On the “Watchmen” front, Kevin reveals that the entire Dr. Manhattan book was translated perfectly and fully intact (panel for panel!), and that the film features “one big change and two small changes”. Also, more kudos for Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach, in a role that we think will steal the show.

On the “Zack And Miri” front, it’s familiar territory for our regular readers, with a few words on the NC-17, Rogen’s casting, and the nudity. This one’s worth a read, so click and enjoy, and then shed a tear when you realize it’s still a month ’til “Zack and Miri”, and over half a year until “Watchmen”!

Then, on Monday, September 29th, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” will make its Edmonton premiere at their International Film Festival. Given that the man is already in town for the Q&A, we’re guessing he might show up to present the flick to the audience. He’ll still be in Canada for…

Another “Evening With” Q&A appearance in Calgary!

He’ll be at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. A Canadian trifecta of big events! If you’re in the region, go to one, two, or heck, why not hit ALL THREE? We look forward to hearing from some of you lucky attendees.

Did ya miss it? Trailer Addict caught a capture of it and posted it for the web world to see. Enjoy. We think it’s a fantastic ad and should drum up some nice business for opening weekend and beyond. Opening weekend is key important, but good word of mouth is what makes View Askew box office records. Let’s do it.

In case ya missed the GREEN band trailer, IGN has both up on their site as well.

Of particular interest, Kevin does mention that the long in planning “Ranger Danger” may no longer be made, with the new Sci-Fi comedy sort of a replacement. This makes sense to us, as we’ve heard Kevin say many times in the past he’ll take a completed script and borrow ideas from it for other projects. We’re guessing this new idea is a totally different film, but that he may have borrowed some of those “Ranger Danger” sequences or nuances to help shape this one.

With “Red State” very close to finding all the funding needed, we’re still hopeful to see THAT as the total 180 degree follow-up to “Zack And Miri Make a Porno” — Then, it’d be way cool to see Seth Rogen and other big names return to star in this unnamed sci-fi comedy. Of course, News Askew will be there, every step of the way, as the project develops.

Q: This is probably your most emotional film. I mean it’s close to Chasing Amy, because that had some emotional moments, but this one was like this had like naked, open emotion in it. Was that the hardest part of it for you, or the porno part the hardest part?

A: The porno part was definitely the hardest. The naked emotion stuff, I feel like we had in Chasing Amy, I feel like even in the last movie Clerks 2 they’re sitting between Dante and Randal in the jail scene, which is just emotionally devastating. You watch one dude who’s always confident, always a wise ass, like laid bare. That to me is like devastating, because that’s a dude completely unguarded.

So doing a version, not a version of that, but doing a girl-boy type emotion that lay bare, that was easy. Shooting fake sex––that was definitely something I wasn’t ready for…

Of course, you’ll want to surf over and read every word at Spout Blog. We’ve gotta say, we’ve never seen a posted interview taken so literally that it blogs it down all the way to a charlie horse.

Due to the schedule, Kevin only had time for a brief Q&A after the screening, we’re told, so we’re going to focus this story on the reviews from the fest itself. In some instances, we were sent some exclusives, which we’ll run in full, in others, where reviews are available on other websites, we’ll pick some select quotes, with links to the full review. As always, we’ll warn where spoilers are coming, for those of you (like us) who are trying to remain as fresh as possible when walking into the theater next month.

It’s important to note, by the way, we’re not being selective and picking out the “good” ones. They are all good. A few come from notoriously tough to please reviewers at Austin-based “Aint It Cool News” as well, so these aren’t softballs. We’ve yet to see a negative from anyone, anywhere. So here we go, in no particular order:

EXCLUSIVE: “Zack & Miri Early Review”, George Efta (NO SPOILERS)

I can’t give a number/star rating on this film (IE-3 out of 4 stars, ect) because I missed 25% of it…because the audience’s reaction was so strong, their laughter, applause, cheers and gasps drowned out the dialogue.

Suffice to say, I really enjoyed the film. It’s anywhere between a 8 and 10 out of 10 right now and when I’m able to re-watch it when it’s released on Oct. 31st, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it even more.

The dialogue is spot on all throughout with great performances from everyone. The stand-out for me is Elizabeth Banks (Miri). She was wonderful and didn’t miss a beat in her layered performance. She plays everything from drunk, to nervous, to angry, to jealous to frustrated to embarrassed to happy to sad and everything in-between. Her chemistry with Seth (Zack) was great from their first scene and their relationship is both real and very touching.

Seth is back in another great role/performance. There is one scene that stands out in this flick…an excited monologue in the coffee house where he works as he explains his plans for the movie he and his friends are going to shoot…wonderful, funny, emotional stuff.

The supporting cast are all wonderful and interesting. Craig Robinson (as has been said before) is the heart of the film, with my favorite line, my favorite supporting character story (he and his wife, as well as his responsibilities as “producer”) and a very strong performance. Ricky Mabe has the least to do, but gets in a few laughs with his partner in the film (both the film and the film within the film) Traci Lords. Jason Mewes (Jay as he’s know to Smith’s legions) is wonderful here with more to do, more to say and a different way of saying it than any other flick he’s done.

The visuals are also on display here with some beautiful locations, lighting and costumes, as well as great set designs. The camera moves here, but not in a over active way: we get crane shots, some slow motions, some POV footage…the flick looks great. Smith and Co. have done a great job of capturing the feel of the film in a visual way which really complements the script.

Speaking of the script…the story is a lot of fun. The “let’s put on a show” mentality mixed with a group of people who’ve found something to elevate themselves mixed with a very sweet love story is tough not to love. There are a few twists and turns story wise (and a LOT of visual surprises I won’t spoil here) and when the credits roled, I felt pretty good (if a little frustrated that I missed so much because of so much laughter).

Anything negative to say? Not really…the film is very much a snow-ball type story where things start off nice and easy and build wonderfully as it goes on. There is a pre-credits tag to the film that is both a lot of laughs and a little more insight into what’s happened to the characters when the story ends…

So, lots of jokes and lots of small characters (Justin Long is very funny as a one scene character) and core of supporting players to move the story of Zack and Miri along…definitely give the film a which when you can (heck give it two watches) and be sure to tell your friends about it. Compared along this years comedies, “Zack and Miri” is near the head of the pack, if not in the lead with more surprises, more laughs and real, relatable characters at the center. One of Smith’s best films and one of the best of the year.

“Quint watches Zack and Miri Make A Porno!!!” – Aint It Cool News (VERY MINOR SPOILERS)

“…He [Robinson] is funny as hell in this movie and helps make it one of Kevin Smith’s career best. It has the heart, it has the raw talent of some of the best comedians working today and it takes the comedy and the world seriously. I love the cartoony slapstick comedy stuff Smith puts out just as much as the next View Askewniverse fanboy, but when you get a movie with some true heart and well-realized characters along with your tit and shit jokes everybody leaves happy.”

“Zack And Miri Make A Porno – The Geekscape Review” (SOME SPOILERS)

“In the age of free internet porn, this concept seems a bit ludicrous but Smith actually manages to make it credible. They only want to make enough money to pay off their bills and figure they can sell to their old classmates thinking that anyone would pay to see someone they went to school with naked. The world of porn is pretty ripe for comedy (it’s basically one step removed from being comedy anyways) and Smith definitely takes advantage of this and creates some hilarious bits out of it.”

“The Beef takes in […] ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO at Fantastic Fest!!!” (NO SPOILERS)

“…Without question Kevin Smith’s most accomplished film to date. Without question. Take the hilarity of your favorite Kevin Smith film, mix it with the sensitivities he displayed in JERSEY GIRL, and throw in a shitload of language and nudity to ensure that it never plays on TNT. The film is all of this, and more. Kevin Smith really has made the ultimate date movie.”

While we’ve only seen a few of the professional critics review this one so far, the important part are the viewing public. So if what we see above is any indication of how the movie will be received next month, we’ve got a feeling that Kevin, the cast, the crew, and the Weinstein Co. are all going to have a very happy Fall 2008.

First up, Fantastic Fest’s official blogsite runs video of a fun anecdone that Kevin presented prior the movie at the fest. Watch Kevin enter the screening, listen to some fan reaction and see the press line.

There’s also a video of a few moment from the Q&A with Kevin and Scott from after the show. THIS HAS SPOILERS! Kevin discusses the NC-17 scenes and the Mewes performance.

Want more video? Yep, they also took video of the Air Sex competition that took place after the film.

Wetwired have posted a page that’s a running blog of the event. It features some photos from before and after the show, some brief thoughts on the film and the event, and a few minor spoilers.

And finally, a few Flickr pages featuring pics from the fest, and of course of Kevin on the scene, can be viewed at the official Fantastic Fest Flickr page as well as the FF Opening Night Party page. Enjoy multimedia!