Kevin Smith’s controversial Zack and Miri Make a Porno is already getting good reviews and Smith tells Variety at the Toronto Film Festival (video below) that he’d love to be the man who saves The Weinstein Company.

“I’d love to be Quentin version two,” he says. Because Miramax was always known as the house that Quentin built and under The Weinstein Company, they don’t have that yet. It would be nice if this [movie] would be it.”

And hey, while you’re watching video, why not also check out this non-spoiler video clip from E! Online where Kev discusses the new flick while at the Toronto Film Festival. This one just goes for a couple of minutes. He talks about porn, working with Rogen, and blogs.

…We asked whether he might start shooting on that soon, to which he replied, “I hope so. We’re still looking for some cash for it ’cause it’s not a really commercial film at all. It’s very bleak and very dark, and there’s no one to root for in the movie, so it’s a real film festival type of film, but it’s not the kind of movie you can take into multiplexes and do a bunch of business with unless it becomes a water cooler type of movie where people start talking about it. So we’ve had trouble finding financing for it, but hopefully that’ll come together soon. Script’s all done. We want to make it for like $5 million in the Midwest and do it with a bunch of unknowns and see what happens. So I mean none of those things add up to people rushing to you with a check. No one’s rushing to give us money for it.”

Since Smith has never made a horror film, many horror fans who are also fans of Smith’s will be expecting something like we haven’t seen before and something truly shocking, since he’s probably built up a lot of ideas of what he’d want to do in a horror movie. “It is definitely a 180 from everything else we’ve done including ‘Zack and Miri’ but at the same time, it’s not like a splatter film, it’s not like slasher balls-to-the-wall gore, it’s more unsettling and disturbing type of horror,” he explained when asked about the direction he plans on taking things in his first horror outing.

So, it seems that there’s still more funding to be acquired before this one can truly get off the ground. If any fans who have contacts are reading this, we sure think this would be a fine investment — Here’s hoping that we’ll have some good news soon and we can see the project start in early 2009 as originally planned. Chances are it’ll be made on the cheap and turn a tidy profit to the lucky investors. As we hear more on “Red State”, we’ll of course kep you posted. As we’ve seen before, project schedules often shuffle around and movie priorities change — Most directors aren’t as forthcoming with their future plans as Kevin, but shuffling projects is quite common and could happen again. But we’re sure hopeful to see another View Askew production head in front of the cameras next year.

TIFF 08: Play that funky music


By W. Andrew Powell

Zack and Miri Make a PornoIf I go through some of my all-time favorite songs, most of them have one thing in common: they’re featured in a movie I also love.

Shaun of the Dead reminded me how much I loved Queen with the song “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter” leaps off the screen in Closer. Counting Crows had the wickedly addictive opening song “Accidentally in Love” in Shrek 2. Donnie Darko blew me away with the classic Echo & the Bunnymen song “The Killing Moon.” And those are just a few songs that jump to mind.

It just amazes me how a song can have such an important part in a movie, perhaps most dramatically represented by Gary Jules’ emotionally charged remake of “Mad World,” also from Donnie Darko.

So, what does this have to do with the Toronto International Film Festival? Well, I’ve seen a lot of films this past week that made great use of music. JCVD, Afterwards, and even Stone of Destiny, but none blew me away like Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

One single song reminded me how important it is to have great music in a film, and how often it’s the unknown songs that have the greatest effect.

I don’t want to ruin the film for anyone, but during an emotional scene between Zack and Miri, who are played by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, the band Live has a song that fits so perfectly, it actually made my jaw drop.

With frontman Ed Kowalczyk’s intense vocals, layered on top of the band’s heavy guitar rhythms, the scene is about as perfect as it could be.

Looking through the press notes I found out that the song was called “Hold Me Up,” but as a devout Live fan I can definitely say I’ve never heard the song before.

Thankfully, director Kevin Smith was able to give a little insight into the song. Here’s what he had to say:

It’s an old song that I first heard in ‘95, when we were putting together the Mallrats soundtrack. It was actually in the film for the first test screening, but Live decided they wanted to hold onto it as a potential single off their next album (which would follow Throwing Copper). When I was editing Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, the song had still never surfaced or been released, so I put in a request for it again. Again, I was denied.

Third time, apparently, was the charm. Needed a song for that sequence in Zack and Miri and remembered the Live track. This time, the band signed off on us using the track. Took 13 years, but was worth the wait.

I’m still a big fan of Live, but I have to admit, there’s an intensity to the song that doesn’t seem to exist in any of the band’s recent material. Hearing it in the film, I had a good idea it was from their Throwing Copper days, but now we just have to wait and see if the studio can get the rights to use the song on the soundtrack too. If the band is smart though, they’ll consent and promote the hell out of this song – it’s one of the most memorable scenes I’ve seen all week at TIFF, and I give nearly half of that credit to the song.

From “Clerks” and son, Kevin has always shown a great talent and picking fantastic tunes for his flicks (which in turn build remarkably listenable soundtracks). No word on an actual soundtrack for this flick just yet, but from the sound of it, we’re in for another great round of selections to go along with a hilarious film. Be sure to crank it up, theater owners.

Those expecting raunchy sex and nudity in Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Weinstein Co. – October 31) shouldn’t be disappointed, although there’s also a touching relationship comedy at the heart of it between the two main characters, played by Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, who really elevate what might be seen as a fairly high concept premise. Fans of Smith should love it as much as his previous films, and except for one particular gross-out scene, it’s surprisingly classy despite all the usual swearing. (We have a great interview with Smith we’ll be running sometime soon.)

Let’s start with the spoiler-free first. Elizabeth Banks, Jason Mewes, and of course Kevin were on hand for the premiere, and the TIFF’s website caught the arrivals and snapped a few nice photos as well.

Now, onto the juicy stuff. Once again, we warn you, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FILM ARE CONTAINED IN THESE VIDEOS! After the world premiere, Kevin and the cast took to the stage for some audience Q&A, and it’s all available to you thanks to the miracle that is YouTube. Total of around 15 minutes total. Watch only if you’ve seen the film, or don’t mind having some of the best jokes spoiled for ya (we’re debating watching right now).

“First, I’m going to do a 180 turn and do a horror movie called ‘Red State,’ ” Smith said in an interview Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival. “It’s going to be a total horror-political-psychological movie without a funny line in it. Then I’m going to do the science-fiction superhero movie. It’s going to be an original superhero that I’ve created. It’s stewing right now. I want to do it, though, and, God willing, it will star Seth Rogen.”

See the full story over at the LA Times website. Kudos to Joblo as well for picking up on this scoop.

“Matt” says:

I got a chance to catch the World Premire of Zack and Miri Make a Porno last night at the Toronto Film Fest, so I thought I’d check in to share my thoughts, but keep it spoiler free.

The film played at the Ryerson Theater in Downtown Toronto. I was lucky enough to snag tickets online, as even as I arrived some 2 hours early, the non-ticket holding or “rush” line was already easily 100 people. The ticket holders line-up went all the way around the block by the time doors opened.

In attendance were Kevin, Elizabeth Banks, Katie Morgan, Ricky Mabe, and Mewes, who got to his seat by making a daring, MacGyver-esque roll and run across the stage, as the film was bring introduced by the festival presenter. Seth Rogan unfortunately couldn’t make it, as he’s filming “Funny People” with Judd Apatow, to which Kevin quipped “I asked him ‘C’mon! Whats Judd Apatow ever done for YOU?'”.

Afterwards, Kevin and the 4 stars who were in attendance did a very brief Q&A, with the festival presenter providing many laughs due to her uncomfortable reactions to Kevin and the Cast’s cuss laden responses.

As for the movie itself…

This is a dirty, dirty movie. Bad language that boarders on Aristocrats level, and like the Aristocrats, about half way through you’re so desensitized to the vulgarity that you don’t even blink when hearing beautiful women casually discussing filthy things. Clerks 2’s Ass-to-Mouth conversation was like the tip of the iceberg in contrast to this film, but I never thought it went over the edge to the point where it was for shock.

But for all the dirty mouths and hilarious imagery, there actually is a very sweet, very relatable love story between the two titular characters.

Craig Robinson is the absolute comedic stand out of the movie. His brilliant subtle delivery raises the bar of kevin’s already clever dialogue. Another big surprise for me was just how funny Justin Long was, as gay porn actor “Brandon St. Randy”. Banks totally lights up the screen with great chemistry between her and Seth Rogan, who is his usual lovable geek self. Also easy on the eyes and fun to watch was the mainstream debut of real life porn star Katie Morgan (whom I imagine some may be familiar with from her other works). Also very cool was the brief cameo from Kenny Hotz, of “Kenny vs. Spenny” fame.

Overall, I don’t think anyone who’s a fan of Kevin’s will be disappointed. The comedy is wackier and the romanticism is less subtle than in (the easiest comparison) an Apatow sex-comedy, but I feel it works just as well, and still definitely in keeping with Kevin’s style (the Star Wars and Hockey references are still intact).


For me personally, it now ranks high in the Smith filmography. Well done, sir.

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“Corey” writes:

I was lucky to attend the World Premiere of Zack and Miri last night at TIFF08 (Toronto International Film Festival) and it was amazing. No spoilers here but needless to say there is one scene that elicited an extended response and laughter. Being a loyal Kevin Smith fan, I am happy that the film was so well received and hope this movie makes some mad bank for Kevin at the box office. Of note question wise, somebody asked why Seth Rogen wasn’t able to show up and in a hilarious response Kevin mentioned that he was currently filming another Judd Apatow movie out West, to which he quipped, “What the f_ck has Judd Apatow ever done for Seth?” Very funny to be sure. When asked whether he would consider doing a movie again with Rogen, Kevin responded, “maybe if he showed up tonight…..”

Seth embodied the clever and never clean work of Kevin and I can’t wait to see this flick again in the theatre.