• We’ll expand on this later, but we promised you we’d have this up ASAP — A second show has been added the day BEFORE the original show in Toronto. This show will be Friday night, February 6th. Same place.
  

  
  The SECRET PRESALE starts tomorrow at 10 AM EST, and will go until Friday at 10 PM or until all the presale allotment have been sold.

  The password/secret code to buy is DOGMA.

  Click this link starting at 10 AM EST Thursday to get your tickets!!!!

  The official sale starts Saturday, so for those of you who miss the presale, watch our site for details on what time you can get your tickets on Saturday. We’re expecting the presale and the show to both sell out again, so DO NOT DELAY. Be near a computer tomorrow and get those seats!

• This just in! To celebrate the thanksgiving holiday and your loyal business, our pal Ron at Laser Blazer and Stash West just announced QUITE a sale! If you’re in the Los Angeles area, or even close enough to drive in, this sale will be worth the trip, as it’s their best sale in years and the best we have ever seen since the Stash came on board.
  

  
  November 28, 29, and 30 (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), THIS WEEKEND ONLY, everything in the store is 15% off. That includes ALL the View Askew swag and comics in Secret Stash West. It ALSO includes their already incredibly low priced new DVD releases this week, which already have 20% off, so you can imagine how low prices are headed.
  

  
  If you are looking for deals on View Askew swag, DVDs, comics, or toys, Laser Blazer is a MUST STOP this weekend. NOTE: Sale is in store only, NOT for online Stash purchases (sorry). We’re checking with Ron on if the discount applies to DVDs purchased through his online site.

  Ron thanks you all for your support, and we certainly encourage you to take advantage of this great discount on their already fantastic low prices. Laser Blazer is located at 10587 West Pico in Los Angeles, and Secret Stash west is inside those same walls.

• On this Thanksgiving day, we like to reflect on all of our good fortune, through this site and our lives in general, and all we have to be thankful for.
  

  
  Here at News Askew, we’re especially thankful today for you — The fans who visit us faithfully, whether you’re new to our world or some of our longtime fans from the beginning. We thank you for allowing us to continue serving you, and for your continued support and contributions.
  

  
  We’re thankful to Kevin Smith and View Askew Productions, who have thrown unprecedented support behind our efforts and this website, and remain the #1 reason that you continue to read us every day. We not only enjoy being part of the family, but it’s through the generosity of Kevin and the company that make it all possible.
  

  
  We’ve got so much more to be thankful today, and we think you may share in some of these sentiments – We’re thankful for our families, our friends, for the roof over our heads, the meals we’re looking forward to enjoying today, and the jobs which employ us and pay the bills in these tough economic times.
  

  
  Even all the little things that make living in 2008 so great – That xbox live connection that allows you to connect and play games with your friends everywhere. The DVR that doesn’t miss any of our favorite shows even if our schedule dictates otherwise. There are so many things, big and small, that we are fortunate enough to have, and we need to remember that EVERY day, not just today — Though it’s always nice to come out and say it.
  

  
  Thanks for everything.
  

  
  What are you thankful for today?

• Kevin makes his way back to the great state of New Jersey for another of his marathon, off the cuff, never-identical Q&A sessions on February 21, 2009, at the Bergen Performing Arts Center, and tickets of all types are now available for immediate online purchase.
  

  
  With gift ideas getting tougher to come by this year, why not gift the Kevin Smith or film fan in your life with tickets to see this one of a kind event? Everyone at these shows always has a blast and a night full of laughs — We’ve seen a bunch, and never once has a shown been close to the same as before, so you’re always going to get a value out of these tickets — Even if you’ve done a Q&A before. Pick yourself up a bunch, or pick them up for family or friends. As the DVDs prove, an evening with Kevin Smith is an evening like no other!
  

  
  Showtime is at 8 PM on Saturday February 21st, so you don’t have to worry about spending a late night out, it’s the weekend, after all. Prices start at $32.50 and head up from there depending on seating area, so visit the Bergen site for a map and to make your reservations. We look forward to seeing you there.

• Live in Singapore and wanna see “Zack & Miri Make a Porno”? We have good news for you. One of their largest theater chains will begin showing it this Friday, November 28th.

  They are using the “stick-figure” poster as an icon, but also use Seth’s and Elizabeth’s heads from the “banned” poster, adapting the stick figure phrase to “They made a movie so naughty we can only show their faces.” In Singapore, the film is rated R21 for “Sexual Content & Crude Humour”, but we hear that rating is quite common. No cuts were made from what we hear, so you should be seeing the same film we saw in the States, in all its raunchy glory. Enjoy!

• Our official congrats to Jason Lee, as People magazine confirms his marriage from over the summer. Lee has been keeping a very low profile with the press lately, which we’re totally down with, though we did want to certainly extend our belated congrats to him and his family.

• With our scoops form acting up again, we’re now going to ask that any and all scoops (for now) come direct via your e-mail account to SCOOPS (AT) NEWSASKEW (DOT) COM. You know how to change the address to make it work (we just write it that way to keep the spam-bots away as much as possible).
  

  
  In the meantime, we’re going to research a new scoop form method since the one we were using just decided to quit on us for no particular reason. If you sent a scoop via the form and never heard back from us, please drop us an e-mail direct so we can take a look at it. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank all of you for your continued support. A few new stories coming your way shortly as we prepare for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend…

• If you sent a scoop to us using the scoops address or the scoops form last week, we might not have received it — We just became aware of some issues with the mail system that may have caused some of your scoops to go off into that e-mail black hole, never to be seen again (the same place those missing socks from your laundry dryer go). So, if you sent us something last week and never saw it posted or heard back from us, please do drop us a line with the scoop again, so we can be sure we heard from you. Also, it seems the scoop form is still problematic, so please send it direct to SCOOPS [AT] NEWSASKEW.COM (replace the AT of course, just trying to keep the spam down).

  Thanks!

We’ve arrived in our row S seats, just below the balcony. There’s a couch onstage and the lights just went down, kevin has taken the stage!

Kevin is going to run a shorter show than usual tonight, 3 to 4 hours.

So far, questions have been about Zack and Miri. Kevin is now telling his tale from the ratings board.

iPhone battery is at 20 percent, and the ATT signal in the Basie is rotten, so we’ll check in if any major revelations are dropped. Thanks for checking in.

Our favorite question of the night so far – an enthusiastic costumed guy from Philly in the balcony just proposed a “View Askew Zombies” comic book series to Kevin.

Different from many sessions, Kevin has been moving more quickly through questions and there haven’t been many extended tales. It’s a fun format and allowing Kevin to get to more folks.

The new Basie is nicely renovated, but very hot and seats are a bit tight – The packed house can’t be helping. Note to self, t-shirt next time!

Red State: Kevin speaks confidently about it being made, but financing is still not final. They are eyeing a Spring start, and may do a multi-way finance to get it done.

It’s 9:50 PM, lines are long but the 4 mics have all been having their say, with am average of 5 to 10 minutes spent per person. Questions have been generally good and Kevin has continued to answer them and move on.

The audience has just confirmed via cheers how hot it is in here, and Kevin has just jokingly left the stage for a quick shirt change due to the heat.

10:45 and going strong! Kevin is fielding a question about future plans, and reveals we won’t see much of him in public for six months.

Lots of topics covered so far tonight, with questions ranging from Jersey Girl to Zack & Miri, as well as some words on doing these Q&As and if a question has ever offended him (so far, none have).

While there are no Vulgarthon plans, Kevin expects that Big Helium Dog will arrive on DVD within the next year.

Kevin won the best wingman ever award by hooking up to fans who came in all the way from Ohio. A true highlight!

The show ended at 11:15 – After a brief chat with faithful fans Karla and Robb in the lobby we’re hitting the road home.

• We’ve been in full-force “Zack And Miri” promotion mode here at News Askew, so it’s quite exciting to see news of the NEXT project already seeping into the offices — Kevin’s started bringing up the sci-fi comedy project in various interviews over the past few weeks, each time slipping in a few more details, which tells us he’s close to having a final script and possibly even a green light for the project.
  

  
  The Hollywood Reporter breaks the story today, speculating that there will indeed be a spaceship (which we could have figured, being a sci-fi flick), a $45 – $50 million budget, the biggest ever, and, the most significant, that the story will revolve around the relationship between a father and a son. Since Kevin often writes with specific actors in mind, we can’t help but wonder who he might already have planned for those two main roles.

  Here’s the story:

  Kevin Smith sets space comedy

  Indie-film veteran eyes biggest budget yet

  By Steven Zeitchik

  Writer-director Kevin Smith is developing a futuristic outer space comedy.

  The film will reference other sci-fi movies and revolves around a father-son relationship. Smith has nodded to the genre in his earlier work but never made a sci-fi film.

  The indie-minded Smith is aiming for a budget in the $45 million-$50 million range, which would be his biggest. He again will produce with partner Scott Mosier via their View Askew banner.

  Harvey and Bob Weinstein, with whom Smith has collaborated on most of his movies, could reteam with Smith on the film. Insiders said that TWC execs have read part of the script and are interested in making the movie. Smith has finished a first draft of the script, but the project will not move forward until after his next project, “Red State.” Smith will not be doing that with the Weinsteins but instead is seeking independent financing and a spring start date for his dramatic tale of a domestic terrorist in the Heartland.

  The Weinstein Co. this month will release Smith’s Seth Rogen comedy “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” That film, at about $25 million, had his biggest-budget to date, but Smith knows the sci-fi movie will be pricier.

  “The moment someone steps out of the spaceship, it’s going to cost a little more,” he said.

  Smith said he’s looking forward to exploring new character dynamics as well as outer space.

  “All the relationships in the flicks I’ve done have been done before, have been either a guy falling for a girl or two dudes hanging out in a ‘bromantic’ comedy,” he said. “I wanted to explore a father and son.”

  Though the article still has “Red State” next on the slate, we wouldn’t be surprised if this one wound up coming next, depending on how actors, schedules, and financing line up. We’ll be on top of this story and you’ll hear it first right here at News Askew.

  More news later – By the way, TWO WEEKS until “Zack And Miri Make a Porno” takes over North America.

• This extremely important news just in – Unfortunately, due to a very poorly run airline system, Kevin’s not going to be able to make it into Edmonton for tonight’s Q&A gig — Depite being there VERY early at the airport. A makeup date is already set, so read on for Kev’s post:

  AIR CANADA FCKS ME! EDMONTON GIG CANCELLED!

  Fucking Air Canada locked me out of my fucking flight even though I was in the terminal at 9:48 for an 11:05 flight! After waiting in a line for fifteen minutes, with no announcement that they were closing my Edmonton flight, I get to the desk, where I’m told it’s too late: I’m locked out of the flight. And when I’m like “I’ll ditch my luggage. Can’t I just get my boarding pass so I can get on that plane?” I’m told “No. They won’t let me ticket you. The flight’s closed.”

  And there were still 20 minutes to go before they even started boarding, and 50 MINUTES before the flight even took off!

  I’m sorry: I fucking hate Air Canada.

  After all that time wasted at the Air Canada desk, desperately trying to get someone to do the right thing, I ran around from airlines to airlines (fat sweaty man, two cumbersome bags) trying to get to Edmonton before 7pm. The best anyone could do was get me there by 10-ish. I offered to start the Q&A then, but understandably, the folks running the gig felt that by the time I got through customs and hauled ass from the airport, we were looking at a close to 11 o’clock start time.

  So the gig’s been called off.

  Makeup date has already been chosen: Wednesday, OCTOBER 8TH.

  My apologies folks. My bags were packed the night before, and I left for the airport with more than enough time. I was in the terminal with time to spare before the cut-off (and, I mean, a full hour they cut that shit off at? Jesus…), and still, I wasn’t allowed on the plane. I offered to ditch my luggage, and still I wasn’t allowed on the plane. Air Canada can suck it.

  NO SHOW TONIGHT. Q&A’S BEEN MOVED TO OCTOBER 8TH.

  Calgarians: this won’t effect your show on Tuesday. Rest assured, I WILL BOOK UNDER A DIFFERENT AIRLINES and make sure I’m there, in Calgary, with time to spare.

  And there ya have it, folks — More news later, we just wanted to get this out there ASAP for those of you who don’t follow the blog sites regularly, especially if you are ticketed for tonight’s gig. We assume calling the venue will get you any details on the new date, or refund info if you can’t make it – Typically you’ll be issued a new ticket or your current ticket will work on the 8th, but we can’t say for certain how they’ll handle it (but don’t take it out on them, strictly the airline’s fault this time, nothing to to with Kev or the venue).