• Two new scans from Home Retailing Magazine to kick off newsbites today. First up, a shot of Jay with pal Andy Milonakis at his FYE DVD signing. More telling, however, is a NEW scan on the Clerks II DVD with quotes and info from Kevin. In it, learn of the Clerks II deleted scenes slated for the disc, the documentary, and more.
• Catch the great, personable Brian O’Halloran at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville this Friday night. He will be doing a Q&A after a 9:30 screening of Clerks. It should start around 10:30. Sounds like something you can’t miss if you’re in the area.
• Clerks II has received a coveted “15” rating in the UK without any cuts.
• Ben Affleck is the main subject of this Hollywoodland article from MSN movies. His turn as George Reeves has been highly praised by fans and critics who’ve seen the flick.
• TMZ checks in with some interesting Jason Lee news today:

• We love bringing you these scans from the excellent Total Film magazine in the UK, especially since so many of us can’t find this cool publication over here in the States. So, take a look at their latest offerings — First off, a full four-page article/interview with the cast titled “Eternal Sunshine of the Filthy Mind”.

And then, don’t miss that glowing FIVE STAR REVIEW here, including their patented, always funny “projected interest curve”. Their final verdict? “Everything you could want from a sequel and much, much more, Clerks II reminds us why we love Kevin Smith”.

• We’re stoked to see that the always enjoyable “Kids In Mind” review of Clerks II has now been posted. These reviews cover pretty much every aspect of material in a film that could be objectionable to parents with children, and wow, do they ever go into crazy detail (which is a lot of fun for fans like us). For example, did you know the film had 139 F-word (and derivative) utterances? The film scores an easy 10 in both the sex and profanity categories, but sadly only a 4 in violence. We’re sure Kevin can take care of upping that number in the next project, though. Enjoy!
• The Australian press continues to come in — for a small place they sure do soak up the press pretty well, we’re happy to see! Check out video of Kevin being interviewed by Robbie Buck in the streets of Sydney, courtesy JTV.
• Clerks II is doing quite well in this IMDB pool asking users their favorite flick of the summer – Get your vote in, and help us score even higher! The flick sits at #5 at presstime.
• It seems that “Dogma” will be the first View Askew flick available for download via iTunes. It’s part of Lion’s Gate’s crop of initial offerings according to this article. Pricing is expected to be from $9.99 to $14.99.
• Entertainment Weekly names Jason Mewes as a runner-up for their “Best Comeback” of the summer.
• Clerks II opened at #6 nationally in Australia last weekend, with a take of $420,285 on 124 screens.
• Anyone know that the hilarious Jay Chandrasekhar of the “Broken Lizard” trouble (of Super Troopers, Club Dread and Beerfest fame) started as a grip for “Chasing Amy” and played a producer in VA’s “Big Helium Dog”? We never did.

• And last, but not least, we remain very excited for the upcoming release of “Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder”. Here’s the latest US marketing scan, confirming the November 7th release date and the features of this 2-disc set. A must-own. See ya next time!

• The tour’s over, but press continues to trickle in from Australia today – Let’s take a look at the stories and interviews we have on this beautiful Sunday afternoon:

• You can now listen to the podcast interview of Kevin on with Tony Martin’s ‘Get This’ show as it aired on Triple M radio Australia. Just look for the episode called ‘Smithcast’ at this location. A Whole 40 minutes or so of interview joy.
• Not to be outdone, Triple J radio has their own interview with Kevin, also available in complete audio format HERE.
• Australian website YourMovies runs a next text-based interview with Kevin as well.

• Kevin’s bio page at the IMDB (Internet Movie Database) has recently been updated with some spelling/grammar mistakes fixed, and some extra info included. If you’re a member of the IMDb and you spot any mistakes or omissions, don’t forget to fix them. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “update” button. Make Kev’s page on the IMDb even better!
• Harry Potter fansite “The Leaky Cauldron” recently posted a link to a new interview with Alan Rickman, who mentions that “Dogma” is the film that most younger fans ask him about:

• Affleck is interviewed by the BBC for this brief but interesting article titled “Affleck bemoans pitfalls of fame”. His “Hollywoodland” turn is celebrating excellent buzz and hits theaters next week.
• And finally today – Ah, the joys and weirdness of YouTube. Check out the latest find, “Chasing Halo Amy”. See ya next time!

• The very reliable VideoETA has hit us today with a surprise — Confirmation of a slightly earlier Clerks II video/DVD release than planned – November 28, 2006! We don’t have details on the specs for the disc yet, so there’s no telling if this will be a movie-only version with the spectacular special edition to follow, or yet another in the long line of jam-packed View Askew SE DVDs. Kevin’s been known to have the SE’s ready day and date, so chances are we’ll catch a commentary track, some Train Wrecks, and lots more when the final specs on this one arrive. We’ll let you know more as we hear it, until then, mark the calendar. We’re expecting big signing events at the Stashes, signed copies available to order, and lots more this Fall.

• Many folks were looking for the Clerks II comic “Tales From The Clerks” collection that was originally slated for this summer – Kevin now reveals that the final touches are still being put on the book and that no official release date has yet been announced. However, he ALSO confirms this will contain EVERY View Askew comic ever released (which is freaking FANTASTIC) plus be the only place to catch the new comic which bridges some lost time in the world of “Clerks”. This is a must-buy, folks, for every fan, so we’ll be on top of it and certainly let you know when we have a new confirmed date. This is certainly one to watch for.

• This makes more sense — The ads proclaiming that the “Evening With” collection, which will take the new Evening Harder and pair it with the original set, had advertised THREE DISCS, which baffled many — New ads and sites now have the set confirmed to be FOUR discs, which makes a lot more sense (2 discs for each session). Australian websites EzyDVD and JBHiFi both report the disc arriving in their neck of the woods on Wednesday, October 25th, slightly earlier than we’re seeing it stateside. Hey, it’s a good time to be an Australian.

• Kevin confirms with Fangoria Magazine that he was indeed slated to record a commentary track for the horror classic Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2. Unfortuntaely, the Clerks II press blitz just got in the way. Kevin remained tight-lipped on his plans for his new foray into the horror genre.
• The latest issue of UK magazine Total Film gives Clerks II a perfect rating of FIVE STARS!!! If anyone has scans, hook us up.
• Looks like those “Southland Tales” comments we posted were, as they sometimes are, taken out of context by the press. Richard Kelly has come forth to say that “been finishing a shorter cut” of the movie, and that it’s “in better shape than ever.” This is encouraging news indeed! Let’s hope Kev’s part remains. The second graphic novel of The Prequel Saga, “Southland Tales – Book II: Fingerprints, will be released on September 13th. Book III will likely come out in mid-October. The film represents chapter IV-VI. Check out the Myspace page for the flick HERE. We can’t wait to see this one for ourselves.
• This fun article on bad CGI usage in films brings up Kevin a couple times (in a positive way, of course, like when they talk about his mockery of the Wild, Wild West spider).
• Wanna see that way cool Earl bobblehead that they’re giving away FREE at the Hagerstown, MD Suns ballgames on Sunday? Peep it HERE. A rare collector’s item for Lee/Earl fans for sure.
• Jason Mewes will be staring as “Jason” in the upcoming picture “Jason & Ross”, along side Daniel Franzese (Mean Girls, Hometown Legend, Bully). For more information, go to their Myspace page.

• More news from Kevin regarding that much-deserved Edinburgh Film Festival Award win. Timeout London reports that Clerks II took a whopping 78% of the audience vote! It wasn’t even CLOSE! Nice job, Edinburgh. You folks have fantastic taste.

Want to check out more coverage of this fantastic news? See the following stories:

We again extend our congrats to all involved with Clerks II on this great honor. Not only did the film win, it EASILY won. Thanks to Edinburgh, and thanks to all who have discovered the joy that is Clerks II.