• Thanks to John for sending us this scan of Gmail’s new RSS feature in action. You G-Mail (Google mail) account holders can now make use of News Askew’s headlines and toss them right at the top of your screen. Many other web mail apps and portals are also adding the feature (We currently use My Yahoo’s RSS feature to toss our favorite feeds at the top of the start page — And of course, your favorite RSS reader (there’s a ton to pick from these days) can still deliver the latest news headlines to your desktop or phone, right as they happen. It’ll be something you want when Clerks 2 news starts kicking into high gear around here, trust us!

• Huge props and thanks to Veronica Mars supersite “Neptunesite” (who happen to be big View Askew fans, as well) for informing us that they’ve obtained the first ever still from Kevin’s guest stint happening on the program. Kevin will appear in “Driver Ed” as a clerk, of all things, in Season 2’s second episode. Now all we gotta do is nab the season 1 DVD set and catch up on what we’re hearing was one of the best new shows to hit the tube last year. Thanks again, Netptunesite.

• Beaten only by the cooless that is “The Terminator”, “Donnie Darko”, and “Resevoir Dogs”, Empire Magazine has named Clerks #4 in their list of the 50 Greatest Independent Films Of All Time…

Clerks (1994)

All told, the credit card bills and sundry expenses amounted to somewhere in the region of $25,000. That’s a lot of coin to pay back, but if Kevin Smith was ever worried about recouping his borrowed, begged but absolutely not stolen outlay for his first movie, then he didn’t really have time to show it. For Clerks was quickly picked up by Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein, who overlooked its dodgy production values, ropy acting and a story that resists the description ‘threadbare’ because he saw a raw vitality in its balls-out dialogue; a vitality and spirit and, more importantly, laugh out loud sense of humour that ensured that Clerks connected instantly with disenfranchised tweens and shop workers everywhere, and the rest is history for Smith, from Chasing Amy to the continuing adventures of Jay & Silent Bob, to Empire Awards and domination of the geek world. Or, as Wor Kev might say it, motherfucking cocksucking history.”

Clerks X was also honored at The 8th Annual DVD Awards, hosted by Leonard Maltin, for “BEST PC SUPPORT — INDEPENDENT RELEASE”. Check it, and all the winners, out HERE.

• One of the reviewers, Craggs, over at Film 411 cites “Jersey Girl” as a great first date film And considering all the girls we’ve watched the movie with or talked to about it, the dude’s right. Chicks dig the Jersey Girl. Seriously.

• Seems Google’s start page is another that offers RSS feeds (and the ability to add News Askew’s headlines right to it). Thanks Will.

• If you listen closely to this new unrated trailer for “My Big Fat Independent Movie”, you can hear Mewes’ voice on a tape recorder. The trailer itself is…well…bizarre. Looks pretty low budget, and they certainly mean well, but we’re just not too sure where this one’s gonna go. Looks like a love it or hate it kinda deal.
• And finally today, seems there’s so many movie sites out there, some just don’t get the message when projects change ‘eh? So August is over…Where was this film!?!? We wanna see it! Catch you next time.

• Just two quick bites for you today — First up, Kevin’s updated his online blog/diary, “My Boring Ass Life” with another week of updates. We’re not cliff-noting it for you this time around, since it consists mostly of personal, family type stuff, and the day to day that comes with, well, being a human being. That’s what we dig about the diary, though — It doesn’t have to be news, sometimes a day is just a day. The entries are interesting as always, and do again confirm that a lead actress for the Clerks flick has been acquired. No name dropped or even a hint though (dang it!), so continue to speculate away. Read all the latest at the official site, and comment at the View Askew Forums as always.
• For those of you keeping up with the ever-expanding cast of Richard Kelly’s intriguing “Southland Tales” (of which Kevin has been a part of for quite some time), Aint It Cool confirmed some more who are joining in. Coming Soon ran a similar story. The film has an interestring, mysterious air around it now, and we’re hoping it stays that way. Keep the spoilers away from us!

• Anyone wanna smell like Ben Affleck? IMDB reports:

• We’ve been looking for a scan of this to run for a while, now — Premiere magazine ran a blurb citing Clerks as an overrated flick, which we of course strongly disagree with — But what we love is the “Defense” bit at the bottom which we feel hits the nail right on the head. For posterity’s sake, the scan is right here, so click away.
• Jason Lee presents his “12 CDs you Gotta Get” in the supplemental “Listen 2 This” section of September 2nd’s Entertainment Weekly magazine. Since the list seems to be tough to come by online, here’s the rundown in case you wanna school yourself on Lee’s tastes:

• Here’s an interesting new concept — A site called “What Was That Movie?” that lets you find a movie you might enjoy but forget the title of…Hey, do you remember that movie with that guy from last year? The site’s just getting started but View Askew’s films are already all there and among the most popular searches.

• And finally today, you just gotta love the birthday cake that reader Richie’s girlfriend made for him. Now that’s a keeper, right there. Catch ya next time.

• Special thanks to Universal for hooking us up with a hot of the press Mallrats 10th Anniversary Etended Edition DVD — Literally seconds after they came in, one was overnighted coast-to-coast for review. So, it’s now our pleasure to review this jam-packed edition for you here, with tons of never before seen screenshots from the film’s additional scenes (in glorious anamorphic full screen, full color transfers), what to expect from the extra goodies, and maybe even an easter egg hint or two. Make it your first order of business to read our exclusive Mallrats 10th Anniversary Extended Edition DVD Review immediately!

• Don’t forget, dear Stateside readers, tonight is Kevin and Jay’s LAST Degrassi appearance, in the season ender, marking the conclusion of the 3 episode arc. Kevin and Jay WILL return next year, in fact, we were told that, contrary to the newsbite we ran yesterday, Kevin and Jay WERE on set in Canada where the marquee was spotted, and the girlfriend of a reader of ours, Avi, had the pleasure meeting the duo after production wrapped.

Happy Friday, and enjoy the final Degrassi!

• Regrettably, Kevin and Jay will be cancelling their Wizard World Boston appearance this year. We’ve just learned that the intense preproduction duties for Clerks 2 will keep the guys wrapped up in work. We’re sure Kev will make up for it, and believe us when we say the Clerks 2 product will definitely be worth the sacrifices.

• We love love LOVE this cover for the fourth issue of Spidey/Black Cat, and we thank Kevin for bringing it to us. It’s great to see some beautiful new Dodson artwork, exciting as hell to see that familiar face in the background, and our anticipation to see Kevin’s words again committed to comic is at an all time high. This one can’t show up fast enough.
• View Askew historically hits a NEW entertainment medium! The Sony PSP (that cool little portable playstation thing that we so covet) will introduce Clerks to their movie lineup on November 15th, 2005. How cool is that?
• Jay & Bob spotted in Canada! The marquee of the Englinton Theatre event hall in Toronto, formerly the greatest movie house in the city, advertised “Tonight: Jay & Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?” earlier this week. No sign of their real life counterparts in the streets, so we’re guessing it was just an establishing shot for their appearances next season on Degrassi.
• Joe Holleman, entertainment reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, has listed his “Best 10 Films of the 90’s”. Chasing Amy and Clerks get a shout out in the “Honorable Mention” category. The top ten are some heavy-hitters, so it’s nice to see View Askew’s films in such good company.
• “My Name Is Earl” continues to get nice press and publicity as the premiere draws near. We’re getting reports that a loop on Walmart TV airing clips and cast interviews from the show in a 2-minute spot. Check your local Walamrt’s TV department and stand around a while to catch it. And while you’re there, pick us up some bargains.
• Also, a very detailed piece shows up in the Buffalo News, reviewing the series and giving both high marks to it and star Jason Lee. Here’s a snippet:

Kevin directing an episode? We’d dig that! Spread the word about Earl, let’s help make this a breakout hit for Lee! Read the full article HERE. We thank you for stopping in, and hope to see you again soon.

• Our apologies for being so late with this edition today, as we were busy being enthralled by the glory that is the Mallrats X disc that arrived at the News Askew offices today. We’ll have a MASSIVE review for you this weekend, which we’ll be spending the next few days prepping. That being said, there’s some bits and bites to cover today, and some interesting and important ones and that, so read on, dear friends…

• Kevin continues to score a spot in the top 25 list of Tivo’ed directors which you can view at Tivo’s official site. He’s ranked as high as 5 at some stages. Quite good company, and a neat honor, as we consider Tivo stats to be more accurate than those dang Neilsen ratings these days. According to the public, Kevin’s tops.
• “My Name Is Earl” does have a small bit running in that channel 101 DirecTV NBC special, here’s a description. Sounds similar to the ads NBC’s got running already:

Needless to say, we’re sure you’ll all support the show and spread the word. We’d love to see this become a huge hit for Lee.

• And it OTHER “Earl” news, if you want to catch an early look at the pilot, The Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles is featuring the pilot episode as part of their “In The Prime” series. Admission is first-come, first-served. Earl runs on the NBC night, Friday September 16th. Sounds like a good event (the intriguing “Surface” pilot will also screen that same night). Hope some of you can make it.
• The sidebar of a Detriot News article on Generation X cites Kevin as one of the idols of said age grouping. Hey, we can’t deny it.
• We’re not sure we get the joke (or, why it’s funny) but apparently there’s a running joke surrounding wishing Opie & Anthony regular Jim Norton a happy birthday. Here’s video of Bryan Johnson doing just that from Wizard World’s View Askew booth recently (Note: seems you need the latest windows media player and internet explorer to see the video).

• How Mattt Potter keeps finding the time to churn out the genius videos, we’ll never know. His latest, “Catching Amy”, may be the funniest yet. It’s his take on what a lot of the Movies Askew contest entries he’s watched have felt like. See for yourself but only if you’ve got a high speed line, as it’s a 46 meg download in Quicktime format. Watch the 5 minutes, then imagine hours and hours of such stuff. Yipes.
• The band Maroon 5 continues to show their View Askew love. In the October 2005 issue of GuitarOne, there’s an article and pictures on their guitar effects equipment. One of the pics shows a Buddy Christ holding a guitar pick. If anyone’s got a scan, feel free to pass it on for the archives.
• See a new short from Scott Kramer (he of “Chasing Kevin” fame) titled “The Futurist” at the LA Short Film Festial, at the famous Arclight Cinemas, Wednesday, September 7th at 9:45pm, theater 12.