Kevin’s Video Mailbag: Part TWO!

• IGN hasn’t kept us waiting long, as today they’ve posted PART TWO of Kevin’s video mailbag, where he takes on more fan-submitted queries, up close and personal (from what it looks like, the west coast production office). As always, Kevin takes on all questions with his witty, self-effacing humor, including a “Jaws” topic, “Moves”, his next book, going shirtless, and much more in this entertaining 9+ minute segment. IGN and the internet world again thank Kevin for taking the time to talk to the readers.

• Jersey girl will become one of the first ever movies to be broadcast in High Definition in the UK when it’s aired at 7pm on Sky movies 9 HD. Sky is the first broadcaster in the UK to start a HD service and launched on Monday 22nd May. This means that anyone lucky enough to recieve a coverted decoder on launch will get to watch the first View Askew film on the service!
• Dogma gets a mention in this article from Newhouse News Service on religion in film. Here’s the relevant snippet:

• Joss Whedon fan site “Whedonesque” reports that Brian Lynch will enter the Buffyverse, writing a new “Spike” comic called “Spike:Asylum”. Look back to the May 18th news for the story. More info also can be found in Brian’s blog. As always, we thank you for stopping by the site, and we’ll see you back tomorrow!

• As promised, Kev’s got the hookup on the latest Cannes observations for us today — Clerks II makes its debut at the festival in just a few days (this Friday), but in the meantime, Kevin’s enjoying some celeb-spotting and premiere-attending. Here’s his report from earlier today:

I’ve been here for two days now, and I’ve worn a tuxedo twice. I do NOT look good in a tux…

WireImage.com pics of me in a tux.

Landed at two in the afternoon on Sunday, got to the hotel, showered, got dressed, and hit the “Southland Tales” premiere at the Palais. Screening went great. Some of the reviews haven’t been kind, but the word is the NY Times and the Village Voice love the flick. If you dug “Donnie Darko”, chances are you’ll dig Richard Kelly’s latest. I am almost completely unrecognizable in my makeup and with my fat-ass calves digitally removed. Fingers crossed that Richard (whose flick is in the official competition) wins something at fest’s end.

Also, got back into a tux (you have to wear one in order to be admitted into the screenings at the Palais) to hit the “X-Men: The Last Stand” premiere last night. The entire cast was in attendance, and the flick was insanely well-received by the packed-house audience. Anyone who was sweating Brett Ratner as a director can relax: the flick’s a fun watch.

This morning, downstairs in the lobby of my hotel, I was checking email when I saw Ian McKellen, wearing a bathrobe, at the front desk. Apparently, he was locked out of his room.

And that, my friends, is Cannes in a nutshell: the place where you have to squeeze into a tux to see a flick, but can spot Gandalf in the nearly-altogether.

“Clerks II” has its world debut here on Friday at midnight. I’ll let you know how it goes.

More news later today — And hey, we think Kev rocks the tux just fine.

• Richard Kelly’s secretive “Southland Tales” finally let the cat out of the bag in its Cannes premiere yesterday. Quite a few plot details, stuff we’d never seen anywhere before, have leaked. Here’s a few highlights:

“Southland Tales” is a 2 1/2-hour mishmash of genres: black comedy, action film, sci-fi, political commentary.

The film starts with a nuclear attack in Texas on July 4, 2005, before it flashes forward to Los Angeles in 2008.

Kelly says he wanted to look at “how we would respond, how our country would survive and go on (after a nuclear attack), and to construct a great black comedy out of all this.”

The plot is not easy to describe, to put it mildly. There are dozens of subplots, and everyone is double-crossing someone else. To sum it up, someone in the ensemble cast has to save the world from the apocalypse.

“Southland Tales” imagines a Los Angeles on the brink of apocalypse in 2008, when the Internet is under government control, gasoline is replaced by something called “fluid karma” and the Democratic Party has splintered into neo-Marxist cells.

The full AP press release has full details on what went down. No details in the piece on Kevin’s involvement, though we have heard his part in the film is relatively small.

• Diamond’s got solicitation notices out for the Clerks II script book as well as the Clerks II logo shirt, both from Graphitti Designs. This means shops can start to order the stuff in for sale, and that we should have it ready for you at the Stash in the next 1-2 months. The Clerks shirt runs from $17.95 to $20.95 (XXL only), and the 152-page script book will run $12.95 retail. The book will also include 16 B&W photos from the flick. We’ll let you know when Kev-signed copies are available for order & shipping, of course.
• A local theater in Pittsburgh, PA (The Oaks) is having a midnight movie festival this summer and they are running Clerks. This is your chance to see the classic that started it all with a great Pennsylvania audience, projected up on the big screen. One lucky ticket holder to the event will get passes to Clerks II and a dozen perfect eggs! Whoo! Be there on August 12th and 13th at midnight. The entire festival sounds like a blast — Definitely something to look into attending if you’re in the area.

• Kevin’s checked in from overseas with a quick post today — He’s on the road to Cannes where “Southland Tales” (in which he plays a small role) will debut, and, of course, where “Clerks II” will make its official worldwide debut in out-of-competition presentation. Here’s the man himself with some humorous observations on the ride in:

We’ll of course be right here with any news or reports from Cannes on both of these films — If any of our readers are lucky enough to be attending Cannes, do drop us a line with anything that you might see or hear!

• The Clerks II theatrical poster shoot was held last Wednesday. Sadly, due to this, there won’t be any one-sheets produced in time to sell at Vulgarthon later this month. We’ll keep you posted on what the poster will look like, as well as when you can get your own signed copy. Stay tuned.
• New filmmaker Joe Francis, who got his start promoting himself on Myspace, cites “Clerks” as an inspiration to start making movies in this article from his hometown newspaper. Congrats and good luck to him!

• As mentioned in his Myspace blog, Kevin recently gave viewers of the “Train Wreck” series the chance to send questions into him, to which he’d respond to in video format. Today, fulfilling that promise, IGN has posted PART ONE of Kevin Smith’s Video Mailbag

Many formats are available, downloadable and streaming. In this edition, watch Kevin field questions on selling out, Train Wreck shorts coming to DVD, and more. The clip runs 10 minutes total. We’ll let you know when there’s more Q&A available, as well. Stay tuned.

• Those of you who attended Vulgarthon last year remember a ‘Thon only special on the Brodie Bruce Cold Cast Statue.

This year, as a special thank you to Vulgarthon 2006 attendees, we’ve decided to offer another Cold Cast Statue special. For those of you attending Vulgarthon 2006, the Jay and Silent Bob Cold Cast Statues will be sold as SET for only $50. This is a huge $130.00 savings off the regular price.

If you’re interested, visit this thread at The Board and let Ming know. Just want to make sure there’s enough in stock at the store. These are quality items, folks, and that price cannot be beat. Another great treat for those who come! See you all there in less than TWO weeks!

• Kevin recently interviewed for the Canada’s only prime time television talk show, “The Hour”. This brand new interview will air across Canada on CBC Newsworld, this Monday, 5/22 and Tuesday, 5/23. The interview will run at: 8:00 p.m. EST, 11:00 p.m. EST, and 1:00 a.m. EST. Don’t fret, non-Canucks: The entire unedited interview will also be available online on The Hour’s website.
• Here’s something WAY in advance to mark your calendar for: The Michigan Theater, as part of the “Sundance Institute Art House Project”, will show Clerks in November on the big screen from an original print. The dates: November 2nd at 7:15, and November 5th at 8 PM. Full details on the entire series full of excellent flicks can be found HERE.
• Dogma takes the number 5 spot in this AOL list of the 10 most controversial relgious films of all time:

WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Christ’s last descendant (an abortion clinic worker) must prevent two rogue angels from ending humanity.

WHO GOT MAD: The Catholic League publicly dissed Miramax and Disney. Director Kevin Smith claimed he received 300,000 pieces of hatemail.

OUTCOME: Miramax sold the low-budget film to Lions Gate; it grossed a solid $30.6 million.