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View Askew NewsBites™

January 29th, 2008 @ 7:02 pm | 2 Comments » | Scooped by George Efta, Ian Pravata, Maleah Arvieux

  • Jason Lee and cast of “Earl” to be on American Chopper this Thursday night (1/31) at 9 PM on TLC:


      “Mikey gets in the game and heads up OCC’s latest creation — a Wolverine bike for the University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital. The cast from NBC’s “My Name is Earl” bursts onto the scene and gets the OCC team to build a My Name is Earl bike.”

  • The Stanford Daily has an op-ed piece about the modernization of religion. You guessed it, “Dogma” shows up inside:


      My fellow New Jerseyan Kevin Smith appears to see the comic surrealism as well. In Smith’s facetious 1999 film “Dogma,” a misguided effort to modernize the Catholic Church’s image unfolds through a campaign entitled, “Catholicism Wow!” Complete with a revamped, “less depressing” and utterly absurd Jesus figure bearing the name “Buddy Christ,” the attempt at Catholic modernization is portrayed by Smith as both silly and hopeless.

  • Kevin’s recent blog comments about tightening up the Oscars and other award ceremonies get a mention in this PopMatters article regarding the writers’ strike and the award season.
  • A recent review of “This Film is Not Yet Rated” on DVD reveals that Kevin appears in the deleted scenes area of the disc. So, whether you’ve seen this fascinating film about the MPAA process or not, now’s a great time to pick up a copy on DVD. Kevin’s of course in the feature as well, considering the fact that the organization slapped his first ever flick with an NC-17 (initially) just for dialogue. Yeah, you remember!
  • Finally today, a bit more UK Press for the newly airing “Reaper” across the pond. In this small article, Kevin expresses his shock in being asked to direct the pilot:


      “It’s very strange because I normally don’t direct television,” Kevin tells Cw.com. “Nobody ever asked me to do it before. I’ve had offers to come in on sitcoms which have already been up and running. But this was interesting because my agent called and said there’s a pilot of this show and they want you to direct it. I was like, why would anyone, based on my body of work, want me to direct a TV pilot?

      “Generally my stuff seems to be very chatty, frank and obscene. I was so puzzled, I said I would like to read it and see who’s stupid enough to want to hire me. I read the script and I just dug it so much.”

      Kevin was attracted to the Reaper pilot script as it reminded him of hit Simon Pegg film Shaun Of The Dead.

      “I’m a big Shaun Of The Dead fan,” he says. “The sensibilities of the characters in Reaper are similar to my characters. The only difference between the characters I write and the characters in Reaper is none of these characters use four letter words because we’re on TV.”


    “Reaper” returns Stateside to the CW with a new episode on March 4th.

View Askew NewsBites™

January 22nd, 2008 @ 9:40 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Jonathan Daby, Adam Bertocci

  • Since we started this site in 1997, we have a pretty decent archive of every article that’s been published about View Askew and cast since then — However, every once in a while, a gem is uncovered online that we like to add into the mix – Take, for example, this Ben Affleck article from April 11, 1997 via MIT. It was written when he was out promoting “Chasing Amy”. Check it out, along with a photo of the 1997 Ben, and the rumblings of the film that would win him an Oscar – “Good Will Hunting”. Just another worthy addition to the News Askew archives.
  • And finally today — We have an open standing order here at the site for folks who are lucky enough to win those coveted “Auctions Askew” items to drop us some photos and let us know about their newly won pieces of movie history. Today, Adam Bertocci proudly sends us photos of him in Ben Affleck’s screen-worn “Dogma” duds.


    Adam notes: “No, I’m not wearing his pants. That would just be weird. Shirts and coats, on the other hand, are perfectly normal. I own some movie props and memorabilia, but nothing quite as cool as this. Big thanks to Kevin for letting his fans own a piece of his great movies. And your readers should just be happy I got outbid on Rosario Dawson’s camisole.”

    Enjoy, Adam, and thanks for giving the stuff a good home.

Dogma Blu-Ray To Mirror SE…

January 5th, 2008 @ 1:08 pm | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Robert Hay

  • High Def Digest has Sony’s official ‘Dogma’ Blu-Ray specs for us today:


      “As we first reported in December, Sony announced it would bow the controversial religious satire ‘Dogma’ on March 11, though initial specs were sparce. Now the full details are in, and typical of a Smith disc release, the Blu-ray will come loaded with making-of material and deleted footage.

      Porting over many (but not all) of the features from Sony’s previous two-disc DVD edition, the Blu-ray version of ‘Dogma’ will contain two audio commentaries (the first with Smith and cast members, the second a technical track), 100 minutes of deleted scenes (with intros), and a “Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash” mock commercial.

      Tech specs boast 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 video and uncompressed PCM 5.1 Surround audio in English and French.

      Suggested retail for the Blu-ray has been set at $28.99.”


  • To us, sounds like a direct copy of the Dogma Special Edition DVD. We’re assuming the Blu-Ray will afford us a better visual and sound experience, though we’re assuming all extra material will remain as it was before. If we learn of any NEW material created for this release, we’ll let you know — However, our assumption for now is that it will be the same contents as the previous release.

View Askew NewsBites™

January 3rd, 2008 @ 7:50 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Neil, Alex Eschbach, Tricia Bird, Brian Caylor, Austin

  • “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” continues to appear on the radar for folks in 2008 – It makes Film School Rejects’ list of “The 20 Most Anticipated Movies of 2008” high atop the charts at #3, edging out quite a few high profile flicks:


      3. Zack and Miri Make a Porno
      Release Date: 2008
      Talent: Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith (Director)

      Synopsis: Lifelong platonic friends Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks) look to solve their respective cashflow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

      The Buzz: You didn’t think that this list would be all summer blockbusters did you? Zack and Miri will combine two of the most beloved comedic minds in all of Hollywood, director Kevin Smith and actor Seth Rogen, to make a movie about two people who want to start a porn company. And it stars the always gorgeous Elizabeth Banks. If you need to read that again to allow it to really sink in, we can wait.

  • In another list appearance, “Zack and Miri” also show up on /film’s 2008 Must-See list. Alphabetically, this one comes in at the bottom of the list. You know, we’re just realizing that those of you who alphabetize your View Askew DVD collections of will find this one always at the tail end — Unless Kevin’s got another “Z” movie in him someday.
  • George at Film 411 dissects one of View Askew’s Oscar-worthy scenes, the famous parking garage sequence from “Dogma”, as part of their “Scene Anatomy 101”. Here’s a clip:


      This scene has so much going for it that I’m surprised it was never seen as an award-nominated clip. First, to satisfy Kevin’s critics, the camera isn’t in one place for too long. The actors are moving around the garage, as is the camera, so visually the scene doesn’t get stale in any way. Secondly, the script is so strong because it toes the line between being dialogue that keeps the action moving and Ben Affleck speaking Kevin’s problems with Christianity, and yet somehow keeps itself from falling over to the soapbox side.

      And of course, you have Ben and Matt themselves, two old friends that are obviously very comfortable acting with each other. Here their chemistry takes center stage. Nobody else is in this scene with them, and as their voices get louder, they echo through the cold and empty garage.


    Read it all over at 411.

  • Speaking of “Dogma”, attention high-definition fans: The film is currently set for a bow on the Bluray format on March 11th, 2008. No word on which extras will be included on the set, though we’re hoping and expecting to see all the goodies from the 2-disc Special Edition.
  • Finally this morning, a fun tidbit of trivia — One astute scooper just wrote in to tell us about a rerun episode of “Law & Order: SVU” from 2001 entitled “Sacrifice”. In it, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” star Elizabeth Banks plays a porn star whose manager is sending her to Vegas to do a gang bang with 300 guys. Your trivia for the day. Catch ya later…

View Askew NewsBites™

December 5th, 2007 @ 10:21 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris, Craig Kocher

  • Check out this nicely crafted piece of new Deviant Art by Denmark artist “Humon”, done in the Clerks TAS style. He images what it would be like would the main cast have attended a gay pride parade. Humon says:

      Ones again, say hallo to my stupid sense of humor.

      Because of all the gay jokes, I was wondering what the Clerks guys would behave and look like if they were gay and walking in a Gay Pride Parade or something like that, and I could just see them doing, well, this 🙂

      I was going to have Leonardo, Plug, Steve-Dave and Fanboy in there too, but Leonardo is gay so that wouldn’t be funny. Steve-Dave and Fanboy was supposed to be yelling at some straight people in the background, accuseing them for being homophobes, but I just couldn’t get them right. At all.

      Oh, and Randal is pushing Dante.


  • Sony has announced that Dogma will be coming to the Bluray high definition format in a couple months — February 12, 2008! This will make it the cleanest, best copy of the film to own, if you have the means.
  • More of the ‘bites are coming later today — Watch this space!

View Askew NewsBites™

October 29th, 2007 @ 11:48 am | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Tami Salame, Scott, Dan Eliot

  • SModcast continues this week with the second of the Red Bank episodes with Walt and Bry. And man, is this a great one. Listen to some totally candid stuff from the slightly off-mic Bryan Johnson who talks about his current medications. Fantastic stuff. Once again, SModcast proves it is a podcast like no other. Episode 35, titled “Dr. Smith and the Medicine Show” is now available exclusively via Quick Stop Entertainment and well worth your downloading and listening time. We can’t get enough. Don’t take our word for it though, check it out FREE today.
  • Jay is listed as a guest at this year’s “FX Show Toy and Comic Convention” in Orlando, FL. The con dates are January 25-27, 2008, and it all goes down at at the Orange County Convention Center. FX usually really comes through with their guests, so we’re expecting this will come through. We’ll keep you posted, of course, as this is the first we have heard of this booking.
  • Are the artists of “World War Hulk Frontline” from Marvel big “My Name Is Earl” fans? Check out this scan of issue 4, and see if two of these onlookers don’t resemble Earl and Darnell.
  • And finally today, a blast from the past — We’ve told you about Kevin protesting Dogma, but have you ever SEEN it? The famous News 12 footage is now available online and worth a look — Yes, Kevin protested his own film, and the news crew didn’t even know it. Classic stuff, dating back almost 10 years now. Ah, those were the days! We’ll see ya next time, with a new interview and much more.

View Askew NewsBites™

October 26th, 2007 @ 8:06 am | No Comments » | Scooped by John Whiteaker, Jay Leib

  • After “Die Hard” took top honors in a recent action flick list from Entertainment Weekly, they are now also naming the star, Bruce Willis (as John McClane), as the #1 action hero of all time, according to a new photo gallery at their site. Matt Damon (as Jason Bourne) comes in at 12.
  • And last, but certainly not least today, you dug the Jay & Silent Bob Short F#cking Version — Now, behold the Dogma counterpart. Once again, a hearty laugh packed in 51 crazy seconds. Have a weekend, we’ll see ya back here soon.

View Askew NewsBites™

October 1st, 2007 @ 5:28 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Pilot Willie, John Mollard, George Efta

  • Our pal Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone”, has been benefitting from great word of mouth from those who have screened it early. Today, Collider.com provides us with FIVE NEW CLIPS from the film, the first we’ve seen clippage (other than the trailer) anywhere. The film hits theaters everywhere on October 19th, just a few short weeks from now.
  • In DVD news today, Jason Lee’s UNDERDOG arrives December 18th. If you missed it in the theater, your kids may dig it — Plus, you get to hear ‘ol Lee throughout. And speaking of Lee, the great Season Two of “My Name Is Earl” is now available everywhere — The Target edition features a lenticular cover and a mini Earl poster. The cover, which features the Earl characters as cartoon characters, is way cool.
  • And finally today, in Retro news, it’s great when this stuff comes back to us — We promoted a Dogma panel with Chris Rock and Kevin on Charlie Rose way back in 1999 — Now, that very show is available on YouTube! Skip to around 25 minutes into the program for the interview. We’ll see you again soon, thanks for dropping by today.

View Askew NewsBites™

August 30th, 2007 @ 11:11 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Maleah Dust, Mark Conlin

  • Wanna win something REALLY cool? How about a Reaper poster, signed by director Kevin Smith himself? TV Squad’s got one to give away, and it’s as posting a comment on their website. You can only enter once, and a winner will be chosen at random. If you snag it, let us know — We’re tempted to enter ourselves though now that we’ve let the cat out of the bag, we expect the comment thread to run pretty wild over there. You’re welcome.
  • Starting this week, Clerks II is now FINALLY available on DVD in South Africa, sadly though, in a slimmed-down single disc edition. But hey, it’s better than nothin’.
  • The FX dude behind “Dogma”, “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” and “Vulgar”, Vincent Guastini, is the subject of a new video interview. He talks about his effects work, childhood and life and gives insight to why and how he got into this business. Among the films Vincent talks about in this in-depth 14-part Q & A formatted interview are the ground breaking thinning prosthetics in the film “Requiem For A Dream”, how he took over the make-up effects on his first studio epic of “The Last Of the Mohicans”, the animatronic effects in the film “Dogma”, and more. He also talks of his relationship with Kevin in the piece. Watch it all in a nifty question by question interactive interview over at “Interviewing Hollywood”.

View Askew NewsBites™

July 30th, 2007 @ 4:31 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Banks Lee, Matt Greenberg, I Am Jack's Raging Mommy, Lord Torgamus

  • Congrats to Matt Damon who was just honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ah, we still remember the days of his brief appearances in the MTV shorts and “Chasing Amy”. Good on ya, Matt, you’ve come a long way. Here’s hoping we see Damon back in a future View Askew project some day, too. In the meantime, catch his critically-acclaimed turn in The Bourne Ultimatum in theaters this weekend.
  • A brief “Dogma” mention comes up in AOL’s list of “The 77 Most Unforgettable Movie Songs” :

      75. Alanis Morissette, ‘Uninvited’ (‘City of Angels,’ 1998) One year after Alanis penned this heavenly, Oscar-worthy song for a syrupy film about angels, she was cast as God in Kevin Smith’s brilliantly blasphemous ‘Dogma.’ Coincidence? — M. Tye Comer
  • Moviehole gives “The Shark Is Still Working” (Kevin has a “narrated by” credit) four out of five stars in this DVD review.
  • Kevin gets a mention in the July 29th Austin American-Statesman in a question about Askew alum Claire Forlani. This scan comes from that newspaper.
  • CBS sportsline.com has this article about Prince’s love of basketball, with an alternate history if he had become a basketball player. It quotes Kevin telling the story of filming in Paisly Park from “Evening”:

      Kevin “Silent Bob” Smith spends a half-hour of his An Evening With Kevin Smith DVD spilling some of the secret life of Prince he learned while filming a documentary at Paisley Park. The chunky filmmaker was obsessed with the funky hitmaker’s fashion sense. Why all the Shakespearean getups and high heels?

      One of Prince’s assistants assured Smith that Prince wears warm-ups and sneakers when he plays basketball. Nothing hand-made. Typical store-bought stuff. From Nordstrom’s.

      Norstrom’s sells stuff in Prince’s size? Smith asks. Yes, the assistant explains — in the boys department. “That is so (effin’) cute!” Smith marvels.

  • Jason Lee gets a bit of vindication for his Emmy snub in EW’s “Yay Emmys, Boo Emmys” list :

      BOO, EMMYS!

      Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) doesn’t make the cut

      Where’s Jason Lee? I understand there are only [a few] nominees per category, but [Lee and Lauren Graham] are the leads of long-running shows who consistently do GREAT jobs. —Dio_K

      The nominations stink this year…. Jason Lee is about a 100 times funnier than [Charlie] Sheen. No wonder the ratings for the Emmys has been dropping, they have no clue as to what is good TV. —Tisa