NBC Interviewed Kevin for a few minutes at the event, which we’ve got embedded above for your viewing pleasure. In it, he reveals they are looking to start shooting “Red State” early in 2009.

Here’s more coverage on Kevin’s antics from around the web:

AP: “Kevin Smith gets raunchier with his new film” (WARNING – MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD)


…The “Zack and Miri” clip shown to the crowd of thousands featured a heated discussion between a gay couple played by Justin Long and Brandon Routh. Long’s character is a porn star who has appeared in various films with unprintable titles, and Zack (Seth Rogen) is fascinated.


Banks, who plays Miri, described the film as “a really sweet love story,” but Smith assured fans it was just as raunchy as any of his past flicks, including “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”


The film is a departure visually, though, he said.


“Going into it I wanted it to look better than the stuff we’d done in the past. It kind of looks like a real movie,” Smith said. “The most important thing was how do you shoot sex because I’ve never done that before. … I wanted the sex to look much better than my sex.”

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Los Angeles Times Blog: Comic-Con: Quote of the day from Kevin Smith


“You’re like the Miley Cyrus of porn!”


— Kevin Smith, after finding out Traci Lords made her first porno when she was 15.


Lords just completed filming on Smith’s latest “Zack and Miri Make A Porno” which the the two are promoting at Comic-Con.

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EW Popwatch: “Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith bring the house down at EW’s “Visionaries Panel”


AUDIENCE QUESTION: As filmmakers, I wanted to ask who in the past or present as filmmakers have inspired you in your careers to get involved in this genre?


KEVIN SMITH: For me, it was likely Jim Jarmusch, Richard LInklater, Hal Hartley that made me want to get into indie film.


JUDD APATOW: Well, Kevin Smith laid down the track.


SMITH: Yes, b—-, yes. [Smith and Apatow hug.] Say that s— in print, motherf—er. I’m taking that into the studio, ‘You see what fucking Apatow said.’ Give me a job.


APATOW: But also Hal Ashby and Cameron Crowe…


SMITH: F— those guys.

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Hollywood.Com: “Seth Rogen Explains How ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno'”


HW: Kevin Smith likes to write long passages of dialogue about his favorite films, what did he choose for this one?


SR: There was a big chunk where I talk about Clerks for like three pages. [laughs] We make fun of a lot of movie titles. There is a Sleeping with the Enemy moment.

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LA Times Blog: “‘Battlestar Galactica’ and .. Kevin Smith?”


“This show is so good that it’ll get you pregnant.”


And that’s what “Clerks” director and fanboy icon Kevin Smith brought to the “Battlestar Galactica” panel that he moderated Saturday. A bit of raunch, a scattering of F-bombs. And I don’t mean “frak.”

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EW Popwatch: “Want to know who the final Cylon will be on ‘Battlestar Galactica’?”


…moderator Kevin Smith, who introduced himself with his trademark coarse wit: “I have nothing to do with this show, which is probably why it is so f—ing good.” (No fraks for Mr. Smith.)

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CinemaBlend: “Kevin Smith Heading For The Final Frontier”


“So what’s up next for Smith? It looks like he’s still trying to find a home for his horror movie, Red State, deeply anticipated by fans but without a studio as of yet. After that, Smith grew a little tight-lipped, but hinted that it might be a movie set in space.”

And there ya have it! Space, eh? We’re thinking that “Ranger Danger” may come to be after “Red State”, though right now, all eyes are on “Zack & Miri”, which is 3 months away from theaters. Whoohoo!

SDCC ’08 – DiDio on Kevin Smith, Batman and Onomatopoeia


As was announced by special panel guest Kevin Smith himself at today’s DC Nation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the filmmaker and occasional comic book writer will be coming to DC Comics starting in November.

The three issue miniseries will re-introduce the unique villain (and flashback to English class), Onomatopoeia, who first saw life in a two-part story in Smith’s Green Arrow run (issues #12-#13). The character is largely a mystery, and has had only very minor appearances since Smith’s original story. What is known about Onomatopoeia could fill a thimble – he can perfectly imitate the sounds around him, may have some super-human abilities, rarely, if ever speaks, and is deadly with many kinds of weapons. He nearly killed Connor Hawke during his first appearance.

As for the character’s origins, Smith related the idea behind the character in a 2007 interview, saying: “When I did Green Arrow, I went with Onomatopoeia for a villain, just because I loved that word, and it kind of formed the character inasmuch as he would say sounds out loud. It only kind of works – I think – on a comic book page because if you have a gun going off, they usually write BLAM! and then you can have, you know, the character saying “BLAM!” in a word balloon, but like if you tried to do that cinematically you can’t really rock it. A gun in a film sounds completely different. It doesn’t read as BLAM! and so to have a dude say BLAM! after a true gunshot, all these people would be like ‘he’s just retarded’. I think it works great in print and on a comic book page. I don’t think that character would translate very well outside of that.”

While the announcement of the three issue miniseries due to start in November may have caused some in attendance to roll their eyes, given the notorious lateness (and unfinished nature) of some of Smith’s previous comic work, Didio told Newsarama: “The best part of it all – we have scripts in hand! The story’s already being drawn by Kevin’s feature collaborator, Walter.

“We never really used the character after Green Arrow, because we felt it was so unique to Kevin,” DiDio continued. “So when he called and said he wanted to do a story that featured Batman and Onomatopoeia, we couldn’t resist but to go ahead with this. It’s a really good Batman story, and will be coming out at a time when people’s attention will really be focused on the character.”

Last week, a vigilant scooper spotted Smith and Flanagan at the NYC premiere of “The Dark Knight” – This fits right in with the duo working together on the book. Adding a villain like this to such an iconic character is brilliant, and the perfect way to return to a medium that we’ve missed Kevin in for many years. With lifetime comic fan Walt Flanagan drawing from Kevin’s words, it’s going to be a real treat. Expect big things for this all too short 3 book series. IGN chimes in as well. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more on this and more from San Diego. What a way to start.

Other sites are also behind the movement, as this is the first NC-17 rating that’s been getting public notice in some time.

Our friends at VideoETA suggest that folks send kind emails to the MPAA’s head of classification showing support for Kevin and the film. They note that so far, Kevin has not yet been forced to make an MPAA-required cut to make a rating (all previous edits have been of his own decision).

Cinematical notices that the MPAA’s ratings site doesn’t even mention the film at all anymore.

The Movie Blog wonders what might be so offensive that the film is going through this process, considering the donkey scene in “Clerks II” made it through without issue.

For the first time, Kevin and Scott revealed details about the current NC-17 rating for the new flick. After several attempts to make cuts, the guys accepted the rating of NC-17 and are now under the formal appeals process, as Kevin no longer has any cuts he wants to make. At the first screening, the film ran 1:45 and got the NC-17. Still having cuts to make anyway, Kevin knocked 12 minutes out, resubmitted, yet the MPAA deemed two scenes still too dirty for the “R”. One shot is a half a second (14 frames of film) and Kevin hates to take it out. It’s that good (but may also be the sticking point for the board).

Twice before, the guys have visited the MPAA for an “appeals screening”, for “Clerks”, “Jersey Girl”, and now, this one. The appeal happens THIS WEEKEND, so keep the guys in your prayers as they watch the film with the ratings board, and afterwards, gives a verbal appeal as to why they want the film to have an R. Pretty interesting, eh? Let’s wish the gang a lot of luck, as the third time is typically the charm — Though Kevin fears they’ll have the biggest fight they’ve yet faced. We’ll look forward to hearing the results of the screening from Kevin, and hope to see that “R” announcement in the next few days.

Wanna hear it for yourself, as the guys dish on the schedule, the rating, internet porn, and lots more? Grab SModcast #58 FREE FREE FREE exclusively over at Quick Stop Entertainment. Listen and enjoy. For those of you who like hearing Kevin dish on View Askew news, this one’s definitely for you.

Along with the “Spaced” gang, Kevin hits the con in San Diego this weekend, you can hear he and Scott chat about all his upcoming panels arouns 6 minutes into SModcast #58 this week. Kevin does a panel Thursday, 2 on Friday (one being his very own, where the first live footage of “Zack & Miri Make a Porno” may be seen), and a final star-studded event on Saturday. Whew! We’ll of course have the full dish on the panels and other events at San Diego as they come in — We swear, one of these years we’ll figure out a way to snag press passes and get the heck out there! Keep your eyes open for a weekend wrapup as reports from the con hit the News Askew desk. If you’re there, or were there, don’t forget to drop your old pals Brad & Chris a line and let us know what’s up.

EXCLUSIVE – For our wonderful readers (that’s you!), Ron of Laser Blazer has done something amazing – He has an extremely limited amount of SIGNED SPACED DVDs available for immediate purchase. And we are talking WAY limited here, like a number that is less than 50. Less than 40 even. Yeah, that few. So if you want one, order RIGHT AWAY. Here’s where you can get one. Don’t delay, as these will be gone really fast. Maybe even by the time you read this.

NETHERBEAST INCORPORATED is a quirky twist on the vampire tale set in modern day corporate America. Employees of Berm-Tech Industries, Inc. have kept the family secret for a long time. For years it has been business as usual, until the top “vampire” in charge, contracts a dreaded disease and invites the first humans to work in the office in more than a century. Soon the new employees discover that some of their associates are not what they appear to be, especially the dead one in the cubicle with a wooden stake through his heart. It will celebrate its limited theatrical opening at Harkins Valley Art in Tempe, Arizona on Friday, September 12th. See a trailer over at YouTube. Mewes plays a supporting role.

Also today, it’s just been announced that Jason Mewes will play the lead role in genre picture “Silent But Deadly.” From the press release:

“This satirical take on the slasher flick will mark the feature film directorial debut of eight time Much Music Video Award (MMVA) winner Stephen Scott. Filming over 21 days on location in Chatham, Ontario this August, “Silent but Deadly” takes a fresh look at a classic genre staple of the 70’s and 80’s. This slasher flick doesn’t revolve around immoral teens, but instead our mysterious serial killer takes aim at the cesspool of sin that is a Hollywood film set, as he unleashes his own brand of retribution on the cast and crew.”

So, a starring role for Jason. Very cool indeed. We’ll keep our eyes on this project and let you know as we hear more.

Congrats to Jason on his continuing film career, and continued success!

Program #4 — 1:30–2:30
Short films for all ages
Dig
Gena Shaw
Misunderstood by her parents, quirky, 9-year-old Charlie White acts out in a way that at first seems defiant but ultimately changes her parents’ perspective of their daughter. (L) (11:00) (USA)

Marilyn loves to meet her fans and is always incredibly gracious. Stop by and say hello if you’re in the area on Sunday.

See ya back here soon with more news from this busy week and weekend.

We could go all crazy and make you answer trivia or something silly like that, but nope, we’re easy to please. Just send an e-mail to scoops@newsaskew.com with the Subject: “Contest”. In the e-mail, include your name, e-mail, and mailing address where you’d want the prize sent. Don’t worry, we don’t give this stuff away or sell it, your privacy is safe with us. We delete all entries after the contest so it’s not about collecting your info.

One simple rule – ONE ENTRY PER PERSON. It doesn’t matter if you have 5 mailing addresses or 50 e-mail addresses, enter once. We’ll write to confirm your entry. Anyone caught with multiple entries will be immediately disqualified.

Winners will be picked from a random draw. Contest ends at 11:59:59 EST on July 30th. We’ll announce the lucky winners and their prizes right here at News Askew. One grand prize winner will get a DVD and the signed poster. Other winners will receive a DVD, signed poster, or poster.

Check out “Brutal Massacre: A Comedy”, from Starz and Anchor Bay, in stores everywhere for purchase or rental TOMORROW – Tuesday, July 22nd! Our thanks to our friends at Starz and Anchor Bay for their support and the prizes.

Remember, one entry per person to scoops@newsaskew.com with the subject of “Contest” (without the quotes). Good luck, and thanks for reading News Askew.