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Red State (2011 film)

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Red State
Teaser poster
Directed byKevin Smith
Written byKevin Smith
Produced byJon Gordon
StarringMichael Parks
John Goodman
Kevin Pollak
Melissa Leo
Stephen Root
CinematographyDave Klein
Edited byKevin Smith
Release date
October 19, 2011[1]
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4 million[2]

Red State is a 2011 horror movie film on digital video. It was written and directed by Kevin Smith with characters inspired by the likes of the Westboro Baptist Church and their Pastor Fred Phelps.

The film stars Michael Parks, John Goodman, Melissa Leo and Stephen Root. The rights to the film were originally supposed to be auctioned off at a controversial event following the debut screening of the film at Sundance but Smith did not find a distributor and, instead, purchased the film himself with plans to self-distribute the picture "under the Smodcast Pictures Banner" on a traveling show in select cities before officially releasing the movie on "October 19th" in 2011.[3] Kevin Smith listed Mel Gibson as a role-model he looked up to, and his inspiration, for how he planned to distribute this movie, citing Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" as an example of a successfully self-distributed movie.[4] Film producers and moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein who had thus far been involved in the distribution of all Kevin Smith films, with the exception of Mallrats and Cop Out (for which Smith did not write the script, only directed) have passed on supporting Red State with necessary funding.[5]

Plot

Three teenage school boys come across an online personal advertisement from an older woman looking for kinky group sex. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark, violent turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying fundamentalist force with a fatal agenda.[6]

Cast

Production

Filmmaker Kevin Smith announced at the Wizard World Chicago 2006 convention that his next project would move in a very different direction, and it would be a straight horror film.[7] In April 2007, Smith revealed the title of the movie to be Red State and said that it was inspired by infamous pastor Fred Phelps, or as Smith claimed, "very much about that subject matter, that point of view and that position taken to the absolute extreme. It is certainly not Phelps himself but it's very much inspired by a Phelps (like) figure."[8] The first draft was finished in August 2007.[9] Setting it apart from the majority of his other films, Smith has made it clear that Red State is a horror film, stating that there will be no fart or genitalia jokes in the movie.[10]

While speaking at a live event overseas in London on October 13, 2009, Kevin Smith stated that funding had been secured for Red State but he is more of the mindset to proceed with Hit Somebody and hold Red State off for a year. Another reason that was also cited was a superstition he holds around dying after his tenth movie, and not wanting to leave an "unpleasant, nasty" film as his last.[11] In February 2010, he talked about his project with CINSSU,[12] saying that the project is currently working out financial challenges, and he may even get funded through investments from his many loyal fans.[13]

On July 24, 2010, it was also reported that Michael Parks had signed on to the film in a starring role,[14] and on September 5, 2010, Smith confirmed that Matt L. Jones was also cast.[15] On the September 20, edition of his and Ralph Garman's podcast Hollywood Babble-on, Kevin Smith announced that John Goodman had joined the cast.[16] Smith edited the film throughout production and showed a first cut at the film's wrap party.[17]

In July 2010, Smith stated on his Twitter account that "God-willing, Sundance in Jan for RED STATE." On November 8, Smith announced on Twitter that the movie was currently being viewed by Sundance, to determine if it was eligible for entry in the 2011 festival.[18] On December 1, Red State was rejected from the official Sundance film list for competition. However, Smith announced on the same day that his film would be in the Sundance festival in the non-competition section.

Marketing

Throughout the months of November and December, Smith released teaser posters featuring some characters from the movie in auctions via his Twitter account with the winning bidder hosting the poster exclusively on their website, while the money raised by the auction went to charity.[19] Smith released a teaser trailer for the film on December 23, 2010.[20]

Following the official first screening of Red State, writer/director Kevin Smith revealed to the Sundance audience that he was unable to continue to use the festival to look for a distributor for the film,[21][22] but planned to self-distribute as a traveling roadshow beginning March 5th at Radio City Music Hall and would tour the film across North America before before releasing Red State into cinemas through his Smodcast Pictures label on October 19th (the 17th anniversary of the release of Clerks).[23] According to analysts, “Red State” might have been a difficult sale for any distributor.[24] A source who worked closely with Smith believes this strategy has produced mixed results as "Smith might be one of the first filmmakers to exploit and then be undone by social media, and that access to social media has eliminated any filter that might have protected Smith from emotional outbursts that, in this person's view, have undermined his career."[25]

Controversy

...to hear Smith dismiss the idea of "selling [the movie] to some jackass," neither the rant nor the phony auction was amusing. It seemed Smith had poured a liberal dose of gasoline on a pile of indie-film relationships and lit a match, and some observers took it as a sign that Smith might finally be imploding.

— Kim Masters, on the auction controversy [26]

Controversy soon erupted after Kevin Smith's public behavior during the film's debut screening at Sundance, with some calling his antics "a Tom Cruise jumping-on-the-couch-meltdown."[27] Though Smith has decided to self-distribute the film, according to the film's producer Jonathan Gordon the option of self-distributing the movie wasn't considered an option at first,

Hiring longtime specialty exec Dinerstein (whose film marketing consultancy also arranges self-distribution deals), bringing aboard Cinetic Media (which arranged service deals for sale titles like last year's Banksy doc "Exit Through the Gift Shop") with co-seller WME, and slapping the word "March" at the end of the teaser trailer has led many to suspect Smith has a self-distribution backup plan should an attractive offer fail to materialize. But is self-distribution or a service deal even an option they're considering? "No," says Gordon. "We want to have someone who loves the movie, understands it, knows how to handle it and get the most out of it."[28]

The sudden announcement of self-distribution after initially announcing an auction provoked a backlash from the media and accusations of dishonesty,[29] with some analysts commenting that they watched Kevin Smith "implode" and that he had "lost cred" and one prominent buyer saying, “He stole two hours and insulted every one of us...He was a little like the twisted preacher Michael Parks played in his film. It became life imitating art.”[30]

Kim Masters, editor-at-large for the "Hollywood Reporter", in an online interview with Smith about the controversy surrounding "Red State", inquired about his alleged career implosion leading up to the debut of his film,

...are you imploding?...on a more micro level, the story runs through some career points–good and less good.. a source says you Kevin Smith were very rattled when Zack And Miri Make A Porno didn’t work thought you were losing your touch and withdrew for a time even from the web then took a studio movie Cop Out figuring you’d get $upport from warner and not take the heat if the movie didn’t work. But things went way wrong between you and Bruce Willis a talent rep complains that you smoked too much weed and didn’t deal with the actors then came the plane thing and the kevin-is-crazy contingent postulates that this is where the alleged implosion began."[31]

Kevin responded to Masters, saying that, "it’s a Jerry Maguire-moment. I’ve got a little fish in a plastic bag and one idealistic secretary on my side, and the Bob Sugars seem to be leaning in doorways, smirking."[32]

Reception

Initial reactions were mixed following the movie's debut at a non-competition screening of the Sundance film festival.[33] Edward Douglas of Shock Till You Drop panned the movie saying that, "it feels like one of Smith's Twitter rants fleshed out into film with equal portions of bile sprayed at both church and state."[34] Katey Rich of Cinema Blend reporting in her review, “Messy, overwritten, visually stylish, but kind of a bore. More like Kevin Smith than it looks because nobody ever stops talking. And it’s not a horror movie by any usual definition. More like teen horror movie morphs into Waco disaster. Melissa Leo overacts, Michael Parks is impressive as Fred Phelps figure but the character’s meaning and purpose in the narrative (or lack thereof) is fuzzy...Red State Is A Messy, Ambitious Disappointment” [35][36] Jordan Hoffman in his review for UGO also panned the film, saying, "Kevin Smith, a wonderful public speaker and genuinely fun guy, has yet to master the basics of movie making...Kevin Smith's Fundamentalist Red State Has Fundamental Problems."[37] According to Drew Mcweeny of "Motion Captured", "Kevin Smith's 'Red State' fails onscreen and off at its world premiere...A shoddy film and a bait-and-switch event fail to satisfy on any level."[38] Raffi Asdourian of The Film Stage wrote that, "While there are glimpses of Smith’s wry humor scattered throughout, Red State can’t help but feel like a B action movie that started off with ambitious ideas but collapses under it’s own preachy weight...it’s clear that the smart alec writer still has some things to learn about making a great film."[39] Matt Goldberg of Collider.com wrote that, "Red State, is a radical departure for Smith and yet he lacks the confidence to properly execute the action-horror-thriller he’s devised."[40] James Rocchi writing for indieWire wrote that "Red State Is An Ambitious, Greatly Flawed Stab At Horror" and commented that, "...Smith has gotten as far as he has with his comedies because it is a writer’s genre more so than it is a director’s. Horror is the genre of a director—pacing, feel, shots, editing—and Smith’s skills are not up to the task..."[41]

Amongst the positive reactions to the film, Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter called the movie, "A potent cinematic hand grenade tossed to bigots everywhere." [42] Jeff Sneider of TheWrap.com said, "The truth is that I didn't really know what to expect from "Red State," but regardless, I still had high expectations and am pleased to report that the film lived up to them. [...] it brings something new to the genre, and that something is faith." [43] Germain Lussier of /Film also praised the film, saying, "This is a maturing, confident Smith who proves, after Cop Out, he still has a unique voice. With Red State, that voice isn’t saying anything incredibly groundbreaking, and at times it gets a tad preachy, but the director has expanded out of his comfort zone and given audiences a genuine piece of art."[44] Director Richard Kelly also offered his take on the film and Smith while appearing on Smith's SMovieMakers podcast.[45] He said "I have never seen a filmmaker reinvent himself the way you just have. I won't say anything else because I don't want to spoil anything. It's really really exciting…"[45]

References

  1. ^ JL (January 24, 2011). "Kevin Smith Announces His Retirement; Red State Gets Release Date". couch potato club. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  2. ^ Christine (September 24, 2010). "Kevin Smith Begins Shooting 'Red State' in Los Angeles". On Location Vacations. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  3. ^ Walsh, Brendan (January 23, 2011). "Sundance 2011: Kevin Smith's Red State Auction Live From the Eccles With Video". ScreenCrave. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  4. ^ Smith, Kevin (January 26, 2011). "As the Sundance dust settles". The Red Statement. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  5. ^ "Kevin Smith's Red State Gets Funding?". DreadCentral.com. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  6. ^ "Red State". 27th Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  7. ^ Sciretta, Peter (August 7, 2006). "Kevin Smith Announces Horror Film". /Film. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  8. ^ Utichi, Joe (April 6, 2007). "RT-UK Exclusive: Kevin Smith's Horror Project Revealed". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  9. ^ Sciretta, Peter (August 29, 2007). "Kevin Smith Finishes Red State Screenplay". /Film. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  10. ^ "Kevin Smith's Twitter feed". Twitter. January 2, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  11. ^ "Kevin Smith Gets Down and Dirty with 'Red State' Details". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  12. ^ "Kevin Smith: Out of the Comfort Zone". Cinssu.ca. 2010-02-04. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  13. ^ "Kevin Smith Asks for 'Red State' Money, Mr. Disgusting Loses It". Bloody-Disgusting.com. 2010-02-05. Retrieved 2010-03-15.
  14. ^ Eisenberg, Eric (July 24, 2010). "Comic Con: Michael Parks Cast In Kevin Smith's Red State". Cinema Blend. Retrieved July 26, 2010.
  15. ^ "Twitter Post". September 5, 2010. Retrieved September 5, 2010.
  16. ^ Moody, Mike (September 22, 2010). "John Goodman boards 'Red State'". Hachette Filipacchi Médias. Retrieved October 15, 2010. {{cite web}}: Text "Hachette Filipacchi (UK) Ltd" ignored (help)
  17. ^ Sciretta, Peter (October 30, 2010). "Kevin Smith's 'Red State' Screened at Wrap Party, Aiming For Sundance". /Film. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  18. ^ "Sundance Status". Twitter. November 8, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  19. ^ "Two New Red State Posters Pushed Online". Empire. Bauer Media Group. December, 20 2010. Retrieved December, 24 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Red State Trailer: Kevin Smith Gets Terrifying". New York. New York Media Holdings. December 23, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  21. ^ Goldstein, Gregg (January 20, 2011). "They're seeing 'Red' at Sundance". Variety. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  22. ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 24, 2011). "Sundance review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' fails onscreen and off at its world premiere". Hitfix. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  23. ^ "Update: Kevin Smith to Self-Distribute Red State". Shock Till You Drop. January 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  24. ^ Horn, John (January 23, 2011). "Sundance 2011: Kevin Smith takes 'Red State' into his own hands". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  25. ^ Kim Masters. "Kevin Smith: 'Alarmist Ninnies' Misinterpreted Sundance Outburst". The Hollywood Reporter.
  26. ^ Kim Masters. "Kevin Smith: 'Alarmist Ninnies' Misinterpreted Sundance Outburst". The Hollywood Reporter.
  27. ^ http://theredstatements.com/
  28. ^ Goldstein, Gregg (January 20, 2011). "They're seeing 'Red' at Sundance". Variety. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  29. ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 24, 2011). "Sundance review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' fails onscreen and off at its world premiere". Hitfix. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  30. ^ Fleming, Mike (January 24, 2011). "Sundance: Watching Kevin Smith Implode". Deadline.com. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  31. ^ http://theredstatements.com/
  32. ^ http://theredstatements.com/
  33. ^ Schwartz, Terri (January 24, 2011). "Kevin Smith's 'Red State' Receives Mixed Reviews At Sundance". MTV. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  34. ^ "Reviews: Red State". Shock Till You Drop. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  35. ^ "Instant Reaction: Kevin Smith's Red State Debuts At Sundance". Cinema Blend. January 23, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  36. ^ Rich, Katey (January 23, 2011). "Sundance Review: Red State Is A Messy, Ambitious Disappointment". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  37. ^ Hoffman, Jordan. "Red State Review". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  38. ^ McWeeny, Drew (January 24, 2011). "Sundance review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' fails onscreen and off at its world premiere". Hitfix. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  39. ^ Asdourian, Raffi (January 24, 2011). "Sundance Review Red State". The Film Stage. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  40. ^ Goldberg, Matt (January 24, 2011). "Sundance 2011: RED STATE Review". Collider.com. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  41. ^ Rocchi, James (January 24, 2011). "Sundance '11 Review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' An Ambitious, Greatly Flawed Stab At Horror". indieWire. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  42. ^ McCarthy, Todd (January 24, 2011). "Sundance '11 Review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' An Ambitious, Greatly Flawed Stab At Horror". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  43. ^ Sneider, Jeff. "Sundance Review: Kevin Smith's 'Red State' A Return to Form". TheWrap.com. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  44. ^ Lussier, Germain (January 24, 2011). "'Red State' – Kevin Smith's Religious Action Thriller Is Not What You Expect". /Film. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
  45. ^ a b Sciretta, Peter (November 29, 2010). "Early Buzz: Richard Kelly on Kevin Smith's 'Red State'". /Film. Retrieved 24 December 2010.
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