- Kevin’s running hot with the Twitter to kick off the week (close to 50 tweets yesterday, and well over that number today already), so let’s take another look at some of the more interesting tweets from the last 48 hours. In instances where major news drops, we’re still going to split those tweets into their own headlines. Lots of love continuing for the New Jersey Devils — It’s great to see that he’s continued to keep hockey on the brain, which should put him in the perfect state of mind as he continues writing “Hit Somebody” this winter. Let’s take a look at some of the more newsworthy tweets:
- Via @courtenaymmkay “whatcha doing today?” Signing mountains of merchandise for http://www.jayandsilentbob.com – Christmas rush is coming…
- Via @movieinsiders “Check out this Amazon deal: Dogma(Bluray) $7.99 http://bit.ly/28a7fM ” That’s a pretty sweet deal and a packed disc.
- Via @dvdmike “Dave: getting in the ASC” HUGE congrats to Baby Dave Klein (my eyes), invited 2 join the American Society of Cinematographers.
- Via @timmcknightUK “does Jason Mewes have twitter?” Yes, but be warned: it’s a lot of “Mmm..coffee” and “Love the Puggle” Tweets. @JayMewes
Hit up the official twitter page for detailed tweet sessions on some recent couples times with the wife, and his thoughts on attending the recent “Twilight: New Moon” premiere with his daughter. WireImage has the photos.
You are at the archive for the J&SBSB category &rarr
Stream The View Askew Classics On Hulu, Netflix…
- When the early Askewniverse films were made, the idea of streaming them real-time to a computer screen was a foreign concept. Today, with a couple mere clicks, you can watch these classics, within seconds, completely uncut and commercial free. Sure, you’ll need a Netflix subscription, but it’s one of the best bargains out there. And Hulu, though ad-supported, is free for viewers in the US. Here’s some links to get you watching these flicks even easier:
It’s been great to see how well these films have held up over the years — Kevin recently tweeted that he began negative cutting on “Clerks” an astounding 18 years ago. And now, you’ve got two ways that the film can be spooling on your computer or mobile device screen in mere seconds. Ah, technology.
Bluntman & Chronic to Return In Animated Form…
- Our longtime scooper and fan John Couture had the pleasure of introducing Kevin to the crowd in Indianapolis last week, and now has the pleasure of bringing a new scoop to us here at News Askew and via his own site, VideoETA. It seems that Jason Mewes will produce a new animated series, to be released online, featuring Bluntman and Chronic. As we recall Bluntman being mostly a silent partner, naturally, the key voice needed to make this happen IS Mewes, so it makes a lot of sense. This, from the Q&A after the Indy show:
The other news item that I hadn’t seen mentioned anywhere was the reveal that Jason Mewes was producing (yes, you read that right) an animated Bluntman & Chronic feature film that would be released online in serial form. As I’m sure you remember, Bluntman & Chronic were comic book alter egos of Jay and Silent Bob that make their first appearance in Chasing Amy
In fact, the whole plot of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back revolves around Jay and Silent Bob making their way to Hollywood to stop production of a Bluntman & Chronic movie. I guess you can say that life is imitating art yet again. I’m really excited to see what Jason Mewes will do with the project. He’s come a long way personally and professionally and this would be a home run and a way to keep the View Askewniverse alive.
No word yet on an ETA, but this one sounds like a very real possibility. If we get details on production starting, a potential venue on the web for it (S.I.R.’s first video offering, perhaps?), you’ll know via News Askew.
View Askew NewsBites™
- Drew Struzan, who has created some of the greatest movie poster artwork ever, is the subject of a new feature-length documentary titled “Drew: The Man Behind the Poster”. The trailer features some fantastic talent and even shows his “Mallrats” work. Find out more at http://drewthemovie.com/
- Jason Mewes will be appearing with the cast of “Todd & the Book of Evil” at FanExpo in Toronto, Ontario. The convention runs from August 27 – 29. Kevin last appeared at this convention back in 1999, where he was presented a personalized Maple Leafs jersey with the number 99.
- Speaking of Mewes, the logline for the film “Big Money Hustlas” says he’ll appear, but we can’t spot him anywhere in the trailer.
- Take a gander at the lovely Ali Larter (“Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”) who will appear in 3D in the new Resident Evil film , as she discusses the role from a recent con appearance in San Diego.
View Askew NewsBites™
- Tomorrow! A free, excellent chance to drink some beer, eat some pizza, and watch 3 fantastic Kevin Smith films at Urbana, Illinois’ Canopy Club. Starting at 6 PM on Sunday, catch “Clerks”, “Chasing Amy” and “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” for FREE, and get a pizza and a pitcher of beer for $10! We’re already calculating the drive time to Illinois. Be there if you are in range.
- Kevin is mentioned in this brief article on Cinematical which cites “The Best Celebrities to Meet In Person”. Kevin’s been kind to yours truly from the very first meeting, and always just as gracious every time, so we can certainly vouch for this.
- “Chasing Amy” scores a mention in this article on great rain scenes in film:
Chasing Amy (1997) – A scene that you’d expect to be at the end of the movie, but here it proves to be only the beginning. Holden spills his love for his allegedly lesbian friend Alyssa in the pouring rain, in a scene that would probably be cheesy if it wasn’t for Kevin Smith’s characteristically great and down-to-earth dialogue.
- An observant scooper catches some “Clerks” references in the web comic “The Whiteboard”‘s archives. A pretty obvious bit of signage in Dante-inspired in this episode.
- From a recent Jeopardy: This is a $1600 question? Maybe this show’s not as hard as they make it out to be.
- MewesBites! The Winnipeg Free Press runs an article about “Todd and the Book of Pure Evil”, a 13-part series, in which Jason may (or may not) play the Devil, in janitor’s clothes. Pretty neat concept, though no word on if this will air anywhere outside of Canada at this point. We’ll keep you posted.
Also, DreadCentral is running a contest (for UK readers only) where you can win a copy of the Documentary “Tattoos: A Scarred History” in which Jason appears.
- Anyone caught the lovely-as-ever Joey Lauren Adams playing a recurring role on Showtimes Diablo Cody-created series “The United States of Tara” lately? She’s playing a lesbian bartender whose carrying on a relationship with one of Tara’s alters/personalities, “Buck” (the guy). Got your interest, right? It’s a decent watch, tune in if you’ve got the means. It’s nice to see Ms. Adams back in front of the camera again.
- One of ThinkGeek’s recent April Fool’s Day fake products featured a 2001 Monolith “action figure” with “zero points of articulation”, much like some popular little inaction figures we know and love.
Our Bluray Box Review Is Finally Here!
- We’re pleased to finally bring you our own look at the wonderful new “Kevin Smith Collection” on Bluray. Some shipping snafus held our review copy up quite a bit, coupled with the holidays and some issues grabbing screenshots, and there ya have it. A late review. Still, we’re got a lot of insight on this collection, and plan to cover all the stuff the fans care most about here — The NEW stuff. As for screenshots, unfortunately our PS3 used to review the flick doesn’t have the ability to grab stills (surprisingly). So, not the ideal review that we wanted to put together for you, but we still wanted to give you a nice idea of what was in the set — Especially if you’ve yet to experience it and have it on your Christmas shopping list. So, let’s take some looks at what’s included with this 3-movie collection…
Bluray Box Set – IN STORES TODAY!
- Bluray is here to stay, evidenced by View Askew’s full embrace of the format, with today’s 3-disc set, taking 3 View Askew classics and putting them in one neat package. You’ll get “Clerks”, “Chasing Amy”, and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, packed to the gills with never-before offered extras, including the festival-only “What a Lovely Tea Party” documentary (hidden on the “Clerks” disc despite its J&SBSB pedigree), and the crown jewel, a brand new “Chasing Amy” doc from Zak and Joey of Chop Shop Entertainment. We always feel these documentaries are worth the purchase price alone. This one could be the best yet.
Our own review’s running a little late this time, due to a shipping mix-up with Buena Vista and our screener, but we’ll be sure to have our own look at this set ASAP. Taking all the new content at once, this may very well be the most new, never-before-available content in a View Askew disc release. In the meantime, surf over to DVD Talk, a fantastic site who have done an amazing job at summing up the collection in just a couple of pages. Here’s what they said about a few of the biggest extras:
To that, one new feature of note has been added. In one of the most uproariously candid introductions in DVD history, Smith calls the Clerks Blu-ray a “vulgar cash grab,” but notes that they’ve “gotta keep wringing pennies out of this little black and white movie.” So, for what he calls the “15th Anniversary Give Us Your Money DVD,” he says he begged Miramax to let him add something new of value, in order to “take the sting out of having to buy Clerks for the 19th time.” (Although, he notes, “do you know how many times I’ve bought T2?”) What he added was “Oh, What a Lovely Tea Party: The Making of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (3:18 intro, 1:27:17 feature), an intimate, fly-on-the-wall documentary directed by Smith’s wife, Jennifer Schwalbach, and his friend and fellow filmmaker Malcolm Ingram. It captures Kevin and the gang joking around on-set, supplemented by on-the-fly interviews with cast and crew (Affleck and Rock’s interviews are the highlights). It’s a tad overlong, and certainly feels homemade (Affleck’s interview is noticeably out of focus), but is a nice added treat for fans, even if it is, indeed, on the wrong disc.
Chasing Amy was originally released on laserdisc and DVD by Criterion, and unfortunately, that disc’s first-rate, uproarious commentary track is property of that label (as are the intros to the deleted scenes and a few other scattered extras) and therefore doesn’t make the leap. However, Buena Vista has done the right by the movie and worked up some excellent new bonus material. First of all, Smith and Mosier provide a new, “SModcast”-style Audio Commentary; they dub it a “technical commentary track,” and while it has some interesting technical information, it is also, in the style of their podcast, a pretty free-form ramble (my favorite detour was their way off-topic discussion of the pedophilia episode of Diff’rent Strokes). It’s a funny track, though not quite the scream that the Affleck-infused Criterion commentary was.
The treat of the disc, however, is “Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc” (1:21:15). Produced and directed by Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa (who directed the similarly spiffy making-of docs for Clerks II and Zack and Miri, in addition to Smith’s most recent Evening With DVD), it is a well-constructed and compelling look at the making of the film, from their mindset coming out of the failure of Mallrats to the creation of the script (influenced by Mosier’s crush on Go Fish star Guin Turner, and Smith’s real-life relationship with Joey Lauren Adams) to the casting and budget woes, as well as Smith’s intensive rehearsals and Mosier’s stressful attempts to keep the film under budget. Most of the key players are interviewed-Smith, Mosier, Adams, Affleck, Lee (on the My Name is Earl set, in full Earl garb), Jason Mewes, cinematographer David Klein, associate producer Bob Hawk, Miramax acquisitions manager Mark Tusk, film critic (and Smith booster) Amy Taubin, and more-and wonderful vintage behind-the-scenes footage supplement the genuinely warm memories of the experience (check out Affleck’s sincere and heartfelt closing interview).
We’ll be spinning up the discs this week — In the meantime, if you’ve got a Bluray player or are planning on nabbing one for the holidays, the Stash is now taking orders for SIGNED SETS, the only place you can find them that way. It’s the perfect gift item for you or the View Askew fan in your life. Kevin also suggested grabbing a Dogma Bluray for just $7.99 to help complete the set via Twitter today. For current or future Bluray owners, this purchase is a no-brainer.
View Askew Newsbites
- Stark Toons does it again with new 5 minute animation from a classic moment of SModcast. Check out “For the Love of Smod 2” at Youtube and laugh your head off. We have no idea how Stark chooses which segments to bring to life, but it just works — Brilliant stuff.
- Entertainment Weekly lists “Clerks” as #13 in their look at “25 Essential Cult Movies”
13. CLERKS (1994)
Kevin Smith’s debut, about a day in the life of two service-industry suburbanites, was made for $27,575. It’s hard to tell where all that money went, but the cruddy lensing and muddy sound actually enhance the experience. This spitball of nonstop scatology and pop-cult obsessiveness — what are the ethical implications of killing independent contractors aboard the Death Star? — feels like a bootleg copy of an adolescent mind. SIGNATURE LINE “I’m not even supposed to be here today.”
- Start Christmas shopping early with some signed (or unsigned) Kevin Smith books for that fan in your life — Or yourself. SHOOTIN THE SHIT WITH KEVIN SMITH can be bought signed OR unsigned direct from the Stash. You can also nab the NY Times #1 Best Seller BATMAN: CACOPHONY in both signed and unsigned editions. We highly recommend the signed stuff, of course.
- The lovely blogger of DatingIsMiserable.com has some pretty swell things to say about Mr. Smith in a recent entry.
- “Mad Men” creator Matt Weiner cites “Clerks” as an early inspiration to him in this USA Today piece :
Earlier today, I heard you talking about how you were inspired by the movie Clerks. I thought that was somewhat surprising.
MW: I was inspired because there’s always been this story that the machinery of filmmaking was going to make its way down to the population. And I was inspired by the fact that this guy made a movie in his basement, and it was a complete movie, and it was entertaining, and he pulled it off. My wife and I went to Paris on the world’s cheapest vacation — $319 airfare, we stayed in someone else’s apartment — and all I remember is we went to the Pompidou Centre and I was like, “Clerks is playing here. That’s incredible!”
I found that very inspiring that, you know what? We all have these aspirations, and … just to see that that guy got off his a- and made that movie, I was blown away.
Kevin Smith is actually a massive Mad Men fan.
MW: Well, that’s cool!
The other day he sent me a question to ask you …
MW: Wow. Don will never try to fellate himself. (Everyone laughs)
- An interesting post from actor/comedian Tom Green, who recently heard that his name had been thrown around for the Willenholly role in J&SBSB — Though we never heard anything of this officially, perhaps his name was on a list of possibles at some point. On his blog, he says:
Bummer. I never even heard about this. I love Kevin Smith. Might be time for me to find a new movie agent. One who doesn’t suck ass. That would have been amazing to be in Jay and Silent Bob… Huh…… Also, if you can let Kevin Smith know I would love him to stop up here to the web show. That would be rad. Also ask him if he knows any movie agents who are not money grubbing douche bags.
So, there ya go. Perhaps Kevin will find a use for Green in a future project. We think it’d be a good pairing, the guy’s got a fun, odd sense of humor that might be a good match for one of Kev’s scripts. Maybe he’ll even work him in “Hit Somebody”, with those whole Canadian thing going on. Never know.
Blu-Ray 3 Pack Nov 17 – Press Release HERE!
- On November 17th, Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases THE KEVIN SMITH COLLECTION on Blu-ray, including Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back! Both Clerks and Chasing Amy debut all-new Blu-ray bonus material including a making-of featurette, the Chasing Amy reunion Q&A, and tons more. We’re now close enough to have an official press release to share…While nothing new here that we haven’t mentioned in the past, it’s cool to see it all spelled out here — This release is easily the largest ever for a DVD or Bluray as far as content goes. Check it out:
Three Classic Kevin Smith Comedies Now Available In One Must-Own Blu-ray Box Set!
THE KEVIN SMITH COLLECTION: CLERKS, CHASING AMY and JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK
Includes All New Blu-ray Editions of Clerks and Chasing Amy Plus Hours of Outrageous New Bonus Features!
If You Like Your Comedy Hip, Smart and “Blu,” Pick Up This Hilarious Box Set November 17, 2009, for an SRP of $89.99 Individual Blu-ray Editions Sold separately for an SRP of $39.99
CLERKS on Blu-ray!
Featuring All New Blu-ray Bonus Features!
• “Oh, What A Lovely Tea Party: The Making Of Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”
• Introduction By Kevin Smith
• Plus Original DVD Bonus Features: Classic Commentary; Enhanced Playback Track; Intro To
The First Cut 2004 Commentary; 2004 Commentary (with New Authoring); Clerks Lost Scene – Animated Short; The Flying Car; MTV Spots With Jay & Silent Bob; Theatrical Trailer; Soul Asylum’s “Can’t Even Tell” Music Video; Clerks Restoration; Original Auditions; Snowball Effect; Outtakes From Snowball Effect; Mae Day: The Crumbling Of A Documentary With Intro By Kevin Smith And Scott Mosier; 10th Anniversary Q & A and more!CHASING AMY on Blu-ray!
Featuring All New Blu-ray Bonus Features!:
• “Tracing Amy: The Chasing Amy Doc”
• “Was It Something I Said?” – A Conversation With Kevin & Joey
• 10 Years later Q & A
• Audio Commentary with Writer/Director/Actor Kevin Smith and Producer Scott Mosier
• Plus Original DVD Bonus Features: Deleted Scenes; Outtakes; Trailer and more!JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK on Blu-ray!
• Bonus Features Include: Audio Commentary with Director Kevin Smith; Producer Scott Mosier & Jason Mewes; Deleted Scenes with Intros by Kevin Smith and Guests; “The Secret Stash” with Intro; Gag Reel with Intro; Internet Trailers with Intro; TV Spots; Stills Galleries; Behind the Scene featurette; Morris Day and the Time’s video “Learnin the Moves”; Music video Afroman “I Get High”; Music video Stroke 9 “Kick Some Ass”; Comedy Central’s Reel Comedy: Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back; Cast and Crew Filmographies; Guide to Morris Day and The Time (Still Frames), Storyboards and more!
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, a recognized leader in the home entertainment industry, is the marketing, sales and distribution company for Walt Disney, Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax and Buena Vista product, which includes DVD, Blu-ray Disc™ and electronic distribution. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is a division of The Walt Disney Studios.
This isn’t quite on The Stash BluRay page just yet, but should be very soon. As always we’re expecting Kevin will sign the discs — And we’ll possibly even see some chances for you to get your set signed in person, as well. Stay tuned. This is a must-own collection if you’ve got a Blu-ray player.
View Askew NewsBites™
- Via his Twitter, Kevin revealed he’d be calling into Toronto’s “Dean Blundell” radio show this morning, and we’re happy to now have the audio for ya. You can grab a direct download of the segment at their official site or through iTunes via 102.1 The Edge.
- Despite the big news on the Thai banning above, we CAN report that the awesome folks in Poland will premiere “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” this weekend! The official premiere is on the 26th. Nice to see that my heritage still embraces View Askew. If you’re in Poland, enjoy the flick this weekend – Laughs guaranteed.
- “Clerks” shows up at fansite 411 Mania as a clip to celebrate their feature on “green week”. Probably not the “green” you’re expecting on this Earth Day, either. Jay & Bob ALSO show up in 411’s list of “Movie Stoners”.
- Those interested in that Kevin Smith summer film class in Michigan but who are NOT current students, here’s a few more details. A guest registration system in place at CMU, though the professor didn’t have the specifics on it for us. However, you can contact the the College of Extended Learning at celinfo@cmich.edu if you’re interested in attending the class.