• In the past, when we’ve rolled out new versions of the site, we’ve been concentrating on the visuals, but not much more. This time, we’re going about ten steps further — Let’s run down just some of the new stuff you’ll see starting this Saturday.

Most importantly, we’re moving into a brand new content management system called WordPress. This impressive system allows us the ability to fully manage our news database, as well as a lot of other aspects of the site, in one simple interface. For the first time, we’ve got the ability to categorize stories in more specific ways. Wanna see stories just relating to “Chasing Amy”? We can do that. However, going back through the news database is going to take some time, there’s a LOT of stories out there in our new database. But we’re making progress every day.

What are you here for every day? Why the news, of course. So we’ve been giving the MOST care to the actual news, past and present. That includes spelling fixes, link corrections, formatting, optimizing, categorizing, and the like. We’re still NEWS Askew, after all — So we’re going to go out on a limb here and say this is the best news database we’ve ever offered you. In fact, we’ve got some cool stats to share with you later this week, just to demonstrate how far we’ve come in the last 10 years.

So what else? A new events system is being built, which will offer up a calendar that allows you easy access to all View Askew related events, past and present. Heck, we’re even working on building some iCalendar integration into it for you Mac users out there.

A highly improved archive search will be available on launch day. You’ll have a much zippier interface letting you jump right into any month, any year, and any category. Headlines available in a very readable format with the click of your mouse.

Restored news — A chunk of our database was lost in a crash last year. All that news has been restored thanks to our backups as well as the fine folks over at the Wayback archives.

Polls – Polls will be back, functional, and regularly updated with new stuff for you to vote on. We’ve also entered several years of past polls into our new poll system, and hope to have every single poll available for viewing by launch or soon after. Yep, not only will we give you new stuff to vote on, but we’re also going to let you look at our incredible poll history.

Interactive comments – We’ve always encouraged user comments here at News Askew — The new site is no different. In addition to offering up a free, open registration for commenting on each and every story we post, our new comment system supports the OpenID platform (allowing you to use one ID and password on a large network of sites). We’ve got a lot more in store for the comment system, including the potential to add your own avatars, like you do at the forums.

And finally, interface — News Askew will look a LOT different for you this weekend, and at first it’ll be a bit of a shock. We’re developing this new site using the “Web 2.0” style of design — Fairly minimal, colorful, simple. The test site’s looking a lot different than our current production site, and we’re currently working on adding some of those elements back. The key for us will be finding a balance between bland and overload. We’re also striving for a site that looks and works exactly the same regardless of your device and platform — Yep, that means regardless of if you’re surfing us on Mac or PC, iphone or big screen monitor, News Askew should look and work the same. As developers, it’s a challenge — But it’s one that we welcome and we feel will bring News Askew up to today’s technology, and beyond.

Are we tired? Yep. Are we excited? Even more so. More news on what’s coming this weekend with the next update. We’re working overtime to get things as pretty as we can. Stick around for an exciting week, and a milestone weekend.

• Sorry this one took so long, folks — We had trouble tracking down a manageable clip of this one for your download — At any rate, we’re now very pleased to present (both for you, and our muiltimedia archives), Kevin’s June call-in to the “Opie & Anthony” radio program. Keep in mind, this is satellite radio and uncensored. We’ve taken the clips and shrunk them down into an optimized MP3 format for your downloading and listening pleasure. Click away and enjoy.

• Kevin’s doing some radio press these days, in promotion of “Live Free or Die Hard” as well as what he’s been up to lately with the new scripts. As you know, press is sometimes last minute, though we’re going to run down this first big appearance, which is scheduled to run a full TWO HOURS — Here’s where and when you can listen to hear the man himself (along with the great Scott Mosier, who’s joining Kevin this weekend in what looks like an almost-live SModcast):

You can find out more details, live links, etc and their website, www.971freefm.com. Don’t miss it, this Saturday at 7 PM PST!

• Hey Canadians and those of you with the means to cross over — The Brian O’Halloran starring “Drop Dead Roses” will have a benefit screening at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto this SATURDAY, July 7th, 9:30 PM, to raise money and awareness for Dark Features’ next flick — We attended a big NYFF screening of this, and it’s a fun flick, definitely worth the trip in to see — Best of all, cast and crew will be on hand, possibly even Mr. O’Halloran himself (not yet confirmed). The theater is located at Bathurst and Bloor. Admission is $8 (CDN, of course, which doesn’t make much difference when compared to USD these days).
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• On July 7, 1997, when the web as we know it was still in its infancy, we began a crusade to track all the latest news relating to Kevin Smith, View Askew, and anything ancillary. We called it “News Askew”. This Saturday, July 7th, 2007, we celebrate TEN YEARS of continued service to fans like you. With .com sites coming and going, changing interests, eveolving lives, most sites like ours either disappear, change hands, or just lose popularity. So, to be where we are, 10 years later, we’re extremely proud to say that we’ve kept News Askew running for this long, and that the site’s more popular than ever before.

So, we thought, how do we celebrate such a major event? This Saturday, we’re going to mark it with the unveiling of our most ambitious project yet — News Askew X. The new site will not be a mere redesign, but rather, a completely new basis of news presentation. We’ve taken all the stuff that’s worked over the past 10 years, and (hopefully) made it even better. There’s a lot to talk about, so we’ll be spending this week teasing you with some tidbits each day. Tomorrow, we’ll run down a bunch of the new features that you’ll find at the site.

Now, a word of caution, as well — When we began this project, we had no idea how involved it would be — For lack of a better phrase, we bit off more than we could chew. Plus, the more we looked at things, the more ideas we kept getting. So, what we’re rolling out this weekend will not be feature complete. It should be quite workable, without taking away anything that’s currently available. However, the features and redesign will continue, even after this weekend.

More details on the way tomorrow – News Askew X, coming your way in just 5 days.

• If you haven’t heard, film critic Joel Siegel passed away a few days ago. Siegel made news here at the site when he loudly walked on on a Clerks II press screening last year. We hadn’t planned on mentioning his passing, though it seems many of the obituaries recalled their tiff. So, Kevin made a brief comment on the web board expressing condolences, which then turned into a blog post, a few bits of which we have straight ahead:

As for all the scoopers who wrote in with the news, sorry we don’t have you all listed up there — We were debating mentioning this at all, but felt compelled to at least run Kevin’s post. Our condolences to the friends, family, and fans of Mr. Siegel.

• Kevin’s smiling face appeared on the front page of USA Today’s website yesterday, as he managed to snag 2 of the precious new iPhones from Apple — The cool new devices (as we’re sure you know) act as ipods and phones, and represent some of the coolest tech out there. Gosh, Kevin, we’re flattered, you shouldn’t have! But seriously…Kevin’s been a fan of Apple’s products for a long time now, so it’s no surprise that he wanted a couple right away. As for us, we’re waiting for the hopeful 3G version that’s rumored for early next year, that will work out some bugs and also offer higher speed internet connections on the AT&T network. For those of you elite folks with the phones, enjoy — We’re cetainly envious! Good on Apple for continuing to deliver the bleeding edge of gadgets.
• In other iPhone-related news, Kevin’s purchase was also mentioned on tech site Boing Boing — The more we read about this phone, the cooler it looks. We’re thinking this may even allow us sleeker reporting from the field when on News Askew on location events — Definitely a LOT easier than lugging that big ‘ol laptop around.
• Apparently, we missed a surprise call-in that Kevin made to the Opie and Anthony show late last month to promote “Die Hard” — He did about 45 minutes on the air with the duo on the June 22nd show. If any of you O&A collectors out there might have some MP3 clippage for us, let us know. We’d like to add it to our archives here.
• The notiously tough critics over at Playboy magazine even dig the new “Die Hard” flick — Giving it 3 and a half “bunny heads”. After being out for 5 days now, it’s still enjoying a 78% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes which is quite good as well. See it on the big screen, especially for those of you on extended holiday week/weekends!
• The title of this YouTube video, “Chasing Amydala” may fool you — It’s actually done as a tribute to “Clerks”. And while you’re over on YouTube, don’t miss dramatic hamster/chipmunk, the clip that’s taking the internet by storm. See ya next time!

• The jury’s in, folks, and “Live Free or Die Hard” is a HUGE winner with critics — Many, many positive comments about Kevin’s appearance in the film too, including a nice comment in this very positive CNN/AP review :

But hey, there’s SO MUCH more than that — Kevin’s recent blog post collects heaps of links and text from all the e-love that’s been spreading for both the film and his performance. Kevin says:

Kevin goes on to list the undeniable evidence with the review clips, all of which you can see over at the Boring-Ass Life blog.

Oh, and on a final note, this Filmstew piece reveals just how important the “Warlock scene” is to the film:

Cheers from the crowd at the press screening? YEAH!

So have we convinced you yet? Check out “Live Free or Die Hard”. Starring Kevin Smith…Oh, and Bruce Willis too — In theaters everywhere NOW!

• MTV Movies Blog comes up with a revealing new blurb from Kevin regarding the next two projects that we’ll be spending a lot of time with here at News Askew: “Red State” and “Zack & Miri Make A Porno”. They reveal two interesting points (some of which we’ve speculated before, though it’s interesting to see the quotes). First up, Kevin wants to make “Red State” with a bunch of unknowns. Like a totally unknown cast. We love the idea. Also, this article marks the first time in print that we’re seeing Kevin admit that the filming may be flopped, with “Zack & Miri” coming first. After all, the flick’s already got a script, a budget, and some nice buzz from that Entertainment Weekly script page last week. Here’s the article:

Kevin Smith Leaves Entourage At Home For ‘Red State’

Kevin Smith so loves working with the same group of actors, he once joked that had he directed “Jaws,” he’d “cast Ben Affleck as the shark.” But according to the director, familiar faces won’t be found in Smith’s upcoming “Red State,” a horror movie about religious fundamentalism.

“’Red State’ I would like to do with completely unknown people. I think it would be tough to settle into a horror movie if you’re like, ‘Hey! That’s the Snootchie-Bootchies guy,’” Smith deadpanned.

So no Jason Mewes, no Jason Lee, and no Jeff Anderson. But what about Bruce Willis, who Smith met while filming a cameo on “Live Free or Die Hard”? “Bruce Willis would never do one of my flicks,” smith laughed. “In a million years he wouldn’t. Dude would be like, ‘No way, I don’t want to put the kibosh on my career, man. I hitch my wagon to your star, forget it, we’re plummeting,’ Justin Long though, maybe one day. If he’s feeling charitable.”

Originally slated to be his next project, “Red State” may wind up being pushed back so Smith can next film “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” (A page of which was recently posted by “Entertainment Weekly”).

“I went to go work on ‘Zack and Miri,’ so I’m still working on the script for ‘Red State,’” Smith told MTV News. “We’re not sure. We were going to shoot ‘Red State’ first and then ‘Zack and Miri’ second, but we might flip-flop ’em, [do] ‘Zack and Miri’ first. Script’s done [and] it’s out to actors now. We’ve just submitted our budget so we’re trying figure out if we’ll shoot in the fall or in the winter.”

Thanks to MTV for the story.

• The Guardian (England National Daily Newspaper) listed its “1000 Movies To See Before You Die” this week, and named “Mallrats” as one of those films. Continued vindication for the film that at one point was considered a “flop” – It’s now the biggest cult hit of the View Askew bunch.
• Could this be an obscure View Askew reference? A fan watching the Edward Burns flick titled “Looking for Kitty” noticed a possible reference – A scene with a fanboy type asking a detective if he’d met him at a comic book convention in Red Bank. Could be?

• In this Youtube Video, featuring a panel with the cast and creators of the movie ‘Fanboys’, they discuss Kevin’s cameo and similarities between their movie and some of his. The Q&A took place at the recent Star Wars Celebration IV.