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Kevin Talks About Stuff…

December 8th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Here it is again, folks. One of those Kevin posts just chock full ‘o info about this and that. Check it out:
‘Good Will Hunting’ did phenomenal numbers in its limited bow (NY and LA). We’re all very happy about that.

Many thanks to gramp – he dropped off a tape of Ben-on-Len(o).

We’re doing the Mtv shorts next weekend, and I may be directing a Coke commercial the week after that.

Props to all-around decent guy Robert Rodriguez, who talked me down from hysterics over whether or not I could visually pull off ‘Dogma’. I confessed that, at one point, I’d considered handing it over to him to direct (so terrified I was to take on this monster) and – being a big fan of the script – he said he would’ve liked that. Robert was kind enough to help demystify for me what seemed like a daunting task: moving the camera. Many thanks, my friend.

On another name-dropping front, Mark Millar (who had a brilliant run on ‘Swamp Thing’ and now writes ‘The Flash’ with Grant Morrison) dropped me a long letter about his thoughts on the Supes script (which he really liked) and on his Batman/Superman theory, which I thought I’d share with you all:

“Batman is popular during periods of economic stability and nation-wide confidence; a symbol of what can be achieved if we work hard. Superman was created by two kids during the Depression to lift our spirits, and he’s at his most popular in times of crisis and fear. This explains Batman’s popularity in post-war forties, sixties, and eighties, and Superman’s dominance during the thirties, the cold war-fifties, and the oil crisis seventies. A new millienium and the inevitable financial slump which we’re heading for, thanks to the Pacific Rim economic collapse and the introduction of a Eurpean Single Currency, makes me think it’s Superman’s turn to be number one again. People are going to be desperate to see a guy with flight, super-breath and microscopic vision again to provide some form of escape from the down-side of the economic cycle.”

That being said (and said quite well, I might add), he went on to question Jon Peters Batman-like take on ‘Superman Lives’ (which I’ve always objected to for a completely different set of reasons, not the least of which being that Superman is not an angst-ridden character, unless the angst is over his inability to be everywhere at once in an effort to prevent all disasters, deaths, and accidents). He also made mention of two great mini-series’ he’s working on: one’s an Elseworld’s tale about the Man of Steel as raised in another nation (under a Red sun, if you catch my drift), and the other’s a ‘Watchmen with villains. I’m looking forward to both in a big way (if you haven’t read any of Mark’s stuff, I’d suggest picking up the last two years of ‘Swamp Thing’, prior to the book’s finale; the man lived up to Alan Moore’s run on the book – no easy feat, that).

‘Jackie Brown’ premiere tomorrow night!

Guess we’ll not only be treated to Kevin’s first film containing special effects with Dogma, but the first with some serious camera movement as well! Should be good. As for the MTV shortsand the Coke commercial (unbeknownst to us until this post!), all we can say is…Super Cool.

Rolling Stone Cheers Amy At Year’s End…

December 8th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

View Askew NewsBites™

December 7th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • The positive “Good Will Hunting” press continues. In the past few days, I’ve read about the flick in Newsweek and USA Today. I also caught a blurb on MTV News with a scene featuring Ben and Matt. The flick opens in limited release on Christmas and goes wide on January 23rd. Thanks to Carrie for making sure we didn’t miss the MTV thing.
  • Frank Gallagher quote us to tell us that Disney has decided to close Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. This is a blow that strikes Brodie fans everywhere. Read his post here.
  • Remember a while ago when we asked folks from the Pittsburgh area to write and ask for Kevin to come out there for an appearance? Well, Mike Richwalsky wrote to thank usand tell us that they got their wish. Kevin will appear at Duquesne University on January 15th at 7:30. Tickets haven’t been made available yet, but they will go fast. If anyone wants to come they can call the Duquesne Program Council at (412) 396-6619 or they can call Frank directly at (412) 396-6685.
  • Frank Caira wrote to tell us that Chasing Amy was featured in a question on the cheesy cable TV game show called “Debt”. It was a special celebrity show, and the question regarding the movie was answered by none other than Gil Gerard, TV’s Buck Rodgers. Where’s that guy been, anyway?

Clerks in Previews…

December 7th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Oni Press is working up the hype for the Clerks comic release, which we believe shows up on shelves in February. This bit was found in the latest issue of Previews (VOL. VII NO. 12):
CONVENIENCE STORE COMICS!

No, no, this isn’t a story about finding comics at the 7-11. This is a story about those wacky Clerks and their arrival in the comic book world! Dante, Randall, and even Jay and Silent Bob are coming from the movie house to your house, courtesy of the man who created them – writer/director Kevin Smith – and Oni Press.

Clerks: The Comic Book #1 marks Smith’s full length comic book writing debut, as he brings the slacker mentality and profane dialogue that made clerks a cult hit to the comic book medium. Trust us – you haven’t seen GenX hip until you’ve seen Smith cut loose! In the premier issue, Randall tries to convince Dante that wealth is a matter of Star Wars collectibles. Hmm. A persuasive argument could be made, to be sure.

Illustrated by Jim Mahfood (who also recently provided art for theGeneration X one-shot), Clerks: The Comic Book promises to be an insightful look into slacker culture, a penetrating glare deep into the heart and soul of America, and a darn comical funny book. The introductory issue also features a cover by none other than Gilbert Hernandez, so what are you waiting for? Clerks has something for everybody, and with Smith at the helm, you’reguaranteed that this is one comic book that will be faithful to the original

Scoop courtesy of Brian Futile.

Oni Press Announced In Comic Shop News…

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad @ Chris

Click Here To Read Kevin's Column

  • Thanks to Twilight Man for sending us this scan from Comic Shop News. It’s a little blurb about Oni Press and what they’re doing with Kevin. We’re too lazy to type it in, so check out the scan and read it by clicking here or on the thumbnail. It may take a little time to come down, the pic is quite large. If we get some more time, we’ll try and type this in for you to make it an easier read.

ViewAskew In Details Magazine…

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Fishhead e-mailed us a BUNCH of stuff from this month’s Details magazine. Here’s his mail, he explains it pretty well. Take it away:
In the new Details Mag (December 1997… the one with Courteney Cox almost NAKED on the cover) there is a BUNCH of VA shit…. just sneak a peak!

Page 60 : In a short interview with Harmony Korine (that idiot who wrote KIDS… and said it was all about real life… this guy got me grounded for a week…) he bashes Kevin Saying:

“If that guy is the voice of my generation, I’ll kill myself. That guy’s the worst fucking filmmaker. He’s a comic book. He’s a disgrace to the film world. His movies arn’t even films, they’re like bad television. There is no understanding of cinema.

page 92 : an interview with Gus Van Sant about “Good Will Hunting” but I’m not gonig to type all that out…

Page 165 : A conversation with Claire Forlani (of Mallrats fame).

Page 167 : Superman stuff… and Ben Affleck/ Matt Damon Stuff.

Sounds like a worthy purchase to us. You can find the issue out on the newsstands as we speak.

Jason Lee Resurfaces…

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Well, it’s good to see that ‘ol Jason’s still around and getting some work. Thanks to Bill Minter for the scoop!
UNIVERSAL PICKS “KISSING A FOOL” FOR EARLY 1998
by indieWIRE

Director and screenwriter, Doug Ellin, sold the US and Canadian rightsfor KISSING A FOOL to Universal Pictures. Produced by Tag Mendillo,Andrew Form and Rick Lashbrook, FOOL is about a “young man engaged to be married, who becomes insecure about commitment and enlists his bestfriend in a test to see if his fiancee will cheat on him.” While thefilm stars David Schwimmer, one of television’s FRIENDS, the cast alsoincludes Jason Lee, (CHASING AMY, MALLRATS) and Mili Avital (JimJarmusch’s DEAD MAN). Universal is planning an early 1998 release for FOOL. Largo Entertainment is distributing internationally

Five Questions with Ben & Matt…

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad @ Chris

  • We caught this post by ClerkDante and thought you might enjoy reading it. It’s an article and short interview with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon (Sheesh, those guys are EVERYWHERE!). Anyway, check out our local copy of it here.

That just about wraps it up for today. As always, we’ll be around “When we’re around” this weekend with all the latest. See ya next time!

Commentary

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

We’re back. Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday. This was due to our Internet provider going down for almost the entire day yesterday without warning. Just one of those things you can’t control. We’ve got some news to catch up on, so here we go…

Kevin & The Gang At The GWH Premiere…

December 5th, 1997 @ 12:00 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Spork Girl spotted this post by Kev. It’s a nice little post and explains why he hasn’t posted in the past couple of days, we assume:
First off, let me just say for the record that there is no greater soul on this planet than Ben Affleck. You gotta love a guy who interupts his convo with Ed Zwick to give you a bear hug.

Matty too. I was groped by a couple of cover boys, for God’s sake (Matty on Vanity Fair this month, Ben on GQ next month). And if you’ve seen their photo spread in this month’s Interview, it’d make you wonder if these guys are really affectionate, or just plain man-eaters.

In attendance from Crew Askew: Kim, Scott, Jay, Bry, Dave,Bob, and me. My family (mom, dad, bro, sis) went, which was nice, as well as my agent.

In attendance from the flick (including of course Ben and Matty): Casey, Minnie, and Gus.

In attendance from the Miramax family: everyone, including a very jovial and complimentary Harvey.

In attendance ’cause the shit was free, no doubt: Vince Vaughn, Gwyneth Paltrow, that chick t.v.’s ‘Ellen’ is like married to, Marisa Tomei, Ed Zwick, Lorne Michaels, Kathleen Turner, Liv Tyler, and many, many others – not the least of which was the board’s own (though really his OWN man, and not the board’s at all) D-Nice (who’s been doing some time on ‘Armagaedon’ with Ben, and has a great Willis/shirtless Affleck tale to tell if you ply him for it).

‘Twas a great time (considering how much I hate crowded gigs), and it was nice to be there for the last stop prior to this brilliant flick’s introduction to the world.

And I won’t lie – it was nice to see my name on the screen as well…

Especially on such a quality film.

“Good Will Hunting” has been getting some outstanding reviews from what we’ve seen so far. Miramax should have another winner on their hands if they market this thing right. Looking foward to seeing it!