‘Good Will Hunting’ got nominations galore. Ben and Matt for screenplay, Matt for peformance, Robin for performance, the flick itself for best picture.

But the BIG news is a certain squeaky-voiced actress…

Joey got nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.

I feel very proud.

It’s a nice way to end the Year of Askew.

Sorry I haven’t been around much, but it’s been busy around here.

Last weekend, we shot eight Jay and Silent Bob shorts for Mtv. We had fun (except Scott, who’s always stuck with getting this silliness organized), and captured what we all felt was some funny-ass shit on film. There’s a great Steve-Dave and Walt appearance, as well as the introduction of Jay’s (Askewniverse) sister, and an answer for anybody who ever wondered what happened to Mister Svenning’s assistant, Roddy.

Props to good Will Hunting himself (our boy Matty) who made the trek to Jersey last weekend to turn in yet another Oscar-worthy performance.

They won’t air until Feb/March, but we may have some early stuff for you guys to see up here in late January.

Straight from that, I’ve been knee-deep in the Coke ad. We shoot this weekend, at the Central Park Zoo, of all places.

I’m told ‘Amy’ was the first runner-up in both the LA and Boston Critics Cirlce Awards, and the second or third runner-up in New York. To me, this meant little (I don’t think runner-ups get certificates of any kind), but it seems to mean a great deal to Miramax – they feel it bodes well for the flick in terms of the Golden Globes (which are announced Thursday) and the Oscars (which are announced in Feb).

Rumor has it that Joey’s got a strong chance of getting nominated for a Golden Globe (the Hollywood Foreign PressAssociation – the folks who sponsor the Golden Globes – was absolutely in love with her).

Miramax ran its first-ever ‘For Your Consideration’ ad on our behalf last week in Variety. Needless to say, it’s being framed.

Meanwhile, Vulgarthon confirmation cards went out this week. Most – if not all – of you good people who secured tickets should be seeing them in your mailbox pretty soon.

To confirm suspicions aired here last week, Holden McNeil is indeed involved with Emma… so to speak.

And I’m happy to report that the ‘Good Will Hunting’ screenplay is available from Miramax books. Pick it up – it is – hands-down – the best screenplay of the year.

I probably won’t be around much over the next few days, so please try to behave in my absence.

Just think – in a little over two weeks, this board’s going to be more devoid of posts than perhaps even the first day on its inception.

What about giving something back in the name of VA…I know it will be after the holiday season BUT there is a soup kitchen in Red Bank that could surely replenish their stock of canned goods. What if each one of us brought a can of something. You could have a box in the front of the theater and I would take responsibility for getting the stuff to the kitchen (although I might need some help getting it to my car). Just a thought…I mean 400+ cans of food is a lot and it would be a way for VAers to show their generosity. I’m just throwing it out there…No flames please…it’s too close to Christmas

Q : Why endorse a product you obviously don’t believe in?

A : Have I ever been rabidly anti-Coke on this board? I don’t think so.

I like Coke – hell, who doesn’t? But do I drink Coke much? Not really. Why? Because I’m overweight, and don’t need anymore sugar than I ordinarily take in. So I drink diet Soda. And – to me – the best tasting diet soda on the market: Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi. But in a perfect world what would I rather be drinking? Coke (or Pepsi) – something sweet and syrupy (in fact, fuck the carbonated water, just give me a cup of straight Coke syrup).

But is this any reason to do a commercial? It helps that I do believe in the product to some degree, but even that’s a minor consideration (so long as I’m not making a commercial for ‘Anti-Putty’s Cat-Killing Elixir’ or an Ed Burns flick, I think my ethics are in order).

The real reason to do any job, some would argue, is what one makes to do said job. Does that factor in here? Fuck yes – let’s not be unrealistically, idealistically naive.

For my money, however, the real reason to do any job is for the experience.

One day, this well that keeps me in comics and long coats is going to dry up, and I’ll have no more stories to tell.Will I direct a feature that I didn’t write? As we’ve already established here many times – no. Might commercials be a viable form of gainful employment in my twilight years? Could be.

But in order to find out (if I like the process, if I’m any good at it), I’ve gotta try it out.

And so here we are.

The thing I enjoy about it the most so far is that the lack of authorship in the text allows me to be far more collaborative and laid back in the organization and set-up of the spot – I’m letting people do their jobs, as opposed to taking their responsibilities out of their hands as I usually try to do when making one of our flicks. I think that’s going to rub off in a positive way as we head into the flick that I’m going to have to relinquish more anal retentive control over than I’ve ever had to before (I mean, let’s be honest – I, myself, do not know how to make a CGI shit monster; someone else’s gotta take the reins on that one).

It’s a positive thing all around. I’ve been able to gainfully employ some of my people (who aren’t going to get paid boatloads of cash to work on either the Mtv shorts or ‘Dogma’). I get to stand beside DP Dave one last time before I’m made to stand beside a stranger (but don’t worry – Dave’ll be back on the flick after ‘Dogma’). And I get to watch the Superbowl for once, and actually look forward to seeing something – my commercial.

Believe me – if I ever ‘sold out’, I’d be the first to admit it (why not? I admit everything else in this forum).

But doing a commercial for Coke has not brought me to that point yet. Like those crazy kids in ‘Empire’, I’m selling records (or rather, soda), but I’m not selling out, man.

Q : How are you going to be able to sign stuff with 450 people there?
A : I’ll manage (even if it means staying past the last shows).

Q : You said you had a flick order set, did this change because of 2 theaters running now? If there are still set orders what are they?
A : Theatre One: Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, A Better Place, and Drawing Flies.
Theatre Two: Drawing Flies, A Better Place, Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy.

Q : Does what time we ordered our tickets matter which theater we get in?
A : I don’t think it matters. But to be honest, I’m not sure how we’re going to do it just yet. It may be by alphabetical order, or it may be first come, first serve.

Commentary Clips :

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Following the commentary session, Kevin and friends discussed the shared ordeal of talking about the movie for four hours in a small room, fully equipped with snacks.

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Movie critic Bob Mondello has a review of the latest film from director Gus Van Sant, called “Good Will Hunting”. The movie was written by and stars two young actors who are getting a lot of buzz in Hollywood…Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Mondello says it’s a wonderful film, and that he would not be surprised to see the film garner Academy Award nominations.The Entire Review (Real Audio Format)