• Kim was kind enough to post ALL of the details on where and when to find Kev at Wizard World, starting tomorrow. This sounds like a FANTASTIC Con, it’s a shame we’re not closer or we’d be there!

Be sure and send us your photos and on site reports from the event. Even though we can’t be there ourselves, we’ll do our best to be your up-to-the-minute source on all the fun View Askew stuff happening at Wizard World.

• The Village Voice clarifies some details on Kevin’s Mallrats DVD signing next Tuesday. This is very important, as it seems that you will need to buy a copy of Rats on DVD or VHS in order to even receive a pass to stand in line. This may seem a bit unfair, but let’s face it, NYC’s a big place, and Kev’s a pretty popular guy. The lines will probably be amazingly long even with this stipulation, let alone WITHOUT. We know that Kevin always does his best to accomodate everyone, and would probably sign anything for anyone if possible, but the store and/or the city itself is most likely using these tactics to keep things under control, as well as to make the signing period run for the scheduled time only.

So there ya go, grab your copy of Mallrats and your pass to meet Kev & co. starting TOMORROW! And choose that “one additional item” wisely.

• While it probably won’t mean the difference on whether they distribute Dogma or not, it seems that Lions Gate expects a major financial loss this year. Maybe this is why we’re seeing a delay in their announcement, if they indeed DID require the film? Read the news HERE.
• One of our scoopers was so enraged at the way that his Clerks DVD was handled, he set up a Buy.com boycott page!

• As a followup to his DareDevil concept poster yesterday, Frank’s done his best to recreate a theatrical Domga posterthat looks like one he saw in a Miramax office at Cannes. Interesting…

• We’ve been getting a TON of requests for this information regarding the July 20th ‘Rats signing, and now we’ve finally got it. Note, the OFFICIAL press release follows, but JM tells us that the signing will go until 3 (not 2:00 as scheduled), and, from past experience, Kevin will usually sign as long as he’s allowed to stay. Still, get there early, grab a good spot in line, and make sure you’ve got enough cash or credit to buy the disc, cuz they might sell out unless they’ve got a TON! We know for a fact that Kevin will appear along with JM & Vincent (who produced the disc), so be sure and stop and say hi to them all, and thank them for a job well done.

• This seems like official enough word for us on the possibility of that Jay & Silent Bob tag team in the upcoming Celebrity Deathmatch season. An employee of the program informs us that nothing has been planned, and that the only View Askew related items are Matt Damon/Ben Affleck cameo at the end of the CDM The Motion Picture episode and the Alanis vs Jewel episode. Here’s some info on the aforementioned movie, in the meantime:

He also tells us that we’ll be the first to know if a Jay & Silent Bob appearance ever comes to fruition on the program, sorest assured, we’ll have the scoop.

Finally, today, we wanted to share with you a mockup Daredevil movie poster by Frank Apeose. Still no word on what’s up with the flick, but we’d sure love tosee Kevin’s story arc come to life (though you know it’d never happen that way). With the newfound interest in the characterdue to the excellent Marvel Knights series, and rumors of Matt Damon’s attachment to the project, a DD movie’s more of a possibility than ever.

• This weekend is, of course, the All-Star weekend at Fenway in Boston and as a part of the festivities, Major League Baseball hosts a Celebrity All-Star Hitting Challenge. Essentially, it’s 4 teams made up of a celebrity, an All-Star, and a former Red Sox All-Star. Matt Damon was the captain of his team, which consisted of former Dodger Steve Garvey and former Red Sox great Jim Rice. Damon’s team won the competition, beating the likes of Kevin Costner, Doug Flutie, and George Brett. After Damon was done hitting, Stuart Scott of ESPN was talking to him and he said it was thebest time of his life, even better than winning the Oscar. He’ll definitely be rubbing that one into Affleck, who was stuck in Hollywood and couldn’t go.
• Speaking of Damon, The 11th Hour gives the guy 30:1 odds on playing Anakin in the next Star Wars prequel. Anything butDiCaprio, we say.
• Those of you who volunteered to work at WizardCon should have gotten your acceptance letters by now, we hear. Part of the letter reads:

Have a good time, and send in those scoops! We can’t make the trek, just too damned far on our paltry budgets.

• Note: This is totally unconfirmed by us, but a scooper says he thinks he spotted a glimpse of tag team Jay & Silent Bobin a promo for the new season of Celebrity Deathmatch on MTV – Can anyone confirm? This would go WAY back to a suggestion we made here almost a year ago. Pretty cool if it came to fruition.
• The Juicy Cerebellum (a small but moderately popular online movie mag/personal site) recently held a readers’ poll todetermine the Top Fifty Movies of All Time… Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy were all included, the former two within the top twenty.
• Another small Dogma site has popped up on the web, this one dedicated to being AGAINST the Catholic League’s protest ofDogma! Interesting concept. Doesn’t look like the editorialize too much, in fact, they printed most of the League’spress releases and propaganda against the film. They link to us, though, so they’re cool in our book!
• Finally today, here’s something cool that was just uncovered – Oni Press’s Grrl Scouts, issue #2, gives our site a friendly plug in the back of the issue, in references to Oni Press stuff on the web. They say, “…For all the latest Kevin updates, www.newsaskew.com is invaluable. The webmasters keep it updated regularly, and often seem to know things even before we do.”. Hey, we try! Thanks, Joe & Jamie!

• Nothing to report today, actually, but some folks have been telling us they just like seeing an update here, and we’ve got a few minutes, so, what the hell.

First of all, yep, it’s a shame what happened with a lot of the online DVD outlets last month. Basically, it just seems that they experienced an extremely high volume of orders last month, with the Ghostbusters Special Edition (a great DVD), Clerks, Kubrick’s box set, and more…Add to the fact that coupons were floating around making prices ridiculously low, and you’ve got yourself a big shortage, slow shipments, mistakes, and more. We finally got all caught up on orders about a week after stuff was due to be released, and it seems that both Buy & Reel have gotten back on track, for the most part. A lot of you sent in horror stories, and we feel for ya, and hope it all works out if it hasn’t already.

Many of you have also been mailing us about the TONS of sly View Askew references that were left in the latest DareDevil ish. Rest assured, we know about them all (finally), and will update the page with the info soon. Thanks all!

See ya later!

• The new issuse of Premiere Magazine has a blurb about Dogma in an article about the Cannes Film Festival, as well as some new shots from the festival. Click the thumbs to enlarge the pics, and read on for the text:

Kevin Smith Salma Hayek Ben Affleck Ben & Salma

…Spike Lee used Cannes to re-spin his film into a potentially hot summer movie; Harvey Weinstein, meanwhile, needed to transform his religious hot potato Dogma into a marketable picture. After the executives at Disney, Miramax’s parent company, got wind of the content of Kevin Smith’s raucous Catholic farce, Harvey and brother Bob were forced to buy back the film for $14 million (a higher figure than the movie’s actual $10 million price tag). “Disney was too clear a target,” Harvey says. “I bought the movie, so we took Disney out of the equation. Whatever protests there are, artists have to be able to express themselves.”

The Weinsteins wanted the cachet of getting their picture into the competition, but Jacob balked, so they settled for an official out-of-competition slot. (Harvey Weinstein believes that Jacob favored American movies with French backing, such as Lynch’s The Straight Story and Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, both of which were financed by Canal Plus.) “I just needed the critics to go out there and say, “There’s nothing blasphemous going on here. Its not like the Clerks guy is thumbing his nose at the church for two hours,”‘ says Smith. “It is far from [Miramax release] Priest. I can understand somebody being outraged that you portray the local reverend as a guy who cruises for ass and goes down on dudes in the sacristy. But there’s nothing in this movie that’s like that.” There are, however, a couple of gun-toting fallen angels, played by charismatic rising stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who go on a bloody killing spree. Ripe material for misinterpretation, to say the least. But after weathering three U.S. test screenings of Dogma (where audience members included Universal head Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Lions Gate Films chief Jeff Sackman, whose company Cinepix Film Properties used to release Miramax films in Canada), Weinstein, who had become increasingly agitated over the prospects of a Priest, or even a Last Temptation of Christ-level hailstorm, which could threaten his company and his family, got himself back into festival form when he hit the Riviera. He charmed Roger Ebert at the packed American Pavilion. At his annual AMFAR Cinema Against AIDS benefit, he brought Dogma stars Affleck and Salma Hayek onto the auction stage for the audience – and for the photographers. “Wasn’t it brave of Ben and Matt to play those bad guys?” he asked, working the room. Weinstein wisely saved the Dogma press screening for the end of the festival, when the punchy American press would welcome a little diversion. Outside the theater after the screening, Weinstein had the media eating out of his hand. Later, he tracked down Smith and said, “Nobody’s upset. Everyone thinks the movie’s very faithful.” Smith replied, “Welcome to the club.” For all his complaints about this out-of-touch, hopelessly arcane film festival, Weinstein got what he came to Cannes for: critical support and credibility for his orphan film. At press time, Smith was whittling Dogma down to under two hours, and Lions Gate was expected to close a deal to buy it…

• Anyone still waiting for your Clerks DVD from buy.com? You’re not alone. We hear that some orders were screwed up (which is why we tend to stay away from these guys unless it’s a REALLY cheap deal), so be sure and give them a call if you’ve still got a disc in the waiting! Don’t get screwed!
• The Malco Forest Hill Cinema in Memphis, TN is having Midnight showings of “Clerks” on Fri-Sat, July 16 and 17.
• A fan of our site asked if we could plug his Kevin Smith-inspired site, Stick Bus Online (www.stickbus.com). It features news, reviews, and links to their original work. There ya go, boys.
• There is a review for Matt Damon‘s upcoming flick, “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, over at Aint-It-Cool-News.
• By the way, yep, that’s Casey Affleck in an “American Pie” cameo. We kept forgetting to mention it.
• Finally today, we’re proud to offer a new version of the Mallrats wallpaper for Windows, and a brand NEW Chasing Amy Wallpaper, both courtesy of Vinh. They’re available in our ever-growing Files Askew section. Enjoy!

• All we can say is…JM Kenny is a god! Not THE God, but A god anyway. He made sure that our Mallrats DVD copies were rushed to us…What a welcome sight it was to see them waiting when I got back from work today! Thanks, JM! We’ve got lots of watching to do, folks, but promise to be back with a BIG Mallrats DVD review when it’s all over! ‘Til then…

WE’RE BACK! Wow. What a FANTASTIC DVD! But you knew that already. Read on…