Red State (Kevin Smith horror movie)

Basq

Sort of a early teaser trailer.. looks a bit thrown together and unfinished. So I'd expect a proper teaser trailer next month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K-4aLeGWF4

It'll get it's premiere at Sundance next month so we'll see how good or bad it is then.

Certainly looks like a departure for Kevin Smith anyways.

Birneybau

Tbh a decent film would be a departure for Kevin Smith.

Been quite some loyalty extended to him for terribly diminishing returns over the last decade and a half.

Richard Dower

Quite a departure for him, religious nuts in the south, but i guess he's touched on religion before, in comedic ways, in Dogma:

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/12/23/red-state-trailer-holy-moly/

And no, i'm not arsed to YT a trailer :mad:

roboshatner

Here is the pod casts before the teaser came out.

http://smodcast.com/redstate/index.html

Really good listening.

basquille wrote: »

Sort of a early teaser trailer.. looks a bit thrown together and unfinished. So I'd expect a proper teaser trailer next month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K-4aLeGWF4

It'll get it's premiere at Sundance next month so we'll see how good or bad it is then.

Certainly looks like a departure for Kevin Smith anyways.

JP Liz V1

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2011/01/24/red-state-sundance-kevin-smith/

Smith premiered his latest movie, the bizzaro horror thriller Red State, about a gay-hating minister (Michael Parks) who goes on a blood-drenched rampage against an equally murderous squad of federal agents, with some sex-crazed teens stuck in the middle. In addition to Red State being a film about a cult, Smith also announced plans to leverage his own cult-fanbase to break out of the studio distribution system and put the film out there for audiences on his own.
Though Smith had promised via Twitter he would auction the film to a distributor live from the stage after the premiere, it turned out to be a joke. When the auction started, he immediately “bought” the $4 million movie himself for $20, and announced he would use Twitter (where he has 1.7 million followers), his popular comedy podcast, a 15-city roadshow tour, and word-of-mouth from fans to release the picture himself.
“What we want to do is, like, ‘Yes, anybody can make a movie,’” Smith said – at the tail end of a nearly half-hour long speech. ”We know that now. We know that because I’ve made ten, you know what I’m saying? That means anybody can make a f—ing movie. What we aim to prove is that anybody can release a movie now as well. It’s not enough to make it and sell it now, I’m sorry.”
He compared laboring to make a truly independent film and selling it to a studio distributor to having a child and giving it to someone else to raise.
Smith said the one thing he can’t do in-house is get the movie onto screens. So he put out the invitation for theater owners to cut a special deal with him, which he pledged would be better terms than what they get from studios. “We want to partner up, man,” he said, taking a shot at his last movie, the critically slammed Warner Bros. comedy Cop Out: “We won’t screw you over. We won’t be like, ‘You gotta f—ing take this piece of s—. If you want The Dark Knight, you better take this piece of s— Cop Out.”
His plan is to have the movie in theaters nationwide Oct. 19, the anniversary of the Clerks release. He didn’t make the project sound especially inviting to potential exhibitors, however, saying he would not do any advertising or interviews to promote the film, instead relying on his fanbase to spread the word. The ecclesiastical irony was not lost on many in the audience. “Kevin Smith intends to market Red State, a film about a church-cult, directly to his fans.The irony of ‘preaching to the choir’ is piquant,” tweeted James Rocchi of MSN Movies.
Smith apologized to studio scouts in the audience who may have thought he was sincere about selling the film. Then he joked: “I’m not that sorry. It’s a film festival — come see a movie…. I will say this in my own defense, a lot of you work for studios and s—. Studios make movies. Movies have trailers. So you guys make a lot of trailers; you’ve lied to me many times.”

Basq

Despite a career of largely quite mediocre movies, I'll always consider myself a fan of Kevin Smith.

I'll always have a real soft-spot for Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats and Dogma. Everything else, not so much!

And I loved his Evening With's - always come across as a very honest witty guy. But this comes across as both terribly pretentious and childish!

Kevin Smith is easily the most entertaining person in Hollywood. First he considered letting fans donate money to make "Red State." Then he promised to never do any press, make a trailer or screen the film for critics. After Sundance agreed to premiere "Red State," Smith said that he won't simply sell the rights to a distributor. He will instead auction the rights off.

"Red State" has now screened for the first time and the reviews are coming in. Unfortunately, they are not very positive. You can read some of the critic comments below. But first...

After the movie screened, Smith then moved forward with the auction. Several buyers gathered in a room where producer John Gordon took the stage announcing the beginning of the auction. Smith immediately raised his hand and bid $20. Gordon then quickly yelled out "Sold!"

Buyers were shocked, but then Smith explained the insane events that just took place. His plan is to distribute "Red State" himself. "Selling my film would be like having a baby and then selling it to somebody else to raise," he said.

Plus he is tired of the huge marketing campaigns that could cost as much as five times the cost of the film. So, instead he'll self-release "Red State" by taking it around the country to many major cities. "The Red State USA Tour" will begin on March 5th at Radio City Music Hall in NY and will end on October 19th. By that time Smith believes that almost half of the film's $4 million price tag would be earned back. At that point, he'll release the film in a limited amount of theaters. There won't be any advertising, but he'll provide theater owners more favorable terms than the big studios.

Smith ended the event by stating that he plans to direct "Hit Somebody" with mostly the same cast as "Red State" and then quit directing forever. He'll instead focus on producing and distribution.

Early "Red State" reviews (in random order):

CinemaBlend: "Action and bloodshed as generic as it comes."

IFC: "Literally and figuratively preachy."

IndieWire 1: "'Red State' is a well-intentioned mess."

IndieWire 2: "What works is the usual Smithean chatter, not the gunfire and brimstone."

FilmStage: "While fun, is also Very silly and not as smart as it thinks it is."

SlashFilm: "A well made film, but not without it's problems."

Collider: "Michael Parks' performance is Oscar worthy."

MSN: "It's nice to contemplate how Kevin Smith wants to make films that aren't comedies. Too bad he tried to make all of them at once."

Moviefone: "Red State: Bloody, violent, random, preachy. I dug it, but didn't love it."

Hitfix: "A failure on almost every level."

CinemaBlend: "Never can pick an ambition and run with it."

Read more: http://www.worstpreviews.com/headline.php?id=20426&count=0#ixzz1BxB3xy1t

Source: [url=]WorstPreviews[/url]

johnny_ultimate

Threads merged!

Kevin Smith is the Weezer of film-making. Once upon a time he was fresh, innovative even, a spokesperson for the nerd generation. But now, all he is churning out crap which only barely resembles the stuff he was once famed for. If Chasing Amy was Smith's Pinkerton, then Cop Out was his Raditude - selling-out, finally far removed from the fans who have gotten him where he is today. If he actually quits, I'd admire him, because being able to recognise the reality of how you're being perceived is something.

Did you people not see 'Zach and Miri Make A Porno'? Really enjoyed Clerks 2 as well so it hasn't all been bad from him and even his bad ones have some good moments in them.

Basq

Liam O wrote: »

Did you people not see 'Zach and Miri Make A Porno'?

Unfortunately yes.. while bad, it was 'Citizen Kane' compared to 'Cop Out' (although fair enough, he didn't write that).

Penn

This could be his biggest triumph, or his downfall. Either way, as a regular listener of his podcasts, it's going to be really fascinating to watch how it all unfolds.

He's trying to bring back true indie movies. It could be the most important thing to happen to the film industry since the birth of Seth Rogen

Phony Scott

Saw his show when it was last over here in Dublin. Hugely enjoted the night and I would definately go again, if he ever comes back. Witty guy. As for his films, very much mixed bag. Everything up until 'Dogma' was great. I stopped buying his films on DVD after that. But he's still a great raconteur, on stage at least.

As for this film, I'm so shocked! A horror film with bad press! Surely not! I would be interested to know how independent it really is. I know very little about the film.

Penn

Phony Scott wrote: »

Saw his show when it was last over here in Dublin. Hugely enjoted the night and I would definately go again, if he ever comes back. Witty guy. As for his films, very much mixed bag. Everything up until 'Dogma' was great. I stopped buying his films on DVD after that. But he's still a great raconteur, on stage at least.

As for this film, I'm so shocked! A horror film with bad press! Surely not! I would be interested to know how independent it really is. I know very little about the film.

If I remember correctly, there are two independent financiers of the movie and it had a budget of about $4m. I wonder what the investors think about Smiths plans for the film. Who knows if they knew about the plans or when they found out about it

johnny_ultimate

Barrington wrote: »

This could be his biggest triumph, or his downfall. Either way, as a regular listener of his podcasts, it's going to be really fascinating to watch how it all unfolds.

He's trying to bring back true indie movies. It could be the most important thing to happen to the film industry since the birth of Seth Rogen

I think true independent movies are always around, people just don't hear about them as easily because someone as high profile as Kevin Smith isn't always involved!

My problem with the man's movies is the uneasy mixture of nerdy, obscene humour and crowd-pleasing fluff his movies always try to achieve. Back in the day - Clerks and Chasing Amy being the dominating examples of what he was able to manage - his films seemed honest, different and had Smith's fingerprints all over them. They were funny, geeky and fresh. But as early as Mallrats, 'Bad Smith' was emerging. I'm not sure if this was down to studio interference or Smith himself - going by his claims that Jersey Girl was a personal film, I'm unfortunately assuming some of the latter - but most of his recent films have had an uncomfortable mix of Kevin Smithisms and poorly delivered sentimentality. The sentimentality, regrettably, tends to dominate.

Leaving Cop Out out of the equation - I haven't seen it and I think even Smith would admit it was some serious selling out - you are still left with Jersey Girl (an abomination), Clerks 2 (funny set pieces compromised by crappy dance numbers and a lame ending) and Zack and Miri (a sometimes amusing first act that soon is replaced by a dreadful gross out rom-com). All these films feel... compromised, as if Smith hasn't been able to adequately express his voice. Or, more worryingly, his voice just isn't that interesting anymore (barring his blogs, Q&As etc... - more his film-making voice).

Dogma was a fine film, though, and we'll see if Red State will be a good film that is purposefully a reaction to allegations of 'selling out' (allegations that have plenty of evidence to back them up, and the reviews Basq posted don't fill me with confidence!). But with his recent output, I'd question if Smith has any talent left, considering there have only been a handful of funny but shallow gross out jokes as redeeming factors in his last few films. It's like Richard Kelly - as early as the director's cut of Donnie Darko, you can begin to question whether the theatrical cut of DD was just a fluke or not. Smith has more good films under his belt, for sure, but with a steady stream of misses at this point, I find it hard to defend him.

Phony Scott

Barrington wrote: »

If I remember correctly, there are two independent financiers of the movie and it had a budget of about $4m. I wonder what the investors think about Smiths plans for the film. Who knows if they knew about the plans or when they found out about it

Well he seems to have quite a lot of executive producers on board, which suggests they'll take money anywhere they can get it from.

Taking it on the road sounds pretty amibitous, but Smith has a huge fanbase, whom he can promote to, who are incredibly loyal. It's not like he's a snake oil merchant, though I'm sure anyone who hates his films or hasn't seen him live will beg to differ.

Magic Eight Ball

There's an air of throwing his toys out of the pram with this.
I think Smith is playing a very dangerous game, It seems to me he's biting the hand that feeds him.
The same people that made his career can just as easily break it.

Kess73

Magic Eight Ball wrote: »

There's an air of throwing his toys out of the pram with this.
I think Smith is playing a very dangerous game, It seems to me he's biting the hand that feeds him.
The same people that made his career can just as easily break it.

I think that Smith has done a good job of that himself with a string of films that seemed to get worse with each release. What has he actually done of note since Dogma in 1999 bar whinge a lot about other people's perceived failings?


The only real question is M. Night Shyamalan suffering from Smith Syndrome or is Kevin Smith suffering from Shyamalan Syndrome.:D

It's obvious that Kevin Smith really has no understanding of how films are distributed. Reading the reports on the debacle that was the Red State auction it's clear that Smith really has lost the plot.

Had he said that he wanted to try a new business model to sell the film most people, buyers, sellers and cinema goers would have been behind him but instead he went out of his way to try to paint film buying as some shady affair in which millions were wasted.

Obviously he forgot that it was the buyers whose time he wasted that made him the filmmaker he is today when they took a chance on a small film called Clerks. There's biting the hand that feeds and then there's being an obnoxious dick simply for the sake of it.

Penn

I don't agree with that. Smiths main problem is marketing, and how a $4m movie, if sold, would have close to $20m spent on it's marketing. Then they're not trying to make $4m to make a profit, they'd have to make over $24.

Not only that, but him and the producer of the film, Jon Gordon, called themselves 'The Harvey Boys' after all they've learned from Harvey Weinstein. Jon Gordon even ran some studios for a while. He knows how films are distributed, and while Kevin Smith is the main guy, Jon Gordon is a big part of it too, and this is something they've both talked about for ages according to recent podcasts I've heard.

On a podcast called WTF with Mark Maron which Smith guested on last week, he said that one of the main reasons he agreed to do Cop Out was so that he could learn more about marketing. He hinted that it was for something he had planned, which evidently is this.

I agree that he shouldn't have gone about it the way he did. But what his plan needs if it's going to work, is publicity. And people are talking about it.

There's a 26 minute video on YouTube showing the announcement/fake auction after the screening, which I can't link to at the minute as I'm using my phone.

Phony Scott

Here's said clip Barrington (i'm guessing!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90pcHCF2h44

Penn

EDIT: Video is NSFW. Swearing and bad language and all that jazz

Yeah, that's the one I saw alright. Cheers Phony Scott

Phony Scott

Offical Red Statement see link

The Red Statement

The Harvey Boys have witnessed first hand the vagaries of "studio math" - the byzantine numbers game that sees an uneducated media and public celebrating "huge" openings at the box office while ignoring the obscene marketing costs attached to reach those figures. We believe it's a pyrrhic victory to simply "buy" an opening weekend by pouring millions of dollars into TV spots, billboards and print ads. As storytellers, why not instead use our creative abilities that resulted in a film in the first place to also creatively SELL that film directly to our public?

We believe the state of film marketing has become ridiculously expensive and exclusionary to the average filmmaker longing simply to tell their story. When the costs of marketing and releasing a movie are four times that film's budget, it's apparent the traditional distribution mechanism is woefully out of touch with not only the current global economy, but also the age of social media.

Therefore, The Harvey Boys will not spend a dime on old world media buys (such as TV/Print/Outdoor) as we self-distribute our film, Red State, in an admittedly unconventional, yet extremely cost effective, word of mouth/viral campaign.

Knowledge is power, and we believe in empowering the filmmaker - so the Harvey Boys vow to make the financials of Red State open and transparent from which anybody hoping to follow suit can learn. We will do what no studio has dared: open up our books for the world to see so anyone interested in pursuing a similar independent release strategy has a better understanding of the BUSINESS of Red State.

And if we're successful - or even merely effective - at producing a film distribution apparatus that can stand apart from the cost-prohibitive studio model currently viewed as the only way to get a movie into a theater? It is our intent to use the groundwork we lay with Red State to aid other filmmakers in releasing THEIR films, via our newly launched SModcast Pictures.

Don't hate the studio; BECOME the studio. Anybody can make a movie; what we aim to prove is anyone can release a movie as well

The Harvey Boys

Jon Gordon & Kevin Smith

Greyjoy

i've been a big fan of Smith's films and I love his live shows but the way he handled this 'auction' showed a distinct lack of class. He's been backtracking on twitter claiming that he never said he would actually sell the film at sundance but would rather pick a distributor and it was the press who assumed the film would be sold off for distribution.

While that's technically correct he still never made any attempt to clarify what would actually happen as well as failing to give direct answers to fans who had asked him "why don't you just self-distribute?". The whole process just comes across as a 'bait & switch'. I agree that it did generate publicity for the film but it's mostly negative.

KilOit

Brilliant movie. Knew nothing about it before i watched it, just a really fun movie with great acting all round.

13th Floor Elevator

Terrible mess of a film. It felt cut & pasted to bits.
The only good thing about Red State is Michael Parks!
Smith almost made it through an entire movie without any immature dick & fart jokes.. ALMOST!!

Penn

Really enjoyed it. Creepy as ****, some great acting from Parks and Goodman, some nice turns... Big fan of Kevin Smith but barely recognisable as a Kevin Smith movie.

Definitely going to rewatch this during the week

ciaran76

Watched it myself last night but wouldnt call it a horror.

I enjoyed it and have to say enjoyed also Michael Parks performance.

Basq

Started watching it last night.. was knackered so switched it off 45 minutes in but actually REALLY liked what I saw.

Not a horror persé but Michael Parks is superb.

Will finish it tonight.

PS - is Smith a 'Breaking Bad' fan? Both Skyler and Beaver from BB are in it.

Roar

worth a watch. no real spoilers here, just a few thoughts, but spoilered just in case

it's a bit uneven. the first part is superb. Michael Parks is amazing. the tension is incredible my heart was beating for that entire sequence. second half is a bit meh.

It's not like a kevin smith movie at all. the film looks great and it's well shot a lot of it shot on handheld. Parks' performance genuinely is suberb. and as I mentioned the sequence in the first act is mesmerising. just a shame it slows down in the second and changes tack completely in the third.

check it out would be my recommendation

I really like Kevin Smith , and was looking forward to this movie , but its really a mess. Scenes didnt gel well together, the story line was a little all over the place , the ending seemed rushed.

Parkes was great however .

temply

Am a Kevin Smith fan... Watched this today.

Not great at all. I was just left feeling, what was the point of that??? Awful direction, the shooting scenes were hillarious. The story kinda just petered out for me.

Its not a horror, its a poor mans Waco

Smith's last decent offering IMO was Clerks 2

Goldstein

Did anyone else think they backed away from something special

(The trumpets {which was genious} and what could have followed). I was thinking epic misdirection and suberbly veiled twist but alas it wasn't picked up or ran with and instead cut suddenly to a nothing ending. It looked for all the world that they had two different endings and they used the wrong one. (The explanation of the trumpets seemed mightily fudged).

How about: The trumpets are real, some other funky, unexplanable but subtle stuff happens with biblical interpretations and it turns out the nutter may have been onto something but you never know for sure. Would have been a guaranteed cult hit. So frustrating.

Duggy747

I thought the first half was excellent, slow and tense with Parks delivering a great creepy role.

It all fell down in the second half though and just made me feel that it was a great wasted opperunity.

I couldn't get over how "melted" John Goodman looked since he lost weight :pac:

Sooopie

I found the part with Parks giving his monologue in the church way too long, and had problems understanding what he was saying at parts also

TonyStark

Duggy747 wrote: »

I thought the first half was excellent, slow and tense with Parks delivering a great creepy role.

It all fell down in the second half though and just made me feel that it was a great wasted opperunity.

I couldn't get over how "melted" John Goodman looked since he lost weight :pac:

First half very good... ending seemed a bit rushed and really dragged the movie down into the gutter with me.. it felt too short.