• Matt Miller’s new book, “The Dueling Personas of Kevin Smith”, is the first book to be published directly by View Askew Books, and is now available at the Stash for just $9.95. This excellent book started out as a thesis paper by Matthew Miller written while pursuing a Master’s Degree in Film at Emory College. Today Matt teaches film at Oxford College and adds to his credits The Dueling Personas of Kevin Smith. Kev says, “This is an academic text. Pretty insightful, fascinating stuff. Not always flattering (or correct), but insanely original and well-thought-out. I recommend it. Big time.”
• You may have missed this unless you frequent the TalkBacks area, but Kevin posted a link to a newly updated preview of the Jay & Bob Strike Back documentary that’s going to appear on the Clerks anniversary DVD later this year. It looks like the doc, which will run around 3 hours in length, has a title as well: “Oh, What A Lovely Tea Party…” (which fans may remember was the capping line in the internet only trailer for the film from a couple years back). It’s a big file, so be patient, especially if you’re dialing in, and ENJOY! The file was edited by Mattt Potter, who’s currently putting the finishing touches on the product.
• They were on eBay in limited quantities a while back, but now you can get those wonderful Daredevil “Digital Comic Books” on DVD via a link on the creators’, Sock Puppet Studios, website. The disc features all 8 chapters of Kevin’s acclaimed “Guardian Devil” storyline for Marvel, character histories, and much more. It’s in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. A must for any fan, and a bargain at just $14.99.
• Shane West gives Mallrats a nod in a Cinecon article asking celebrities which super power they’d like most:

• The first season of IFC’s Dinner For Five (including the Joey Lauren Adams episode) are out on DVD. You can only get these DVDs if you’re a member of the Netflix rental service, they’re not in stores.
• Jay & Silent Bob show up as “Magic: The Gathering” cards in these custom-made samples. You may recall that Walt & Steve-Dave play the game in the cut opening scene of Chasing Amy.
• Kevin gets a mention in Variety’s review of the new “Down and Dirty Pictures” book:

• And finally today, sit tight, because Kevin’s BIG NEWS is coming in just under TWO WEEKS…

• At the end of Entertainment Tonight, they run an “ET Birthdays” segement with a trivia question surrounding the birthday of the moment. Earlier this week, they asked:

Joey was the answer, and revealed to be 33 years old earlier this week. Happy Birthday, Joey!

• Apparently, Columbia has decided to capitalize on the theatrical release of Kevin’s “Jersey Girl” by bringing their own 1992-named film of the same name to DVD. It streets on March 30th (coincidence? We think not). Interestingly enough, Columbia is the same studio that backed “Gigli”. We suppose they’re hoping that uninformed customers may mistakenly ask for the film at their local video store after seeing ads for Kevin’s version. We can’t help but have a feeling that folks who rent the 1992 film will be very disappointed.
• And finally today, Marvel Comics is now shipping “Spider-Man Unlimited #1”, which features a story from View Askew’s Brian Lynch. We’ve got some inside track on the Big Helium Dog DVD from Lynch, which we’re hoping to get the OK to reveal later this week. Until then!

• Not only that, he calls it Kevin’s best movie as well! Two great quotes from a Q&A that Ben did with E! Online that bring great praise to Kevin and Jersey Girl (One and Two here if you wanna view them onsite):

Having seen the film, we couldn’t say that better. While Jersey Girl is definitely Kevin’s biggest departure yet from the Askewniverse type of films, we think you’ll all enjoy the way Kevin’s taking a new direction with this film. Remember, the last big departure was “Chasing Amy” — And we all love that one, don’t we? In a few more months, you’ll all finally be able to see for yourselves! And don’t worry, die-hard fans, there will always be plenty of “Snoogans” and whatnot in the cartoons and comics to come. We already can’t wait to see what Kevin decides to do with his next project.

• We’ll occasionally see folks looking for a hockey jersey just like Randal wears in Clerks — Alas, no such item is available through the Stash, but this CCCP jersey found online comes as close as can be. Nice!
• Menu screens from the Region 2 Mallrats DVD can be found over at DVD Answers. They are also running a contest where you can win your own copy.

• One last bit we missed from Kevin’s last group of posts that came later in the day:

• A Chasing Amy mention appeared in an article about movie trilogies that’s getting syndicated in many papers throughout the country (first in the LA Times, but also now it’s shown up in the Washington Post and the Des Moines
  Register):

The article goes on to talk about Star Wars, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, and other upcoming trilogies. There are no further View Askew mentions.

• Mallrats clocks in at #33 in the 50 most underrated recent films according to Box Office Prophets.
• Wanna see the cover art for the UK Mallrats Special Edition DVD? DVDAnswers has it.
• And Affleck’s back in the news today, with more articles discussing his past and upcoming projects. First off, here’s a blurb from this San Francisco Chronicle article on JG:

And here’s a listener’s summary of an interview that Leeza Gibbons did with Ben on her “Hollywood Confidential” syndicated radio show:

• Oh and finally, there’s some real gossipy Affleck stuff on Page Six today that very ridiculously mentions “Jersey Girl” as the film that “Ben’s career is hinging on”. Sure, sure. Hey, we’ll see ya next time!!! Thanks for stopping on by.

• Kevin took a few moments to stop by today and answer a bunch of queries…Just a few things of note that we thought we’d bring to your attention, heeeya:

Of course, visit the board to read all of Kevin’s posts.

• The hunt is on for Rene inaction figures! Since they sold out from the Stash so fast, you may wanna check your local comic shop, or Suncoast Pictures, as Rene is in VERY short supply and getting very hard to come by. So, happy hunting, and get those collections completed while you still can. Let this be a lesson to ya: Always preorder these sets as soon as you can! You never know when we’re gonna sell out.
• UKAskew has announced details for the R2 UK release of the Enhanced Edition of the Mallrats DVD. The disc streets on January 26th and looks to be the same as our current region 1 disc:

• Audio commentary from director Kevin Smith with actors Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira
• Deleted scenes
• ‘Askew’s Look At Mallrats’ featurette
• ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ music video
• Easter Egg (hidden feature)
• Theatrical trailer
• Interactive menu
• Scene access

Preorder it HERE for the sale price of £11.99.

• Affleck talked to TV Guide Online a bit more about the possibilities of the third Project Greenlight, which Bravo is currently in talks to pick up:

We still think Chris Moore needs to be given his own show. The guy’s awesome, and a true highlight of the first two seasons.

• A famous “Mallrats” phrase has made the #3 definition in the “Glossary of Perversion”.
• Today’s AOL welcome screen featured the top 5 TV kisses with the heading “NOW THAT’S A SHARED MOMENT”. Someone there must have been watching Chasing Amy recently.

• Want to see the Jersey Girl trailer in all its big screen glory? Then check out the Miramax release “Cold Mountain”, now in theaters. The Jersey Girl trailer is reportedly attached to all prints, though we’ve heard a few scattered stories of it not showing up. Chances are VERY good that you’ll see it though, so it’s worth the chance, plus “Cold Mountain” is winning awards and acclaim all over the place, so you can’t go wrong. Arrive early though, as you never know which order the trailer will show up, though if it’s attached directly to the print, you’ll likely see it just before the film starts. Enjoy!

• Due to being away for the holidays, we’re a bit late on this, but better late than never — And hey, who doesn’t like to get a few presents AFTER Christmas? First off, you got probably the most infamous piece of animation that you’ve heard about, that Powerhouse animation footage done for the Clerks cartoon movie. Great stuff (not to mention the fact that it’s being more widely seen bodes well for the cartoon movie. THEN, you’ve got something totally out of left field, the HOSTIES animation realized! This little gem was meant to appear in Dogma and never got finished, now you can finally see the commercial as it was meant to be seen. Here’s Ming with the full report:

• Thanks to Dark Horizons and The Trades, there’s a few more screencaps from the JG trailer online (if you’ve got a slow connection, maybe you just prefer the pretty pictures).
• Kevin shows up in two of Kritik’s Top 10 Moments, Favorite or Most Disturbing, Good or Bad, Concerning Cinema in 2003 over at the bikkit.com site. Both good, of course.