{"id":1135,"date":"2011-03-06T08:50:04","date_gmt":"2011-03-06T15:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1135"},"modified":"2011-03-06T08:52:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-06T15:52:52","slug":"daily-dose-kevin-smith-the-next-slacker-spalding-gray-or-autuer-robert-altman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=1135","title":{"rendered":"Daily Dose: Kevin Smith – the new slacker Spalding Gray or autuer Robert Altman?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Kevin Smith is everywhere these days. But is he going somewhere? <\/p>\n

Smith burst onto the scene in 1994 with the micro budgeted \u201cClerks,\u201d a film that I\u2019ve been told was barely watchable prior to significant post-production that pushed the budget well over $200K, a still smallish amount for the time. I\u2019ve been a consistent admirer of his work but not always a fan. Since his impressive start with a few special movies like \u201cChasing Amy\u201d and the terrific \u201cDogma,\u201d his audacious work as of late hasn\u2019t measured up. When I interviewed him back in 2004 about the soft and largely unsuccessful \u201cJersey Girl,\u201d I found him to be open to fair criticism. The guy could tell I did not like the film and he seemed to be okay with that.<\/p>\n

But his conduct surrounding \u201cRed State\u201d shows an utter disregard for any kind of criticism\u2014fair or otherwise. As he crisscrosses the country on what could be described as a barnstorming trip self-distributing his latest feature, he keeps showing up on YouTube where he demonstrates a devil-may-care attitude. And his standup comedy rap might be getting a little old. After all, like me, the guy is no longer in his 30s. Recently, I caught his one-man show, \u201cKevin Smith: Too Fat For 40,\u201d on Netflix and found his irreverent, expletive filled ranting fun, for a little while. I suspect that his waning popularity will fade more until he decides to, and this is harsh, grow up and make another significant film. He\u2019s certainly got the talent. After reading Todd McCarthy\u2019s largely positive review<\/a> of \u201cRed State,\u201d I suspect that Smith\u2019s new horror film isn\u2019t going to win a new hoard of adoring viewers. As of writing this column, the film registers a 29% rotten rating on RottenTomatoes.com (http:\/\/www.rottentomatoes.com\/m\/red_state\/). Of course, I will see the film, eventually, and decide for myself.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview with the NY Post<\/a>, Smith has said he doesn\u2019t even consider himself a filmmaker, rather, he was \u201cnever made to be a filmmaker.\u201d As he continued his tour with a screening of \u201cRed State\u201d and Q&A last night at Radio City Music Hall, it is becoming more and more apparent that Smith would rather be the new slacker Spalding Gray than the next Robert Altman.<\/p>\n

Sure, he\u2019s readying a hockey movie reportedly called \u201cHit Somebody\u201d and without filmmaking Smith would never have been pushed into popular culture. The attempt with \u201cRed State\u201d was, I think, to grow as a filmmaker and to make a movie that commented metaphorically on a serious political issue. \u201cState\u201d is a satiric look through the horror genre lens at pastor Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. In the movie a pastor not unlike Phelps is played by actor Michael Parks (from \u201cKill Bill\u201d). The cast also includes recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo. <\/p>\n

With Smith\u2019s name recognition, his eclectic and well-known cast, and the horror\/satire subject matter, \u201cRed State\u201d most certainly could have found some kind of traditional distribution. But Smith opted to do it himself. And my feeling is that the decision was not exclusively creative but, instead, there were smart financial considerations at work. And as Hollywood\u2019s grasp on the theatrical and home distribution models has lessoned significantly, Smith\u2019s self-distribution plan may be a stroke of genius. In fact, his tour is not just about his latest movie, it is a test of the Kevin Smith brand. And that brand includes the launching and merchandising of a number of ventures including an internet radio station and the extension of something affectionately called his \u201cview askewniverse.\u201d <\/p>\n

The traveling roadshow that is Kevin Smith and is more than just movies might be coming to your town. It will be in Atlanta on March 29th, 2011, at the Cobb Energy Centre. You can request a screening in your home town through the film\u2019s many websites including http:\/\/www.coopersdell.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RED STATE tour is coming to your town.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1135"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1141,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1135\/revisions\/1141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}