• We’re pleased to report that the Stash is now officially taking preorders for the next must-have addition to any discerning View Askew fan’s colletion — The Mallrats 10th Anniversary DVD! This disc features a totally new cut of the film, never seen anywhere before. Oh, and then there’s that Mallrats Q&A reuinion filmed at the Arclight. New intros and Q&A with Kevin and Scott? Got that. A new “look back” documentary, cut together by the brilliant JM Kenny? Check. Never before seen bloopers? You bet. Oh, and what about some easter eggs? Gotta have those, right?

Kevin’s personally signing each and every pre-ordered copy and getting them into your hands lickety-split after the September 20th street date. So don’t delay — Get at the top of the list, and be the first on your block with Mallrats X! $34.99 for each personally signed copy. Earlier orders get top priority. RESERVE YOURS NOW!

• Ah, we gotta say, it’s great to have Kevin wrapped on “Catch” and back Stateside, we certainly dig the frequent updates and news coming in these days. Today, we’ll kick it off with the lively, beautiful Mallrats X jacket. You’ve seen the cover, now check out the complete wraparound and feature list — It’s another packed set, and one you’ll definitely want to preorder a signed copy of as soon as possible. September 20th is getting close! Can you feel the excitement!?!? We’re currently chatting with Universal about nabbing a pre-release copy, so watch this site for an early look and review of what’s certain to be another gem to add to your growing View Askew DVD collection.

• Two nice scans to kick off the ‘ol update for ya today. First up, this full page ad comes to us from Video Business Magazine. No news here, as you know Kevin has already given us the full details and the cover, but we figured you’d dig seeing the ad all the same.

Also, TVShowsOnDVD broke a nice story late today — The cover art and full specs of the “Jay & Silent Bob Do Degrassi” DVD, which is apparently coming in TWO VERSIONS, including an UNCENSORED ONE! COOOOOOL. Check out that cover, with the thumbs-up from Kevin reading “Contains coarse and explicit language. In other words, everything you’d expect from a Kevin Smith DVD”. Gotta love it!

Obviously, the ONLY one to get is the Unrated, as it costs 5 bucks more, but has a bunch more goodies (deleted scenes, commentary, and the unrated interview). Here’s the full specs of this one:

– Kevin Smith Exclusive Interview – Commentary by Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Stacie Mistysyn, associate producer Jim Jackman and writer Aaron Martin – Five Minutes of Integrated Footage, Not Seen Anywhere – Reel Footage: The Canadian Ninja Scene – Bloopers – Extended/Deleted Scenes – Jay and Silent Bob Photo Album – Degrassi Photo Album – Actor Bios – Character Profiles

Watch the epsiodes on The N this summer (August 12th, 19th, and 26th), and buy the DVDs, both of them, on November the 9th. We’ll let you know when Stash preoders are ready, of course, so you can get ‘em signed and direct (we have a feeling there’s gonna be some public events surrounding these bad boys, too). Stick around.

• Kevin’s been kind enough to drop a nice exclusive to kick off the weekend today – The official case art for the Mallrats 10th Anniversary DVD. Remember, this is the one with the brand new cut of the film, never before seen anywhere and, of course, the Q&A taped at the Arclight earlier this year. Once we get our hands on a copy, of course we’ll have screenshots and a ton more details on all the other goodies inside. In the meantime, enjoy the slightly new/changed artwork colors, and set your watches for September 20th. It’s coming up faster than ya think.

• We received a TON of entries for the Clerks X DVD contest (and most correct, at that!). Speaking of which, the correct answers WERE:

A handful of you incorrectly picked April 30, 1997, as the date News Askew happened. Not true. We started out as Drinks Askew first, only to change names on the date listed above.

5 randomly selected winners, chosen from a bowl of all the correct entries received, have won themselves a spiffy new Clerks X REGION 2 DVD, courtesy of Buena Vista Entertainment. They are:

To the rest of you who didn’t win, THANKS for playing. Now get out there and buy yourself a copy, best cash you’ll ever spend! Clerks X is now available for region 2 on UK DVD shelves everywhere. We might go out on a limb and say it’s the BEST VIEW ASKEW SET EVER. Don’t take our word on how good this set is? Mike Heyes sent us this highly positive, FIVE STAR REVIEW from the BBC of the Region 2 disc.

• Yes, UK readers, though we realize you often feel as if you are in the minority around here…Your day has come. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc. has been kind enough to provide us with FIVE (5) copies of the Clerks X DVD, coming to UK region 2 DVD on July 18th…Yes, this Monday! Please note this contest is ONLY open to UK readers. You must reside and have a shipping address in the UK to receive a copy.

Winning is simple, really. Well maybe not AS simple as we could have made it, but hey, you gotta work for your supper a LITTLE bit, right? So, here’s what you gotta do. Using our ARCHIVE SEARCH box, answer the following FIVE (5) questions. Be creative and use search terms that make sense, or simply visit our archives and attempt to track down the day that way, month by month. The answers are the DATES, Month, Day, and Year, when the following five events took place:

• The first Vulgarthon, Vulgarthon ‘98, took place in Red Bank, New Jersey on this day.
• The Clerks cartoon premiere episode aired for the first time on ABC television.
• We relaunched News Askew under its new name (previously, the site was known as “Drinks Askew”).
• MTV aired, for the first time, “Jay and SIlent Bob’s Video Stash”.
• The ‘Flying Car’ short made its debut on “The Tonight Show”.

Send your answers, in order, in an email to scoops@newsaskew.com. Include your name, first and last, and a valid e-mail address where we can get in touch with you. CONTEST ENDS MIDNIGHT, JULY 19TH, 2005, EST. You have from now until the end of Monday to get your entries to us.

Remember, ALL these answers can be found in the News Askew archives — But you might have to dig a little or use some brains to figure them all out. We’ll be selecting 5 entries, at random, from entrants who get all 5 dates correct. If no one does, or less than 5 do, we’ll go to 4 correct entires, and so on. ONE ENTRY PER PERSON IS ALLOWED. UK RESIDENTS ONLY. Multiple entries will get you thrown out of the contest. No, if you have 2 different e-mail addresses, you can’t enter from each one. Let’s keep it fair.

So good luck, and thanks again to Buena Vista for supplying us with the goodies! Good luck, UK readers! And for those of you who don’t win, you can own your very own Region 2 copy of Clerks X starting July 18th. Any View Askew fan will tell you, it’s more than worth the cash.

• It seems that there was indeed some legitimate confusion regarding the Mallrats X DVD. It’ll be just a single-disc set, but a two-sided one. We’re assuming it’s one of those fancy dual-layer, dual-sided discs, so you’re basically getting the same amount of content as you’d see on two separate discs. Just less physical storage space and one less disc to lose or get covered in your grubby fingerprints. So that’s nice. Here’s Kevin with the clarification:

Due to the side separation, both films will still run uninterrupted in their full bitrates. We’re expecting the best-looking transfer of the film to date. ‘Rats has been well-known as one of the most rewatachable of the bunch, so be prepared to add this one to your collection, and spin it up in your DVD player for years to come.

• Just to set the record straight here, before the confusion sets in — Yes, DVDAnswers reported that Mallrats X will only come in a single DVD set, with the previous heard September 20th date. HOWEVER, Kevin has thankfully debunked that one, with a post today confirming that we’ll see a 2-disc set, which means NO seamless branching (which I’ve never found all that seamless), two totally different versions of the film (extended and theatrical) and lots more. The list will even inform you on stuff that’s from the previous disc release (but just too darn good not to include) and new goodies such as a blooper reel, a new doc from the master, JM Kenny, original cast interviews, and more.

We’re STOKED to see the new cut, which is a never before seen version, different from the extended cut on the last disc. We hope to have an early look for you soon, though the rest of you will have to stare at the walls ’til September 20th. This one’s a no-brainer when preorder time comes, folks.

• Here it is, folks! A slightly late Christmas present, but a cool one all the same. Your first look at clips from the upcoming HUGE
  DVD set: “An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder”! As only the Canada Q&A has taken place, all the stuff you see edited together here, in a
  fast-paced trailer format, is from that showing. You’ll find a bunch of funny lines here, though many out of context, so of course you’ll want to pick up the
  full edition when it streets sometime in 2005. Watch for click clips of laying the podium down, Harley’s intro, an audience member dressed up as
  Jesus, and much more. Merry Christmas, and enjoy your first look at “Evening 2″ footage!

WATCH THE EVENING WITH KEVIN SMITH 2: EVENING HARDER TRAILER HERE!

• A new Buena Vista promotion site for the Jersey Girl DVD has popped up under the radar…It’s got some never
  before seen footage of Kevin & Ben, and a nice look at all the contents of the Jersey Girl DVD, arriving everywhere on September 7th. While you’re counting the days
  until you can own your own copy, it’s a way to kill a few minutes and take a nice test drive of all the new content.