Archive for September 23rd, 2006

Clerks II Hits UK Theaters!

September 23rd @ 4:32 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Matt Booker, Vicki Ellis

  • Clerks II hits UK theaters this weekend, after a long wait from fans — We hope you’re all enjoying the film up on the big screen with an audience full of fans! The Thursday podcast of BBC program “Front Row” features a review of the film, if you care to listen to a British reviewer’s take.

In other UK Press, Kevin conducts a new interview with “Digital Spy” which features a mix of familiar and original questions. Here’s a sample:

You say you’re not mainstream, but so many people grew up watching your films – you’re a household name!

“It’s a weird position to be in, oddly enough I find that when it s time to promote a movie, it’s never a problem getting press, people are always willing to sit down and talk about it. There’s always far more press than interest in the actual movie, though. I’ve found over the years that the balance between press and how we do has completely shifted in the favour of press. I guess I’m well known for doing what I do, but I don’t think I’m as successful as I guess the press would lead one to believe – the inordinate amount of press you receive, you think ‘wow, the movies would do better’, but they always seem to play to the exact same audience. I’m more well known than the flicks, which is weird, as normally it’s vice versa. I’m normally out there shooting my mouth off, so I’m shocked as many people see our flicks as they do. I never expected them to go beyond that little area of New Jersey that I grew up in!”

UK’s “The Guardian” website posts a story on Kev and CLerks II titled “It’s Just Dudes Talking About Sex and Star Wars”, featuring new interview quotes. A snip from this one:

“You’d think right away that the fans would have been pleased when Clerks II was announced,” he continues. “But there was more trepidation than joy. I got a bunch of people going, ‘Don’t fuck it up, dude.’ Clerks gets called a cult classic, or the seminal indie film of the 1990s. But I didn’t set out to make that. I wanted to do a film in which the characters sat around talking about sex and Star Wars, just like my friends and I did, and made people laugh. For it to become what it did, and have all these cool but daunting labels attached to it, really clouded its original purpose. I watched Clerks the night before we started shooting Clerks II, and seeing it again demythologised it for me. I was, like, ‘Oh yeah – we didn’t make the seminal indie movie of the 1990s. It was just dudes talking about sex and Star Wars.’ It brought me back to what it was, and it cleared my head to do the sequel. My goal was never to make a film that was better than the original. I just wanted the two movies to stand shoulder-to-shoulder.”

…

Smith’s lack of ambition, which is reflected in Dante and Randal’s desire to simply stay put, can be traced back to his late father, who was employed for 30 years as a postal worker in Red Bank, New Jersey. “He wasn’t even delivering mail, he was cancelling stamps. He was the prime example of a guy who never felt he needed to make his mark professionally. He had that job so he could afford his real dreams – to get married and raise a family – and I always respected that. I think career and ambition are prized too much in our culture. Your job can’t be your whole life; your life has to be your family.”

And finally, FemaleFirst, another UK-based site, runs a blurb on Kevin’s jokes regarding daughter Harley’s language:

The ‘Clerks II’ filmmaker – who also stars in his films as the character Silent Bob – insists it is important daughter Harley Quinn learns these words when she is young so she will be able to come out with a string of expletives as an adult.

He told BANG Showbiz: “I’m already teaching her to curse because if she learns to does it well she can make a good living out of it.

If you’re in the UK — Get your butt into a theater and see Clerks II this weekend!

Filed in: Clerks II, News

Kevin To Co-Teach Mobisode Class…

September 23rd @ 4:32 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Pat Schau

  • Here’s a cool piece of news — Kevin has come on board to co-teach a UCLA film class, who will produce a new mobisode series called “Sucks Less, with Kevin Smith”. Seems that students will be instructed by Kevin from the Stash in Westwood, where he’ll fill the students in on upcoming weekend events. The class will then write, shoot, and produce the entire series, which you can watch on mobile phones and mtvU.com. Kevin is on board to exec produce and mentor the students, but they’ll be doing all of the actual work to put the show together.

The full press release, courtesy of Reality TV Website:

SUCKS LESS, WITH KEVIN SMITH – mtvU is teaming up with UCLA’s renowned School of Theater, Film and Television, and iconoclastic director Kevin Smith, to free college students from the bane of weekend boredom. Smith will co-teach the first ever mobisode production class at UCLA, where the students write, shoot and produce the new mtvU series, “Sucks Less, with Kevin Smith.” The entire creative process will be documented via short form programming on mtvU’s on-air, online and mobile platforms. Hosted by Smith from his comic book shop in LA, the series will clue students in on the coolest #%@* happening over the upcoming weekend, including movies, video games, music and must-attend events around the country. The mobisodes will simultaneously premiere on Amp’d Mobile phones, mtvU and mtvU.com. Smith will executive produce and serve as mentor; students will be involved in every part of pre-production, production and post-production.

It’s a fun experiment, and one we’ll be sure to follow up with you on.

Filed in: News

View Askew NewsBites™

September 23rd @ 4:31 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Kevin Spellman, Dion Dudossat, Matt Booker, Ian Pravata, Edie, Alex Stevens, Maleah Dust

  • In an interesting tidbit taken from a recent interview with Bang Showbiz, Kevin reveals his desire to make the horror flick he’s planning very “gritty”:
…Smith also said his upcoming horror movie will be “in the style of ‘The Wicker Man’… the original ‘Wicker Man’… or ‘Let’s Scare Jessica To Death’” and wants it to be gritty “not a slick or polished film.”
  • The great Thaahum and Mattt Potter have teamed up again — This time it’s a video for his new View Askew song, this time playing off of the Joel Siegel / Kevin Smith battle over Clerks II this summer. As always, the song’s got a catchy beat and lyric, and Pottter cuts together another brilliant video, complete with an intro movie and everything. Check it out at these places: YouTube, MySpace, and Quicktime (Small).

Also, don’t miss Taahum’s new column, Keneteph’s Korner, over at our own QuickStopEntertainment.com! Nice work, guys.

  • Due to losing that lawsuit from the band “Supernova”, who appeared on the Clerks soundtrack, Tommy Lee’s new reality show band now has to record and tour under the way dumb name “Rock Star Supernova”. How silly.
  • Anyone catch Affleck on “The Daily Show” the other night? We hear someone yelled “Affleck was the BOMB In Phantoms!” after the initial applause died down when he came onstage. Gotta love it!
  • Slight countdown correction – The HD-DVD version of Clerks II will street the same day as the standard DVD release – November 28th, not December 11th as previously reported.

  • Some neat new swag spotted via the Diamond Previews page — A black “I’m Eating It” Clerks II shirt variant. As always we’ll let you know when stuff like this pops up for online Stash ordering, as well. If you haven’t been over there in a while, it’s worth skimming around just to see the amazing amount of coolness you can pick up for yourself or the View Askew fan in your life. Some great deals, too.

  • And finally today…When In Rome (Italy)…Go see CLERKS II, this September 29th! This billboard pic passed onto us via James Plumtree, who was on vacation there last week. Have a fantastic weekend, folks.

Filed in: News