• Three nice shout-outs to Kevin in appear in the latest issue of UK movie mag “Total Film”. The article was addressing “30 Homages and Ripoffs”. Clerks, Clerks II, and J&SBSB all made the list for their awesome tributes to Star Wars and LOTR. Total Film loves us, so we’re sure they meant HOMAGE for all these. Check the scans above to see what they said.
• Sci-Fi wire reveals that the “Fanboys” release has actually been delayed to allow the addition of Kevin’s cameo. Here’s more:

• An independent filmmaker – Gavin Booth, of Windsor Ontario Canada, has set out to meet his twelve idols. Bet you can guess who made the list — That’s right, Kevin! Visit his site for the details. Gavin’s goal is to meet each of the people on his list and personally thank them, as well as try to obtain some career advice.
• We’d like to toss some pluggage in the direction of a couple of new projects from the great JM Kenny, who you know from his outstanding work on several of Kevin’s best DVDs. JM’s got a couple free web-based shows that he’s working on, and if you know the quality of his work, you know these will both be worth your time — The first show is called “Hooked”. It appears on www.toyotafishing.com. It’s a 15 episode reality show following 5 of BASS fishing’s top anglers. The second show is entitled “Waiting2BDiscovered”. It’s a 15 episode show following a young Hip Hop artist who is trying to get signed. His name is Jonah. This show airs on www.livevideo.com and can also be accessed through www.waiting2Bdiscovered.com. Show JM some love and check out these free new programs — The guy’s been doing great work for View Askew for years.
• And finally today, in the weird news department — The Prince Charles Cinema in London evidently now has a toliet stall named in “honor” (or is that “honour”?) of Kevin. This comes in response to a joking complaint Kevin made during an appearance there where he said, “I don’t know, Quentin Tarantino has never turned up here and they name the bar after him, it’s my second visit and they haven’t even named a toilet after me”.

• Let’s kick off the ‘bites today with some multimedia — Check out some clippage of Jason Mewes at the AFI Dallas premiere of his new flick, “Netherbeast Incorporated”. The interview runs for a decent length, about 8 full minutes — Jay even plugs the View Askew website in the end. Learn more about this quirky vampire tale at the official site.
• This article dates back a bit, but is a report from Cinematical from Kevin’s NYC Comicon appearance that we never ran — It’s a good read and has quite a debate in the comments section in the end — possibly even some responses from Kevin himself.
• You can get the first season of the Henry Rollins show, one of which features Kevin, even cheaper than Target at his own website now — He is asking $16.50 for the 3-DVD set.

• How about some cool fan artwork to cap off the Newsbites today? Here’s a fan’s concept of Kevin as he’d appear as a ganster in a Grand Theft Auto game. See ya next time…

• Get those credit cards and mouse clicking fingers ready, folks — VIEW ASKEW PROM TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE!

Remember you MUST be a View Askew Web Board member to buy tickets. Check The Board post for further discussion.

Got questions or got tix and want to gloat? Visit the prom forum.

• Important info from Kevin today regarding purchasing tix for the big prom tomorrow – You can buy tix 2 at a time, and can buy another pair afterwards assuming they are still available. However, every single attendee MUST have a board ID. If you or your guest(s) don’t have View Askew Web Board ID’s GET THEM NOW. Here’s Kevin :

We’ll be back tomorrow to let you know when tix are on sale, but we suggest watching the View Askew Board and Kevin’s thread for instant notification. We’re betting this sells out FAST FAST FAST.

• Kevin’s 37th birthday is coming up, so the fans thought it might be a neat idea to celebrate in a special way — The end result? A View Askew PROM is gonna happen! Here was Kevin’s original response to the idea:

After much speculation, yep, it’s gonna HAPPEN!!!! Kevin announces:

Looks like multiple reasons to come back to beautiful Red Bank, New Jersey — We’re guessing the prom alone will sell out in record time with only 160 seats (couples who opt to go together will be obviously taking 2 chairs apiece). We advise you to watch View Askew’s site and this site for the sale announcement. With the beautiful August summer weather, the prom, the Q&A, and possibly a little poker, it sure sounds like a must-visit for fans from all over the globe. Watch this space for more information in a couple days.

• An IMDB page has been created for Kevin’s untitled comedy set to film next year, possibly starring Rosario Dawson. It’s only available to premium, paying members, referring to the film now as the “Untitled Kevin Smith Minnesota Project”.
• Malcolm Ingram was interviewed on Resonance FM 104.4FM in London last week, and it’s now available via an online podcast. In the segment, he talks about “Small Town Gay Bar”, “Drawing Flies”, meeting Kevin Smith and his next project, which is called “Meridian”. Check it out by listening to the Podcast titled “How Gay is the Screen” Part 2. The MP3 is around 28 megs in size and is a slow download, so be patient!
• Catch an obscure reference to a Clerks line in the caption winner of this contest over at JoBlo. Look for the photo towards the bottom of the page (above the comments).
• The Sports Gone South blog references View Askew in a couple recent entires — The Flying Car and the rooftop hockey game in Clerks.
• And finally today, in the YouTube video of the day, we got some good chuckles out of “Clerks (mixed with) Peanuts”. Enjoy and we’ll see you next time.

• Just a bit more “Red State” controversy to start off the day — Because, after all, what IS a View Askew film WITHOUT it? It looks like Kevin responded to a blog post over at The Pitch, local to Topeka’s “Westboro Baptist Church”. Shirley Phelps has already even submitted a response to the news of the idea as well. We’ll have to see where this one goes, though it’s already obvious, “Red State” will NOT be the first Kevin Smith film to avoid the news/press months before it hits screens. The more we read this kind of stuff, the more we can’t help but think what a fantastic idea for a film this is. We can’t wait.

• indieWIRE runs a blurb on Kevin’s appearance at the “Hot Fuzz” premiere in NYC earlier this week :

Meanwhile, the next night a whole different crowd of moviegoers made their way to Lincoln Center. The occasion was the New York premiere of Edgar Wright’s “Hot Fuzz” at the Walter Reade Theater. The Film Comment Selects event from the Film Society of Lincoln Center hosted Wright, writer and actor Simon Pegg and actor Nick Frost and featured a post-screening Q & A with Kevin Smith. In the theater’s lobby art gallery prior to the screening, Focus Features CEO James Schamus and president Andrew Karpen greeted well-wishers on the sidelines, but the “Shaun of the Dead” trio were the main attraction, mixing casually with guests and chatting about the new movie.

Already a big hit in Britain, the comedy is the story of a London cop reassigned to work in a small village where a series of accidents reveals a dark side of the seemingly idyllic setting. Chatting with indieWIRE at the Lincoln Center reception, “Hot Fuzz” co-writer and star Pegg was enthused after a promotional tour for the film that has taken them all around the U.S., including a stop in Austin for a “Hott Fuzztival” at the famed Alamo Drafthouse. Calling himself a movie geek, Pegg said he was thrilled to meet so many diehard fans around the country, especially when they greeted the new film with a standing ovation. Next up, Pegg is working on a project with Frost, while Wright tackles other material, but the trio intend to work together again.

Now that Grindhouse has come, this is the one we’ve been waiting for, until Spidey 3 next month. It’s a great time to be at the movies!

• Remember that horror flick that Mewes was promoting at the cons a while back? Coming Soon reports that 6 minutes of “The Tripper” is now available for immediate viewing! Mewes stars in this horror comedy, written and produced by David Arquette. From their story:

No Mewes in this clip, as it looks to be from early in the film — Stick with it though as the biggest “action” is in the end. “The Tripper” hits theaters on April 20th.

• Target stores currently have a special IFC area in their DVD section, where they’re selling “The Henry Rollins Show Season 1:3-Disc Set” for a mere $19.99. This set has all the episodes from season 1, including episode 17, where Kevin’s the guest. It has a sticker that says “Target Exclusive”, so it looks like you can’t get it anywhere else. And certainly not at that price.
• Several mentions of View Askew characters appear in Film 411’s latest discussion on their Top 5 Movie Sidekicks.
• And yep, you guessed it, a couple more of those Cottan and Sand links to finish up today — Two View Askew spots are taken up in the “10 of the Strangest (non porn) Sex Scenes” list , and you’ll also find their tribute to the incomparable Brodie HERE. Enjoy the weekend!

• Scooper “Billy” was lucky enough to attend a screening of the great “Hot Fuzz” in Lincoln Center earlier this week, only to be surprised to spot Kevin Smith himself a few seats away. Kev ended up doing the Q&A with Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg. Everyone even stick around afterwards for a little while to sign stuff and take pics (some of which you see here). Certainly was a great night to be in NYC!
• Kevin’s quoted in this article discussing the Weinstein’s battle to re-establish themselves as a new company:

Let us just take the opportunity to URGE you all to see “Grindhouse” if you’ve missed it — Just a one-of-a-kind experience in theaters that you’ll likely never get the chance see again. GO GO GO!

• Seems that Cotton and Sand website likes to mention View Askew quite a bit in their lists of 10 — Salma Hayek hits the list of 10 best A-List actress as strippers for her “Dogma” stripper scene (as well as that memorable “From Dusk ‘Til Dawn” one too. You’ll also find a couple of familiar faces on this list of the Top 10 Greatest Film Potheads. Clips of everything are included in their lists, which we think is a nifty touch.

• And finally today, we asked, and received REALLY fast — Here’s a shot of that Jay & Bob cartoon that appears at the Sea World caricature booth. Thanks to Ryan! ‘Til next time…

• We announced this yesterday, so scroll down for full info — Kevin will be making that keynote Q&A at the Scriptwriters Showcase (running April 20-22 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel), and we’ve now got a deal for ya. Readers of this site who book a package and use discount code “37” will receive a special 10% discount off of any order. Not bad!

The Keynote Q&A with Kevin happens on Friday, April 20th, at 7pm. The entire showcase sounds worthy of attendance, whether you’re a working scriptwriter, someone looking to break into the biz, or even just curious of how the process works. And it’s in a great part of town, too. Get your tix before they’re sold out, seats are very limited.