• Happy 2005, Askewers! We’re happy you’ve come back to visit again in the new year. 2004 was yet another exciting, banner year here at View Askew, and we remain proud to be a part of the team, and excited to bring another year of the latest happenings with View Askew and all its offshoots to your computer screen. Let’s look back at a few of the highlights of 2004 briefly:

Got some favorite moments of your own? TALK BACK and let us know what your favorite View Askew experience of 2004 was!

There are many exciting prospects for 2005, the most exciting of which probably being the uncertainty of it all. At this point, we don’t have any official timeframes for most of what’s happening, but the talk surrounding Clerks 2 has fans excited above all other projects. Last we’d heard, a start date of April is planned for this one. It’ll take us back to the R-rated roots and follow all the film’s characters lives 10 years later.

Kevin’s also going to be easy to find in person this year, as he’s got a ton of Comicon apperances booked. Kevin’s signing lines and Q&A sessions are more packed than each prior, so if you’re planning to attend, we always recommend getting there EARLY. See our upcoming events page for full details. We’re hoping that Kevin brings all those exclusive inaction figures to the cons. At one point, it was proposed that special edition Kevin Smith figures, designed after each town in which he appears, would be the feature.

Kevin plays himself on the small screen for his first major television role (after a few small guest stints on Yes, Dear, MAD TV and Law & Order. Degrassi: The Next Generation features Kevin as, well, himself (along with Jay & alter ego Silent Bob) in a 3 epsidode arc to end the season. It’s airing in Canada this month, and will show up in the US later this year.

“An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder” looks to be the next View Askew DVD to show up on shelves in 2005. It’ll feature Kevin’s already filmed Canada appearance (see our recent update for a trailer), and this year’s upcoming UK Q&A. All new stories, all new audiences, and lots of laughs. The next best thing to being there in person.

What else is coming up? We shall most certainly see. Rumblings of Kevin’s possible involvement in a Star Wars television program for Lucas himself has a lot of us excited, but remains only strong rumor at presstime. Talks of future direct to video animated Clerks projects seem to pop up now and then as well. With a lot of the original cast together for Clerks 2, it’d sure be easy to record some voices for an animated feature as well. Hmmmm.

It was a blast having you all along for the ride in 2004, and we look forward to spending another year of Askew greatness with you fine folks again. As always, thanks for being the best fans on the planet, and thanks for all you do to support us. Happy New Year!

• TODAY, New Year’s Day, the Independent Film Channel will be airing the incredible, excellent “Snowball Effect” documentary at 6:00 PM, 9:30 PM and 12:30 AM PST. The first two showings will be followed up by Clerks. Yes, this is that must-see doc that covers Kevin’s life from childhood up to Clerks. One of the finest docs we’ve ever had the pleasure to view. And now you can see it FREE. If you don’t already own Clerks X, here’s a big chance to see what all the fuss about the DVD set is about. Now that we see IFC bought broadcast rights to the doc, we’re sure they’ll show it again, too. We’ll keep you posted.

IFC is also airing the complete season of their reality/game show “Film Fanatic” featuring Jason Mewes as a celebrity judge. If you catch the episode again, there is a funny little debate between two of the contestants about Kevin.

• We’d been holding off on further press on this story hoping that a big announcement or at least some clarity would come in, but it does
  indeed seem that there’s no movement happening on this deal for the moment. The good folks over at IESB were good enough to post a nice
  update containing what looks to be an inside scoop from Skywalker Ranch regarding the project. Here she be:

Kevin as the top choice, eh? Let’s hope this dude is legit! We’ll keep you posted.

• Kevin has been named one of City Pages (Minneapolis’ Village Voice) Artists of the Year.
  Interestingly enough, the article’s author is the guy who released his own documentary this year entitled “Michael Moore Hates America”. Here’s the
  piece:

And, for the record – Before anyone calls JG a “bomb”, let’s let the record show that the film has easily than made its money back for the studio.
Anything that turns a profit certainly deserves better than that.

• Upcoming press alert: The “After Hours” section of the just gone to press February 2005 Playboy has a small article on the Secret Stash. They spend
  more time detailing the various movie items on display than with Kevin, so it’s a large plug for the store, really, with just a few bites from the man
  himself. Should be hitting stands in 2-3 weeks.
• If you UK fans want a region 2 Dogma DVD for £5.49 Delivered , this is your chance!
• See you again soon. The holidays are always a quieter time of the year, so if you have something scoopworthy, be sure to send it in!

• Happy Holidays again, folks! We’re back. Hope you all had a great holiday and got some rockin’ stuff from Santa this year. Oh, and let’s
  also hope you have some spare cash, because in all our years working here at View Askew, we’ve yet to see deals like this. These are GOOD DEALS. Bluntman
  & Chronic figure sets for $10, Randals for $5, t-shirts for $10 and $8…Some of this stuff is practically theft, and like Kevin says below, even at a price
  that works out to LESS than they cost to make. Here’s Kevin:

Remember, once these stuff sells out, it’ll be GONE, and you’ll start seeing them pop up on Auctions Askew or one of those other auction sites for a LOT
more money. They’ll never be cheaper, and soon, they’ll just never be. Buy ‘em now. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

• Here it is, folks! A slightly late Christmas present, but a cool one all the same. Your first look at clips from the upcoming HUGE
  DVD set: “An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder”! As only the Canada Q&A has taken place, all the stuff you see edited together here, in a
  fast-paced trailer format, is from that showing. You’ll find a bunch of funny lines here, though many out of context, so of course you’ll want to pick up the
  full edition when it streets sometime in 2005. Watch for click clips of laying the podium down, Harley’s intro, an audience member dressed up as
  Jesus, and much more. Merry Christmas, and enjoy your first look at “Evening 2” footage!

WATCH THE EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH 2: EVENING HARDER TRAILER HERE!

• With the holidays here, and news hitting the slower spots as the Hollywood-types are as busy as we are, just thought that this update
  would be a splendid time to wish all of our dear readers a Merry Christmas (or likeness thereof) and a safe, happy new year. We thank you all again for
  another exciting year here at News Askew (we’ll likely look back on some of last year’s big stories before this month winds down), and we welcome your
  continued patronage into 2005 and beyond. News Askew remains a site for the people, but also BY the people, as much of what you see here comes from your
  fellow readers, who take time out of their own busy schedules to spot even the most obscure of View Askewage for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for your continued support, thanks for reading, and we hope Santa brings everyone something extra special – You were all so damn good this year.
Merry Christmas!

• We’re continuing to wait for what could be one of the coolest Christmas presents of all this year — That being the news that Kevin is
  somehow involved in the much-discussed Star Wars TV project, which will of course involve George Lucas and possibly J&SBSB pal Mark Hamill. One poster at
  the View Askew board attempted to get Kev to speak out on the matter recently:

You make up your own minds, but in all our years running this place, there’s one thing we learned: Kevin’s usually pretty fast to deny, but not always
that fast to confirm. Our guess has to be that, in some capacity, Kevin might have a deal somewhere in the works where he’d be involved with the program.
Of course, proposals are just that — The deal may be in the works, but not signed, and thus can disappear at any time. We’re also fairly certain that
part of it involves not talking about it unless it gets done.

So, probably the last thing we’ll have to say about it is just that. We imagine we’ll hear confirmation (or denial) from Kevin once whatever process he
may be involved with ends. Confused? Good. We’ll see ya again soon.

• The biggest film contest on the web continues, as we congratulate the Five Shorts selected as finalists for Round Two of Movies Askew:

Congratulations to all. We will be posting Mr. Smith’s comments shortly. There were several more shorts that just missed being a finalist by THIS much,
despite the efforts of their ardent champions. However! All is not lost! Now is the time to begin campaigning for the last, coveted Lifeboat spot. Voting
will be from now until Dec. 20, so start hitting the forums and begging for the votes! We will announce the lifeboat winner on Dec. 20.

As always, you can watch these works of brilliance over and over, AND cast votes, at Movies Askew!