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View Askew NewsBites

January 17th @ 11:32 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Scott, Brad & Chris

  • Entertainment Weekly gives the Kevin Smith iPhone app some much-deserved praise, listing it #3 in their widely-read “Must List” for this week’s issue. At a mere 99 cents, it’s a no-brainer purchase for any Kevin Smith or View Askew fan who’s got iPhone or iTouch and is reading this story. Buy Buy Buy.
  • The “Night of the Living Kev” inaction figure is listed as shipping MID-FEBRUARY from the Stash, so expect it to arrive a little later than it was previously reported (not the Stash’s fault, just a slight production delay). For $17.95 you can get this limited figure signed by Kevin, only from the Stash and not anywhere else. Pre-order today, but order by itself if you’re ordering other items, ‘lest you don’t mind stuff all being held up until the inactions arrive next month.
  • everythingiCafe also gives the app nice ink this week, listing it as their favorite among the iphone “Vanity Apps” out there right now:

      Just had to save the best for last. Sure, this is an app for a celebrity, filmmaker Kevin Smith of Clerks fame, but it’s still a vanity app, so it counts. Smith has an entire app to himself with a feed of photos (photo blog), his Twitter feed, and other fun features (fan photos, a soundboard of Smith favorites, a custom-made ringtone hummed by Smith himself, and others). The app is powered by DenVog and most certainly costs buckets more to make than one from MotherApp or AppMakr. This is the only app on our list that isn’t free ($0.99), but I would say the Twitter feed and custom ringtone alone make it well worth the buck.

  • To warp up the ‘bites for the weekend, here’s an interesting tweet from Kevin on the next 2 SModcast episodes:


      Via @gloom303 “Is that a plural I see in Mom SMods?” It is. At least two weeks worth. Ending of the second one’s an instant classic.

    Also, Kevin has been tweeting information on how we can help the situation in Haiti with our donations. He’s also donated signed pairs of Vans shoes that he’s worn throughout various gigs over the years. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Red Cross. You can bid at eBay with comfort knowing it’s all going to a good cause. Our other favorite way to donate: Use your phone to text the word ‘Haiti’ to 90999 and $10 will be put on your phone bill which will 100% go towards the Red Cross and their aid efforts. With the amount we’re spending on text and data every month, what’s another $10 to help out the cause? Please donate.

Behold the “Cop Out” One Sheet and Tagline!

January 15th @ 1:39 am | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Ming, Brad & Chris

  • The theatrical one-sheet (or poster, for you non-geek types) for “Cop Out” gets the job done. It highlights the stars, catches your eye, looks slick, and has one of the best taglines we’ve seen of recent memory. “Rock out with your glock out” is so good, it should take the sting away from anyone still missing the original “Dicks” title. The tagline’s even more subservise than the original title, and we love it for that. This one’s a winner, and we’re sure you’ll all agree. Click away for a bigger look. We’re pleased to have this one in a clean, logo-free format for those of you who’d like to collect a copy for yourselves. Enjoy. We’ll all keep waiting to rock out with our glocks out starting February 26th.

Widening Gyre #4 Arrives: Read Pages 1-4 Free!

January 15th @ 1:36 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Smith and Flanagan have brought us issue #4 in the best-selling, acclaimed series “Batman: Widening Gyre” this week. Those of you who are enjoying this brilliantly written and wonderfully drawn series have likely already thumbed through your copies a few times. But in case you haven’t gone to the bookstore to pick yours up yet, or are just wondering what all the fuss is about, check out what Bats is up to with some shots of the covers, and the first handful of actual pages of the story, free of charge, courtesy of IGN. You can tell the guys are really having fun mixing it up with this story. It’s got a lot going on but at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously all the time, making it for a unique and worthy entry into the Batman canon.


    Check it out — And also, take a peek to see what the Stash is offering up as far as deals. There’s some packages going on with signed books and variant covers, especially cool for those of you who might be a little late to the party with this series. Highly recommended.

View Askew NewsBites

January 15th @ 1:35 am | No Comments » | Scooped by John Whiteaker, Paul Hapsellis, Greg Andrew, Josh Frydman

  • A recent e-issue of pop culture mag GeekChicDaily lists “Cop Out” among their “Top 10 for the First Half of 2010″:


      Cop Out (Feb. 26) Kevin Smith directs Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as the po-po, in what we’re hoping will be the funniest cop film since Bad Boys (the original, not Bad Boys 2). Our prediction: When it comes to buddy cops, Tracy Morgan is the next Eddie Murphy and/or Will Smith!

  • The two major Australian theatre chains are advertising March 18th as the release date for “Cop Out”. Curiously, though, one of them is also advertising another movie called “A Couple Of Dicks”, supposedly opening on February 25th — Obviously an error, of course. Still, March 18th means Aussies are getting the film just a few weeks after North America, and a full month before the U.K.
  • Empire Online cites the protests surrounding Dogma in their article titled “Cinema Can Be Hazardous To Your Health!”.
  • Kevin’s got a spot on Total Film’s feature on the “18 Youngest Film Directors”:


      The Director: Kevin Smith
      Age: 22
      How Did They Get Their Break
      Smith?s first film, Mae Day: The Crumbling of a Documentary, was shot with co-director Scott Mosier while the pair were at the Vancouver Film School.

      The latter dubbed it ?the greatest documentary that never was?. It followed the duo?s failed attempt to made a documentary about the titular Mae Day, who was going through a sex change.

      Just two years later, Smith made Clerks.

Kevin: “Green Hornet” Coming this March!

January 13th @ 12:18 pm | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Via a recent tweet, Kevin announces that we’ll see his long-awaited “Green Hornet” film script come to life as a comic in just 2 short month. Dynamite Comics will release the series this March.


    See the official press release links for more details on this exciting project, as Kevin continues on his triumphant return to the comics industry, his 3rd new series in under a year!

Monroeville Zombies Kev Inaction: January 27th!

January 13th @ 11:45 am | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Chuck K

  • You’ve seen our photos and pre-order details, but it looks like we now have an official date for this special edition Kevin Smith inaction figure. January 27th.


    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.

UK’ers Can “Cop Out” on April 16th…

January 13th @ 11:45 am | 1 Comment » | Scooped by Mike Heyes

  • UK Film Distributors have revealed that “Cop Out” will make it overseas in a fairly speedy fashion. You’ll be able to check out the flick on April 16th in the UK, just about a month and a half after its February 26th debut in the States. No further rating or screen details just yet, but we’ll keep you UK fans posted of course, as always.

The Official “Cop Out” Press Kit Has Arrived!

January 12th @ 2:42 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Ming, Brad & Chris

  • Official stuff directly from Warner Bros. has started to arrive here at the News Askew office, which we’ll continue to pass on in the coming weeks. With a release just a bit over a month from now, we should start seeing TV ads, perhaps another trailer (they sometimes will cut more than one, ya know), and more — For now, here’s a nice look at the film’s logo, which arrived attached to this nifty little press release:

      Directed by Kevin Smith (Zack and Miri Make a Porno), Cop Out features two longtime NYPD partners on the trail of a stolen, rare, mint-condition baseball card who find themselves up against a merciless, memorabilia-obsessed gangster. Jimmy (Bruce Willis) is the veteran detective whose missing collectible is his only hope to pay for his daughter’s upcoming wedding, and Paul (Tracy Morgan) is his partner-against-crime whose preoccupation with his wife’s alleged infidelity makes it hard for him to keep his eye on the ball.

      Kevin Smith directs Cop Out from a screenplay by Robb Cullen & Mark Cullen (TV’s Las Vegas). The film stars Bruce Willis (the Die Hard films), Tracy Morgan (TV’s 30 Rock), Adam Brody (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Kevin Pollak (Tropic Thunder), Guillermo Diaz (TV’s Weeds) and Seann William Scott (Role Models).

      The film is produced by Marc Platt (Rachel Getting Married), Polly Johnsen (upcoming Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore) and Michael Tadross (I Am Legend, Hitch). Adam Siegel (Wanted), Robb Cullen and Mark Cullen serve as executive producers.

      The behind-the-scenes team includes director of photography David A. Klein (Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Chasing Amy); production designer Michael Shaw (August Rush, Boys Don’t Cry); costume designer Juliet Polcsa (The Sopranos, Jersey Girl); and Academy AwardŽ-nominated composer Harold Faltermeyer (the Beverly Hills Cop movies). As he frequently does, Smith serves as his own editor on the film.

      Warner Bros. Pictures presents, A Marc Platt Production, Cop Out, to be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. The film is scheduled for release on February 26, 2010.

    Can we again say how happy we are to see that Kevin edited the film together himself? Just makes it feel all that more special.

    We’re also pleased to present a heap of official trailer links in every format under the sun — These download as well as stream, so grab yourself a copy if you wanna watch it a few times or show it off.

View Askew NewsBites™

January 12th @ 2:41 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Ian Muttoo

  • “Clerks” fans! Yes, you. Catch the lovely Marilyn Ghigliotti at Wizard World Anaheim from April 16th to the 18th. Marliyn loves to meet the fans, so be sure and stop by and say hello. While you’re there, you might also want to say hello to J&SBSB’s Eliza Dushku as well — The most recent episode of her “Dollhouse” was a real mind-blower.
  • Here’s a fun Flickr set of two fans posing for a bunch of photos as Silent Bob and Kevin Smith at a place called Fan Expo 2009.
  • And finally today, some potentially good news for Aussies and those overseas — Seems Kevin’s eyeballing a look at a summer tour to that part ‘o the world. From the Twitter feed:


      Via @monkeyman87 “What’s the outlook for An Evening coming downunder in 2010?” If you’re in Sydney this July, might look good for you…

    Stay tuned here or on our Twitter feed – We’ll have the announcements on all 2010’s appearances as soon as they show up.

  • With that, we leave you for today, fine folks — However, don’t run too far from News Askew, as Kevin hints that his mom’s in town to record SModcast, so we can expect a very special episode #102 at the amazing new SMod site any day now. Also, for Kev’s thoughts and comments on the NBC/Leno/Conan fiasco, hit up his Twitter feed and read this post. See ya soon.

“Cop” Scores Big @ Test Screening!

January 8th @ 1:26 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Brad & Chris

  • Don’t say we didn’t tell ya so. Some folks loved the trailer, a few doubters expressed concern, but yesterday, at a test screening for “Cop Out”, audiences dug the hell out of the film. Web buzz has been highly positive, and Kevin reports that in-house reaction was so strong, one V.I.P. attendee was already questioning him about what he’d like to do next.


    Take a look at this reaction posted today at Aint It Cool News..

      Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis are great together. Jordan plays a cop and a husband who is fairly grounded in reality (not at all like his 30 ROCK Tracy Jordan character), only a bit paranoid (his wife, Rashida Jones, may or may not be cheating on him), a terrible actor (he plays a very unconvincing bad guy, when trying to trick a perp into giving up information), and possibly has a coke habit (the only reason I can think of for his constant sniffling).

      Willis is pretty much what you would expect in this, but plays off of Morgan really, really well.

      Adam Brody and Kevin Pollack play another team of detectives who are a couple of dicks. They figure into the story, but are somewhat inconsequential. Like he has in other movies though, Brody is pretty good about stealing the spotlight in the small opportunities he has.

      You know what you’re getting from Sean William Scott from the trailer: a wiseass. Only he does parkour, although not particularly well. He’s not a star of this movie, but is very funny in a few key scenes.

      Guillermo Diaz is the main bad guy and is all sort of bad ass. The dude has a habit of putting someone in a batting cage and hitting baseballs at them. Ouchies!

      In the end, this feels a lot like a LETHAL WEAPON movie for 2010. It’s got some action, some comedy, and is just pretty much a joy to watch all the way through.

    We never really spoke out about the trailer, and haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the final cut yet, though here’s what we think — If you watch the trailer, you can tell that the film just has such raw dialogue, that they had to struggle just to find enough to cut together in a green-band, which usually spells GREATNESS for an R-rated comedy. Plus, they’re not giving away much about the film’s plot or any of the big jokes. Don’t you hate when you go into a movie and just wait for all the jokes and beats from the trailer to unspool? You start thinking “Well, the movie must not be ending yet, I still didn’t see joke # xxxx from the trailer”.

    Kevin has stated that he didn’t cut the “Cop Out” trailer and that the movie will surprise anyone who saw the trailer and had doubts. Not that what’s in the trailer is bad, mind you, but what you’re actually going to see in the film blows that trailer out of the water. After being fans for so long, we know how Kevin constructs a film, and this one’s going to be a modern action comedy classic. There’s no doubt about it.

    Mark your calendars and be ready for “Cop Out” on February 26th — And if you catch it early, be sure to let us know what you thought.