Indie Cine » Kevin Smith

Carlin’s Encore

dwhitney — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:41:49 +0000

It is always sad when someone dies. However, the load is always lighter when the deceased happened to be a comedian. Instead of slow moving video montages, state funerals, or memorial golf tournaments, we get stand up! Comedians have always laughed in the face of tragedy, and thankfully, we now get to remember George Carlin through constant airings of his performances, movie roles, and general profane language. Carlin videos and remembrances have have been seen everywhere in the last couple of days from the Daily Show to Larry King Live, and the fun is just getting started.

Starting today, June 25 and tomorrow, June 26, HBO will be airing Carlin specials starting at 8pm and running through the night until 1am. Then on Saturday, SNL will air the its first ever episode, which features Carlin as the special guest. And be sure to be on the lookout for airings of Carlin’s film roles such as “Dogma”, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back”, “Cars”, “Jersey Girl”, and The “Bill and Ted” series amongst others.

Also, if you are interested in how the fellow comics have reacted to Carlin’s passing, be sure to check out what
Jerry Seinfeld had to say in the NYT, what Kevin Smith wrote in Newsweek,
or what a host of other comedians thought over at The USA Today

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The Censorship Has Gone Overboard

dwhitney — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:43:39 +0000

In case you haven’t realized, movie marketing, and generally marketing of all products has entered a new phase. Yes the conventional trailer before a feature film is still the norm, but viral marketing campaigns including, but not limited to, websites, public displays, graffiti, live human performances, tattoos on boxers, mini internet shows, and word of mouth, is everywhere you look. So, when Kevin Smith fans anxiously and routinely check the filmsmith’s blog and related websites, where he generously doses out tidbits of his upcoming films, no one thought the wiser. Well, maybe the MPAA who apparently plays the role of godfather of all media and recently forced Smith to take down his teaser trailer for his latest “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”.

Now don’t get me wrong. The trailer in question is crude at best. And yes the MPAA does rule over all things movie related, hence the nice little green screen warning prior to trailers and feature films. The only difference in Smith’s case is that his trailer was on his own website, did not feature any footage used in the actual film, and is a pure case of good old fashioned viral marketing.

“The MPAA called and said we had to take it down.

Here’s why: Weinstein Co. (like most studios) is a signatory of the MPAA. As such, there are protocols involving trailers that we failed to follow.

As with features, all trailers get rated get rated by the MPAA. The majority of them are for general audiences (Green Band trailers), but trailers packed with adult content (like our teaser) earns you what’s called a Red Band trailer.

Well, we didn’t go through this process – simply because, we felt, that since the teaser didn’t contain any footage from the actual flick, it wasn’t technically a trailer.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out all promotional material for any film financed/distributed by a signatory of the MPAA has to be signed-off on by the MPAA – including internet-only materials. I never realized this, as it’d never been a problem in the past: we’ve been doing ‘net-only teasers since “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” and nobody ever raised a red flag before (not even on the last flick, for which we also put up two ‘net-only teasers in advance of the rated trailer). But I guess since the teaser was so, shall we say, racy… a rating was in order. HEre is what Smith had to say on his website today:

We’re now officially submitting the teaser to the MPAA for rating. If they approve it, we’ll put it back up.”

Now this may not seem like a big deal to some. After all, Smith and his crew are professional filmmakers, and on paper did in fact break the rules. But, maybe we should reconsider the idea of censorship in the first place. This trailer was on a website for a filmmaker who is known for raunchy movies, and the movie in question has itself a raunchy title. This trailer was not distributed to other movie websites nor was it shown prior to a feature film. Anyone who navigated to the page with the trailer was clearly aware of what lay in wait for them.This is the nature of the internet. No one was deceived, and I am pretty sure that those waiting by their computers for any glimpse of this movie were quite pleased with what they saw.

I have not read the mission statement of the MPAA, nor do I want to, but I am pretty sure its main focus is to protect innocent eyes and ears from what they do not want to, and should not watch. Oh that and outing communists. So do your job MPAA. Start banning Will Ferrell movies and lay off the public’s freedom to choice what is appropriate for themselves.

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Zack and Miri is Here

dwhitney — Fri, 30 May 2008 04:34:54 +0000

If you don’t have anything better to do at midnight west coast time tonight ( such as sleeping or loitering outside of a Quick Stop ) then take a look at the long awaited trailer for Kevin Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”. The trailer can be seen here at the designated time.

Those of you not willing to stay up late for fifteen seconds of spliced content from a ninety-minute film, can come to this site tomorrow, where I will do my best to have the trailer posted.

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Did You Say Pittsburgh?

dwhitney — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 21:00:14 +0000

Being from a city founded on war time steel production, blood and guts style football, and an atmosphere which rotates between ten shades of gray, I as well as any Pittsburgher, will use each and every opportunity to flaunt whatever culture descends upon our great hometown. It just so happens that the city in question has had an overload of film production as of late.

You may be asking yourself how does Pittsburgh do it. The city cannot provide the luxuries and refinement that Hollywood stars rely on, it doesn’t have the talent to field a big picture, and there is no way it has the weather conducive to filming or even standing outside for extended periods of time. And while these may all be true statements, it may be this glowing assessment of the city that has attracted so many large movies.

Something must have impressed Sarah Jessica Parker when she visited in 1993 to star in the Bruce Willis boat chase movie “Striking Distance”. It only took her fifteen years to make a return visit in order to film the recent critical hit “Smart People”. Or how about Kevin Smith who must have been so enthralled by his time in Pittsburgh filming “Dogma” that he not only filmed, but set his new movie “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” in the Steel City. I guess its not even worth mentioning that the Michael Chabon adaptation “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh”, his second Pittsburgh based novel/major motion picture after “Wonder Boys”, was filmed in ……Pittsburgh. Even first timers like Viggo Mortenson who traveled to Pittsburgh to star in his most recent film, was surely not expecting architectural landmarks or dramatic sweeping landscapes to act as impressive backdrops to his acting, but rather an ashy post-apocalyptic world for Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”.

So please go support these movies in hopes of repeat and threepeat Pittsburgh performances from the big stars.

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THINKfilm

dwhitney — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:05:48 +0000

Only in existence since 2001, THINKfilm is a company whose films sail under the radar upon their release, yet are often heralded during awards season. For instance 2007’s “Taxi From the Dark Side” won the Oscar for best documentary feature. Other contributions in the genre include “Murderball,” “Spellbound,” and one of my personal favorites “I like Killing Flies.”

Their features are no slouches either. You may have seen “Primer,” “The Assassination of Richard Nixon,” or the Ryan Gosling vehicle “Half Nelson” which elicited these words from Kevin Smith, “There aren’t enough thumbs in the world to do Half Nelson the Justice it deserves.” And while their films may not always be smash hits, they are always unique, daring, and thought provoking. Here are two I stumbled on the other day.

Noise
Starring Tim Robbins, Bridget Moynahan, and William Hurt to be released May 9th

Fortunately or unfortunately I have never had the pleasure of spending more than two consecutive nights under the bright lights of NYC; preferring the shadows of Colorado’s Rocky Mountains. However, I can surely imagine the stress the big city can expel on even its most sane residents. By channeling the rage of Michael Douglas in Falling Down, yet dawning a ridiculous costume, Robbins seems to be straddling comedy and tradgedy with this one. But either way, with two Academy Award winners in this film(Robbins and Hurt), it is surely worth a look.

The Tracey Fragments
Starring Ellen Page and directed by fellow Canadian Bruce McDonald to be released in the US May 9th

Most people thought Ellen Page was great as the cute and quick witted teenager in Juno, but most people do not remember her big screen start as a twisted 14 year old pedophile hunter in 2005’s Hard Candy. While the latter was mostly difficult to watch, I am glad to see Page returning to a serious role in the The Tracey Fragments. And while this movie is by no means hot of the press (it first appeared at last years Toronto Film Festival) it may still be unheard of to most filmgoers familiar wih Page.

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