"Red State" and Westboro at Sundance

Red State is easily one of my most anticipated movies of 2011.
Admittedly Kevin Smith has gone downhill since Dogma, but from what I hear his new film is amazing.

And the advertising and marketing has been outstanding in generating buzz while maintaining a sense of mystery.

For the record Red State is Smith's foray into the horror genre and the psychos are patterned on the real life monsters of Westboro.

Naturally Phelps will be on hand at Sundance (where Red State is being auctioned) to protest. But what makes this unique from the hundreds of other protests they do is Smith and co.'s plans for a counter protest:

"For thirty minutes of fun-filled photo-opportunities (beginning sharply at 6 PM), the Harvey Boys* will peacefully counter-protest the WBC Eccles Theater Protest. All are welcome. Wear YOUR dopey sentiments nobody gives a **** about on a sign of your own making, as you stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the folks who’ve mastered the art of writing utter horse**** on cardboard! BYOS (Bring Your Own Sign)"


*the Harvey Boys are the producers of Red State.

Smith has a huge cadre of fans. Besides being great publicity this should prove to be a hilarious event.

And then Smith ends the press release with this:

"GOD DOESN’T HATE FAGS OR ANYBODY ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. GOD SAVES! THEN, GOD PASSES IT TO GRETZKY - WHO ROOFS THAT SH*T, TOP-SHELF! THEN GOD AND GRETZKY HIGH FIVE & BELLY-BUMP, CELEBRATING THEIR HOCKEY PROWESS. AND NEVER ONCE DO THEY GIVE A SH*T IF ANYBODY’S GAY OR NOT."



Link

---

Kevin Smith fan here, too, though my board name is unrelated. lol

---

well Westboro will be a town over from where I live tis saturday protesting the funeral of a marine who died in Afganistan and he was also a fire fieghter...gonna make a sign and head over there tomorrow...any suggestions?

---

well Westboro will be a town over from where I live tis saturday protesting the funeral of a marine who died in Afganistan and he was also a fire fieghter...gonna make a sign and head over there tomorrow...any suggestions?

Bordentown is very close to where I live as well and I've seen a good deal of posts about the WBC on my facebook. I won't be going since I have a funeral to attend but good luck in whatever you decide to do.

---

Awesome story, JerseyGirl! A 4 hour Jersey Girl?? Wow.

The most interesting tidbit from his Sundance screening is that Smith is distributing the movie himself, with no traditional advertising.

Currently, he has live shows that he charges for, and then records for free replay on his "Smodcast" network. There are a variety of shows. I believe he is taking this live format and using it as a way to advertise the film, booking shows where the movie will be screened and he and some cast members will be available for commentary. He will charge a premium for the tickets and use the money generated to pay for copies of the film for distribution.

I listen to a few of podcast and really like him and his wit. And, I hear the new movie is fantastic. The man has a big pair to try and do what he is with the distribution, but he has already done the legwork with prior road shows, so hopefully this will work.

I believe the first screening before its October release is at Radio City Music Hall.


RedState

From the reviews I've read it apparently not a horror film (well, any movie about Westboro qualifies as horror I suppose but this isn't a traditional slasher pic) but rather a Waco-type stand-off movie.

As far as Smith trying to distribute the film himself...well it will certainly be interesting to see what happens. He's contradicting himself by bashing the "system" and then asking for the exhibitor's co-operation. It may be true that theaters don't like studio conditions, but they get the blockbusters that way and make money. Smith says he has all kinds of deals and incentives for the exhibs though, so we'll see.

I've heard the plan is to charge 3 times what a regualar movie would for admission and style it as a roadshow presentation. I assume there will be a lot more to it than just a screening.

---

Did anyone actually see this? I just saw it and, well...eh. I got what Smith was going for here and on paper I was totally with him. But actually seeing it, I guess I'm thinking "what was the point?" We're supposed to hate the Phelps-esque family, which we do. But after an hour or so of hoping we get to see them all get shot in the head, what are we left with?

He himself said that it was simply a series of everyone involved making bad choices - with the added bonus of him consciously working to never let the audience settle into even the remotest kind of hope or sense of balance.

I guess he saw it as a mirror to what he sees - which apparently is pretty nihilistic.

I must admit I didn't lose interest, and the performances and overall style impressed me (which is saying something, as I generally avoid violence like the plague.)

It just didn't give me what I look for in . . . well, anything.

I liked it, but I saw it more as an exploitation movie. Red State honestly had 3 to 4 stories that could have been stand alone focuses/movies themselves.

I thought Michael Parks and Melissa Leo were incredible and pretty much, along with John Goodman, rose above the material that while had good dialogue that was both in and out of Smith's world, it was definitely not deep.

What did people think of the ending? I know a lot of people who watched it completely hated it and personally, I still am meh on that one aside from Goodman in the scene. It felt like a page out of the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading.

Kevin Smith is unable to make a decent movie. He had some enjoyable moments in Clerks that apparently led him (and some studios) to think he was some sort of wunderkind. He's not. It's a shame- I think he's got some good ideas. If he'd write a script and let a real director take charge- I think it might work.

I loved Chasing Amy as well. Excellent film.

I think Kevin made this movie with a point rather than a perspective. A strong agenda rather than a strong script. It's really too bad, even if his heart is in the right place, IMO.

---

I actually thought Kevin Smith actually tried to show why these people are dangerous other than the fact they are ignorant and packing while targeting people. The Michael Parks sermon, one of the better scenes of the film, showed how charismatic and lethal his character is that everybody hangs on his every word. There is clearly the Phelps connection and they are portrayed as worse than the Phelps explicitly in the film but I got a Branch Davidian vibe as the film went on.

Updated On: 10/18/11 at 09:31 PM