• Well, it seems that audiences just weren’t into checking out “Reindeer Games” this past weekend, despite a press onslaught of both Affleck and Charlize Theron appearing on talk shows, and a large ad campaign. Sometimes, the audience just doesn’t turn out. “Boiler Room”, in which Affleck has just a one-scene cameo, also opened last week on a much smaller scale. We’ve yet to see either of the flicks ourselves (we know, we know…) but in all honesty, they both certainly seem worth a look. It’s a shame the grosses aren’t higher but hey, win some, lose some.

Affleck was also the subject of an interview that appeared on MSN Online late last week that we neglected to mention. Click HERE if you’d like to read it.

• Some small updates to the Criterion Chasing Amy DVD page today — Some liner notes (from the laserdisc) as well as the cover art. Check out the site HERE.
• We’re happy to announce that Total Film magazine has given this site one of the kindest, coolest little write-ups we’ve seen yet, which will appear in their May issue (#40, which hits newsstands at the end of March). Here’s the blurb:

• Finally today, yet another cool-sounding joint to catch Dogma and a few cocktails — It’s playing at Studio 35 in Columbus, Ohio every night this week, until Friday, at 9:55 PM. They have a full bar and you can order in pizza. Sounds like our kinda place.

• We’ve got a very flattering article from the UMASS Amherst college paper concerning Kev’s sellout appearance this past week (Sorry it’s not a transcription, just a scan with a couple pics) as well as some scans of a ticket and flyers for the event. Click the thumbs for a better look.

• Ben checked in over at his own WWWBoard with a full report concerning what’s been up in his world lately…Summarizes the SNL show, the TV appearances, and lots more. Check it out:

• Here’s a full transcription of that Wizard plug we mentioned the other day…A nice writeup for the View Askew website that gives us a mention, as well:

• More Dogma drinking game possibilities: Dogma is showing in Columbus for an entire week at a place called Studio 35, one of the best places to see movies here in town. You can drink there, smoke there, and they play cheap movies (three movies for three bucks). It’s showing nightly at 9:55, along with Stuart Little and Galaxy Quest. The address is 3055 Indianola Ave and it’ll be there until next Thursday.
• The April edition of Toyfare magazine has a brief bit with Bob Chapman speaking on the prognosis of the Clerks action figures. Bob told us earlier this year that he DID expect them to be out sometime in 2000. He tells Toyfare they expect them to be ready by November. Don’t hold this as a definite date, but it certainly goes to show there’s hope that we’ll see the things sometime this year.
• Sorry for the late notice, but here’s some clarification on that Australian View Askew event. It’s in the Classic cinema on 962 Stanley Street, East Brisbane. PH: 3393 1066. Hope that helps!
• Finally, one more on the screenings front. We’re not mentioning schools showing just Dogma cuz there’s just so darned many of them, but Northen Illinois is showing ALL the VA flicks this March. If ya live near the college, check it out!

• Howdy folks…Got here a little late today, for a couple of reasons…First of all, there was very little goings on in the realm Askew today, except for the Celebrity Deathmatch, which leads us to part 2…We wanted to wait for that to actually happen before we posted today’s update. At any rate, read on for that big story and a NewsBite or two…

• The MTV program “True Life: I’m The Youngest Tycoon In The World” actually had a surprise appearance by Jay Mewes himself when it aired last night. He appear in the beginning hanging out in Pauly Shore‘s house with Fred Durst. The show’s site is HERE. It re-airs this Tuesday, February 29th at noon EST if ya care to catch it.
• Hey, Australians! Wanna catch Clerks on the big screen? It’s gonna be screened in the cult movie house The Classic on Monday, February 28th and Wednesday, March 1st at 9 PM.
• Last, but certainly not least, we hear Wizard Magazine gives News Askew a plug this month! Major thanks, guys! We’ll have the full text for ya as soon as we can. We’re quite honored.

• Thanks to all of you who wrote in on Kev’s UMASS appearance. A summary of the events, most of which we’ve repoted here at some time or another, appeared over on AICN earlier today. Dark Horizons ALSO ran a small piece. Here’s a few of the more interesting tidbits that came out of the session anyway, some that we may have referenced at one point, but it’s always nice to hear it from the man himself:

• Clerks 2 will NOT be the next movie that Kevin writes and directs. He promises that it’s nothing that can be guessed at, but has hinted that it will indeed be the flick that wraps up the Askewniverse and allows him to move on to new things filmwise.
• New stories (we haven’t heard ‘em, anyway): Something about “donkey punching” (Don’t ask us!), an anecdote about “Jay’s first time”, thoughts on the Catholic League and ABC.
• Old story: The death of the Supes Lives project (featuring Jon Peters). Seems this question ALWAYS has to come up!
• Episode 2 of Clerks TCS (The “flashback” show) was shown to the audience.
• The Dogma DVD will contain over an HOUR of unseen footage (all the stuff we caught in the workprint back in 1998, and you’re gonna LOVE it!)
• Kevin is beginning work on the Green Arrow comic.

Kevin’s a great guy to see live because he pulls no punches. He’s not afraid to talk about anything and it makes for a fantastic time. Glad to hear that a lot of you got to catch an episode of the show and enjoyed the appearance. We hear that Kevin stayed extra late again after the 3+ hour appearance to sign stuff for everyone. As always, a real class act.

• There’s a new article on ‘Clerks: TCS’ in the Wizard that came out today (#103) on pages #s 78 & 79. It’s pretty extensive, but it’s highly inaccurate, mostly due to all the changes that recently happened too late for presstime. It’s got some new quotes from Kevin, too. Look for it at a comic shop near you. We may summarize some of it if we get the issue or a transcription.
• Affleck’s press onslaught for “Reindeer Games” continues…He’ll continue it with an appearance on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn Thursday night.
• Australian Dogma News: Last evening on Australia’s “The Movie Show”, ‘Dogma’ was featured. They gave it three and four stars, mentioning that there was nothing worth protesting about, but also saying it should’ve been cut even more. More interestingly, their interview with Kevin is online at the show’s site in VIVO format. You’ll need VivoPlayer to view it, though.
• Speaking of Australia, here’s a humorous little letter to the editor from the Sydney Morning Herald:

• “Tail Lights Fade”, the followup to the VA production “Drawing Flies”, hit shelves this week on VHS and DVD here in the US. Fans are enjoying the flick quite a bit, and Entertainment Weekly gave it this kind write-up:

• This week at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY is Kevin Smith Week. They’re showing Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy tonight, and will show Dogma tomorow (Thursday Feb 24) at 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m. Interestingly enough, Fordham U is a Jesuit University, thus, the Jesuit Priests will be holding a discussion about Dogma in between the two showings.
• Finally today…News of the strange…Carlos Santana, ya know, the dude that’s up for like a zillion Grammy Awards tonight, cites the angel METATRON as the reason for his success according to a New York Times piece today. Huh.

• Quite a few of you noticed that Criterion has indeed posted an update on the webpage that used to just host info on their Chasing Amy laserdisc — The page now states that the Special Features on the new DVD will be as follows:

• Widescreen digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer David Klein and enhanced for 16×9 televisions
• Discrete 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital soundtrack
• New video introduction to the DVD edition from director Kevin Smith Screen-specific audio commentary by Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, actors Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes, associate producer Robert Hawk, Miramax executive Jon Gordon and View Askew historian Vincent Pereira
• Ten deleted scenes, plus outtakes
• Theatrical trailer
• Video introductions from the cast and crew
• Special poster insert, The Askewniverse Legend: a guide to the characters in the “New Jersey Trilogy”
• English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

No big surprises there, as we’d heard about the new intro and widescreen transfer (YES!!!) a few weeks back, but it’s nice to see it all confirmed officially. And it’s nice to see they remembered to list Vincent in the commentary, too. 🙂 We’ll have a new release date for the Chasing Amy DVD as soon as it’s announced. Stay tuned. You can find the official Amy Criterion page HERE.

And by the way, Jason Lee‘s “Mumford” was also announced for DVD on April 18th. Pick it up or at least rent it.