• The awesome DVD supersite DVDTalk does it again, with a brilliant review of the latest disc to hit the View Askew library, “Jay And Silent Bob Do Degrassi”. Citing it as “…Probably the most elaborate special edition ever for a three episode arc of a Canadian teen drama”, the disc gets a “Highly Recommended” from the site. Here’s a snippet or two:

Jay and Silent Bob Do Degrassi kicks off with three commentary tracks, each featuring Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Stacie Mistysyn, associate producer Jim Jackman, and writer Aaron Martin. Kevin Smith sets the gold standard for audio commentaries, and these tracks are predictably hysterical as he points out all of the suspension of disbelief stuff that I didn’t really catch on the first time through and as he tries to make one-time crush Stacie as uncomfortable as possible. The alternate “West End Girls” commentary, which Kevin politely requests that you listen to last, is still worth a listen but is the least essential of the three. They had some studio time left to burn and a lot more they wanted to talk about, so they gave it a second pass. This time, Kevin’s more of a moderator than a participant, prompting conversation about the business end of producing a show for Canadian television and talking about the show’s viewership in the U.S. and Canada.

…

A minute and a half of bloopers are almost entirely devoted to Kevin and Jason rattling off various bits of innuendo, and there are also five minutes of Kevin cracking up Stacie while filming an overdramatic promo. Two short deleted scenes are also included. “Best…Year of Our Lives” is the minute long dramatic finalé to Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh? (and it’s easier to understand than the reverb-drenched dialogue from the finished episode). “Too Young” clocks in around 25 seconds and has an alternate version of Kevin explaining to Jason that statutory rape’s still frowned upon in the Great White North.

“How to Film a Ninja Fight Scene” compares thirteen minutes of raw footage with the minute and a half sequence that made into the episode. The entirety of the unedited footage is a little much to wade through, but it definitely gives me a greater appreciation for the magic of editing. The disc opens with a brief intro with Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, and the full seven minutes and change of raw footage, complete with rants about the appropriateness of different masturbatory material, Mewes’ sexual hangups, and Canadian unfamiliarity with the concept of a cocksucker, are piled on as an extra.

That’s right. It’s a FULL disc. Don’t let the fact it’s not a View Askew production throw you off. You need it! Check out the whole shebang HERE.

“Ratface’s Neighborhood”

“Kenny Bob Thorton”

• As promised, the videos are indeed now starting to come in at lightning speeds with the production of Clerks 2 being wrapped. Two MORE entries today for your viewing enjoyment, in Quicktime now, and coming soon (possibly by the time you read this) for your cool little ipod video.

First up, a dude near and dear to our hearts, Robert “Ratface” Holtzman, longtime View Askew production designer, who takes you into his neighborhood of amazing artwork, props, and madness. One of the highlights of any set visit we ever make is getting to check out Rat’s world — For Jay & Bob, it was the trailer where they had all the amazing props…Recently for Clerks 2, we got to screen TONS of photos and hear from the man himself about the miracle of building Mooby’s. The dude’s a real cool character, and always takes time to give us the inside track on all his amazing art and designs. Enjoy this look into Rat and some of his art department crew. He sure is proud of that hot cheese beverage for sure, we gotta tell ya!

Kevin Weisman is introduced in “Kenny Bob Thorton”. You Alias fans know the dude as Marshall, in this flick, he’ll cameo in a yet unannounced role. Watch Kevin rap with the OTHER Kevin you know, chat up his band (learn it’s ties to the almighty Tenacious D), and, if you watch real closely, get a hint or two about his role in Clerks 2.

As always, mad props to Zak and Joey for their uber-cool camera and editing work.

• News Askew would like to congratulate long-time View Askew favorite Ben Affleck on the birth of his first child! Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner welcomed their new daughter Violet into the world sometime late last night or early this morning. Sincerest congratulations to both parents! Many stories are sure to follow, all of which we’re not going to run here, though IMDB reports with a smaller blurb, indicating Garner will go back to work on the final season of Alias after an 8 week maternity leave. It’s also being reported that Affleck was by her side during the entire birth:

• Kevin has announced that he will be appearing at the New York Comic-Con this February. By then, Clerks 2 should be pretty well edited together, so we’re expecting this will also be one of your first chances to see a scene (or scenes) from the film — In a room packed full of fans, no less. This one sounds like one that’s worth driving or even FLYING in for, folks. Details, courtesy Comic Book Resources:

Tickets for New York Comic-Con are now on sale on the Web site at www.nycomiccon.com. The official page for the February event, including a preliminary guest list, can be found HERE. Some top talent will be on hand, including Kev’s pal Joe Quesada, and top names Todd McFarlane and Jim Lee. Sounds like a great one.

• A very obvious, funny reference to “Chasing Amy” appears in the latest episode of the “Loserz” webcomic.
• Empire Online has picked up on Kevin’s “Dogma 2” statements with a small piece of their own, titled “Back to the Bible?”. Check out the article for Empire’s own editorial as well as a small place for your own comments.
• The hilarious Jon Stewart, who appeared in that memorable J&SBSB cameo, will be doing 2 of his own “Evening With” appearances in London, England. They’ll be back-to-back on 11th December at The Prince Edward Theatre.

• A final note today: We got a couple scoops today from hotmail (Broc and Riss). For some reason, we’re having trouble getting e-mail out to the Hotmail service. Not sure if it’s the ISP here or something else, but just wanted to let you (and any other hotmail scoopers out there), thanks for the scoops, we can read them, just can’t write back! See ya later on today — We’ve got more news on the way!

• We broke the news last time that Malcolm Ingram, writer-director of the early View Askew project “Drawing Flies”, is headed to Sundance with his acclaimed documentary “Small Town, Gay Bar”. Now, another View Askew vet is on her way to the same festival: Joey Lauren Adams. Her film, “Come Early Morning”, will compete in the Drama category.

Sixty-four feature films will screen in competition at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, in four sections, festival organizers have announced. The competition is the heart of the United States’ leading film festival, which this year will screen 120 features from January 19 – 29, 2006. Organizers selected the highly anticipated roster from a total of 3,148 feature film submissions this year (with more than 1,700 from the U.S. and more than 1,300 from outside the country). Forty-eight of this year’s 120 films are from first-time feature filmmakers.

Details on the flicks:

Independent Feature Film Competition: Documentary

“Small Town Gay Bar,” directed by Malcolm Ingram

A voyage to the deep South to tell a tale of the struggle for community and expression in the face of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression. [World Premiere]

Independent Feature Film Competition: Dramatic

“Come Early Morning,” directed and written by Joey Lauren Adams

The story of a southern woman trying to escape her addictions and self-destructive behavior to find true love.

Congratulations and best of luck to both Malcolm and Joey from News Askew! We’ll look forward to hearing stories from the festival in January, and of course keep you posted on any buzz regarding Sundance and these flicks. Thanks also to indieWire.

“Meet The Crew (Part 2)”

“What a Load”

• WIth shooting over, the videos are editing together fast and furious now, with Zak and Joey treating us to two more looks into the world of “Clerks 2”, and filmmaking in general.

In today’s first offering, “What a Load”, you’ll meet “Q”, the Loader of the cameras for “Clerks 2”, who explains the importance and logistics of his job. He’ll take you inside the camera truck for a tour, see what an “empty mag” looks like, and visit the darkroom as Q demonstrates the process…Both in light, then, properly, in total DARKNESS! Very fasincating, educational stuff.

Next up, it’s Part 2 of “Meet The Crew” with the always entertaining Jason Mewes. Be sure and take a close look at Ratface and Scott Purcell’s beautiful and funny Mooby’s Drive Thru sign (we hope to have some detailed shots of that coming soon). You’ll meet a grip, some members of “Team 2”, and a couple of the on set PA’s. Could this sort of job be Jay’s second calling? You never know…

• All of our friends in the Great White North have now had the opportunity to see part one of “Lexicon Of Love”, the episode that marks Kevin and Jason’s return to “Degrassi: The Next Generation” this season. Want to see what it looked like? We’ve got some beautiful screen captures for you above. Good news, though, Americans. MSN is reporting that Noggin will get these episodes next month:

• Congratulations to Malcolm Ingram, whose View Askew-produced documentary “Small Town/Gay Bar” was selected by Sundance for the documentary competition this year. Look for it in Park City this January. Malcolm’s been a great friend to View Askew for a lot of years, and a hard worker, we’re very excited for him and wish him the best of luck in the competition.
• One more time: Kevin makes his final run, for now at least, at the infamous AICN talkback crew (which most believe inspired those segments in Jay & Bob Strike Back). Check out Kevin’s nicely commented and killer responses HERE. Take no prisoners!
• Will and Scott go retro with Radio Askew this week. For episode #14, now available for download, Will presents audio from a Dogma rountable with Kevin from back in 1999. We recall a lot of bits and pieces from this at the site during Dogma’s release, but don’t think we’ve heard a lot of audio from it. Good stuff there. Be sure and tune it in!
• In case you’ve never seen it, “Sunday Morning Shootout” is one of those must-see programs for film buffs airing regularly on AMC, well, each Sunday morning. If it sounds familiar to ya, that’s because Kevin did a guest shot on the show back in March of ‘04, just prior to Jersey Girl’s theatrical release. That appearance will now be forever archived on DVD, appearing on the Director’s disc of the upcoming “Best Of Season 1” DVD. 35 full episodes of the shootout will be on there, full of fantastic guests. Highly recommended, especially if you love film. More news tomorrow! See ya then. Thanks for taking a break from your holiday web shopping to stop by the site today.

• After a fan on the View Askew board asked, “Kevin, the way you ended Dogma left room for a sequel, have you ever considered doing one? Possibly following the LAST scion?”, Kevin had a surprising, telling response today. Check this out:

So, WOW! How about that? We’d sure love to see it. And we’re also sure any of the remaining cast who were needed back would come back in an instant. And for those of you sequel-haters out there, we think once you see Clerks 2, you’ll be begging for Mallrats 2, Chasing Amy 2, etc…etc…

On a final note, Film Threat has quicky picked up on the idea, and polls users on the front page about the sequel idea. Why not go over there and give YOUR opinion?