• We’ve got more Film Freak footage (say that five times really fast) for ya today — This is from that appearance that Kev and Scott made over the weekend on the program. Parts THREE, FOUR, and FIVE of the appearance are now up in living, breathing video courtesy YouTube.

• World’s Finest DVD Report posts the first review for the View Askew Production “Small Town Gay Bar”. The site calls it their “Pick of the Week” and gives it very high marks in their full review. Here’s a snippet:
  Even if this DVD was bare, I’d still fully recommend it. Thankfully, the DVD comes with a nice commentary, an introduction to the documentary featuring Ingram and Kevin Smith, a short “Chatting with Kev” feature, deleted scenes, and a featurette on some of the people who inhabit these small towns. Overall, it’s a great package providing additional information and content to an already stunning documentary. And if you’re wondering why Kevin Smith is featured on the DVD, well, he helped finance this documentary to get it off the ground. On top of that, he also a friend of the director. It’s great additional material to watch once you’ve been able to fully absorb Small Town Gay Bar.

  If I had to recommend one documentary to see this year, it would be this one. Small Town Gay Bar had me completely enthralled, absorbed in the story of these two gay bars and how significant they are. This documentary has so much going for it, and deserves a large audience. People need to see this to understand just what it’s like to be gay in America’s Bible Best. While reality there may be stark, it’s amazing to see how people find light, comfort, and hope in a gay bar, and with each other. These are truly amazing people, and I’m thankful that Ingram was able to let me into their lives. Ingram has a great gift as a storyteller here, and one who presents both sides of the story to the audience, making the reality of their situation even more startling. While my experiences growing up may not be the same as theirs, I also came from a small town with similar (though not as intense) discrimination. This is a story that resonates throughout North America, which is why I believe that while it’s not perfect, it is still an important piece of work.

  Small Town Gay Bar comes Highly Recommended. It’s an inherently moving and painfully truthful experience, about real people in a real place, struggling in a world where they are demonized. These two gay bars, and the people who inhabit them, fight for their right to just exist, and it is . . . unbelievable to watch. It’s an experience that you won’t forget, both brutal and uplifting. It will definitely make you think about your own experiences in life. In short, and as well as my shoddy writing skills can illustrate, Small Town Gay Bar is a must-see. Plain and simple.

• “Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed” (which featured Kevin in some funny segments) was nominated for a couple Emmy awards today – “Outstanding Nonfiction Special” and “Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Special”. We’re shocked to not see Ethan or Jason up for “Earl” this year.

• Quite possibly the coolest art show to ever happen, Tuesday’s Crazy 4 Cult show not only featured our own Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier, but some of the most exciting pieces of art that a fanboy or fangirl could ever feast their eyes on. The packed event had most of the pieces already sold right at the opening. A host of artists worked in many mediums but all followed the same subject: each work had to be based on pop-cult films. There were pieces based on Better Off Dead, Indiana Jones, Shawn Of The Dead, The Big Lebowski, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Reservoir Dogs, Dogma, and even A Christmas Story.

  Kevin’s been posting some thoughts on the show over in its WWWBoard thread where he and others have been posting more photos of this amazing art (including a beautiful piece that Kevin himself now proudly owns).

  The gallery continues, so be sure and stop by the gallery and see these amazing pieces if you have the means. Gallery 1988 at 7020 Melrose in Los Angeles. We’re not sure just how much longer you’ll have a chance to see this stuff. So, if you can’t make it there in person, we’ve got video of the event thanks to our old pal, Tony T. Hit good ‘ol YouTube for a look at Tony’s report.

• YouTube’s got the video clips of Kevin and Scott’s appearance on the Film Freak Show! The guys were in studio to talk with host Leo, who does a fine job and is an obvious big fan of View Askew. The guys had 4 cameras running and some nice coverage. The first clip involves a lot of internet-related questions, too, which we think you’ll dig. The dudes were in studio to plug their Crazy 4 Cult art show gig. Check them out straight ahead:
  

  
  
  

• The awesome Quick Stop Entertainemnt has posted a milestone episode, number 20, of the greatest podcast in all of the land — SModcast. This one’s up early, too, so you can fire up the ‘ol computer or ipod at work and use the audio to get ya through the Monday blues. Even if this sucker cost money, it’d be the best value for your entertainment dollar — But hey, guess what — Even after 20 episodes, it’s STILL free. You gotta love that. Here’s the logline for this week (look for a special guest in studio, as well):
  
  
  
  SModcast 20: Here Comes the Bride –

  In which the sausage party is crashed by a sausage patty, the feminine touch is heavily felt throughout, a de facto marriage counseling session ensues, uncomfortable sexual revelations are made, and made, and made some more.

  Enjoy SModcast, exclusively at Quick Stop Entertainment!

• While you’re enjoying today’s new SModcast, check this little snippet out from Joe Gross — In the vein of those animated shorts that fans sometimes do to Howard Stern clips, Joe’s animated a hilarious snippet from a recent SModcast where Kevin and Scott discussed Malcolm Ingram’s Canadian political knowledge — Take a look at the fun clip right HERE.
• Variety quotes Kevin in this article about Celebrities using the internet to reach their fan base:
  George Lucas has long cultivated an interactive relationship with the geekerati on all things Lucasfilm, especially “Star Wars.” Lucas and Steven Spielberg’s “Indiana Jones 4” approach derives from the Lucas DIY ethic. “They’re keeping their fan base happy until the movie comes out,” says web-savvy director Kevin Smith. “‘Indiana Jones is presold, man! That audience is coming.”

  
  Early Internet adopter Smith learned about a group of “Clerks” fan sites back in 1996 when he was depressed after “Mallrats” bombed. Reading the commenters buoyed his spirits. He hired one of the site creators to build his first site. When Smith suggested doing a weekly live Q&A, he was told all he had to do was join the site’s message boards and chat with his fans directly whenever he felt like it. Ever since, Smith spends several hours a week with fans. He’s proud that the site has grown organically, adding merchandise when fans demand it. Smith uses his year-old MySpace page, which boasts more than 172,000 friends, to announce book-signings and public appearances, which promptly sell out. “I don’t organize with the studio at all,” he says. “It’s about letting us do whatever we want.”

  Listening to your fans can be both good and bad, Smith says. “It’s not Kenneth Turan of the L.A. Times, it’s what the guy who paid for your pic has to say,” says Smith. “You have to keep in perspective that you can’t believe the enthusiastic positive stuff or the shitty horrible soul-crushing stuff. The truth is between the two.”

• Cinematical has picked up on Kevin’s recent praise for Ben Affleck’s directorial debut, “Gone Baby Gone”.
  
  
  

• We ran the text last update, but here’s the actual scan of Entertainment Weekly’s recent mention of Kevin’s blog (with that A-rating)!

• And finally today, just because it’s a SModcast-heavy update, the world’s tallest man, who was discussed at length in the very first SMod, was recently married. Mr Bao Xishun , who stands at 7ft 8.95in tall, tied the knot with Xia Shujian, 29. Later!

• Entertainment Weekly has some great things to say about Kevin’s famous “My Boring Ass Life” blog. This comes from their story “Top 20 Best and Worst Celebrity Blogs”. You can probably guess in which 20 Kevin’s site appears:
  KEVIN SMITH
  The Fairly Odd Filmmaker

  silentbobspeaks.com

  ANGLE: Diary, comedic op-ed, and plugs for his ”SModcast” podcasts and live appearances.

  HIGH POINT: It’s a tie between a happy-birthday greeting for his wife (”From a one-night-stand to my partner and soul mate. You boggle my mind, you fill my heart, you race my blood, you take my breath away”) and a series of e-mails between Smith and a writer from The Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi debating whether Alanis Morissette sang a tune called ”One of Us.” (Smith was right — she didn’t.)

  LOW POINT: After famously attacking film critic Joel Siegel for walking out of a Clerks II screening, Smith repents when he discovers that the spat is mentioned in a Siegel obituary.

  VERDICT: Smith calls his diary ”My Boring-Ass Life”; it’s apropos, given that much of it addresses subjects such as his diet and his man-crush on Bruce Willis. Nonetheless, fans will appreciate his candor.

  GRADE: A-

  The blog’s been around for quite a while now, and continues to evolve to reflect the current atmosphere at View Askew and in Kevin’s life. We expect the blog to continue for many years, and look forward to all the great “Zack & Miri” news that we’re gonna see in there in the coming months.

• Oh, boy, VH-1 dug up some dim bulbs this year for their always fun to watch “World Series of Pop Culture” — So far folks have been missing some easy quizzers, including last night’s new episode. The defending champs were given a question about “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back”. It was: “What was the name of the comic book characters Jay & Bob go to stop a Hollywood movie?” Believe it or not, NEITHER team could get this one right! We won’t insult you by giving the answer here. Sigh.
  
• Kevin makes a very brief appearance in the new trailer for Jaws documentary “The Shark is Still Working”. The guys who put this together have worked their butts off to live the Jaws lifestyle and cover all aspects of this historic film. Kevin was interviewed a while back for the doc, and definitely appears in the final cut. That’s it for today, so far — We’ll have more news later as it breaks! Thanks for visiting the new News Askew, watch for more visual enhancements to the site soon (hopefully, this weekend).

• Kevin and Scott did indeed find time to treat us to another episode of their compelling and free MP3 podcast, SModcast. These guys just continue to come up with some of the most intriguing and funny conversations — We’re hooked and know if you’re not, you will be soon. SModcast remains one of the best shows on the web, and we’re proud to send you their way every week. Exclusively at Quick Stop Entertainment, courtesty View Askew Productions! The rundown for this week:
  
  
  SModcast 19: We Owe It All to Nook-Nook – In which our heroes broadcast from a talking house, get their Trek on, briefly interrupt the proceedings to do some work, suss out why they never abused the casting couch, debate an indecent proposal, brag about oral proficiencies gone to waste, marvel over the frigid, define love, and hail the first cro-magnon sexual astronaut…

  Get on over at grab your own personal copy! As always, listener discretion is advised.

  And hey, while you’re over at Quick Stop Entertainment, check out some of the other great exclusives there — It really is an amazingly cool site full of content — Including a new epsidoe of Paul Dini’s entertaining “Monkey Talk”. You just can’t go wrong with puppets.

• Our thanks again to master capture dude Will who’s got the high quality MP3 audio for just about all of the program captured in each segment (no commercials, of course). The first 10 minutes are missing, other than that, it’s all here. Enjoy, and thanks as always to Will for doing his great work.
  Segment 1, 64Kbps, 11.45MB
  Segment 2, 64Kbps, 7.19MB
  Segment 3, 64Kbps, 9.92MB
  Segment 4, 64Kbps, 5.44MB
  Segment 5, 64Kbps, 6.06MB

• Sorry this one took so long, folks — We had trouble tracking down a manageable clip of this one for your download — At any rate, we’re now very pleased to present (both for you, and our muiltimedia archives), Kevin’s June call-in to the “Opie & Anthony” radio program. Keep in mind, this is satellite radio and uncensored. We’ve taken the clips and shrunk them down into an optimized MP3 format for your downloading and listening pleasure. Click away and enjoy.

(Click To View The Clip!)

• Congratulations to Jay, Kevin, and “Clerks II”, who celebrated a big win at the MTV Movie Awards last night. Kevin and Jay (specifically Jay’s rants) were announced as the Orbitz “Dirtiest Mouth” winner and receive two special silver popcorn awards. The guys made a brief acceptance speech which seemed to throw off the Orbitz girl a bit, though once again made a fine showing among some tough competition. For those of you who voted online using our banner, thanks for helping out! Last night’s MTV Movie Awards show seemed like a disorganized mess, and wasn’t that entertaining at all, depite having some of the biggest talent in Hollywood in the audience. We did notice a brief shot of Kevin and Jen during the pre-show, and also got a brief mention in EW’s pop culture blog of the event.