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September 23rd @ 6:37 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Burns Willie Mahoney, EvilWallPaper, Andrew Craig, Mike Harris, Camaj, MakersIV & Marcel Burgstad

  • Kevin answered an age-old (well, at least since Chasing Amy) question regarding Banky’s sexuality…So, if you haven’t seen J&SBSB yet or still just don’t know, check out Kevin’s simply stated answer (if you dare, if not head down to the next story):
Yes, Banky’s gay. S’true.

  • Check out this cool fan creation, folks…The Brodie Action Figure! Alas, this is the only one in existence, or we’d be lining up to buy ‘em. Brodie was created from WWF wrestling action figure parts, a lot of sand paper, clay, paint, and hard work. A very cool job indeed.
  • The new episode of Brian Lynch’s “Angry Naked Pat” cartoon is now up at www.campchaos.com. Check it out.
  • Clerks gets a small mention in this weekend’s “Movie Answer Man” column from a reader who questioned Roger Ebert:
Q. To what extent do movies made prior to Sept. 11, 2001, still remain relevant in our lives? We still look at movies made prior to Dec. 7, 1941, such as “M” and “Citizen Kane,” and recognize them as the great films that they are, but I watched “Clerks,” one of my favorite films, earlier this evening, just to try to divert my mind from the current goings-on, and the petty complaints of a couple of my brethren (I’m from Monmouth County, N.J.) seemed not funny anymore, but rather irrelevant in light of how our existence has changed since 8:58 a.m. that Tuesday. I know that we will eventually be able to again appreciate the accomplishments produced by the better angels of our nature, but I wonder if we’ll ever be able to again appreciate the small, silly personal and political issues that seemed so large and overwhelming in the ’90s. I wonder what you think will become of the wonderful, if seemingly petty, movies of that decade.

– Thom Tolan, Norwalk, Conn.

A. I am having less trouble these days with the small and the silly than with the grandiose and the heartless. There are some movies from the 1990s that seem almost prescient now. A few that come to mind are “Magnolia,” “Bringing out the Dead,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Schindler’s List,” “Malcolm X.” But those films fought against irony, and to one degree or another paid the price.

I have just returned from the Toronto Film Festival, where two directors said things that continue to resonate. Norman Jewison told me, “The Hollywood studio movies of the last two years have been the worst in history. And you would not believe the crap that doesn’t get made. I look at a screenplay and ask them if they’re serious. And they are.” And Paul Cox said, “A movie should not make you a more disgusting human being.”

You can read the column online HERE.

  • Askew vets Salma Hayek and Chris Rock were spotted answering phones and taking part in Friday’s historical telethon to benefit victims of the attacks.
  • In Dallas, the Studio Movie Grill has started running a program called “Movies that go Better with Beer”, which is their midnight showing of some movies that have been out of theaters for a while. The first movie they did last weekend was Chasing Amy and this weekend is Clerks. Beforehand, they do Kevin trivia and give out free tickets and the like for correct answers. We hear crowds have been great, so it’s something definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.
  • “Because I Got High” by Afroman is now the 3rd most requested video on the “Dag Top 5″ on TMF in Holland. TMF (The Music Factory) is the Dutch equivalent of MTV. The “Dag Top 5″ (daily top 5) runs Monday to Thursday – Folks can vote their top 5 favorite videos on. Note: We’ll probably stop covering Afroman stuff from now on, unless it relates directly back to the flick.

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