• Looks like Affleck’s got a great honor for the biggest NASCAR race in 2004:

Read all about it HERE.

• Catch Jeff Anderson in a cameo role (as a convenience store clerk, no less) in a newly released rental called “Stealing Time”, with Peter Facinelli and Ethan Embry. Anderson’s clerk gets held up with a cap gun, later to find out and attack the patrons with a bat. The film is listed over in the IMDB as “Rennie’s Landing”. Anderson is credited.
• And finally today, if you’d like to do a bit of a primer before seeing Jersey Girl this Spring, you may want to listen to the upcoming live broadcast of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” tomorrow night on BBC3 radio. This great production won raves in Chicago last year and is the favorite of a character or two in “Jersey Girl” from what we recall. You can listen live via RealPlayer at this link tomorrow around 5:25 PM EST. Happy listening! Catch ya next time, and thanks for stopping by today.

• Howard Stern’s radio show was offering $10,000 to the first listener that could get a hard-to-reach celebrity on the phone for a 5 minute interview. The choices were a list of never-before or hard to find guests, one of whom was Ben Affleck. On Friday, Ben Affleck surprised Howard and the crew with a 25 minute call to the show, donating the $10,000 not to a friend, but to charity. Not only that, but Ben asked if he could come back for a full television segment in person on the show.
  Frankly, being big Stern fans, we always wondered why Affleck never came on sooner, as his sense of humor is a great fit for the show. Affleck took Howard’s tough questions about Jen, gambling, and anything he could think of to shake things up in stride. Affleck revealed he’s been a fan of the show and also took the opportunity to plug Paycheck a few times (hey, why not?). Howard complimented Affleck for calling in and it certainly seems like Ben’s got the most popular morning radio show in his corner now. Congrats to Ben on a great interview with one of the toughest out there. Click HERE to listen to the clip in its entirety, or if you can’t listen to mp3’s at the office, here’s a recap from the great Howard Stern site marksfriggin.com! Enjoy.

• Jason Mewes was spotted on MTV’s “Obsourne Family Christmas Special”, airing all this weekend, singing “The 12 Days of Christmas”. It looks like the segment may have been filmed at the Return of the King premiere. The show will be re-airing all over the place on MTV, so check your listings or just turn the channel, you’re likely to catch it.
• A pair of DJ’s known as Beaner & Ken are naming a list of the 5 funniest movies of all-time. They have named the top 4 and are letting the people decide the 5th. You can choose between Clerks, Ghostbusters, Blazing Saddles, and Animal House. Let’s help Clerks get to the top of the list! You can vote HERE.
• The first issue of “Bail”, a new skate culture-related magazine, features Jason Lee on the cover (and a new interview inside). Grab a copy through their official site.
• And finally today, there’s a small Clerks mention in the December 8th issue of Sports Illustrated:

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and you northeasters, get ready to dig out from our SECOND storm of the season already. Stupid snow.

• MTV Moviefile dug up a very small quote that Kevin gave regarding Daredevil 2 at the LOTR premiere…It doesn’t really say much, and you can tell they caught him on the run, but we wanted to share it with ya all the same:

Ben Affleck says he’s only interested in making a “Daredevil” sequel if his buddy Kevin Smith directs it. So what does the “Dogma” director think about the prospect of adapting his “Daredevil” comics stories for the big screen? “I had heard [there was interest], then I was talking to them about writing it, but I wrote it once [as comics already], you know?” Smith said at last week’s premiere of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

• Co-writer David Mandel’s new flick “Eurotrip” got a very good review today over at AICN. Definitely sounds like a fun one to check out if you’re into the raunchy comedies (and hey, who isn’t?). Mandel wrote for the hilarious Clerks animated series, remember, so you know you’ll dig it.
• And hey, speaking of the Clerks cartoon, what better way to show a watch that can output actual VIDEO than showing it display Clerks cartoon footage? Nice. Happy Holidays!

• In an interview promoting “Paycheck” with Sci-Fi Wire, Ben Affleck reveals that he isn’t to keen on making a Daredevil sequel…However, if Kevin were to come on board to write the film and be involved, he WOULD do the flick. Here’s that snippet:

We still think audiences would absolutely LOVE to see Kevin’s “Guardian Devil” storyline brought to life. The film would allow plenty of time to establish backstory to get the characters up to speed on DD’s past leading up to the story. But hey, even if it wasn’t that story, we bet Kevin could cook up another gem for the silver screen. Ben hasn’t ruled out making a cameo if the Elektra film is made.
You can read the full piece at Sci-Fi Wire. Thanks also to Dark Horizons for pointing us to the story.

• And the Affleck press machine continues! Canoe reports on Ben’s latest quotes on the Lopez marriage, Gigli, and includes this remark on Jersey Girl:

• MSN Entertainment reports:

By the way, one scooper came up with a cool Fletch casting idea: What about Vince Vaughn?

• The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is auctioning a copy of Panel One, a collection of scripts by comic book writers, and its signed by every author, including Kevin. It’s a great book and the purchase will benefit an excellent cause. Bid HERE.
• Finally today, if you’re in the UK, MovieTyme is having an incredibly great sale on the Clerks cartoon DVD (US version). The perfect chance to grab yourself a backup for the one you know you’re going to eventually wear out or scratch up due to overuse!
• Kevin’s review of “Filmmaking for Dummies” states that he wishes the author had used less big dumb movies like “Spiderman” as examples, and instead used “…oh, let’s say, Clerks”. Well, here’s the answer. The book “$30 Film School” actually does use Clerks for illustrative examples. You can learn more HERE.
• antiMUSIC.com’s recent “Day In Rock” article uses a number of quotes from View Askew Movies under the subarticles: ‘P.O.D. Banned By Chrisians’, ‘Dream Theater World ‘04′, and ‘New Alternative’. Buh-bye now.

• Yes folks, it’s the FINAL edition of Auctions Askew for the 2003 calendar year. This is your last chance to own a rare or one of a kind item from the View Askew archives. The lovely Amy Noble models us more of those collectible holiday cards from years past, a one of a kind framed article, more limited edition apparel (that crew jacket is sweeeet!) and our personal favorite this time around: That “Bluntman and Chronic” poster used in J&SBSB. WOW. A very lucky winner’s gonna have that on their wall in a couple weeks.
  As always, all this stuff is going to the highest bidder over at Auctions Askew. Auctions close on December 15th, so you’ve got plenty of time to get over there, scope out the goods, and plan your strategy. Happy hunting.

• This is a cool item — Director Peter Jackson, whose work we’ve followed since “Bad Taste” (and who how has become internationally known for his incredible work on the Lord of the Rings films) snapped a personal photo of Kevin and Jay at the film’s premiere! Here’s Kevin with his thoughts on the shot:

I’m feeling kinda flattered

I was checking my email on AOL (yes – I’m still an AOL man), and on the welcome screen, there’s this link that says “Get a front seat on the red carpet! The ‘Return of the King’ stars took AOL’s cameras to snap their own pix at the L.A. premiere exclusively for AOL members.”
So I click on the link to check out the pics Liv took, which are nestled amidst the snaps taken by Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, and Peter Jackson. But what do I find in the middle of Peter Jackson’s portfolio? A picture of me and Mewes, captioned “Jackson spots fellow director Kevin Smith and Jay Mewes (of ‘Jay and Silent Bob’ fame) outside the theater.”
I mean… wow. Why the fuck would that guy take my picture? Especially when he was getting mobbed by fans and press? That’s so random, and oddly flattering.
However, calling me his “fellow director”… I mean, c’mon. Let’s face it: the man makes visionary epics. I just fart around.
Still in all, it was kinda cool.
And for the curious: the battle outside (and inside) of Minas Tirith is unreal. It’s nothing short of amazing.
But more impressive than that is a small, quiet moment shared between Sam and Frodo toward the end of the movie. It’s just a set of shared, knowing glances, but it’s pretty powerful, and really touching.
Ten bucks says “Return of the King” wins Best Picture this year.

• This fan’s blog site has a personal article written that has to be the most in-depth coverage we’ve seen in one long string regarding the Clerks cartoon series, and all it went through. It’s quite extensive but an interesting read, if only to look back and remember all of the trials and tribulations.
• This bit of dialogue was caught during an online chat with the New York Post’s DVD columnlist:

It’s always nice to see the support of the DVDs all over the place, as View Askew really does tend to be a company that puts a lot of time and thought into making their DVDs special. The Clerks Anniversary disc in 2004 is sure to be another winner. See ya again next time!