• After watching the film with an audience at Sundance, Kevin feels that a slightly shorter cut might be made for the masses – Probably around 10 minutes, here and there, will be removed before “Red” hits theaters in October. No word on if those cuts will happen before or after the tour starts in March, or if they’ll happen gradually.
• There’s been a lot of press about what went down with “Red State” last weekend — But why not go direct to the festival source? Sundance Blog not only runs down the events, but has a ton of positive buzz about the product itself. This is one of the best single paragraphs that we’ve seen since the announcement was made:

  “It would be a real disappointment if, amid the drama of last night’s announcement, it was lost on everyone how stunning and indie Red State feels. Smith was right about Red State when he said that it’s different; it doesn’t look like his previous movies and it doesn’t feel like one either. Characters you root for, who in any other movie wouldn’t have their heads blown off, suffer that particular fate. It’s well-edited (by Smith) and driven, with really funny, human moments, but there’s an unsettled, jagged rage to it that’s refreshing. It’s not an easy movie, partly because Melissa Leo and Michael Parks’ performances are mesmerizing and impossible to turn away from – and they play some pretty horrid people. The difficult thing about Smith’s self-distribution model is that, because he’s refusing to use TV ads or billboards to let people know they should see Red State, audiences will have to work a little harder to actually catch a screening. But you’ll be doing yourself a real disservice if you don’t meet Smith halfway on his promise to hand-deliver a movie that feels entirely new and thrilling.”

• First, a little tag from the last posted story – Kevin did indeed confirm that Michael Parks will be on hand for the Radio City screening in March. You just gotta be there – He’s even going to treat the audience to some of his own vocal stylings. Don’t miss this show. This is one of the biggest we’ve ever seen.
• From last weekend, /Film does their usual fantastic job with their Dispatches from the movie premiere. Peep their article for a ton of new photos from the counter-protest. There’s a lot there that we didn’t see anywhere else.
• Kevin’s crew weren’t the only ones holding that counter-protest, though — Park Record reports that over 200 high school students from the Park City area were also on hand to express their opposition to the Baptists from Westboro.
• Canadians: Here’s what Kevin had to say about “Red State” in your country: “We’ll have a distributor up there who will ALSO tour the flick the way we’re doing down here. We hope to lock up Canada & some other international territories in the next few weeks. Hold on…”
• We also loved this quote about Kevin’s decision to take this route with “Red State” with the end of the road being a real theatrical distribution: “I’m a movie-maker; I wanna show my stuff in a movie theater. There will always be time for the digital afterlife, but I wanna show my flick to hundreds of people at a time in movie theaters first; I just don’t want to spend on marketing to do it. And in place of the money folks normally spend to get attention for their flicks, we’re simply selling to an audience that wants to go. If the tour ticket sales are weak, we’ll not tour again & simply come out 10/19. 2/3 months later? Digital distribution. By this time next year, you’ll be able to buy it on iTunes, OnDemand, etc. But for now, I wanna run this horse a bit.”
• Online promotion for “Red State” will spread to the late night talk shows as well, where advertising is cheap. Per Kevin: “That’s where we’ll show our newest trailers as cost-free TV spots.”
• Stay tuned for any other special presale announcements or deals if you missed today’s — We heard some fans were lucky enough to get front row center spots at Radio City. “Red State” tours the nation starting this March, then hits theaters in October.

…It goes without saying that religious conservatives will hate “Red State,” although those of a more libertarian stripe might appreciate Smith’s irrepressible irreverence, freewheeling subversion and tweaking of movie genre expectations. Young audiences will eat it up for the above reasons as well as for its unmistakable rebel attitude toward everything except human decency.

Nimbly directed and nicely shot on the RED camera system, the film went before the cameras on September 21, a mere four months before its premiere.

“…For those interested in where the movie industry is going, I have to say that the person to watch is Kevin Smith. I’ve written about some of what he’s done before, but he’s continued to do some interesting (and, at times, controversial) things. I have no idea if he’ll succeed with them, but if you want to understand how to succeed, you should be paying attention to what he’s doing either way. Like Reznor, he’s breaking conventional wisdom, and trusting his instincts on — as he says — skating to where the puck is heading, rather than where it’s been.”

…So I’d go my way and he’d go his and everything was fine. Sometimes you work with some people and you develop a shorthand between the director and the actor. You don’t need to have long dissertations on acting or the scene or the character. It’s very quick. I can’t explain it, except it’s there. We connected that way. He’s not dominant, which is wonderful, but he’s always there, which is good.

Is he the kind of director where he’s always giving notes on the performance, saying ‘tweak this or that?’

Oh, Christ no! I’m too old to read anyways.

So he just kind of let you do your thing?

Well I think that he had faith that I was going to bring the character. If he saw that he didn’t like it, he sure as hell would say something, I think. There were a couple of times he helped me with suggestions.

Can you give examples how?

Yeah, like moments when I could be even a little sweeter, a very important thing. But anyways … the craft of acting takes a long time. I’m never quite sure. In fact, 10 seconds after I finish every scene I do, I think I could do it better, but I just go on.

Red State

Excitement over Kevin Smith’s new movie has been building for months, partly because itís such a departure from anything he’s done before. Branded a horror film, ‘Red State’ follows three teenage boys during a terrifying encounter with extreme fundamentalism. Smith is avoiding the press machine – no reviews, no interviews, nada – which makes the film all the more mysterious.

It seems that’s continuing, too — Rumor has it that Kevin has not promised ANY press or promotion of the film when it hits theaters this Fall — Though promotions will, of course continue via online and social channels throughout the tour this year.

The show itself goes down on March 5th at 8:00 PM in historic Radio City Music Hall, New York City.

We’ve make it easy for you. Hit up this link to get right there. No need to even type in the code, we did it for you. Ticket prices range for $54.50 to $124.50, depending on where you wanna sit. Remember, this isn’t just a movie screening, folks — You not only get to see “Red State” before most of the world does, but you get an intro and Q&A afterwords from Kevin Smith (it’s really the price of just a Kevin Q&A alone, so the movie’s a bonus). Plus, we’re also hearing that star Michael Parks is likely to attend some of these venues, so we’re hoping to have confirmation of that soon, also. With this being the big kickoff, there might even be some other cast and surprises as well.

Don’t miss “Red State” at Radio City, on March 5th. BUY NOW!