• Remember that you read it here first…Kevin and crew proudly announced at VulgarThon that the film following Dogma will be CLERKS 2!!! Kevin is hoping to get ALL the key players back (including Jeff Anderson as Randall) as well as include every single character that EVER appeared in the Askewniverse. This will, for the time being anyway, be the “ultimate Jersey flick”.

After we heard this exciting news, we were lucky enough to chat with Brian O’Halloran for a few minutes (a real nice guy by the way) about the flick. He’s very excited about the project and hopes very much that Anderson will return. He also gave us some inside possibilities in plot information, but we wouldn’t want to spoil that for you, would we?

• A guy who calls himself KingPoopie (why, we don’t want to know) sent us this tidbit today. Apparently, the Film Threat e-newsletter did a little article on the death of independent film, and it included this little slam on Kevin:

Wow, slamming Kev for this Fletch thing seems to be a popular thing to do these days. We suppose that, on the surface, the whole notion sounds a bit strange, but hearing him say things regarding how much he’s enjoyed the Fletch books and how they inspired him to write the good dialogue that he does in his films, it all starts to make sense. Kevin’s a big fan of the Fletch novels, and we think he’ll do a fine job with the script. Not to mention, it allows him the chance to give back and contribute to an area that’s been instrumetnal in making him the writer and filmmaker that he is today. But that’s just OUR opinion.

• We’ve gotten quite a few requests for information on the new Ben Affleck movie “Phantoms” recently. So, here’s a quick plot summary and the full-length trailer for you to look at:

Yesterday Snowfield, Colorado, was a charming little town basking in the golden afternoon sun. Today it is a place of nightmare.

An ancient, awesome force has spirited away almost the entire population of the town and left the bodies of those remaining bizarrely disfigured.

What hope can there be for the few still left alive … ?

Unfortunately, this looks like a sub-par TV-like creature feature movie, which, we suppose, if done properly, could be fun, at least. But frankly, we’re a bit worried…Time will tell.

• Hey folks. It’s 10:00 and we’re gonna hit the trail and start the trek into Red Bank. We should hit town around 1:00 or so if all goes well…Probably make a stop at the Stash before hitting the Courtyard Marriott where we hope to hook up with some of you (We hear quite a few folks have arrived already!).

Be sure to look for us and come up and say hi. Check our pic at the top of the Rutgers page if you wanna see our ugly mugs…We look pretty much the same except for the pathetic goatee I (Brad) am attempting to grow.

Anyway, of course there will be no updates until Tuesday, upon which time we’ll have a TON of work do catching up with the news AND creating the VulgarThon Wrap-Up page. Until then, look forward to seeing you there!

• Well, what can we say, no one’s perfect…We hate to miss Askew-related appearances on TV, and we just got word about it a LITTLE too late. Thanks to Twilight Man for trying to wake us up with an e-mail, but it was just past our bedtime.

Craig Nathanson wrote to tell us that they talked about Joey being nominated for the Golden Globe for “Chasing Amy”, and she said that she is starring in a new movie with Vince Vaughn (from “Swingers”), which should be out later this year. Also, her hair is now apparently a reddish-brown color. Thanks also to Aaron Yostfor writing us with similar information.

If anyone would like to send us a copy of the tape, we’d be happy to accept.

• This kind of stuff usually never pans out, but we thought we’d mention this anyway, just in case it does (so we don’t look bad). Thanks to Joe Meli for the blurb:

• Just a few quick thoughts before we end the news for today…Tomorrow we’ll be leaving for Red Bank and VulgarThon. Kevin says, “Everything’s in place for Monday. Got some great guests coming.” Wonder who they’ll be? It’ll be cool to be surprised, we suppose. Also, we were lucky enough to catch a screening of “Good Will Hunting” tonight…Good flick. We got there a little late and the place was PACKED, which always makes it tough to get comfy and enjoy a movie, but the screenplay was definitely well-written, with good performances all around, and the audience certainly seemed to have a good time.

That’s all for today. We’ll say a few words before we depart for the ‘thon tomorrow, so check the site before you leave!

• Rob Unck sends us the news of Amy reaching yet another top 10 listfrom 1997, this one being from Mr. Showbiz:

• Nolan Reese set up a site for View Askew-related tape trading (Not the flicks, but interviews, specials, and the like…) and we think it’s a good idea. With Kev being the self-proclaimed “press whore” that he is, this should make it easier for you to catch all that stuff you missed…Check it out here.
• Here’s a part of an article from the San Mateo County Times on Tuesday, December 30, 1997-

Thanks to Rain for sending in the clip.

• We hit 45,000 today…Thanks to Devin Clancy for writing us withthe news. It’s no 50,000, but it’s not too shabby, either.
• BiggityBam was watching the PBS and spotted an obscure, but interestingfact: Apparently, Ben Affleck once starred in a show called “Voyage of the Mimi” about a group of young people looking for humpback whales who get shipwrecked. “It’s sort of a lesson type show…15 minutes of show, 15 minutes of scientific stuff. He couldn’t have been more than 11 when on the show.”