“Brian Fiete, who co-founded the company along with Jason Kapalka and me, was our primary coder in those days (he’s still our chief tech guru). Right after we made the decision to offer a ‘deluxe’ version of Bejeweled for $19.95, Brian devised a little ‘applet’ that would cause a “cha-ching!” old school cash register sound every time someone actually ponied up $20 for the game. At first it was great fun to hear it go off… on one occasion the three of us were sitting around watching the film “Clerks” and one of the characters said something like “dude, you’ll never get rich sitting around on your ass all day” – and the “cha-ching” sounded and we just fell over laughing… after a couple of days that damned “cha-ching” was going off every minute or two and it was driving us nuts… but that was when we realized we might actually have a hit on our hands.”

Though sculpted and prototyped, production of the CLERKS II InAction Figures are on hold with no released planned for the immediate future. We have a considerable amount of time and money invested in these figures and will do everything we can to make these figures available at some future date.

We thank you for your patience (and support), and ask that you keep your fingers crossed and keep your eye on our websites. Hopefully we’ll be able to get these figures out sometime prior to the 10th Anniversary of Clerks II.

Best,

Bob

We realize this isn’t the news anyone wanted to hear, including us, though now ya know. When we’ve got better news, you’ll read it here.

SMODCAST #103: Amazing Grace

In which a Mother learns the benefits of going green.

Don’t miss it, available immediately now exclusively at www.smodcast.com via downloadable and streaming audio formats.

The hourlong “Blues,” from Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures and Warner Horizon, centers on Dwight Hendricks (Lee), a Memphis police officer who lives with his mother (Celia Weston) and moonlights as a musician.

The pilot, written by Liz Garcia and Joshua Harto and directed by Clark Johnson, co-starred Alfre Woodard, Abraham Benrubi and DJ Qualls. Clooney, Heslov, Garcia and Johnson are executive producers, with Henry Bronchtein and Abby Wolf-Weiss co-executive producing and Harto producing.

Becky Scott

Actress/Film: Rosario Dawson, Clerks II (2006)

Cheating On/With: As manager of a local fast food outlet, she’s relatively footloose; employee Dante Hicks (Brian O’Halloran) on the other hand, with whom she’s apparently been dirtying up the diner tables, really isn’t.

Alright, We Forgive You: Despite being pregnant as a result of their tryst, she tries to let Dante pursue his new life of marital mediocrity in Florida.

And, since every bloke must at some point face the abject humiliation of learning to dance, it might as well happen like [caution: swears] this.

Catch ya next time! Thanks for checking in with News Askew today.

Via @BrandonConsoli “what kind of feel is hit somebody gonna have?” I’m going for FORREST GUMP of sports films. Big valentine to the Game.

Via @LeakingPan “Just got tickets to a prescreening for tomorrow” Score me up, Homey: I wanna make A BIGGER COP OUT after HIT SOMEBODY.

Via @dibbs34 “LOVED The Smomcast. does she return for next weeks as well?” For two solid hours. One of ‘em completely baked. S’awesome.

Re: Toronto’s Roy Thomson Show, Feb 6th – 23 tix freed up on TicketMaster. 63 full view. 48 partial view. http://tinyurl.com/tdotkev

Via @rosecity1980 “ticketmaster is turning me down, sir. says they got nothing…again” Call Roy Thomson box office. They’ve got some there.

DailyDevils: @NHLDevils want to get to 10k followers, and they’re giving out 100 pairs of tickets to do so! http://bit.ly/7bW2hK #devs10k

A request from Jeff Anderson (and a rare chance to get a signed page from his CLERKS II script): http://tinyurl.com/arequestfromjeffanderson

Via @themuckshow “is it worth the 9+hr drive from Ont 2 NJ just to see a store?” It’s gonna be, the weekend of August 2nd…

Yes, all we can confirm right now is that early August weekend will bring something big to Red Bank. But for now…No further deets. When we know, so will you.

Kevin appears as a zombie wearing the classic Monroeville Zombies jersey. This limited edition will be available in your favorite comic shop, as well as through the Stash (pre-order information coming soon if it’s not already there by the time you’re reading this).

The figure is being advertised as having “zero articulation, zero accessories, and zero signs of life”. Gotta love that.

Thanks to Horror-Movies.ca for the info. While it’s still not the long-waited “Clerks 2″ set announcement we’ve wanted, it gets another inaction in the collection, and that’s ok with us.

Me & @smosier sitting down to record SModcast 101 in six hours. No new ep tonight, though. Next week. P.S.-Everything changes with SMod 101.

Via @Choccster “Everything changes with SMod 101? will you start charging?” As long as I can pay for server space, SMod will always be free.

@conantbrian “isn’t there at least the view askew tag?” No – because it’s not a View Askew Production. Peep the billing block and you’ll see I actually have only one less credit than I normally do: writer. Still my flick.

Via @Capn_Midnight “check the tree for wrap-up to BULLSEYE series!” You’ll find an IOU that reads “This year, if Marvel’s still into it.”

Via @FooRay “did you cut the trailer together yourself?” Nah. They have a whole department for that kinda thing.

Via @rtward “You don’t get to edit your own trailer?” Most directors don’t. I’ve cut some online trailers, but filmmakers are not marketers.

Via @jdr822 “proudest moment in your film career?” 8 minute standing ovation for CLERKS II at Cannes: http://clerks2.com/trainwreck/?p=79

Via @Modesix “Why is there only 1 show for Toronto? You know it’s almost sold out already?” Chill: if it sells out, we can just add another.

John Hughes said my name!!! “I saw Clerks, and it made me a little jealous. I wanted to do something similar. I like how he stays in New Jersey and retains that regional flavor. I admire what he’s doing.” Fuck. Thanks Mr. Hughes; the feeling was very mutual.

The full Hughes interview is, one of (if not THE) last he gave.

Becky (Rosario Dawson), Clerks II (2006)

When Dante and Randal’s shop burns down, they find employment at Mooby’s, a fast-food joint.

Finding Rosario Dawson’s Becky as their new manager is a massive turn up for the books.

Becky is hardy and smart, and doesn’t have time for romance. She’s seemingly unattainable, authoritative and very, very sexy.

What she could sell: With one flutter of her eyelashes, she could convince Heather Mills to gorge on a Cowtipper.

“…O’Halloran and Anderson pick up the characters of Dante and Randal so easily it is like they are putting back on their favourite old shirts, making the audience feel as if two old friends have just popped in to let you know what they have been up to recently. The flow of their dialogue is seamless and totally in line with the previous film, something which really could have unravelled the entire movie if it had not been done right.

As always, Jay and Silent Bob add their own personal brand of comic relief throughout the movie and special mention goes out to the two new main additions to this Askewniverse, Rosario Dawson’s Becky and Trevor Fehrman’s Elias, who both slot into this world so brilliantly it is hard to believe this is the first we have seen of them.

…

Clerks II is a sequel that really works and should be made as essential viewing for any Hollywood writer/producer/director who is even thinking of putting a number 2 next to a movie.”

The retrospective will conclude next week with “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”. We’ll then run a post with links to the entire series in case you might have missed any.

CHATHAM — Movie funnyman Jason Mewes is returning here this weekend. The New Jersey-based actor, best known as Jay — as in Jay and Silent Bob — in Clerks and other Kevin Smith films, will perform a stand-up set at the Encore Bar & Nightspot tomorrow night. He filmed a horror film, Silent But Deadly, in Chatham-Kent last year, though he says the film has been “put on hold.” Chatham-Kent, though, is an “interesting place,” he recalled.

Encore Bar is charging $12 at the door for the show tonight. If anyone happened to make it, drop us a line and let us know how the guy fared up there. It’s possible this is just a Q&A that they got mixed up. We’ve heard that some bar-hosted appearances can get a little dicey as far as acoustics and logistics, so tread carefully.