Archive for December, 2010

View Askew NewsBites™

December 13th, 2010 @ 8:31 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris, John Whiteaker

  • This week, Kevin will debut a second “Red State” character poster for the highest charitable bidder. Watch his twitter feed for your chance to bid, benefit charity, and receive a sweet, sweet exclusive. This week’s poster will feature “the son” by a hint of Kevin, stating that what comes after “the father” (last week’s poster) will be next.
  • Kevin recently revealed that the next sneak from Etnies Culture will be a SModcast-based shoe called the SMeaker. After seeing what they were able to do with the awesome Clerks kicks, we can’t wait to see ’em. Design’s done, and once it’s revealed, we can’t wait to share it with ya.
  • Wizard hasn’t forgotten about the great work Kevin’s been doing for the comic world — Here’s scans of the latest ink focusing on trade paperbacks collecting his works from over the years. Click to embiggen.
  • In case you missed it, Kevin’s blog featured another airline run-in last week, this time with Virgin America. The story quickly died down, however, after the airline took quick action to contact Kevin and make everything right. Still, it’s nice to see that the blog-sphere helps get poor customer service incidents out in the open. Here’s hoping that things like this push companies to improve service all-around, as it seems to be lacking at a lot of places these days.
  • KTLA gave Kevin and Jay a few minutes on their morning program late last week to promote the upcoming “Get Old” gigs. Watch Kev also chat live about the above-mentioned airline incident as well.
  • The holiday season is a fantastic time to give yourself or the fan in your life the gift of Askew — Might we suggest the new Widening Gyre hardcover on sale for just $24.99 via the Stash? For that price, it’s amazing that it also comes with original artwork personally signed by artist Walt Flanagan. Wow.

    Hate paper? Starting getting involved with Gyre and Green Hornet digitally for a low price.

  • Lots more up for grabs at the online Stash, or in person in Red Bank, New Jersey — One of our favorite places to shop for Christmas.

Giant Fire Breathing Robot Debuts “Red State” Poster…

December 9th, 2010 @ 12:53 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • You gotta love the trails that Kevin is blazing with the promotion of “Red State”. This week, to benefit Mitch Albom’s charity to benefit Haiti, www.havefaithhaiti.org, Kevin put the next in his series of character one-sheets up for exclusive bid for online movie Web sites to debut. The poster went to the highest bidder, giving them exclusive rights for the online use of this image. The winner, “Giant Fire Breathing Robot”, won the rights and debuted the Michael Parks one sheet with a staggering $2000 bid which Kevin matched, dollar for dollar.

    The entire thing played out via auction on twitter, with Kevin moderating each bid as it arrived, encouraging other major film sites to check in with their counter-offers. It was not only great fun to watch, but encouraged awareness for the charity, got fans involved, and even helped generate more buzz for “Red State” in the press. Genius? We sure think so. We’re hoping to see the trend continue, bringing further scoopage to the fans by helping charities — One tweeter suggested that perhaps the one-sheet be printed, signed and auctioned off once more, this time with the original going to the highest charitable bidder.

    Out of respect for the winner, we’re encouraging you to head on over to “Giant Fire Breathing Robot” to see the one sheet and read the winner’s own comments instead of posting it up here, for now. You can see how it all played out on Twitter, though here’s a few of the key posts:

      To raise some loot for www.havefaithhaiti.org I offer the 1st in the new series of RedState posters, featuring Michael Parks as AbinCooper. Movie web site that offers the most, gets the pic exclusively, and I will match their bid. All monies go directly to www.havefaithhaiti.org

      And the gate slams shut, with the mechanized might of @GFBRobot winning the rights to host the new RED STATE poster! Well played, all!

      And, as promised, I’ll be matching with my own $2k. And all that money goes directly to the @MitchAlbom charity www.havefaithhaiti.org

      Giant fucking RedState scoop at Giant Fire Breathing Robot! See a brand new poster featuring MichaelParks as Abin Cooper: http://gfbrobot.com

    Similar plans have been suggested for acquiring distribution rights to the film at Sundance, where Kevin may actually get bidders in a room following the screening and allow distribs to bid in the open once they’ve watched the film.

    We’ll be archving the poster here locally in a day or two, but for now, support GFBR, and visit the SModcast site for another look and info on how you can help save lives by supporting www.havefaithhaiti.org.

The “Twitter” Report: LIVE Edition…

December 9th, 2010 @ 12:52 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • With over 200 tweets in the last 48 hours, Kevin’s hit the Twitter stride once again, so we’re strongly encouraging you to follow him at @ThatKevinSmith via your Twitter client of choice, or by simply visiting Twitter on the web (yep, you don’t even need an account to do that).

    As always, we’ll do our best to summarize the significant and newsworthy stuff that drops here at News Askew for ya. Due to the volume, let’s take a look at it by topic this time around. First up, here’s the latest from the world of live appearances, including the SModcast network and SModcastle. Key important: Tomorrow (Friday) night, back to back live SModcastle-spawned shows hit the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club in Citywalk! First, the awesome Hollywood Babble On with Ralph Garman and Kevin Smith, then, Smith & Mewes take the stage for “Jay & Silent Bob Get Old”. Here’s the tweets:

      RedState pod going up in the morning is an EXCELLENT education in Filmmaking 101. A.D. Adam Druxman CRUSHED it tonight. Funny & informative.

      Go to film school without leaving your house or paying for it! The brand new RED STATE OF THE UNION Q&A is up: http://smodcast.com/redstate/

      PLUS ONE # 2 is ready to be heard! Fatty McNoFly & Wife say subscribe! http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/plus-one-smodcast-com/id407598704

      Start with good news: A BRAND NEW JAY & BOB GET OLD! Ready to be heard! Get Old # 13: Knowing Me, Knowing Mewes: http://smodcast.com/getold/

      Enough of this customer service bullshit! Come be inspired: STARFUCKING Chapter 1 is now LIVE: http://starfucking.smodcast.com #ForCharity

      If you’re REMOTELY artsy-fartsy, this is a must listen: http://starfucking.smodcast.com/ Hear it for free, own it for 90cents (for charity).

      STARFUCKING Chap.2 is up! http://starfucking.smodcast.com/ Listen for free or buy! Hear @AmandaPalmer rock out with @NeilHimself’s cock out!

      Via @grahamSHAZAM “How was @edgarwright visit at @SModcastle” 2.5 hrs of film-nerdgasm for all involved. Hear it next week on SMovieMakers.

      Via @zyliss3 “How about a SMovieMakers with Affleck?” Already on my to-do list. I REALLY wanna do Kathryn Bigelow. Interview, I mean. *ahem*

      FRIDAY! Get drunk with @RalphGarman @ CityWalk: http://babbleonkev.com Afterwards, get clean with @JayMewes: http://smodcast.com/getold/live

      Via @therealmcast “tix $20 or $7 for HBO” $20 for show, $7 for valet parking. 1.5 hrs of @RalphGarman: priceless. http://babbleonkev.com/

      And the last bit of good news before it goes dark: A BRAND NEW CHRISTMAS SMODIMATION! SMerry Christmas: http://smodcast.com/smodimations/

    So, to summarize – New ‘sodes of “Red State”, “Get Old” and “Plus One” now up. See Kevin & Ralph, followed by Kevin & Jay, at Edgar Wright show will come online next week. Episodes #1 and #2 of the Palmer/Gaiman show now available for FREE to stream on the web, a mere 90 cents to charity to own them forever and ever. New Christmas-themed Smodimation ready to rock. Affleck at SModcastle sometime in the future? Let’s hope so. And of course, be there at Citywalk tomorrow night for a double-shot of live SModcast.

    More tweets and news on the way later today, as Kevin’s continuing to drop news and tweets as we speak. Follow along or catch up with us here at News Askew.

First Photos: “Red State”…

December 6th, 2010 @ 9:23 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris, Matt Booker

  • Feast your eyes on the first press photos from “Red State”! This is our first look at how some of the film’s characters will appear. It’s amazing how much tone these things ooze — Definitely amps up the excitement here, seeing shots from a totally new genre from Kevin. Everything just looks really bleak and foreboding, and we’ve got a feeling that’s exactly what the director was shooting for. Click for a slightly closer look at each.

    Thanks to Geektyrant. In late January, the film will make its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Lucky fans who have an opportunity to see Kevin at one of his upcoming live appearances can get their first looks at the trailer, as Kevin has been sharing it when possible.

“Red State” Character One-Sheets Debut…

December 6th, 2010 @ 9:23 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • This week, several new one-sheets for “Red State” will arrive on the web, which look to feature some character shots. The first, titled “The Virgin”, features actress Kerry Bishe, who some may recognize from “Scrubs”. Along with the reveal comes this message from Kevin:

      If you’re a movie website or film journalist and you want to feature this poster or use it in a story, don’t be a detail-thin dick.

      Be sure to tell people WHY the poster was released: because a bunch of generous fans pledged $1000 to The Wayne Foundation in less than 30 minutes.

      If you also include the link for the The Wayne Foundation in your story/article, you’re not only being a thorough journalist, you’re also helping to crack down on scumbag kid-fuckers. http://viewaskew.com/thewaynefoundation/

      It only takes a few seconds longer to provide all available facts in any story.

      Including THIS fact can help save a child’s life.

    Stay tuned as more new high-resolution one-sheets should arrive as the week moves on.

Secret Stash COUPON SALE!!!

December 5th, 2010 @ 9:20 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Ming, Brad & Chris

  • We always think that the holiday season is one of the best times to shop at the online Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash — Tons of holiday deals, new merch, lots of stuff signed by Kevin. It’s a great time to buy yourself a gift, or buy something special for the View Askew fan in your life. Take a peek at the View Askew Christmas Sale for some incredible deals this year, and of course click that banner atop our page for the only place on the web you can get the 3-disc Bluray collection SIGNED by Kevin himself.

    Now, let’s make the deal EVEN BETTER. For the first time in history, the Stash has two online coupons that you can use, with your order, for even more savings.

      Use coupon code: HOLIDAYS09 for $5 off any purchase $50 or more

      Use coupon code: NOONCH for $15 off any purchase $100 or more

    These are online-only exclusives, and rank as the best deal we’ve ever seen, overall, when shopping from the Stash. There’s never been a better time to buy, and we’re betting there’s a ton of stuff on that site that you didn’t even know was there. Really neat gift stuff, too (we’re particularly fond of all the “Bean N Gone” mugs and merch, based on the coffee shop from “Zack and Miri”. But there’s so much more.

    This is a LIMITED TIME OFFER, so shop today and have all those goodies in time for Christmas. Happy Holidays to all.

“Red State” is Coming to Sundance!

December 3rd, 2010 @ 3:16 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris, Matt Booker

  • The world-famous Sundance Film festival, which runs January 20th to January 30th in Park City, Utah, will mark the world premiere of Kevin Smith’s first foray into horror, “Red State”. Kevin broke the news on his new podcast titled “Plus One” this week (details on that in a story below). While not in official competition, the screening is still a great honor, and gives potential buyers a chance to view the film with an audience and even potentially place some distribution bids. From a Variety story this morning:

      “One high-profile title hunting for a buyer is Smith’s fundamentalism-skewewing horror pic “Red State”. Festgoers will be curious to see whether Smith follows through on his suggestion in an earlier podcast that, were “Red State” to play at Sundance, he would publicly hand-pick the distributor right on the spot (“Might even bring up a professional auctioneer to make it fun and unintelligible,” he said.)

    /Film hints that some of the cast and crew may be in town for the film’s premiere. No further details have yet been announced as far as a screening date or theater, but we’ll be sure to reveal that as soon as we can, for those of you lucky enough to be attending the festival. Maybe we can find a way to get you inside info to get you in the door. It will easily sell out and be a tough ticket, as Kevin’s films debuting at festivals have always been extremely popular.

    Here’s Sundance’s official logline for “Red State”:

      Red State / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kevin Smith) – A group of misfits encounter extreme fundamentalism in Middle America. Cast: Michael Parks, Michael Angarano, Kyle Gallner, John Goodman, Melissa Leo.

    If you’re curious to learn about the other films just announced, /Film has done an excellent summary of everything and so has GeekTyrant.

    Director Richard Kelly’s seen the film, and his quote reminds us of those we read from the rare few who Kevin shocked by passing the script on to them back when it was written. Check THIS out again courtesy /Film:

      “I have never seen a filmmaker reinvent himself the way you just have. I won’t say anything else because I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s really really exciting. If the movie ends up playing at Sundance, I might actually come up to just see the audience’s response. I can not wait…”

    Nice, right?

    A few final notes: Kevin reveals that we’ll get our first look at John Goodman’s character in the next issue of the UK’s Empire Magazine. Get those scanners ready for us, UK’ers. Keep up with the latest happenings via the “Red State of the Union” podcast which Kevin promises will NOT come close to spoiling anything about the film. Not even close.

    Huge congrats to Kevin and the entire cast and crew on this major achievement. Now, on to distribution and a theatrical release date.

SModcast Network Grows: “Plus One” Debuts!

December 3rd, 2010 @ 3:14 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • When Kevin set up the first podcasting network and the world’s first live podcasting theater, we initially thought it would be for a couple of shows — Amazingly, in just months, we’ve watched the network evolve into a fantastic and varied array of programming. From film to sports to sex to comics to music…It’s just incredible. The shows are drawing record numbers of subscriptions and playbacks, and continue to top the iTunes charts almost instantly after they hit the airwaves.

    This week, Kevin proudly debuts his latest creation, “Plus One”, a regular program featuring him and his wife. Here’s a few tweets on this week’s debut, in which they revealed that “Red State” would be heading to Sundance:

    That brings the count to at least FOURTEEN different shows that have aired on the network, with over 9 of them being regular weekly (or almost weekly) programs. That’s quite an achievement from a program that was at one point just a single podcast, with aspirations of having around 5 shows a week. At the rate of expansion, it’s tough to determine where the ceiling is, though it seems that SModcastle has given the gang a rare opportunity to try out new programs, pilot episodes if you will, expanding or downsizing as needed. With an unlimited amount of bandwidth out there, the sky’s the limit as to how far the network will go, but we’re sure enjoying the ride so far.

    The best way to keep up is simply by finding your favorite programs by searching in iTunes, or using the official iTunes and RSS feeds you’ll locate at the beautiful SModcast Web site . And congrats for finding it — You’re part of a groundbreaking mix of entertainment and technology.

The “Twitter” Report – SModcast Edition…

December 3rd, 2010 @ 3:13 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • It’s Friday, so we’re gathering up the best and most intriguing of Kevin’s tweets from the last week. The feed has gotten quite a bit more active over the last few days…Though still not back to the levels of when the tweets kicked off with his official account, but by far the most in some time, with “Red State” now completed. As usual, we’re only grabbing the newsworthy stuff, as well as summarizing the latest podcast episode announcements (remember: sometimes podcast schedules change, or special live episodes are posted — follow Kevin’s twitter feed for the up to the second info).

    Let’s take a look, first, at the SMOD-related stuff (new episodes announced this week), followed by some comments from us :

      The day of the Lord cometh like a thief in the night – as does a brand new #SMODCAST http://smodcast.com/main.html 147: Belly Full of Spells

      Via @VideoETA “Sorry to hear about Sundance.” s’cool. I listened to this & it made me feel better: PLUS ONE # 1! http://smodcast.com/main.html

      FILM NERDS! Hear a new LIVE FROM @SMODCASTLE featuring a discussion with Darko-Daddy Richard Kelly: http://smodcast.com/livefromsmodcastle/

      Loving Mewes, is easy ’cause you’re beautiful. Hear a brand new episode of JAY & SILENT BOB GET OLD right now! http://smodcast.com/getold/

      It’s time to Babble the fuck on! Listen to me & @RalphGarman on the brand new HOLLYWOOD BABBLE-ON! http://smodcast.com/babbleon/

      Via @yourmelody1 “How’d the show go last night?” These beautiful fucking Californians SOLD THAT SHIT OUT FOR US! EXCELLENT way to debut!

      Via @ScottElvisKappy “What’s the capacity in new theater?” 300 & change. With tables out: 600. We’ll need it… FOR OUR NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW!

      Whoa! Fell asleep old-man-early last night & forgot to give y’all THIS: the latest RED STATE OF THE UNION Q&A! http://smodcast.com/redstate/

      On the new RED STATE OF THE UNION: more on HIT SOMEBODY lead Nic Braun with casting director DebAquila! http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0032597/

      Via @DJBrujah “Do we get a new Smodimation today, sir?” Monday, sir. And it’s pretty awesome. For now: http://smodcast.com/smodimations/

      @RyanFerguson83 “will we ever get an Affleck podcast?” If the Askewniverse was like BLOOM COUNTY, then #SModcast is like OUTLAND. Opus & Bill came over. Then, during the six year run of the strip, almost all our Bloom County favorites eventually showed up. #ItsOpusTime

    We especially love that last comment and “Outland” analogy. It really does seem that gradually, all the greats from View Askew past and present have been stopping by the SModcastle or the recording studio to check in for an episode or even a series. We’re looking forward to the days we see the likes of Affleck, Lee, and others recording special episodes.

    For those of you a little behind on “Babble On”, just to summarize — The show’s become so huge that it’s moved to the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club at Universal Citywalk at least through the end of the year with a standing Friday night engagement. As you can see, it’s already selling out. If you have the means, get there and see what you have been missing. The show is absolutely hilarious.

    SModcast Network and SModcastle continue to get e-ink as well.

    Finally, for those wondering when they’ll get to hear the Gaiman/Palmer special, wait no more — The official site for this 3-hour event has gone live. The show will eventually be free like all SModcasts remain, however, for its debut, we’re asking for a charitable donation of 90 cents and up, per chapter (3 chapters total) which benefits The Wayne Foundation. In chapter one, hear Smith talk candidly with Gaiman and Palmer. In Chapter 2, hear Palmer rock the stage. And finally, in Chapter 3, hear Gaiman read! All starting this Monday. Find out a little more about what you missed via this blog from an attendee. A clip:

      …I’ve seen a million interviews. Live and on TV. The subject is promoting something, and certain topics are taboo, and truth rarely comes out. Kevin’s only interested in the truth. He extracts it. And one got more insight into the struggle to be an artist last night at the Smodcastle than at any panel at any music conference ever.

      You see it’s about the people. They’re a special breed. And those who last are not about the money, because it’s too hard for it to only be about the money. They were always a little bit off, always living in an alternative reality in their heads. And it’s only when they laid this down that they found out huge swaths of people identified.

    The folks at @FastCompany took a look at #SModcast & @SModcastle in THIS article.

    It’s a busy and exciting time for the SModcast network — Keep following News Askew along with Kevin’s twitter and the SModcast network’s site for all the latest, with new content showing up every day.