• Comic Book.com ran a very nice, but spoiler filled, review of Batman : The Widening Gyre #1.
• The St. Louis Examiner also ran a little piece on the first issue right HERE.
• Today’s issue of the Toronto Star ran 2 stories about Kevin’s involvment in the latest Degrassi TV movie and Degrassi as a whole. Check them out HERE and HERE.
• The Kansas City Star is running a poll to determine the best cult film of all time. CLERKS is currently is last place, let’s all get over there and vote to correct this thing.
• And finally today, here’s a uplifting story from the set of A COUPLE OF DICKS courtesy of the Echo Press:

  A DAY WITH DIRECTION

  By: Jo Colvin, Alexandria Echo Press

  Cody Saurdiff never imagined his wildest dream would come true. But it did.

  He got to hang out in a hotel room eating cupcakes and pizza with a guy in a T-shirt, shorts and a bathrobe. What more could a 16-year-old boy wish for?

  Of course, the fact that he was eating junk food with his idol Kevin Smith, a famous film writer, actor and director, in a penthouse suite in New York City with a view of the Statue of Liberty after spending an entire day watching Smith direct a film and getting to act in a scene himself was the icing on the cupcakes.

  We got as much out of that day as we possibly could, said Cody, son of Bob Saurdiff and Barb Saurdiff, both of Alexandria. I spent from 10 a.m. to midnight with my hero. I felt so fulfilled.

  How Cody got there wasnt so fulfilling. But typical of this easy-going, eloquent teen, his quirky sense of humor and his positive attitude helped him take the bumps on the road to New York City in stride.

  MAKING THE BEST OF IT.

  I just kind of accepted it for the most part, Cody said.

  Brave words coming from a kid who just whipped cancer twice.

  Two years ago, Cody was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The tumor was removed and the cancer did not spread. About a year and a half later, a cancerous lump was found in his abdomen.

  The lump was removed, but this time chemotherapy was in order. Complicating this treatment was the fact that Cody doesnt have a very good heart.

  Born with a heart defect called tetralogy of fallot, Cody had heart surgery at 6 months old and pretty much grew up around doctors.

  His five chemotherapy sessions caused him to miss the last two months of his sophomore year. But he didnt let the nausea and hair loss get him down.

  I thought I could have some fun with it, he said of losing his hair. Eventually I had to shave my head. I invited everyone I knew into my basement and I had a friend shave my head. I tried to make the best possible out of an awful situation.

  In the meantime, Bob was trying to do the same thing. He wanted to do something special for his son, so he turned to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for advice never imagining that Cody would qualify.

  I was looking for more help than having them do it, Bob said, thinking that Make-A-Wish was only for terminal illnesses. But they called back and said he was qualified and his wish was granted.

  FILM FREAKS

  Cody didnt hesitate at all when his dad asked what wish he would like granted. He wanted to meet Kevin Smith writer, actor and director of some of Codys favorite movies.

  Referring to his family as film freaks, Cody had been exposed to all types of film in his childhood. But Smiths movies called to him, and made him want to write screenplays himself.

  He has a quiet and intellectual humor he has drawn down to a level that people can understand, Cody explained. His ideas are really fun but really out there. The guy is so articulate. Ive always thought his work was the best thing in the world.

  Only two months after Bob contacted Make-A-Wish, Cody received a letter saying his wish had been accepted. Two weeks later, it was already set up.

  Kevin Smith said yes right on the spot, Cody said.

  On July 23, Cody, his parents and brother, Dillyn, took off for Minneapolis. The next morning a limousine arrived at their motel to transport them to the airport. And when they arrived in New York City, another limousine was waiting.

  You wouldnt believe what they [Make-A-Wish] went through. There was a limousine service everywhere we went and contacts everywhere we went, said a grateful Bob. Someone was with us to help throughout the whole trip. We pretty much didnt have to do anything but show up.

  The first day in the Big Apple, the Saurdiffs played tourist visiting Manhattan, Park Avenue, Central Park, The Museum of Art, Ground Zero and Grand Central Station.

  But that paled in comparison to day two of Codys big adventure when he visited a movie set, met his mentor and acted in a movie all in one day.

  That one day made it the best trip we have ever had, Cody said.

  A REGULAR GUY

  Cody wasnt expecting much. Smith was a busy man. He was in the middle of filming a movie titled A Couple of Dicks. The teen figured he would visit the movie set, shake hands, exchange a few words, and be on his way.

  He was sorely mistaken.

  It started with a car accident and a bald guy.

  This car came screeching to a stop, and Bruce Willis got out. It turned out to be Bruce Willis and a stunt double, Cody said, noting that because Willis is bald, so were all the stunt doubles. I was right at home. Everybody was bald.

  The Saurdiffs scored the best seats on the street, right behind the directors chair. Then came Smith.

  He had a big old smile, waved to us and talked to us for a bit, Cody said, impressed with Smiths kindness and genuine welcome. Then he leans back and says, Hey, do you want to be in the movie?

  The Saurdiffs were amazed to learn that Smith had rewritten part of the script to accommodate a part for Cody.

  In the scene, Cody plays a teenage student driver who hits Willis with a car. Although it would be a 20-second scene, the Saurdiffs spent eight hours on the set.

  After he was done filming, Cody got out of the car and the film crew gave him a standing ovation.

  They took a shining to Cody, said his proud dad. They loved this kid. He was holding cameras and everything. They couldnt do enough.

  Everyone there was super nice, Cody agreed.

  When the filming wrapped up, a satisfied, overwhelmed Cody expected to shake hands and say goodbye.

  Then it got even better.

  He invited us to go to his editing room, Cody said incredulously.

  And of course, we were so busy, we said, Well, maybe, he joked.

  Smith showed the Saurdiffs the editing room and explained the process. He ordered pizza and shared the cupcakes his daughter baked. He listened to Codys cancer story and listened to his opinions. And he sat and joked around with them.

  At 9:30 p.m. it was finally a wrap. Cody had experienced the best day of his life.

  I had a crush on him before, but I fell in love with him afterward, Cody joked. Anything I experienced with him that day made everything about him better, if it could be better.

  HOT DOG!

  The Saurdiffs had one more day to tour New York City, but it was anti-climactic. Not even seeing the Rockefeller Center or getting bumped to the front of the line at the Statue of Liberty held a candle to the previous day.

  We did have this really good hot dog, Cody teased, pondering the highlight of his New York adventure. It was something. I was mesmerized by the taste.

  But the best hot dog hed ever tasted couldnt even compare to his day on the movie set and everything he learned. And it wasnt just about making movies.

  I realize how some people in this world can be, he concluded. Make-A-Wish did everything they could for us. Kevin Smith did everything he could for us. They were the nicest people we could ever imagine.

  I learned a lot about the goodness of peoples hearts.

Kevin and Scott Mosier will be recording a live podcast at The Prince Charles Cinema!

07/10/09 at 18:00 Kevin Smith & Scott Mosier

Tickets (which are going to sell out fast) will be available at

www.viewaskew.com/events/uksmod

We are not aware when these will go live

Please keep in mind this has not yet been officially announced by View Askew — But hopefully we’ll be able to confirm soon.

Speedy Coming to SMALLVILLE

The Green Arrow has become a staple player in the ranks of characters featured in ‘Smallville’. He’s been unsuccessful in one endeavor on the show though: recruiting Clark as his full-time partner in crime-fighting. Well. KryptonSite suggests there may be a remedy for that, as season 9 of the show will introduce Arrow’s original sidekick Speedy.

Well, not the original, exactly. Mia Dearden is set to appear in an upcoming episode. She was introduced in Kevin Smith’s revival of Green Arrow back in 2001 and went on to take up the role of sidekick archer.

Check out KryptonSite’s description of episode 7 for more on the ‘Smallville’ version of Dearden.

CHASING AMY: Homosexuality proved to be passing fancy and sign of sexual deviance.

CLERKS: Aimless loser remains in dead-end job, abusive “friendship.”

GOOD WILL HUNTING: Underemployed genius squanders prestigious job opportunity to chase trim.

“BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE” #1 (DC): Back in May, Kevin Smith told Splash Page that this could be the last Batman story he ever writes–which should be reason enough to pick it up. Having previously authored “Batman: Cacophony” (which featured my favorite new villain, Onomatopoeia, created by Smith during his “Green Arrow” run), Smith promises to introduce a brand new character in “Widening Gyre,” which he’s writing alongside his frequent collaborator in both comics and film, artist/actor Walt Flanagan.

With the combined comics cred of Smith and Flanagan and a new character in the wings, this one’s a can’t-miss pickup for readers this week.

Can’t sleep or wait until you local comic shop opens? How’s about a nice look at some finished pages from the new series, eh? DC’s Source presents the two covers for issue #1 and some colorful looks at key moments. Click the pages here for a bigger look, or visit DC Source. Enjoy issue #1!

The series will run 12 issues, made up of 2, six-part arcs. There will be a break between the two arcs. A new DC universe hero is introduced in book two. MTV ran a nice story and interview with Kevin earlier this year that you might want to take a look back on as well. Hurry up, Wednesday.

The November 17 release of Chasing Amy on Blu-ray will be offered in 1.85:1 1080p video and 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio 48kHz/24.bit.

Bonus features are a mix of what was included on the previously released Criterion Collection DVD and newly produced extras. What will not be ported from DVD is the Kevin Smith DVD introduction (naturally), screen specific audio commentaries with the cast and crew (replaced with new commentary and a q/a), and The Askewniverse Legend guide. At the end of the day this new Blu-ray edition’s supplements are on par with the Criterion DVD, only more relevant in retrospect to where the cast and crew’s minds are today.

All of the new bonus features on Blu-ray are marked as such in this comprehensive list.

* NEW: Commentary with Kevin Smith and producer Scott Mosier
* NEW: Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy doc
* NEW: Was It Something I Said? A conversation with Kevin and Joey
* NEW: 10 Years Later Q/A with Kevin and the cast
* Deleted scenes
* Outtakes
* Trailer

We’re stoked for this release, as Amy is one of our all-time faves. It’ll be great to watch the film again and take in all of this new material. Seeing what Kevin & Scott have to say about the film with all this time passing should prove for an interesting new commentary. As soon as the Stash has pre-orders out there, we’ll let ya know.

Wanna see it? Check your local listings to catch it on the tube. OR…Even better, view it RIGHT NOW at the N’s official website!!!

Click Here for the 90-minute “Degrassi Goes Hollywood” movie, free!

Looks like the entire Degrassi cast is back, so if you haven’t checked the show out in a while, here’s a chance to catch up. Enjoy.

“…O’Halloran and Anderson pick up the characters of Dante and Randal so easily it is like they are putting back on their favourite old shirts, making the audience feel as if two old friends have just popped in to let you know what they have been up to recently. The flow of their dialogue is seamless and totally in line with the previous film, something which really could have unravelled the entire movie if it had not been done right.

As always, Jay and Silent Bob add their own personal brand of comic relief throughout the movie and special mention goes out to the two new main additions to this Askewniverse, Rosario Dawson’s Becky and Trevor Fehrman’s Elias, who both slot into this world so brilliantly it is hard to believe this is the first we have seen of them.

…

Clerks II is a sequel that really works and should be made as essential viewing for any Hollywood writer/producer/director who is even thinking of putting a number 2 next to a movie.”

The retrospective will conclude next week with “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”. We’ll then run a post with links to the entire series in case you might have missed any.

CHATHAM — Movie funnyman Jason Mewes is returning here this weekend. The New Jersey-based actor, best known as Jay — as in Jay and Silent Bob — in Clerks and other Kevin Smith films, will perform a stand-up set at the Encore Bar & Nightspot tomorrow night. He filmed a horror film, Silent But Deadly, in Chatham-Kent last year, though he says the film has been “put on hold.” Chatham-Kent, though, is an “interesting place,” he recalled.

Encore Bar is charging $12 at the door for the show tonight. If anyone happened to make it, drop us a line and let us know how the guy fared up there. It’s possible this is just a Q&A that they got mixed up. We’ve heard that some bar-hosted appearances can get a little dicey as far as acoustics and logistics, so tread carefully.

“Chasing Amy” will be the long-awaited anniversary edition of the beloved film, which adds over 4 hours of brand new exclusive content that you won’t get anywhere else, including a brand new documentary from Zak & Joey at Chop Shop (which is sure to be brilliance as always), that Arclight reuinion Q&A we were fortunate enough to be front and center for, and lots more.

On “Clerks”, the Clerks X stuff comes back in a nice single disc package, with the added bonus of the rarely-seen Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back “Oh What a Lovely Tea Party” documentary. Previously, you could only see this doc on the festival circuit — Now, you can catch it at home. We’re betting they’ll throw a few more surprises in there, too.

Since “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” has already arrived on Blu-ray, they’re also offering up a special 3-pack which includes that flick along with these two releases. If you don’t have it yet, you might want to look into nabbing that multi-pack at a bargain price.

Retail on the first two is $39.99 each and on the pack is $89.99 each — But as always, stick with us as we’ll likely have a big party or signed copies of these direct from the Stash announced over the next month or so.

Read more on the anouncement at the following fine locations for DVD news on the web: The Digital Bits, DVDTown, and AgentDVD, and High Def Digest.