• The good folks at Genius Products, as well as our pals Zak & Joey, brought two bundles of joy to the News Askew offices late last week – First up, Zak and Joey sent us a personal copy of their exciting new documentary, “Back To The Well”, for an early preview. The next day, we got hooked up with, you guessed it, the Clerks II DVD itself, in all its glory! So, there’s a busy Sunday ahead, as we delve into all the nooks that we love about View Askew’s DVD releases, and write up a complete review and rundown of the disc and all its goodies. In fact, as soon as this update’s posted up, it’s couch time!

In the meantime, you can check out a VERY POSITIVE review of the disc over at Aint It Cool News! We’ll have a complete review of each area of the disc, screenshots, and much more up in the first half of this week. We’re gonna spend this rainy Sunday spinning up the disc and checking out all the bonus features, commentaries, and of course that highly anticipated documentary! Watch for our full CLERKS II DVD COVERAGE soon! And thanks again to Zak, Joey & Genius Products.

• The Stash on MySpace reveals details on BOTH commentaries on the Clerks II DVD:

Commentaries are always a highlight of any View Askew DVD release. You can bet we’ll spin up this disc and listen to the fun unfold right away. We’re guessing the first track is new, and that the second track MIGHT be the one that was recorded and intended for release with the theatrical version (the infamous mp3 player version). Hurry up, November!

• Clerks II hits UK theaters this weekend, after a long wait from fans — We hope you’re all enjoying the film up on the big screen with an audience full of fans! The Thursday podcast of BBC program “Front Row” features a review of the film, if you care to listen to a British reviewer’s take.

In other UK Press, Kevin conducts a new interview with “Digital Spy” which features a mix of familiar and original questions. Here’s a sample:

UK’s “The Guardian” website posts a story on Kev and CLerks II titled “It’s Just Dudes Talking About Sex and Star Wars”, featuring new interview quotes. A snip from this one:

And finally, FemaleFirst, another UK-based site, runs a blurb on Kevin’s jokes regarding daughter Harley’s language:

If you’re in the UK — Get your butt into a theater and see Clerks II this weekend!

• Those of you on the fence regarding a trip to Los Angeles may have just had your decisions made for you — There will now be back-to-back events at Cinespace to celebrate the DVD releases of Clerks II AND Evening Harder. Clerks II’s event has just been announced, and will take place Sunday, November 5th from 6 PM until Midnight. $55.37 gets you into that one. And then, the previously-announced “Evening Harder” watching party happening Monday, November 6th from 6 to midnight for $55.00 as well. Much like the Evening Harder event, attendees will receive a free signed Clerks II DVD with their purchase. Please note: You MUST buy tickets separately for each event. They will go on sale MONDAY exclusively for board members and readers of this website. We’re expecting a quick sell-out to both events (the free signed discs make the deal even sweeter). Kevin will be on-hand to host both events, perform Q&A, talk about the segments, and the like. Best of all, you’ll be seeing the stuff on these discs WEEKS before everyone else does. And of course, both events take place at the awesome Cinespace, so you can eat and drink all night long while the discs premiere.

Kevin posted full details as well as some FAQ on the shows, which we’ve got for ya right here:

1) There are 250 slots per night. Tix go on sale on Monday (offering ‘em up here first, to VA Boardies; after one week, any unsold tix get offered to the MySpace crew).

2) Entry fee to each event gets you a signed DVD, though not at the actual event itself. Once “Evening Harder” and “Clerks II” street, then you get your DVD (or DVD’s if you’re going to both events), which you can either pick up at the Stash, or have sent to you on street date..

3) If you’ve already ordered “Evening Harder” from the online Stash, you can’t cancel it to go to this (you’d be creating a nightmare for the online Stash folks). If you’ve already ordered “Evening Harder” from the Stash, AND you want to attend this, you’re gonna have two copies of “Evening Harder” (though, with Christmas coming, I imagine you can unload the second copy)..

4) No bitching about #3..

5) Cinespace also runs a bar and grill, so you can eat and drink while you watch four hours of “Evening Harder” (food and drink not included in entry fee)..

6) These events are gonna be pretty fucking cool/fun, and worth the trip for out-of-staters (I’m talking to you, East Coasters).

MINI-FAQ ANSWERS

Non board-members should hurry and sign up for the board this weekend, if you intend to bring them with you. All View Askew board members, old and new, take priority with ticket sales.

Two tickets per person is the maximum allowed purchase on Monday.

A poker game may be held for interested fans, with Kevin, on the Saturday before the Sun-Mon events.

Tickets will be sold exclusively through the online Stash.

The events are not over a weekend due to the impossibility to reserve a theater on popular attendance days. So these days were picked to make it as close to a weekend as possible.

These events will not likely be repeated on the east coast.

No other celebs are planned to be in attendance for the shows.

Tickets go on sale 10 AM EST this Monday.

We love this idea — Seeing all the stuff this early on a big screen, with Kevin and a room of fellow fans in attendance. It doesn’t get much better than that. We’ll have links and further information when these 2 shows go on sale this Monday. Don’t miss what’s set to be two of the best events yet. Wahoo!

• Ok, first up — Kevin officially confirms that the street date of the Clerks II has been moved up to November 28, 2006. Just a couple short months away until this gem can be a part of our collections! The cover we previously posted, he reveals, is also incorrect, as a Chicago Sun-Times quote will appear on the cover.

Kevin also confirms that the disc will indeed be packed with features, including an ironic 37 minutes of deleted film footage:

We’ll of course keep you updated on this exciting disc — With this and Evening Harder on the way, it’s going to be a happy Fall for our DVD players.

• 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.

• 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.

• Empire Magazine has always been very kind to View Askew, and the Clerks II press they’ve got in the latest issue is no exception. Click above for beautiful scans of the coverage of the film, including a FOUR STAR REVIEW to kick things off. Then, move on for an outstanding article covering the film’s production, a piece on the lovely Rosario Dawson, and more. Clerks II takes over UK screens on September 22nd, 2006. Enjoy the articles, as we always love the wonderful work that Empire does with View Askew.

• Clerks II has won the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival, beating “Little Miss Sunshine” as well as other homegrown films (which normally prosper). Much congrats goes to Kevin and all the cast and crew, once again proving just what a crowd pleaser this movie really is. Here’s the story

Discuss this great news at the View Askew WWWBoard!

• Davis DVD confirms that December 5th release date we’ve been hearing for Clerks II on DVD, but brings more details, including the confirmation on what’s sure to be a gorgeous, 1080i High Definition edition available that very same day: