the latest breaking news, stories, photos and more. So, if you couldn’t score a ticket or make it to the event, be sure and stop by tomorrow. We’ll make ya feel like you’re there with us. Should be a fantastic time.

As always, we’d like to remind the returnees as well as the newcomers that there’s some great tips and tricks to use throughout a ‘Thon. We’ve also scoured the boards and, thanks to some already in town, gathered up details for those of you arriving in tonight or early tomorrow morning as we are. So read on for all you need to know to be prepared:

  • Parking: Parking is at a premium in Red Bank, and there’s only one lot close to the theater — The others are a bit of a hike. The GOOD news is that the lot won’t be full with locals due to it being a workday, and meters need to be fed every four hours. 25 cents per half hour. So, doing the math, from 9-6 (when the meters are checked) it’s going to run you $4.50 in quarters. Come prepared. It’s still cheaper than paying a parking ticket, trust us. Also: The earlier you get there, the easier time you’ll have snagging a spot. If you miss the main lot, Ming’s been kind enough to highlight the other options for you in this nice aerial shot.
  • Cameras & Video: Ming has the complete word – “Still cameras will be allowed into the theater but they may not be used while a movie is playing. Feel free to use them at the post-movie Q&A’s, in the lobby and in the theater between movies.

    Anyone caught taking photos while a movie is playing will be ejected without a refund and all media and cameras will be confiscated. This includes all film, digital and cellphone cameras.

    Video cameras will not be permitted anywhere inside the theater. If you must have one on you please keep it inside a bag or case and do not attempt to bring it out at any time inside the theater. Anyone caught capturing footage while a movie is playing will be ejcted without a refund and all media and cameras will be confiscated. ”

    And yes, folks, this goes for digital cameras that take video, too — Don’t try using it. We’ll be watching. Just enjoy the show, and be sure and take some nice stills of the event to send to us for our coverage!

  • Secret Stash Hours: You need to pick up your tickets at the Stash. The pickup area is located in the back of the store. Here’s the store’s hours this week:

    Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash Hours – May 29th – June 2nd:

    Monday May 29th: 11:00am – 6:00pm
    Tuesday May 30th: 11:00am – 9:00pm
    Wednesday May 31st: 7:30am – 10:30pm*
    Thursday June 1st: 9:00am – 10:00pm*
    Friday June 2nd: 9:00am – 6:00pm
    * May be open later depending on volume of people.

  • What you get in your packet: You’ll find out what theater you’re assigned to, along with a movie schedule, directions/map for Quick Stop/RST Video in Leonardo, armband, and nametag.The movie schedule is AMAZING and as follows:

    Theater One

    10am-12pm Super Secret Movie #1
    12pm-2pm small town gay bar
    2pm-5pm Jersey Girl Extended
    5pm-6:30pm Dinner BreakBig Helium Dog
    6:30pm-8:30pm Super Secret Movie #2
    8:30pm-10:30pm Oh What a Lovely Tea Party

    Theater Two

    10am-12pm small town gay bar
    12pm-2pm Super Secret #1
    2pm-4pm Oh what a lovely tea party
    4pm-5:30pm Dinner BreakBig Helium Dog
    5:30pm-8:30pm Jersey Girl Extended
    8:30pm-10:30pm Super secret Movie #2

    Yes, BHD plays during Dinner Break, so if you wanna see it again (or for the first time) pack yourself some grub to munch on. Brian Lynch is under the weather and sadly unable to attend the thon to present his film.

    ALSO — Yes, that’s right, TWO super secret films. Plus you east coasters are just gonna LOVE Jersey Girl extended. So be ready for an amazing day tomorrow and Thursday.

  • Seating tips: Seats are first come, first served. Try and pick seats you like when you get there, and keep them for the event. Moving around just confuses things. Bring a jacket or some other non valuable to mark it. And folks — If a seat’s taken, don’t take it. Also, remember these are SOLD OUT shows — So keeping those empty chairs in the middle and around you won’t do much good, they’ll just be taken eventually. So pack it in, folks, and find some good friends to sit close. We’ll be hanging out for 12 hours or so. And if you wanna say hi — Look for us in the back of theater one, our usual hangout at the show. We’ll be the dudes snapping photos and doing live updates via laptop. Don’t be a stranger. Say hi.
  • Weather: The absolute PERFECT day to hang outside between flicks, waiting in line, and the like. Partly Sunny in Red Bank with a high of 77 degrees and a low of just 64. GOTTA LOVE THAT!!!!

That about does it, folks — We’re expecting major excitement tomorrow and quite possibly the best Vulgarthon…Heck, the best View Askew EVENT…EVER. See you tomorrow, bright and early!

Filed in: News

Wanna See The Clerks II Standing O?

May 30th @ 7:17 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Kevin Smith


“The 8 Minute Big O”
  • One of Kevin’s self-proclaimed most amazing life moments is now available for your eyes, via the Clerks II and YouTube sites. The eight minute standing ovation at Cannes was captured by the brilliant Zak and Joey, but oh, that’s not all you’ll get here. Yes, you’ll see Kevin and the cast’s arrival at the premiere (along with some nice Rosario camera-mugging), Kevin introducing the film, and then, of course, the magic that followed. Congratulations again to Kevin, Scott, and the entire cast and crew on the amazing showing in Cannes.

Filed in: Clerks II, Multimedia, News

Clerks II: Positive Reviews Pour In!

May 30th @ 7:16 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Matty Unwin, Neil McGraw, Bels

  • Yep, they’re coming in every day, and nothing but praise from the lucky Clerks II Cannes premiere attendees. Let’s take a look at today’s offerings, starting with a BIG positive from major publication Variety. As always, watch for spoilers in the full reviews where noted:
Variety – “Clerks II Review”

“…The use of color may strike some auds as a concession to the mainstream (the first “Clerks” wore its grungy monochrome like a badge of honor), as might the prominently played and occasionally gooey scenes of romantic flirtation between Dante and Becky, some of which involve toenail-painting. Yet if “Clerks II” doesn’t have quite the scabrous kick of its predecessor, the chance to revisit a classic premise must have renewed the writer in Smith, whose banter here often achieves a sharpness and quality that haven’t been in evidence since 1999’s “Dogma.””

**SPOILERS AHEAD** Ecran Large (French Review) Translated

12 years after the premiere of Clerks and its model employees, Kevin Smith brings back his anti-heroes Dante Hicks and Randal Graves to where he left them, not far from Quick Stop, between the used K7 videos and the out-of-date bricks of milk. And nothing’s really changed, just the black and white of the era, at least before their minimarket dies in flames. Head towards Mooby’s, the local fast food store and cave of idolisation of Dogma, to have long conversations no longer of the Star Wars trilogy, but about Peter Jackson or the future live adaptation of Transformers!! You have to see it to believe it.

Seeing it is already a good thing, but seeing the film at a midnight screening at Cannes with the film’s team in a room of fans is a whole other experience. If it’s of course necessary to have seen Clerks, in 1994 or in a catch-up session just before the festival, it is also advised to know the multiple works of Kevin Smith, from Mallrats to Chasing Amy, passing by Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.

A true life of cinemas, which gives this new Clerks all its value, all its savour. Indeed, if the adventures of Bluntman and Chronic can amuse or the loving disputes of Ben Affleck and Jason Lee can move you, the every day life that is so commonplace and nevertheless so removed in Quick Stop is a summary of life, friendship, love (why not!) and especially of humor. It’s hard to count the number of scathing retorts (homophobic, racist, sexist, vulgar etc) of Randal, or to stop laughing at the hilarious send-up of the Lord of the Rings (”men who march”).

If purists will regret a maybe less bitter tone compared to the first Clerks, they should not forget that Kevin Smith is, like his pals Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) and Joss Whedon (Buffy), the spokesman (involuntary, unconscious) of time and of a popular culture. The fan boys today have the power, and the film is more accessible but not compromised. It shows with the ease that he manages to introduce two new and quickly inescapable characters, the cracking Rosario Dawson and the hilarious Trevor Fehrman. Or how he meets the challenge of the emotion of the scene between both of these more model employees. So, at the end, the most commonplace sentence of the world – “today is the first day of the rest of our lives” – returns to the heart. The standing ovation of more than a quarter of an hour was deserved… I was there.

JoBlo.com – “Clerks II Review”

“…As for the film itself, well, on the whole it succeeds on the same sort of level that the first film worked on, as a guy living in this day and age, in his 20s. This film is geared more toward those people who still haven’t found happiness or direction in their lives, despite being in their 30s, and all of the pressures/expectations that come with that. But before I make it all sound like a bore, trust me when I say that this film’s primary motivation is jokes, laughs, gags and vulgarity galore, so don’t be thinking that K. Smith has pussied out.

…

When I first heard about this sequel being made, I was scared like many of you, but I’m happy to report that this is a solid movie with laughs galore, pop-culture reference galore, vulgarity and sexual connotations galore, and even a cute romance for the ladies in the audience. If you’re a fan of Kevin Smith and his previous films, I see no reason why this movie wouldn’t rock your balls off. Note: If you stay to the end of the credits you can see more “Thank yous” from Smith, as well as his tease that “Jay and Silent Bob might be back” in the future, and I for one, am suddenly aroused by that thought all over again. Snoochie bootchies, beeyatch!”

Filed in: Clerks II, News

View Askew NewsBites™

May 30th @ 7:16 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Keith Garcia, Dave Sagredo, Dan Rowlands, BGA, Caliban

  • Foreign Clerks II release date! Attention Australians: The Great Union cinema chain has just updated their “Coming Soon” section and it includes an AUGUST 31ST release date for Clerks II. Quite often, UK release and other regions mirror dates, so this COULD be that overseas release information we’ve been waiting to share with you. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

  • And finally today, our good friends from our local News Askew Forums (NAF for short) continue to “NAF The World”, this time from board member Caliban and his family, who visited Stash West with his wife, kids, and 3 friends, who confused Bryan Johnson as they displayed their travelling banner outside. Good on ya, folks. See ya during the ‘thon tomorrow!

Filed in: News

Kevin Confirms “R” Rating For Clerks II…

May 29th @ 1:03 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • We made this assumption a few weeks back, and in yesterday’s press release from Cannes it seemed confirmed…Now Kevin himself has spoken publicly about the exciting news: Clerks II did indeed receive an “R” rating from the MPAA without a single edit. His words:
I was shocked… literally, in shock… when I got the call regarding the rating. Based on our history with the MPAA (we fought NC-17’s on both “Clerks” and “Strike Back”, and fought an R on “Jersey Girl”), we were all gearing-up for another battle, as the “questionable” content in “Clerks II” goes beyond anything we’ve ever presented in a film before. Don’t know what happened in the MPAA screening that morning, and don’t need to know. All I do know is that they handed us an R, without asking for a single cut. And rather than obsess over it, I just quickly (and happily) accepted the rating and moved on – delighted that I won’t have to “revisit” the flick editorially, or deal with distribs saying “But with no rating, we’re severely limited in how many theaters we can screen in, we can’t do TV spots, we can’t…”

But ask anyone who’s seen the flick already and they’ll probably tell you: the fact that “Clerks II” got an R without any cuts is kinda wacky.

But I’ll take wacky over all the stress that comes with an MPAA battle any day.

Having caught an early cut of the film, we’re pleasantly surprised as well — Kevin himself giggled outside that screening back in December when we were discussing it — Pointing out the one moment where the film certainly SHOULD tread into NC-17 territory. However, the fact it made it through is a joy — Considering what DOES earn the “R” these days, it probably was a winnable battle, but without having to battle at all, less stress on the rating and more focus on the marketing can only mean good things for Clerks II. We’re excited for this one’s arrival in July. Here’s hoping that audiences find it and spread the word.

Filed in: News

More Praise For “Clerks II”…

May 29th @ 1:03 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris, Francois Dubuc

  • Clerks II continues to generate positive press following its Cannes debut on Friday night. We’ve got two more reviews in English today, and one in French which, while we can’t read, we’re assured gives the film high praise. Links and highlights straight ahead. Please beware, all these links contain big spoilers for the film, though the Aint It Cool piece probably the least of the offenders if you wanna read something. Here ya go:
Aint It Cool News – “Evil Henchman goes to Cannes and blows CLERKS 2”

“…The movie is much more sentimental then the first Clerks.. there are some moments with messages about how important frienship is and Randall really shows his love for Dante but for me it works. Some might think it’s tacky but I think it’s pretty cute and you really feel how much Kevin loves these characters. The sequel compared to the first one feels more like a movie. It has more events and you feel Dante and Randall evolving in it.”

Empire Online – “United 93 and Clerks II Debut At Cannes” (Spoilers)

“…Perfectly recapturing the original film’s provincial whimsy, Clerks II successfully folds in the romanticism of Jersey Girl but this time with Smith’s familiar, unique voice. And after so long, it’s not only a pleasure to see O’Halloran and Anderson back on screen again, it’s a positive joy to see how well they work together – so much so, you wonder why they don’t make more movies, and not just for Smith.”

Ecran Large – “Critique, Clerks II” (French

(Not sure about the text, but the reviewer gives the film a 9/10!)

Filed in: News

View Askew NewsBites™

May 29th @ 1:02 am | No Comments » | Scooped by E. Christopher, Ryan Maxwell, Evan Pinsoneault

  • Catch Kevin IN STUDIO on Opie & Anthony’s XM radio program this Tuesday morning, May 30th. We’ll work to get clippage of Kevin’s stint online ASAP for you non-subscribers. Last time, Kevin hung out for the duration of the program, and many called it one of the best O&A shows of all time. What’ll happen next time? Tune in Tuesday, and watch News Askew for your own chance to listen.
  • Clerks was selected at the 33rd funniest movie of all time by the American Movie Classics channel (AMC). In the program they aired, there were a couple of good clips of Kevin discussing the film, along with director Penelope Spheeris and critic Richard Roeper also chatting about it. Congrats!
  • Catch Kevin this weekend on the Bravo channel, appearing in interviews on a new clip show called “The 100 Funniest Movies of All Time”.
  • Joey Lauren Adams appears in the new comedy “The Break-Up” next weekend, in a supporting role as lead Aniston’s best friend. The New York Daily News runs a nice profile piece on her featuring some interesting info on a past relationship, and some quotes about “Come Early Morning” and “Break-Up”. Here’s a snippet:
But the roles, she found, were not as memorable as her sexy squeak. “After ‘Chasing Amy,’ I thought, ‘Oh, I’m finally gonna get to do good parts,’” Adams says. “But they’re not out there. I was really disillusioned.” Tired of sitting around waiting, she decided to write and direct her own movie. “Come Early Morning,” a semiautobiographical film starring Ashley Judd, took Adams five years to make but premiered at this year’s Sundance to good notices.

But her off-screen life has a parallel with her new film: She has had a sort-of breakup with Vince Vaughn. The two met over a decade ago in Hollywood.

“I thought he was really cute, and we ended up talking, and he asked me out,” she recalls. The next day she invited Vaughn to a dog park with her friend, even though no one actually had a dog. “Vince thought that was really strange … and I completely freaked him out by bringing a friend along.”

Adams remembers Vaughn telling her that day about a new script a friend had written, and how one character was based on him. “Vince was really shy,” she says. “I thought, ‘Why would someone base a character on you?’” The friend was Jon Favreau, and the movie was the indie cult classic “Swingers.” And despite her and Vaughn’s awkward “date,” a friendship flourished; she became part of his creative circle, which includes Favreau, “Arrested Development” star Jason Bateman and “Break-Up” producer Peter Billingsley.

  • High praise from the author of “Gone Baby, Gone”, Affleck’s upcoming directorial effort, in the Boston Herald. Dennis Lehane really digs the cast that’s been assembled for the film.

Filed in: News

Clerks II: 8 Minute Standing O At Cannes!

May 27th @ 1:46 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Remy, Jim Austen, Sabre Walker, Evan Pinsoneault, Dave Sagredo, Riss Wiebe

  • We’re just so incredibly beaming with admiration and excitement for Kevin and the crew’s amazing showing at Cannes last night — Yes, Clerks II made its festival premiere there, and received an incredible 8 minute standing ovation following its conclusion. Truly a remarkable feat, and one that Kevin immediately took the time to share with us via the blog. Here’s Kevin’s reaction to this incredible honor:
An 8 Minute Standing Ovation!

Last night, we debuted “Clerks II” at the Cannes Film Festival.

WireImage.com’s pics of the cast/crew arrival at the Palais, as well as pics from pre-and-post show.

With all the vitriol surrounding some of the press screenings of flicks there this year, I was pretty terrified “Clerks II”, also, might be greeted by a chorus of French Boos (and I ain’t talking about champagne).

However, after last night, I say “VIVA LA FRANCE!”

When the flick ended and the credits started rolling, a standing ovation began that lasted a full eight minutes. It was surreal and wonderful, and it just kept going and going. I looked to Harvey (Weinstein, our boss), that old Cannes war-horse, to see if the cast and I should start heading out of the theater: as it was two in the morning and the applause wasn’t showing any signs of stopping. But from two aisles back, he responded with a waving “No” finger at me, mouthing the words “Don’t move.” So we all stayed put.

By the time the credits ended, I figured the audience was done applauding as well.

But they weren’t.

They just kept on clapping. And thankfully, not only did Zack and Joey get the whole thing on tape to prove it all happened (watch for it in a new “Train Wreck” video blog, up this weekend), but Roger Friedman over at Fox411 was there was well, documenting what I have to say was one of the twenty most amazing moments of my life.

Read Roger’s Piece, “Clerks II Delights Cannes”, right here. But be warned: it also contains a very positive review of the flick that gives away some major plot points. SPOILERS ABOUND!

The applause finally stopped after eight minutes. Harvey was over the moon about it. “In my thirty years of coming here, I’ve never seen a standing ovation last that long at a midnight show in Cannes,” he said. “Ever.”

En route to the theater, I prayed that the notoriously fickle Cannes’ audience wouldn’t boo the flick. During the screening, I prayed that the film would keep playing as gang-busters as it had been playing up ’til that point, and that the audience stayed with us, rather than succumb to mid-flick naps. After the screening, I started praying that I never forget that insanely special moment that I shared with Jeff, Brian, Rosario, Mos and Jen – when time seemed to stand still, and at the world’s most famous film festival, we all stared wide-eyed (and wider-smiled) at a room-full of cats staring back at us (with equally wide smiles and palms cooked red from non-stop applause) who really, really “got” what we were trying to communicate with “Clerks II”.

Life comes down to a few major moments. Last night was definitely one of them.

“Clerks II” – July 21, in theaters everywhere.

We again do warn you of the major spoilers in that glowing Fox article linked above. So, we’re posting a story just below with some of the spoilers removed. If you’d like to read the article, but NOT be spoiled, we recommend you check that out.

By the way, as we expected, the reporter from Fox is reporting Clerks II indeed did get the R rating without any content cuts! So, Kevin’s earlier hints seem to have been what we expected — Clerks II will be able to go into any theater that it wants carrying that rating, and without having any of the gloriously lurid acts removed. Gotta love that!

We’ve got a few exclusive pics from a source inside the screening on the way for you later today — So watch for that. Also, to complete the experience, check out JoBlo’s report from the post party for Clerks II in Cannes, featuring a quick video with Kevin, as well as a couple exclusive pics from the inside.

Watch for exclusive pics later, and read on for a non-spoiler version of that Fox News article on the flick. We’d like to also personally offer CONGRATS to Kevin, Scott, and all of the cast and crew on the huge success of Clerks II in France. We’re excited for you all, and can’t wait for the rest of the world to catch their own peep at Clerks II on July 21st.

Filed in: Clerks II, News

FOX News: “Clerks II Delights Cannes”!

May 27th @ 1:46 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • The article Kevin mentioned above has a couple major spoilers from the film peppered throughout (in fact, probably the three biggest plot points in the film), so we thought you might want to skip it — It’s such a wonderful review, though, that we’d hate to bury it, so we’ve removed the spoilerish stuff and are happy to present a sanitized version for your reading pleasure:
‘Clerks 2′ Delights Cannes

[SPOILER REMOVED]: 8 Minute Cannes Ovation

Maybe you remember Clerks, the hilarious indie film that put director Kevin Smith on the map more than a decade ago. Since then, he’s brought us some good ones (”Chasing Amy”), some that are controversial (”Dogma”), and some that are only for the faithful (”Jersey Girl,” “Jay and Silent Bob”).

Last night Smith returned to form in a post-midnight premiere of “Clerks 2,” the long awaited sequel that reunites the still unknown stars of the first film and adds the delightful Rosario Dawson to the mix. The result was a huge eight minute standing ovation in the Claude DeBussy Theater in the Palais at 2 am Saturday.

And this was despite the fact that the film – hilarious, moving and shocking – is simultaneously a meditation on friendship, aging, and [SPOILER REMOVED]. Yes, you read that correctly. Much is made of a [SPOILER REMOVED] in a fast food restaurant called Mooby’s. The movie has an R rating, and the [SPOILER REMOVED] may be featured in a For Your Consideration ad in Variety next winter.

Besides the [SPOILER REMOVED], Clerks 2 also features extended cameos by Jason Lee and Wanda Sykes, a walk on from Ben Affleck, and of course Smith himself as his long running character Silent Bob with partner Jason Mewes as Jay. The clerks of the title are still played by Smith’s longtime pals Jeff Anderson as Randall and Brian O’Halloran as Dante; Smith’s real life wife, Jennifer, is featured as [SPOILER REMOVED] Emma.

This is good news for The Weinstein Company, which will have a huge summer hit Smith is one of their franchise players, coming from the original—real—Miramax.

The premise of Clerks 2 is pretty simple. The Quick Stop where Randall and Dante have been clerks since we last saw them in 1994 [SPOILER REMOVED], and the pair—now in their 30s—move over to Mooby’s where Dante has [SPOILERS REMOVED]. Silent Bob and Jay move their dope peddling from the Quick Stop to Mooby’s as well, and Randall [SPOILER REMOVED]. It’s that simple, and no, it’s no Da Vinci Code, that’s for sure.

But fans of Smith—who are legion—as well as teens in general and the college crowd, are going to adore Clerks 2, which was originally titled “The Passion of the Clerks.” In the middle of all this nuttiness, and Animal House inspired moments [SPOILER REMOVED], Smith has crafted a nifty little tale of friends who love each other—as they say over and over, not in the gay way—but realize their extended adolescence must finally come to an end.

What’s really amazing about Clerks 2 is that it works at all. The first Clerks was a cult hit, and unlike with say John Sayles’s “The Return of the Secaucus Seven,” the actors never went on to anything other than recurring in Smith’s world. To find them not only picking up where they left off, but also making the whole thing work again, is quite an achievement. A lot of it has to do with Dawson, who is so natural, appealing, and evolved as Becky that she pulls the whole enterprise together.

Special mention, by the way, has to go to Jason Mewes. Unlike his cohorts, he’s managed to get some other roles in the recent past in some great unseen B or C movies that are either already on DVD or simply can’t be sold. In Bottom’s Up, his biggest one, he co-stars with our friend Paris Hilton, whose own “House of Wax” and “Pledge This” would have benefited [SPOILER REMOVED].

And there you have it, folks. Spoilers removed for your own protection. If you must, read the full spoilerific piece HERE.

Filed in: News

Vulgarthon East: FIVE DAYS TO GO!

May 26th @ 2:52 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • 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.

Filed in: News