• Quite a few fan reports came in last night saying that new, expanded J&SBSB commercials were airing during Mad TV. Keep your eyes open and remember spread the word! It’s less than 2 weeks until J&SBSB opens…
• Mark Hamill was interviewed by The Bob & Sheri Show (A central Pennsylvania Howard Stern clone). He chimed in on the“Attack Of The Clones” and what it was like to work with Kevin. You can listen to the clips from the show right HERE.
• Entertainment Weekly (#609) ran a cover story called “If We Ran Hollywood..” where they give their opinions on how the movie business should run. One section of the article is called “Pirates of Penance” where they accuse celebrities of certain “crimes” and give their verdict. Here’s what they said:

MICHAEL BAY. Crime: The slick Pearl Harbor director is charged with a cruel and unusual amount of hollow cinematic gloss and thimble-deep characters. Community Service: Six months’ confinement with Kevin Smith in a New Jersey comics store to learn the joys of snappy dialouge—and to teach Smith how to make a film that doesn’t look like it was shot on crumpled wax paper.

• Kevin (8/14) and Afroman (8/13) are scheduled to appear on the syndicated Loveline radio show this week.
• J&SBSB gets a mention in the Flick Picks section of September’s issue of Stuff Magazine. Here’s the whole thing:

• AICN’s Moriarty checked in with his review of J&SJSB yesterday. Here’s an excerpt:

You can click HERE to read the whole thing.

• Here’s a weird one. In Canada, Alliance Atlantis Films is sending out RED RUBBER BANDS with the J&SBSB logo and the August 24 release date on them. The bands are being sent out to theatres across the country. We’re not sure what exactly the tie-in is supposed to be, but we’ll try to find out.
• We’ve added some custom-made interiors for all you fans of “The Sims”. Check them out over on our Files Askew page.
• MTV debuted a new special today this weekend called “Kiss And Tell: 20 Years Of Making Out On MTV”. The infamous Kevin Smith / Ben Affleck kiss from a couple of years ago makes an appearance in the special. There’s no new footage, but if anyone wants to try and catch the special anyway, there’ll surely be at least 100 reruns throughout the weekend and next week. MTV’s schedule is right HERE.
• The soundtrack for J&SBSB at last check was #3 on the IMDB’s hot soundtracks.
• A scooper sent this information in about free tickets to see J&SBSB in New York City. If you are in the area, check this out:

• Radio station 102.1 “The Edge” in Dallas, TX is having a promotional weekend for J&SBSB. All day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they are giving away Advanced Screening passes, Jay and Bob comics, and Jay and Bob action figures.
• Movie-List.com is holding a contest that will give away 2 J&SBSB soundtracks and 2 Afroman single CD’s. Go over and enter today!
• Here’s some UK TV News : Chasing Amy will be on Wednesday night at 11:55PM on Channel4.

• And finally today, a glimpse into the future? Well, here’s one fan’s take on a possible DVD cover for J&SBSB. Catch you all later!

• The Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back score CD composed by James Venable has been bumped back from August 21st to September 11th. We can’t get any further info on this delay, sadly, it seems as if production is just taking a bit longer than anticipated. This has disappointed folks who were eagerly anticipating the score disc, since they’ll hafta see the flick before having the score CD in hand, but hey, look at it this way — At least we’re GETTING a score disc AND an original soundtrack this time. A first for a View Askew production! We’re sure it’ll be worth the wait, don’t forget about the soundtrack album out NOW!. We’ll keep you posted on the release and have more info soon.

• There’s a bit of confusion regarding the WizardWorld schedule in Chicago and when the best times are to catch Kevin & Jay. Let’s try and straighten it out a bit. Keep in mind, this is what Kevin and their schedules have revealed, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they might be available at other times as well. These are what’s definite, though:

• FRIDAY – 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM – Jason Mewes (”Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back”) will be signing at the Wizard booth from 12-2 PM.
• SATURDAY – VIEW ASKEW PANEL – 2:00 – 4:00 PM – Kevin Smith sits down to fill you in on what’s coming up with his latest film project, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” (opening Aug. 22) as well the future of View Askew in both comics and film!
• SATURDAY – ACTOR AUCTION – 6:00 PM – Lots of rare items including original Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back props will be auctioned off to benefit the ACTOR charity.
• SATURDAY – 7:00 PM and 11:00 PM – TWO J&SBSB ACTOR Charity Screenings. $15 per ticket. Tickets go on sale after Kevin’s Saturday afternoon panel. Kevin and Jay will be in attendance for both screenings.
• SUNDAY – 2:00 – 3:00 PM – GREEN ARROW HITS THE MARK – What makes the super-hot relaunch of DC’s Green Arrow so freakin’ good? Find out from the crew who make it happen — writer Kevin Smith, artist Phil Hester, inker Ande Parks and editor Bob Schreck!

You can find all the details and LOTS more at the official WizardWorld site HERE. Kevin will liekly hold a signing session either before or after his panel, and may even sign on Friday or Sunday as well, if he’s around. Check around when you’re there, and have fun next weekend!

• AICN has revealed the first photo of Jason Lee as he appears in Cameron Crowe’s upcoming “Vanilla Sky”. Coincidentally, “The Others”, which opens in theaters this weekend, is directed by the same guy who did “Open Your Eyes”, the Spanish film that “Sky” is based on (and it’s a damn good film to boot). Tom Cruise, Penelope Cruz, and Cameron Diaz co-star.
• This site is holding a contest where you can win J&SBSB soundtracks. Just put your name in the random drawing for your chance to win, simple as that!
• Here’s a RealAudio post of Kevin’s recent interview with Seattle’s Andy Savage (107.7 The End’s morning guy). You can listen to the entire interview (it runs about 10 minutes) HERE.
• In this new article from the Austin Chronicle, Kevin discusses internet critics, identifying with his films, coming to Austin, and more. Here’s a clip:

Read all about it right HERE

• A couple of J&SBSB screenings in Canada are coming up: Toronto Radio Station 102.1 The Edge will be hosting a Toronto screening of the film on the 20th of August. ALSO…In Calgary, Alberta, “The Calgary Herald” is advertising a contest to win tickets to an advanced screening of J&SBSB on August 16th.
• We’re hearing reports that Star Tickets are still selling tickets for the Austin premiere online. This may have changed again by presstime, but if you wanted to attend the Austin benefit, you might still be able to get in.
• Here’s the latest in the line of View Askew WinAMP skins, for the WinAMP MP3 player. This one features Kevin and Jay as Bluntman & Chronic. Download your copy from SCOOPING THE MONKEY.
• The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that at the beginning of October, the famous Eden Prairie Center, where “Mallrats” was filmed, will have a Grand Re-Opening, with 35 new stores opening.
• Speaking of Mallrats, if you’re in the Askew mood after seeing Jay & Bob this month, and live near Ohio University, this one’s for you. Mallrats will screen at midnight on Saturday, September 2nd in their Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

• Kevin posted a ton of news tonight, commenting on the upcoming auctions and J&SBSB screenings benefiting ACTOR in Chicago. He also goes into detail and gives the final word on that whole Tim Burton thing that went way outta control. The biggest news in this post, though, reveals that the film’s release has jumped back to its original date of August 24th. Whether this is some sort of marketing decision, or just to reflect the date that’s been running in the theatrical trailer and television spots from the start, we’re not sure. At any rate, the other two flicks opening that weekend that Jay & Bob will go up against, The PG-13 rated comedy Bubble Boy, and the R-rated John Carpenter thriller Ghosts Of Mars, will go down in View Askew history one way or another. Ghosts has had no marketing campaign from what we’ve seen here, but Bubble Boy is out to a big start with some extended ads already airing. The more audience-friendly PG-13 will also come into play. Still, with the new ads on the way from Dimension, Jay & Bob have a lot of tricks up their sleeves and can hopefully win over the bigger crowd in 2 weeks. Here’s Kevin with the whole story:

A final note: The lack of an east coast Jersey screening probably saddens many of you, and as you can see, Kevin certainly wanted to do it as well. Hopefully if another Vulgarthon comes to fruition as it’s been hinted this year, you’ll all have your chance to sit with the fans and check out J&SBSB this fall. We’ll keep you posted, as always. See ya tomorrow.

• Remember that big announcement that was supposed to happen at WizardWorld? Well, this MIGHT be it (we’re not sure, though). It’s been revealed that Kevin will be auctioning off actual props and costumes from “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back” at WizardWorld to benefit a new non-profit agency called ACTOR. Check it out:

This is your chance to own some way cool View Askew collector’s items. Bring that checkbook or credit card with ya to WizardWorld next week!

By the way, for those of you who have been asking, Wizard is reporting that Jay will be on hand on FRIDAY the 17th to sign, and Kevin will be there on SATURDAY the 18th. We’re not sure if Jay and/or Kevin will be there together at all, but, if you go by the schedule, it looks like you’ll want to attend on Friday for Jay, and Saturday for Kevin.

• We were unaware of just how big this appearance was when we ran it yesterday, thus it was just a newsbite. However, we’ve now been made aware that the Austin, Texas J&SBSB premiere will be a full-blown event with Kevin in attendance, a Q&A session, and an afterparty! This premiere benefits the Austin Film Society and happens at the Paramount Theater on Monday, August 13th.

Lower level (Orchestra) seats and Balcony seats are for sale now through www.startickets.com. The Q&A happens right after the film, and an afterparty will happen at Antone’s for Orchestra level ticket holders.

Orchestra level seats are 30 bucks and the balcony is around 15-20 bucks. Startickets is not selling tickets online anymore but you might try calling 1-888-597-7827 and asking if they’ve got some left. Get them before they’re gone!

• A new cut of the Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back commercial has started to appear on a couple networks. Look for it to kick into higher gear after Dimension stops their big push for the Nicole Kidman flick “The Others”. As we’d hoped, this new ad goes into more detail on the film’s plot, and does feature some Mark Hamill lightsaber action. Good stuff. We’ll have a copy for you to check out online ASAP.
• The Chasing Amy Region 4 (Australia) DVD is due on August 20 from Shock Records. Special features to be announced. It was originally due on August 8, but has been delayed.
• Local comic book shop The Zone in Louisville, Kentucky is giving away free prescreening passes to “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”. The screening takes place on August 20th.
• “Starz Movies News” will be running a profile of Kevin Smith for one week starting Friday the 24th. The piece is expected to run about 6 minutes in length. As we did the last time, we’ll have it online for ya over at Scooping shortly after it airs.
• We’ve added a new fan-made Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back screen saver to SCOOPING THE MONKEY. Check it out if you’re looking for a change.

• The New York Post has confirmed that Kevin’s next film will be “a low-budget production inspired by Smith’s experiences as the father of a 2-year-old girl”, and revealed that Ben Affleck will star. The film will be similar in tone and budget to ‘Chasing Amy’. Kevin is also going to attempt to lure ‘Amy’ vets Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams to the project.

This one sounds like a fantastic project, and will likely return Kevin and the crew back to their roots with some good old-fashioned indie filmmaking. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.

You can read the Post’s story online HERE. More news later, you can count on it…

• Well, believe it or not, amidst all of the chaos around here, we’ve got a brand new site feature to announce. That’s right, News Askew Live Chat! We’ve been waiting a while to add this until we could do it right, and this is certainly on the right track. While what you see now isn’t the final product, it’s workable and will allow all of you to get together in a room and chat it up about J&SBSB or whatever else might be on your mind.

The best feature of our chat area is that you can access it directly from the web itself, OR, if you prefer, with an IRC client. Our current IRC address is irc.novatech.net:7000, channel #newsaskew. If that changes, you’ll always find the latest server and channel info on the front login chat page.

This is just the preliminary version of the chat, so look for a lot of enhancements in the future. Until then, give it a try, and let’s see if the server can handle the load. You might catch one of us there from time to time, we’ll be listed as channel operators with an “@” before our names (that’s how ya know it’s the “real” us).

Go over and give News Askew Live Chat a try!