- We’re in the process of checking out the test pressing DVD of Vulgar — It’s got a nice chunk of 12 deleted scenes on here, and the best transfer of the film we’ve ever seen. One thing to beware — We do have the RATED version (the unrated should be arriving tomorrow) and this one does NOT have the commentary track available (likely because there’d be gaps where the cut stuff was). So, if for some silly reason you were gonna buy the RATED version of the disc, DON’T! You’ll miss out. “Judge Not” is in place, you’ll be happy to hear, and the Dogma doc never looked better. Get those preorders in for VULGAR now at the Stash, and watch for a full review right here very soon.
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View Askew NewsBites™
- This site features a new photo of Kevin visting the Banana Museum in Washington state. We assume this had to take place for one of his recent Roadside Attractions bits for Leno.
- An Australian release of Spiderman on DVD will also include a packaged version of Stan Lee’s Mutants, Monsters & Marvels (which Kev appears in throughout). It’s a 4-disc gift set, though, so be prepared to pay a hefty price!
- More Linda Fiorentino news, seems that she truly is a tough person to work with. We’d been reading that she opted out of Men In Black II, now Variety reports this news – They didn’t WANT her back!
Fiorentino on Men in Black II Disappointment
If you were wondering why there was no Linda Fiorentino in the Men in Black sequel, well, so was she. But she’s taken the next step and looking to direct her first feature instead. Here’s what she told Variety…
Linda Fiorentino is hoping to turn around a disappointing year by making her directorial debut on “One Eyed Jacks and Suicide Kings,” a play she optioned by Colin Patrick Lynch. He’s already written the screenplay for a tale about six twentysomething boyhood friends who confront their futures when they get together for a weekly poker game…
The veteran actress figures she’s due a break. “They gave away my starring role in ‘Men in Black 2’ to Frank the Pug, and while he did a great job and is probably living it up at some posh hotel promoting the film overseas, I had to deal with that upsetting situation, plus the fact that somebody sold my home address online for $37,” she said. “It doesn’t get much worse, when your stalking price is that low, and you are forced to move out because of it, which is the reward for being sexy in movies. So I’m dealing with that and the fact that I was lower than a dog on the casting list of that movie. I figured it was time to move on.”
Anderson’s “Now You Know” In San Diego FilmFest!
- The debut feature from director Jeff Anderson, “Now You Know”, has been accepted to its first major film festival — The San Diego Int’l Film Festival (www.sdff.org) screened over 500 films and selected 24 features for the festival (and another 30 or so film shorts), and we’re happy to report that one of the selected was NYK. The majority of screenings will be held at the Pacific Gaslamp 15 Theater, in the heart of the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego from September 18-22nd. NYK will screen on Friday the 20th of September at 8:00pm. Jeff Anderson will be there as well as several other cast members from the film. Celebrities, filmmakers and festival guests will be staying at the Westgate Hotel, but there are tons of reasonable hotels throughout that area.
The festival has an expected attendance of more than 15,000, so it should be quite an event. There will be several parties every night, and they’d love to see plenty of View Askew fans in attendance. Mark your calendars! We’ll have more info on this as the event gets closer.
View Askew NewsBites™
- DVD Review has a ballot on their site for the 5th Annual DVD Awards. The “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” DVD is one of the nominees in the “Viewer’s Choice” category. Let’s help Jay & Bob win! You can cast your votes at their website ballot.
- Here’s a scan of that recent Jason Lee appearance in “Jane” magazine — Just a few more candid questions with the guy. We mentioned the piece but this is the first we’ve had a scan. Click above for a nice, readable version of the page.
- Scifi.com also has a piece with Lee where he discusses his role in the upcoming “Dreamcatcher” (watch for some minor spoilers though):
Jason Lee, who plays Beaver in Lawrence Kasdan’s upcoming SF film Dreamcatcher, told SCI FI Wire that he had to contend with unaccustomed special effects while shooting the Stephen King adaptation. “I worked mainly on stages in Vancouver,” Lee said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “I was already used to being up there, because I was working on another movie right before that. It was pretty easy, except for the bathroom scene, because I get all sorts of attacked and bloodied up. And that was kind of brutal. That was a few days of that. But it was great. It was a good time. … I had lots of fake stuff being puppeteered and lots of fake blood running down my body all the time, and it would harden, and I’d have to eat lunch, you know, very robotically. They did a really good job.”
In Dreamcatcher, Lee (Almost Famous) plays a member of a group of Maine small-town friends who get together once a year for a hunting reunion, only to encounter a sinister force in the woods. “I play Joe Clarendon, aka Beaver, a little bit like my character in Mumford, but possibly a little bit slower,” Lee said. “Not too slow, but big-hearted, has his own sayings, doesn’t really get upset, loves everyone and loves Buddy Holly. Hence the glasses and hair and toothpick in the mouth at all times. Good character. He was supposed to have long hair, but I had the idea that I thought he would be into the ’50s and like that kind of music, and so I e-mailed [director] Larry Kasdan, and I said, ‘I want to go with a Buddy Holly thing.’ And he said, ‘OK.’ And it worked. So it was kind of fun.”
While his cast mates, including Morgan Freeman, Timothy Olyphant and Tom Sizemore, had to shoot outdoors in midwinter in Prince George, B.C., Lee managed to escape the Canadian snow. “Fortunately, I didn’t have to work up in Prince George,” he said. “It was a nightmare. It was minus a lot [laughs].”
Lee promised that Dreamcatcher would please both fans of Kasdan (The Big Chill) and King. “Larry Kasdan is a great writer, and William Goldman. … Yeah, it was solid. And I think Larry kind of needed to do a movie like that. Because it had the friendship plot line to it, and it had that level realism to it, in the midst of chaos and bluescreens and puppets and things. So I think he’s the exception of someone who can do a big kind of special-effects movie, but maintain the humanity … with the characters. It’s like directing two different movies. It’s like directing a Big Chill in the midst of directing a big, suspense effects movie, and he can handle both very well, so it was impressive.” Dreamcatcher is slated for a 2003 release.
- Check out a fan-made Dogma trailer (created mostly from DVD extra scene material) online HERE.
- DVD File reports that Affleck’s “Sum of All Fears” hits DVD this Fall, October 29th to be exact:
Another big summer blockbuster is making its way to DVD this fall is the latest Jack Ryan Cold War thriller The Sum of All Fears. Debuting on 10/29, this one includes a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby surround tracks, two audio commentaries by director Phil Alden Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley, and Robinson again with novelist Tom Clancy, the “Making-Of The Sum Of All Fears” and “Creating Reality: the Visual Effects of The Sum Of All Fears” featurettes, and the trailer. Retail is $29.95.
- Speaking of Affleck, seems some Jewish gentlemen had a problem with Affleck’s “Changing Lanes” during a recent flight for some reason. Check out the story HERE.
- Matt Damon will play himself on an episode of “The Bernie Mack Show” next season (FOX). Damon is finishing up his 3 days on the set of the show today.
- And finally today, Neo Monster Island features a small Jay & Bob quote/reference today. Catch ya next time, folks.
10 Millionth Hit Contest Continues…
- We’d like to thank all of you who are participating and cooperating with the rules of the Jersey Girl walk-on role contest. Hits have picked up slightly due to the contest but this was expected. We have recorded only a few offensive visitors, and don’t worry, so long as you are not EXCESSIVELY hitting the site, we aren’t going to tag you. A few reloads here and there will not hurt your chances, we’re just watching for the worst offenders. Remember, read the official rules of the contest and good luck to all of you. We’ll likely have a winner by week’s end. Thanks for your continued support!
Jason Lee to cameo in “Jersey Girl”…
- Dark Horizons and Yahoo Movies both report today that Jason Lee will appear in a small role in “Jersey Girl”. While Jay & Silent Bob may not be returning, it sure will be great to see another familiar face in the mix. Lee revealed in San Diego last week that he’s got a one day shoot on the film, but likely won’t even know the nature of his character or have the script until he arrives on set. If his role turns out to be something spoiler-ish, we likely won’t be sharing all of the details here (gotta leave SOME surprises, ya know). Thanks to all who mailed in about this, the scoopers are too numerous to even begin to list.
View Askew NewsBites™
- Marilyn Ghigliotti dropped us a line with some really cool news — She’ll be participating in a Charity Celebrity Softball Game this Sunday, August 11th. Tickets will be $10 and can be purchased at the game. Find out all the information at the Showbiz World Series website. Marilyn would love for View Askew fans to come by and enjoy the game.
- A fan listing/registry for Kevin has been started up HERE. You may wanna check it out. That’s it for today, folks.
News Askew CONTEST: Win A Featured “Jersey Girl” Walk-on!
- There’s been a lot of speculation out there as we approach our 10 MILLIONTH visit here at News Askew — What are we going to do to celebrate that milestone? Well, thanks to Kevin Smith, we’re happy to report that we’ve got quite a spiffy little prize for the fan that hits that lucky number — How’s this for a prize?
A featured walk-on role in “Jersey Girl”!
Yep. You read it right.
Now, here’s the one catch — Transportation and lodging WILL be up to you, as this prize is being offered directly from Mr. Kevin Smith himself, and not affiliated with Miramax or related companies. So, if you are the winner, YOU are responsible for getting to the set in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (or surrounding area) when the time comes. We’ll do the best we can to get you as much notice as possible on the date, etc. in case you need to make travel arrangements.
For this contest, we’re going to need to list some official rules and disclaimers, as this is a BIG PRIZE. We waited to unveil this contest until now because we’d like the devoted News Askew readers to have a crack at it. So, we suggest that you keep this one amongst yourselves, and play fairly. If this contest does well, you can expect more of the same to come along in the future. So, in other words, let’s all work together, and we’ll have a lot more prize-type stuff to give away in the future. Check out the rules, read them ALL:
- OFFICIAL RULES:
- How to Win: See that counter at the top of the page? The person who hits 10 MILLION is the prize winner. If you are the lucky visitor, send us a screenshot (see below) and you are the GRAND PRIZE WINNER.
- Counter Manipulation: Yes, we ARE tracking this. Running up the counter is UNACCEPTABLE! This consists of an individual sitting in front of their PC and continuously pressing the REFRESH/RELOAD button on the front page of News Askew. From this point on, this information will be logged. If we look back in the logs, and see that you have been driving up the counter with the refresh button, you WILL be disqualified. If this rule is not followed, we reserve the right to end this contest immediately. This procedure starts NOW.
ONE consecutive hit is allowed on either end of the 10 million mark. In other words, if you have the hit just before or just after 10 million, as well as the winning entry, that is still a valid entry. No more than two consecutivehits are allowed from the winning entry at that point.
- Prize Awarding: The winner of the walk-on role will be the individual that successfully hits number TEN MILLION (10,000,000) at News Askew.com. A screenshot is REQUIRED to claim your prize. So, if you don’t know how to take a screenshot, it’s a good time to learn. All computers offer screenshot methods, we know for a fact a screenshot on a PC is as easy as hitting the “PRINT SCREEN” key and then pasting into a Microsoft Word document or otherwise. Get some practice.
There is ONE (1) “Grand Prize Winner” for this contest. No further prizes are offered at this time. If you do not accept the prize for any reason, News Askew reserves the right to fall back on a “runner-up” and offer the prize to them. In other words, if you come close, take a screenshot anyway, you might still be the winner.
- Screenshots & Disqualification: We have methods in place to detect genuine screenshots. If you attempt to send in a forged screnshot, you will be disqualified from this and any future News Askew or View Askew contest offerings. In other words, don’t be stupid — If you don’t win, just accept it.
DISCLAIMERS:
News Askew and View Askew shall have the right, at their sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the sweepstakes at any time without notice. Please note that by submitting a screenshot that you are also submitting your name as an entrant to this contest. You will be agreeing to abide by the official rules and regulations as stated here. You further agree that all information can and will be published on the close of the contest, including the name you provided. Addresses, phone numbers, and emails will not be published without the further consent of the entrants.
There are also no guarantees with this prize, as the producers of “Jersey Girl” reserve the right to make changes to or relinquish this offering at any time during production. In other words, no promises! If you are filmed for the movie, your part may or make not make the final cut (though, as we know, the last contest winner did earn his very own “Deleted Scene” chapter on the Jay and Bob disc, quite a feat in itself).
These rules will be viewable by clicking the special graphic at the top of News Askew at any time in case you need to refresh your memory. If you have any questions regarding this contest, ask them here in the TALKBACK AREA, we will address them as quickly as possible.
Good luck to all of you. Thanks to Kevin Smith for this excellent prize and thanks to you, the fans, for helping News Askew reach our 10 million mark. Best of luck to you all!
Inquirer: Jersey Girl May Need Up To 3,000 Extras!
- A Philadelphia Inquirer article today discusses the popularity of Philadelphia for film shoots lately. With M. Night Shyamalan shooting all his stuff in the area, and “Jersey Girl” starting up soon, the city’s got a lot of Hollywood type activity going on. The piece reveals that JG may need up to 3,000 extras (could be YOU!) and discusses why Philly got chosen over Toronto. Here’s a few tidbits:
- A feature film can have 45 speaking roles and more than a thousand extras. Unbreakable used 6,000 extras; Jersey Girl’s people have indicated they may need 3,000.
- Jersey Girl’s $35 million budget is deceptive because nearly half goes to pay Lopez and Affleck. But the film will spend up to $15 million on hotels, cars, food, building materials, fuel, phones and other requisites.
- Kevin Smith, the director of Jersey Girl, faced a similar dilemma. “Miramax was pushing ‘Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, where you can get 50 cents on the U.S. dollar,’ ” he said. “What pushed Philadelphia over the top for us was the proximity to New Jersey, the experienced crew base, and the film office, which sweetened the deal with incentives like helping us outfit a soundstage.”
Read it all right HERE!
View Askew NewsBites™
- We’ve received a couple small reports from San Diego — Daredevil movie footage featuring Kevin’s cameo screened during the X-Men/DD panel on Saturday when Affleck showed up. AICN also has a spoiler-laden report on DD and “Dreamcatcher” if you’d care to check that one out as well. Hope everyone had fun at the con!
- An astute viewer points out that, in Roger Ebert’s review of the new Martin Lawrence concert film, he points out that the film proves it’s impossible to get an NC-17 rating for language alone. Not true, Mr. Ebert! Don’t forget, the MPAA demanded verbal cuts to both Clerks and Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, initially slapping them with NC-17’s.
- Hey, at least it’s getting some press — Vulgar is currently ranked #3 on Metacritics worst 200 movies list. We could name heaps worse, personally, we guess it’s just become an easy flick for them to beat on. You’ll all get the chance to finally see the film in your homes next month with the home video release — We’ll have an early review of the jam-packed disc soon!
- Jason Lee news — The official website for his “Stealing Harvard” is now online. He can also be seen giving his opinion on actor Bill Murray on an E! special called “The Top 25 Funniest People in the Entertainment Industry”.
- USA Today reports:
Project Greenlight has been given a green light for a second season.
The online screenwriting contest, which this year gave winner Pete Jones the chance to direct his own movie while being filmed by HBO, is back with a twist. The new version will feature two parallel contests, one for screenplays and another for directing ability. The winners of each will then team for a low-budget Miramax movie.
“You’re going to have two lead characters, and you’re going to see more of the creative process,” says Chris Moore of LivePlanet, the production company owned by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who played last season’s villain. “It creates a lot more opportunity for real human drama than me just coming in there and yelling at everybody.”
Besides, “it’s more reflective of the way movies get made in Hollywood,” says Miramax vice president Eli Holtzman. “Our feeling is it’s going to make the show better and it will make the movie better.”
The contest will be open for submissions Sept. 19 to Oct. 2 (www.projectgreenlight.com). Winners will be chosen at January’s Sundance Film Festival from among a handful of finalists, and filming of the movie (and the series) will begin soon after. HBO expects to air the series next summer, and Miramax’s release of the movie – and its reception – will be addressed in the final episodes.
The first Greenlight did better at delivering a buzz-worthy Emmy-nominated series than a commercially successful movie. Jones’ Stolen Summer cost $1.8 million to make but earned only $134,000 at the box office. A boxed DVD set of Greenlight and Summer will be released Sept. 24.
- This website ran a poll asking folks who’d they like to see appear in the TV remake of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in February of 2003. Those who answered the survey gave diverse answers, however a good chunk of people wanted to see Kevin Smith portray the part of Eddie, made famous by Meat Loaf in the film. Ben Affleck got numerous votes from fans to play Brad Majors, made famous by Barry Bostwick. Mewes got some votes to play Rocky Horror or Riff Raff.Matt Damon got quite a few votes to play either Rocky Horror, Dr. Frank N Furter or Brad Majors. Alan Rickman got votes from fans to be The Criminologist. Check the entire list out at their website.