• Variety ran an article on the importance of DVD success, and how many stars
  are finding even larger audiences in the home theater medium. Many Askewers made the list, including Affleck and Damon, but Kevin had the distinction of
  being the only director that had the honor of making the list, predominantly for Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back’s huge DVD success:

• Just one newsbite to close out the day: This image was created as part of B3TA’s weekly website challenge. See ya next time…

• WizardWorld has officially listed Kevin as a guest for its Chicago
  con this year. The con takes place the weekend of August 14th. Kevin is slated to appear both Saturday and Sunday. We assume he’ll spend one of those
  days signing stuff, and the other doing the big Q&A session. You can purchase your tickets for this event right now by clicking HERE. Nothing’s confirmed yet, but we suspect that, if they can be ready, the first variant from the
  Dogma inaction figure line may become exclusively available at this show, too…

• The UK’s Empire magazine has a big new interview/article with Kevin in their new issue, as Jersey Girl hits UK theaters. We wanted to
  bring your attention to this one as, since many of our readers are here in the US, this one isn’t readily available on newsstands. So, click the scans
  above to read the best quality we could offer. The article focuses on Kevin’s switch to a softer side for Jersey Girl. There’s also a capsule review of
  the film from the ish. Enjoy.

• Matt Damon will be featured in an interview in the August edition of Playboy magazine.

• A new game for the Nintendo Gamecube will be released some time this year entitled “Killer 7”, which involves what seems to be a family
  of killers. They are listed as Con, Garcian, Harman, Kaede, Coyote, Mask De, Dan, and yes, “Kevin Smith”. No relation, we’re sure.
• Thursday night on Conan O’Brien, Conan had a skit featuring humorous takes on the new “state quarters” and eventually came upon New
  Jersey (which as we know, already has a state quarter). It had a picture of a possible Jason Lee, Jeremy London, or just a random person accompanied by
  the words “State Animal: The Mall Rat.”

• A UK reader found a local cinema handing out free Jersey Girl posters, so be sure and ask your local theater if they’ve got any! Here’s a
  peek at the style of that UK poster.

• It’s probably one of the most-asked questions received here in the News Askew mailboxes: When is Kevin coming overseas to make one of his famous Q&A appearances? Well, after quite a few years, we can finally give you a definitive answer. Monday, June 7th, 2004. Ming’s got the FULL details for us straight ahead. Note, there’s a mere 474 tickets available for this venue, so we suggest you buy as many as you can…NOW! Details:

Visit View Askew’s UK Appearance page for more info, or surf directly to THE STASH ONLINE STORE and place that order right away! In case you’re a yank in town that week, the pounds to dollars conversion works out to around $46.00 US (which is what the site’s billing you). We look forward to hearing from all of you lucky Brits (and thereabouts) that make the trip for this rare chance to see Kevin live in the U.K.

• It’s been confirmed by Miramax now. The September 14, 2004 release date for Jersey Girl on VHS and DVD is official. In a surprise move,
  the film will be released “sell through”, which means not only the DVD but also the VHS will be priced for immediate consumer sale. This type of move usually
  indicates a strong confidence in a film selling quite a few copies for collectors, and is a definite compliment to Kevin and the film. We’ll have the final
  cover art as well as the expected feature list for the DVD in the coming days. Suggested retail on the VHS is $24.99, DVD $29.99. We’re sure the Stash
  will have plenty of deals on signed copies as well. More on this story soon.

• About.com conducted a HUGE new interview with director Richard Kelly
  which covers the new edition of “Donnie Darko” and confirms Kevin’s involvement in his next film project, “Southland Tales”. In short, it looks like it’ll
  film this summer and he sounds like a big fan of Kev’s! Here’s a snippet:

It sure sounds like he’s putting a fantastic cast together for this one! And Kelly’s description of the project as his “Pulp Fiction” with a mix of genres
has us quite excited for it. This is one to watch, for sure. We highly recommend that you read the entire interview HERE.

• The very funny Eurotrip, co-written by Clerks: TAS writer/producer Dave Mandel, hits shelves next week, on June 1st, in an all new
  unrated edition. The flick is guaranteed to get you laughs, and there’s plenty of advantage taken at that R-rating, so the unrated edition can only go
  even further than that. Don’t miss out on the flick, which also features a hilarious cameo from a sometimes Askew in its early minutes.
• And finally today, a mysterious Hollywood celeb, known only as “Rance” in his anonymous online journal,
  may very well be View Askew’s beloved Ben Affleck, sources are guessing. Is it him? Is this what’s become of Affleck.com?
  See for yourself HERE . Our guess, looking it over? Not the Benmeister. But you never know. Enjoy…

• Seems that several other sources are reporting a SEPTEMBER 14th release date for the initial release of Jersey Girl on DVD. Nothing official has been set yet, but from past history, normally when we’ve seen these sources set a date, it’s correct. Remember, this is a very stripped-down DVD, with the full blown View Askew special edition, packed full of extras and an extended cut of the film, coming later on down the road.

• Even though Kevin missed attending Wizard World Philly this year, we hope you made it in — Brian O’Halloran yet again graciously appeared at the View Askew booth, unannounced, and spent a bunch of time chatting with fans, taking photos, and signing all your stuff. See that? Ya never know what might happen when View Askew’s in the house!
• We’re hearing that some PBS stations might be re-running Kevin’s appearance on Tavis Smiley’s talk show on or around June 5th. No details have been listed, so we can only assume this isn’t a new booking. Check the site or your local listings.
• Here’s a bit of sad news. Apparently a movie theater in Canada, which was re-opened by a Jersey Girl extra excited to screen the film there, burnt down just after JG had its run there. Details at the site.
• Empire Online’s “Six of the Best” celebrates six great cinematic moments of swearing, and a clip from “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” makes the cut. If you’ve yet to see it for some crazy reason, the Planes, Trains, and Automobiles clip there is also a must-watch. The same site’s “Son of Quote” quizzes also bring up some classic View Askew phrases.
• Underground Online does a weekly “Top 11” list, naming the “best of” in whatever category they’re tackling. Last week, the subject was “Top 11 Best Written Sequels”. Coming in at a very respectable #8 was Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. Here’s what the writer, Vince Yim, had to say:

Read the complete list HERE! Thanks for stopping by for your News Askew fix today — See you again with another one soon.