• The director of Affleck’s “Smokin’ Aces” (Joe Carnahan) has started a blog about the project, with some rejected movie posters.
• We’re not sure what language this is but it appears that some foreign territories might be importing that super-cool region 1 Clerks box set. Once the ones at Best Buy stores are gone, we assume they’ll be quite colletible.

• Jason Mewes will be appearing this Thursday, December 21 (TOMORROW) as the guest host of The Checklist on ReelzChannel, the new cable/satellite network that is everything about movies, 24/7. The Checklist, airing Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. ET, is a show that gives movie lovers a humorous rundown of the latest and hottest releases each week in theaters, on DVD, on PPV, on VOD and on premium channels. The following press release just came across the news desk:

Viewers get a checklist of what they will be getting from the movies- crazy characters (check)… non-stop action (check) …. explosive effects (check) … and lots of the other essentials for a great movie experience.

With this Thursday’s new episode, Jason is first celebrity guest to host The Checklist and though he is an experienced film actor, this will be his first time hosting a TV show, an experience that he found very rewarding.”

“I really enjoyed doing this guest host gig on The Checklist,” said Jason. “ReelzChannel was really accommodating and they gave me the chance to try something new with their show. I love movies and hosting a show about them was a lot of fun.”

In this week’s episode of The Checklist, Jason will be running down the list of this week’s new releases, including the new Rocky film in theaters, The Black Dahlia out on DVD and Clerks II, now available on VOD, which is a movie that Jason might of heard of or something…

Additionally, ReelzChannel.com has an INTERNET ONLY exclusive interview with Jason en route to the studio from his home, where Jason talks about: his tattoos, working with Kevin Smith, Clerks II, his new film that he is in about vampires called “Netherbeast Incorporated,” working with Paris Hilton in “Bottoms Up” and the comic book store Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. You can find the video of the interview posted up at around 6 PM EST tomorrow. Watch for it, and if your company gets the new channel, catch Mewes on the show tomorrow night!

• Some “Catch and Release” press caught by one of our Canadian readers — This scan comes to us courtesy of Chatelaine Magazine under the “Must See Movies” heading. You’ll find a short synopsis and a nice little mention of Kevin and his speaking role.

• One vigilant scooper caught a Dogma mention during a Jeopardy airing last night — Check out the screen grab AND the video from the “Film Gods” category during Double Jeopardy!
• Dark Horizons reports that Affleck and Damon may team up again — BEHIND the camera. Says Damon:

• And finally today, you’re seen “Evening With”, you’ve seen “Evening Harder”, but what about “An Evening WITHOUT Kevin Smith”? The clip comes to us from the DirtyRoad Studios team, who are big fans. Funny stuff, guys. See you next time!

• Remember that way cool event we were plugging a few weeks back, where Kevin was hosting a sit down between comics legends Stan Lee and Joe Quesada? It was run by the Hero Initiative, who tell us the event was a huge success, raising a bunch of cash for the organization who benefits comic creators in need. We’re now pleased to announce (since the west-coast event was out of our reach to attend) that the entire proceeding was FILMED and will arrive on a JAM PACKED DVD BY THIS MARCH! Yes indeed, we’re very happy to hear this historic event was filmed, and will now be available in a Special Edition disc that we can add to our collections. The full press release is straight ahead:

We’re happy to report that our friends at the Initiative will be hooking us up with an advanced copy of this one, so we’ll have your first look right here at News Askew, along with full release details and much more. Look for this one to arrive soon in early 2007.

• Visit the IMDB to give Clerks II some love in their “Best Of” 2006 awards poll. Anyone can vote, you just need to have a FREE IMDB account! Clerks II holding its own in there for Funniest Film! Also, there’s a few good solid votes in the Best Independent Film category. Get voting for Kevin Smith as Best Director as well!

Want to see how we’re holding up so far? The full results page for each category can be found HERE.

Get voting, and get Kevin and Clerks II its due! Kevin’s long overdue for a screenwriting nomination from the Academy, in our opinion, so let’s earn him and the brilliant work some kudos this year!

At presstime, Clerks II ranks at the #16 fan favorite of 2006 at their site. Keep those votes coming in!

• Kevin’s wife Jennifer dropped a hint that Kevin’s visiting the set of the new Die Hard flick (or was, at least, last week). Interesting, no? Cameo perhaps? Rewrite? Time will tell…
• Rumors have started to pop up again via a Yahoo Movies post regarding some potential Star Trek castings from past Askeweres. Over the summer, IGN Filmforce reported a rumor of Matt Damon’s involvement in a possible Star Trek prequel, as well as the fact that Kevin quipped that perhaps Ben Affleck would make the perfect Spock to his Kirk.
• A small blurb about Joey Lauren Adams and her well-received “Come Early Morning” comes across the AP wire today. She recently screened the film in its home turf of Arkansas:

Joey Lauren Adams shows film in Ark.

Joey Lauren Adams says she got tired of waiting for the phone to ring with acting job offers, so she decided to go behind the camera for her directorial debut “Come Early Morning.”

“I spent 19 years in Los Angeles and 16 of those acting, and for 16 years I’ve been sort of at the mercy of Hollywood,” said Adams, who has appeared in films including “Chasing Amy” and “Big Daddy.”

“You’re waiting for them to call and I needed to feel a little more proactive with my life,” she said.

Though it took about seven years to go from script to screen, Adams said she was excited to have a hometown audience see her film, starring Ashley Judd, at its Arkansas premiere Thursday.

“I’m so proud to be from Arkansas, and I’m very proud of this film. I tried to depict Southerners in a very honest way,” Adams told the moviegoers.

“Come Early Morning” is about a small town woman who has never committed to a serious relationship. It was filmed in central Arkansas and made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

• Silent Bob comes up as an option in a fun little “Who Would Win In A Fight?” poll over at Yahoo Movies. Other choices include Beatrix Kiddo and Spider-Man.
• And finally today, a real-life Chasing Amy situation? Check out this Salon.com article titled “My boyfriend freaked out because I had a threesome”. Catch ya next time, and thanks for stopping in — Now go and finish that holiday shopping already!

• We’re very pleased today to report that not one, but TWO View Askew vets, well known ones at that, have been nominated for Golden Globe Awards this year. One for film, and one for television. Ben Affleck, for his well-received role as George Reeves in “Hollywoodland”, is up for Best Supporting actor. Check out his tough competition, though, including Nichsolson (For “The Departed”), Pitt (for “Babel”), and the much buzzed-about Eddie Murphy dramatic turn in “Dreamgirls”. Should be an interesting run.

Jason Lee enjoys a “Best Actor, TV Musical or Comedy” nod for “My Name Is Earl”. This show just seems to get better and funnier with each episode, even bringing some continuity into this season. Due to the great performances from all of Earl’s cast members, we were worried folks might overlook Lee’s unlikely hero, and the way he holds it all together. Thankfully, he didn’t, but he’s up against critic favorite “Steve Carell” for “The Office” as well as the funny Alec Baldwin for “30 Rock”. With Earl in its second season, and gaining momentum, we’re thinking Lee could be a frontrunner here.

You can read ALL the nominations for the Globes over at Aint It Cool News (among other places). The Globes, by the way, are also often thought as an Oscar precursor, so is it possible we’ll also see Affleck up on that stage again next year, for acting instead of writing?

• “Sucks Less”, the show that made us want to be filmmakers, just so we could take this class, has wrapped up its first season with a trifecta of Episode Six videos over at the mtvU site.

First up, a super-sized 10+ minute season finale brings us 3 new clips, including one from a winning submission that a viewer sent in — A regular Karaoke event in their hometown. You’ll also see information on a website that might help you with your problems, free of charge, and pay a visit to a real-life bullfighting school. As always, the entire thing’s wrapped up by Kevin and the Sucks Less crew at the Stash, where this week, they reference that famous UCLA video where security guards taser a student. Stick to the end for a funny montage and a fitting farewell to the cast and crew of this season.

In addition to the big finale, we’re also treated to a bonus segment at a Poetry Slam. The episode runs in its own movie, so let the Sucks Less final credits montage run through to see it.

Finally, catch a 2 minute “Behind The Scenes” reel, which gives you a look on the other side of the camera — Take a glimpse at what went into making “Sucks Less” happen, and catch a few funny outtakes as well.

As always, you can catch the show on your AMPed mobile phone, via your University’s mtvU hookup, or the Sucks Less site, for both Windows AND Mac users.

We’ll miss the show, and certainly hope UCLA continues the program with Kevin — Not only does it make a fun weekly broadcast, but it looks like a winning class for the students as well, who we must say did a fantastic job bringing the series online with its inital run. Like what you see? Let Kevin know at his MySpace blog.

• Folks it is COLD outside, and when it’s cold, what’s better than a nice warm hoodie? Diamond Previews has just announced two uber-cool new View Askew themed hoodies, soon for sale through our own Stashes. No release info is out just yet, but here’s some details to get your mouth watering:

MOOBY’S LOGO HOODIE

Get ready to look good (and keep warm), all year round with the new View Askew Mooby Logo Hoodie (on a gold nugget-colored garment)! All hoodies feature the design imprinted on heavyweight, 10 oz, 90% cotton, 10% poly garments, with a small View Askew logo imprint directly below the neck.

HOODIE—S-XL……….$39.95

HOODIE—XXL……….$42.95

”GOT CHRIST?” HOODIES

You’re prayers have been answered… sort of… with the ever-popular Buddy Christ featured on the Got Christ? Hoodie, available in both black and grey. All hoodies feature the design imprinted on heavyweight, 10 oz, 90% cotton, 10% poly garments, with a small View Askew logo imprint directly below the neck.

BLACK HOODIE—S-XL……….$39.95

BLACK HOODIE—XXL……….$42.95

GREY HOODIE—S-XL……….$39.95

GREY HOODIE—XXL……….$42.95

We’ll let you know once we get a release date for these beauties.

• The great Brad Graeber of Powerhouse Animation has yet again worked a very obvious View Askew reference into his latest edition of online flash cartoon “Captain Capitalism”, “Nightmare of a Red Christmas”. See if you can spot some of the more subtle nods he puts in there, as well. The entire site’s worth checking out, as Brad and Powerhouse do some fantastic work.
• Kevin gets a brief name drop in this new Time Magazine article, a “Q&A with Bob and Harvey Weinstein”. Given their relationship with Kevin, the entire article is a worthwhile read, though here’s the name drop itself:

• Another one of those clever YouTube trailer mash-ups comes our way today – This one’s called “Brokeback Clerks” and cleverly uses video and audio clips from various Jay & Bob appearances to take a Brokeback Mountain sorta spin on their relationship. Worth a look for a giggle.
• And finally, just because we think it’s funny – Get into the Christmas spirit and check out “Santa Claus: Steady Mobbin’”. Happy Holidays, all.

• To celebrate the release of the Clerks II DVD, Kevin talks up the Yahoo Games website, where he gets into a conversation about his favorite Superhero games, Super Nintendo Star Wars, and the possibility of a Jay and Silent Bob game (we’re still betting this one will one day come to pass in some form). A few choice clips:

Read the whole 3 page story at Yahoo Games.