- Bold Films is producing the directorial debut of “Chasing Amy”’s Joey Lauren Adams, entitled “Come Early Morning.” The film, which will star Ashley Judd, is set to start production April 26 in Little Rock,Arkansas. That reminds me, Joey made a great point during the Amy Q&A about just how much an impact the film has had on her life and career, considering it’s always the film she is remembered for in print. Cool.
- JoBlo has their say on the “Catch And Release” news HERE. Moviehole has also run a blurb.
- Small, but on topic: On the radio station Classic Rock 96.9 FM in Fredericksburg, VA one of their DJs, Dr. Henley Smythe, does a game every night around 6:30 called the “Mystery Voice” where he plays a sound clip from a movie or TV show and gives a prize to the first caller who correctly identifies the actor speaking in the clip. Last night the clip he played was Affleck saying “I’m just having a little girl trouble” in “Chasing Amy”.
Author Archive
Mallrats Reunion Q&A: Official Time & Date Here!
- We’re happy to announce that the deal has been finalized, and Mallrats will screen at the beautiful (and oddly familiar) Arclight on Sunset in sunny Hollywood, California. Tix are just $25 to attend this historical event, which will screen the film to a certainly sold out crowd and reunite members of the cast for a Q&A session. Yes, ANOTHER chance to be immortalized on DVD if you come and ask something good.
Even better, you can get an absolutely amazing deal on a unique View Askew collectible if you’re buying a ticket for another $25. Oh, and have we mentioned you get a special t-shirt too? Yessir, it’s another can’t-miss event, which could potentially be the biggest Q&A we’ve ever held. Read on for official-type details:
MALLRATS 10TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING AND CAST & CREW Q&A TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!
Mallrats 10th Anniversary Reunion Screening and Q&A!:
After the huge success of the Clerks X DVD and the Reunion Q&A that was shot for the special edition set, we’ve decided to do it again, this time with the much loved cinematic gem Mallrats! In 1995 Kevin Smith released his second feature film to lackluster reviews and a drubbing by the movie critics that no man deserved, only to later find that ‘Mallrats’ was a huge fan favorite when it was released on video.
2005 marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Mallrats and we’re celebrating with a jam-packed 10th anniversary DVD special edition!
This special screening of Mallrats is being put together in conjunction with the 10th anniversary special edition DVD and will be followed by a Cast and Crew Q&A which WILL BE RECORDED FOR THE DVD!
The Details:
Date: Wednesday, April 27th, 2005
Time: 7:30pm
Location: The Arclight Cinema, 6360 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
Tickets:
Tickets for this event are $25.00 each and are only available here. Do not call the Arclight for tickets.
Ticket holders will receive a special exclusive t-shirt commemorating this screening!
THESE TICKETS ARE NON-REFUNDABLE!!
There are only 400 seats available, so order now!
And exclusively for ticket buyers for this screening – get a Brodie cold-cast statue for only $25!! (regular retail price $99.00). That’s a HUGE discount! Order one now! (Brodie statues must be picked up at Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Westwood)
Order now at http://www.mallratsx.com
Make no mistakes…This is going to SELL OUT. And FAST. We recommend you call your best pals and reserve those seats…NOW.
Kevin Smith: Director, MOVIE STAR!
- Kevin dropped some big, BIG news in his continuing “Boring-Ass Life” web-blog. He’ll be taking 3rd billing in a new film called “Catch And Release”. Here’s the man, in his own words:
– There are three scenes I’m doing (and right about now, I’m really happy I’m off book on ‘em). The first one is pure wise-assery, so I fly through it. When I finish, I move on to the next scene. At second scene’s end, Susannah gives me a little direction, and I try the scene again, hoping to Christ I offer any difference in my performance. In my head, I’m thinking “It’s cool – you’ve been in auditions before. Asking an actor to do another reading doesn’t mean they’re not doing well.” I get the nod on scene two, and head into scene three – the weightiest of them all. At scene’s end, Susannah offers more direction, so I try the scene again. When I finish, Susannah offers more direction. In the split second between her counsel and my third take, this is my inner monologue…
The little voice in my head wrote:
“You blew it. You have zero instinct for material you don’t write myself (and very little instinct for your own shit, at that). You’re about to be rejected by not just one woman, but three women, as well as the chick running the camera you’re fucking up royally on. What are you even doing here, Jerk-Stain? You’re not an actor – you’re just a guy who bugs his eyes out when another guy says ‘Snoogans’ in some very small movies nobody’s ever heard of. You soared too close to the sun on wings of wax, asshole, and now you’re gonna plummet back to Earth. But don’t panic. Don’t let ‘em see you sweat. Wait, who’re you kidding? They can see your fat-ass sweat from space. Just hold it together long enough to get out of this office with a sliver of dignity intact. You’ve been rejected by plenty of chicks, so this should be easy for you.”
– I do the scene for the third time. When I’m done, the ladies and I chit-chat about “Evening with Kevin Smith” (the flick which is largely responsible for my being in that room in the first place) and “Evening with 2: Evening Harder.” I’m getting no read from the Women in Film beyond the “Arrested Development”-like “I’ve made a huge mistake…” expressions behind their smiles. All are kind enough to not mention the pooching of the part I just fumbled so massively, but I can feel it in the air. I’ve not only wasted their time and momentarily filled them with a false hope that I ultimately (and resoundingly) didn’t fulfill, now I’m wasting even more of the time they’re gonna need to go out and find their “Sam” by sitting here talking about my dopey Q&A’s. I do the only sensible thing I’ve done since I arrived by collecting my shades, sides, and scraps of pride, and bidding those standing in judgment of my feeble “performance” adieu.
– A block away from Fresh Paint, I call Jen to lament about my colossal failure. She’s at home in a meeting with Cookie about the food for the Poetry Event, but takes the time to listen to my sad tale of woe and responds by telling me I’m overreacting. “But you weren’t in the room like I just was,” I counter. “Trust me – I laid a big, fat egg.” I get a call waiting signal and put Jen on hold to answer it. It’s my agent, Phil, who wants to know how it went. I tell him “Badly…” and switch back to Jen to tell her I’m gonna debrief Phil. She tells me she loves me and that she’ll see me when I get home, kiss it (whatever “it” is), and make it all better.
– I switch back to Phil and fill in Phil with all the deets: I went to the wrong office, so I was half an hour late, and then I blew the audition I didn’t know I was gonna have. Phil says “Jenno just called.” I ask what she said, and Phil says “They’re gonna talk about it and get back to us,” which is code for “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” I’m like, “I knew it. When I was on the third take of the big scene, I…”
Suddenly, I’m reminded of an April Fool’s joke from four or five years ago, when I called Phil and fired him, insisting he didn’t “get” me, and that I was going back to CAA. It was a call that went on for fifteen minutes before I hit him with “April Fool.” I’m reminded of this in the split second after Phil reveals “Jenno says you nailed it. You got the part.”
For the first time in, Christ, I don’t know how long, I scream. “WHAT?! YOU’RE FUCKING SHITTING ME!” No, Phil tells me, there’s no shitting involved: Susannah, Jenno and Deb were unanimous. They’d just called him right before he called me: essentially three minutes after I left their office. I’m the guy, they said. Inexplicably, the word “sexy” was used. Phil says they’ve still gotta make the deal (the money stuff), but the part’s officially mine.
I can’t tell you how unaccustomed to being “chosen” I am at this point in my career. I never have moments like this, because every script I’ve written to direct myself that I’ve turned in since “Clerks” has been greenlit, not selected. Granted, it’s validation; but it’s not the kind of validation you feel when someone says “I want you.” This was up there with Schwalbach letting me into her body seven years back; not as physically gratifying of course, but up there nonetheless. For ten years, I’ve been the guy telling actors and actresses “I want you”, and now, all the sudden, this person I have no connection to and have only met less than an hour before feels that a character she wrote without me in mind is me. It was one of the top ten best and most surprising moments of my life.
We’d like to send a very healthy, hearty congratulations our way to Kevin on this monumental moment in the history of View Askew. Sure, it’ll push Clerks 2 back a couple months to get this gig in. It’ll be well worth the wait. We’re looking forward to covering this exciting new chapter in Kev’s life, and of course will now have loads of the “Catch And Release” coverage for you, right here at News Askew.
As always, read what happens NEXT in the Boring-Ass blog.
ALERT! Kevin on CNN Showbiz TONIGHT!!!
- Kevin will be on tonight’s CNN’s Showbiz Tonight to publicize his book, “Silent Bob Speaks”. Showbiz Tonight is a new daily one-hour entertainment news show on CNN Headline News. It features live celebrity interviews and a nightly debate on the Showbiz Showdown. The Showbiz Tonight segment will be about 20 minutes into the CNN Headline News. Below listed are the CNN start times.
- 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time (his segment will go be on at approx. 7:20 p.m.)
- 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Repeating: (and again his segment will start about 20 minutes into the show)
- 10:00p.m. and 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time
- 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time
For those that miss the broadcast, we’ll likely have a live capture of it available here soon
Mewes & Paris: Together At Last!
- We have some wonderful pics from the set of “Bottoms Up”, starring our beloved Jason Mewes and a surprisingly stunning brunette version of Paris Hilton. It looks as if they’re working quite well together, and should make an interesting onscreen pairing. We’ll be following this flick closely, so, Mewes fans, stick with us. All the pics above expand, so click away and enjoy.
View Askew NewsBites™
- We know many of you are waiting on a big announcement regarding the Mallrats X screening and reunion this month. We can promise you it’s coming ANY MOMENT NOW!!! Just not THIS very moment. Stay close.
- Kevin is given high praise in the recent edition of Entertainment Weekly magazine, for his contributions to DVD. Clerks X is cited as a must-own edition. Kevin’s is also quoted in the sidebars “Criterion on Top” and “What’s He Doing There?” Scans are right here.
- The Chasing Amy Q&A from Vulgarthon has even made its way into the celeb gossip rags:
Quote of the Week: Ben Affleck, on stage at a live Q&A with his chasing Amy director Kevin Smith to celebrate the films 10th anniversary DVD reissue. After one audience member stood up to propose marriage to his girlfriend, Affleck declared “I hope it works out better for you than it did for me!
- The lovely Joey Lauren Adams’ episode of “Veronica Mars” airs tonight on UPN. There are some screencaps of the episode trailer (with a glimpse or two of Joey) at Neptunesite.
- The Zach Braff for Fletch rumor continues to get tossed around, with his fellow “Scrubs” cast member Donald Faison talking to the IESB, who brings up the casting possibility to him. Faison also mentions his desire to work with Kevin himself in the piece. It’s always neat to see raw, unedited sit-downs with the talent — Thanks to the IESB and zach-braff.com.
- The Sun-Chronicle poses some other humorous film ideas in the same vein as the Boston Red Sox-themed “Fever Pitch” that opened last weekend. Here’s one we thought you might get a chuckle out of:
IDIOTS: From the director of “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma,” Kevin Smith puts his own unique spin on the Red Sox saga. Recurring characters in almost all of his movies, stoners Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith) descend upon Fenway Park in a quest to uncover whether shots of Jack Daniels were the only chemical substances that aided the Sox in their memorable 2004 season. Matt Damon (as Johnny Damon) and Ben Affleck (as Kevin Millar) star, because both are in all of Smith’s movies.
“Boring-Ass” Updates…
- Kevin’s “My Boring-Ass Life” blog diary continues to fascinate at the View Askew WWWBoard. Kevin’s updating it regularly, with some precise detail on his day-to-day activities. Folks are finding it interesting and quite revealing (all the way down to the bathroom trips). You need to visit the board to read each entry, but here’s a summary of some of the more newsworthy tidbits that have been shared over the past week:
- Get an email from JJ Abrams, who’s in for my guest-hosting episode of “Dinner for Five.” The final, locked five is JJ, Jason Lee, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill, and me. We shoot on Tuesday.
- When I get home, there’s a situation heating up – a situation which could wind up pushing the “Clerks 2” shoot by a month and change. The producer Jenno Topping (who, aside from being a producer is also the main squeeze of Project Greenlight’s Chris Moore) has sent me a script, not to direct (smart lady), but to act in. It’s this movie Susanah Grant (writer of “Erin Brokovich”) wrote and is directing, called “Catch and Release”, which stars Jennifer Garner and Timothy Olyphant. I’d be playing Sam, who’s in the flick quite a bit. Somehow, off of “Evening With Kevin Smith”, Susanah thinks I’m right for the role, and Jenno’s not doing the smart thing and trying to convince her otherwise. So Jeno and I talk about it, and she says that Phil (Raskind, my agent) insists it can’t happen, because we’re due to shoot “C2” in June. However, that schedule’s not set yet, and we’re talking about pushing maybe a month and a half here (maybe two) to do something I’ve never been offered before: a big part in a big movie.
I call Phil about it, and we hash it out, and talk about whether it’s even a possibility. By call’s end, I decide I should talk to Harvey about it.
I call Harvey and tell him about the flick. Harvey says that I should probably read the script (I haven’t, at this point; meant to take it with me to NJ and Ill last weekend, but my carry-on was overpacked already). He says “If it’s gonna make you Tom Cruise, then do it.” I tell him it’s not gonna make me Tom Cruise, but that nothing short of a deal with Lucifer is ever gonna do that anyway. He says “My first instinct is to say you should keep your powder dry, because you’ve got ‘The Passion’ coming up. But if they’re gonna pay you a lot to do it…” I tell him I don’t know what I’d be getting paid, and he says to call him back once I’ve read the script – as that’s the key factor in deciding to make/be in any movie. He also tells me that Fox Searchlight might be coming in with New Co. on “Clerks 2” and handling the foreign side. Since Searchlight’s had such a killer few years lately, and since both Harvey and Searchlight previously worked together on (and did so well with their respective releases of) “Garden State”, this is awesome news.
- Two interesting emails: one from Richard Kelly, letting me know that all systems are go on “Southland Tales” and that I’ll be needed for two days in August.
- I pop into the editing room to see what Mosier’s been doing with the “Mallrats” re-cut. We’ve decided that, instead of calling this “The Director’s Cut” that we should call it “The Cut That Should Never Have Been” – as longer doesn’t mean better (certainly in the case of “Rats”).
Other notes from this week’s diary: Mosier has informed Kevin that they’ve got cash coming for Clerks 2 from the new studio. Stash East will be getting some light refurbishment. Kevin and Scott are still working on the Mallrats recut for the X DVD. Kevin may also be joining the Director’s Guild, as they’ve asked him to become a member.
That’s about it for the newsworthy stuff from Kev’s weeklong wrapup. You can read every last detail at the View Askew site.
Clerks 2 In The Press…
- We love it when the flicks get early press, and it seems like Kevin’s recent trips onstage have gotten the word out about Clerks 2, before filming’s even started. Here’s 2 pieces from the weekend:
Asbury Park Press – “Passionate About Clerks”
“…None of the female characters from Kevin Smith’s 1994 breakthrough, “Clerks,” will be returning in the soon-to-lens sequel, “Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks,” according to the writer/director.
“It’s about two guys,” Smith said, referring to the Dante and Randal characters played by returnees Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson, respectively. Smith said he and Jason Mewes also will return as Silent Bob and Jay.
“It’s not a parade of weird characters,” Smith said of the script. “It’s a small cast. It’s very much a “chamber piece.’
Cinematical – “Smith Released? Searchlight in on Clerks 2?”“…Smith’s producer Scott Moiser, executive Jon Gordon, and his agent are all leaning towards an okay on moving Clerks 2 back so that Smith could take the role [in “Catch and Release”].
In other news, it seems that Fox Searchlight might be coming in with the new Weinstein Company on Clerks 2, in order to handle the foreign side. Harvey and Searchlight previously worked together on Garden State.
View Askew NewsBites™
- “Reel Paradise” will be a part of the Nashville Film Festival. It plays there on April 17th. John Pierson will be doing a Q&A during the festival as well.
- Jason Lee will be appearing as the first guest on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson on Monday, April 11th. We’ll see if he mentions the new sitcom or anything Askew-related.
- The photo collection is already growing by leaps and bounds at Askew View. Nice organization as well. We dig it. Be sure to stop by there, check out the photos, and maybe even add some of your own from any of our past events.
- Jason Mewes made his first appearance on Project Greenlight this week, as he was cast in the role of “Edgy Cat”. It was a brief showing but of course, he managed to get off a joke about flirting with the casting director. Greenlight is as good as ever this year. If you’re not watching, you should be.
- Raquel Castro’s mother contacts us with the latest news on her daughter. They’ve just returned from a trip to Japan, where Jersey Girl was recently released:
Raquel was in several major Japanese magazines and news papers (can’t read the names they are in Japanese). One was a pic of her on the top of the Cerulean towers in Toshiba’s headquarters over looking Japan. Very cool. She did a press junket, along with a press conference. Pics can be found at wire image. Raquel and her brother David were on two major comedy TV shows (very funny) We went to Tokyo Disney on the last day. The movie is called Seka Papa there. We received many compliments about the film. Many Japanese men were very emotional about it. Said it made them think about their relationship with their daughters and asked Raquel’s advice, which she gave. Overall it was quite an experience. Raquel had a wonderful time. She just wished they had more American kid friendly TV. A thanks goes out to Tohko who took very good care of us.
- Fred Tepper, who supervised the digital effects in Dogma, has a film coming out, direct to DVD, titled…“Sasquatch Hunters”. Interestingly enough, the company that arranged the distribution is the same company that’s handling Jeff Anderson’s “Now You Know.” “Sasquatch” hits shelves on April 12th.
- Alanis Morissette talks with Rolling Stone about her upcoming projects, including her own TV show on Comedy Central, HERE.
Clerks Cartoon Clarifications…
Just to clarify on the confusion regarding upcoming Clerks ANIMATED projects: At both appearances last weekend, Kevin did indeed confirm the plan to do the CLERKS ANIMATED FEATURE that would go direct to video/DVD. The plot, as previously mentioned: Dante and Randal decided to make an indie feature about life at the Quick Stop.
Kevin ALSO said that they’ll be doing 5-6 CLERKS ANIMATED SHORTS that will play before CLERKS 2. Different theaters will get different shorts. Of course, all of them would be collected for the film’s eventual DVD release.
None of the deals are done on any of these projects at this point, but this is indeed what the plan is right now. Hope that clears it up for ya’ll.