Fundamentalist Scum
This recently-posted teaser for Kevin Smith’s Red State is, for me, great impressionist marketing. It gives you nothing of the basic drill (i.e., three teenage kids suckered into a spider’s web by hellfire-and-brimstone religious wackos) but that’s fine. Obviously the mood and rhythms seem radically different than Smith’s usual boilerplate style. And yet Smith cut it, and the dp is David Klein (Zack and Miri Make a Porno).
The “name” costars are John Goodman, Michael Parks, Melissa Leo and Kevin Pollak.
Its a nifty teaser. Good stuff. But it still doesn’t excuse the fact that Kevin Smith is a visually impaired crappy storyteller. Sad but true. I’ll wait for it on demand.
Feels like what the Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel should have been. Well done.
If given a choice between watching a film by Kevin Smith or Ed Burns, I always pick the Smith film. I will only watch an Ed Burns film if the other choice is a Henry Jaglom film. I will only watch a Jaglom film if it prevents a puppy being killed.
May the Michael Parks renaissance continue. I’m still blown away by how he completely killed it in KILL BILL VOL. 2. An insanely good performance, one I keep revisiting.
Smith needs something different, that’s for sure.
Take out CLERKS II which was very funny retread, his last three films have all been misfires.
JERSEY GIRL was painfully bad, the kind of film that Smith should be making fun of, not making. ZACK & MIRI is a bewildering misfire, which Smith should have knocked out of the park and shows that Judd Apatow does a lot more than simply put funny people in front of a camera, yell “action!” and wait for the Brinks truck to back up to his door.
COP OUT, again, was a film he should have scored with. But if you are going to have a Kevin Smith-like parody of an 80′s buddy cop movie it helps if Kevin Smith actually fucking WRITES it.
As the man says, love the dick and fart jokes dude, but something needs to push you to bring your A-game. Maybe a few more kids and college tuition….
Kevin Smith does torture porn. Avoid.
Smith could hire Simon Crane, Dan Bradley, Alexander Witt and Christopher Rouse and the thing would still come out looking like a filmed school-play.
Zack and Miri was way better than anything Apatow would have come up with. I think it’s an underrated return to form for KS (and by “return to form,” I mean return to the ’90s).
Having said that, all of his stuff still looks a lot less like actual films and more like “video-captured entertainment.” If you take it that way, I think it’s a lot less likely to disappoint (his dialogue almost never ceases to entertain, if only on a first viewing).
No idea what to make of this teaser at all. He does seem to be trying something different, though, which is generally something I always try to support.
Cop Out was Smith trying, and succeeding, in making a lowbrow 80′s C-level cop comedy. It was a cynical strategy, and he didn’t really hit the mark too heavily, but there was a clear vision and intent. Murder to sit through, and lethally unfunny, but maybe the most interesting case of a filmmaker aiming as low as possible and absolutely succeeding in making a movie no one with taste or self-respect would enjoy. Bonus points for the Harold Faltermeyer score.
But this looks different. I do believe he was trying to get this made during the Bush-era (where it would have been more appropriate), but the only reason you try to make a movie like this completely independent of any studio system or real budget is if you were motivated by the hate and ignorance that plagues the fucking backwards retards of this country. In other words, this is the only Smith movie with a topic that could seriously motivate a filmmaker, and I do hope this is as grisly, ugly, messy and upsetting as the trailer.
Which I think would get mainstream critics angrier at Smith for some reason- they have some serious bones to pick with the guy, I don’t get it. But I do have a feeling you’re going to have to have a tolerance for this specific type of film to really appreciate Red State. Larry Fessenden fans to the front.
The style looks like a rip-off of the original Crazies to me…
Gabe: Meh, the last time Smith got on his high horse was when Jay and Silent Bob jumped the shark, at least comic-wise. And what’s worse is he subsequently re-used the material for the movie spin-off. Christ, I used to like the guy’s material, but the South Park guys can actually do the same thing as him, and not come off as geeky or wordy as him. Still, maybe I’ll check out those comic book versions of his Green Hornet script one day.
You can’t sit there and say that Kevin Smith is horrible. Chasing Amy is probably the best Romantic Comedy I’ve ever seen, and Clerks is one of the few movies that actually feels like it could happen. Hell, Clerks still feels relevant and real 20 years later. Kevin Smith is a great writer, and while not all of his movies hit their mark (Jersey Girl, Cop Out, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back), I think his other movies really show how much talent this guy has.
But back on topic. This teaser is great, and hopefully is setting the mood for the rest of the film. I’d like to see a legitimate trailer, though, before I get too excited about this. KS doing a serious movie is untested waters, and I don’t want to get hyped if it’s going to blow.
Stop mentioning me in your posts, DZ.
Thing: I loved Amy, Clerks, and even Mallrats and Dogma, but the guy’s gotten lazy. Hopefully, though, Red State will be as good as Vulgar.
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