Red State U.S.A Tour hit's Boston and brings the house down!

Director: Kevin Smith
Writer: Kevin Smith
Starring: Michael Parks, John Goodman, Kyle Gallner, Micheal Angarano,
Nicholas Braun and Stephen Root
Distrubuted by: Smodcast Pictures
Website: http://www.coopersdell.com/

Filmmaker Kevin Smith rolled into Boston Sunday night and brought with him a little flick called Red State. Since the movie premiered at Sundance in January there has been a lot of chatter regarding Red State, some positive, some negative, some things I agree with and some things I don't. One thing that anyone has to admit is that all of this talk has generated a whole heap of buzz for the flick and that is really the whole point of the Red State U.S.A Tour.  A word of mouth tour targeted at Smith's audience, designed to get them into the seats, show them the flick and then send them out into the world to talk about it. Smith himself said he doesn't care how you talk about the movie, whether you love it or hate it just talk about it and if last night is anything to go by it seems to be working. Admittedly forking out for a ticket on the tour set me back around 7 times more than a regular movie ticket would and there are a lot of people out there crowing about that fact. I think when you take into account the fact that the movie is introduced by the dude who wrote and directed it, then he sat in the audience to watch the flick with his audience and came right back out on the stage after to do a QnA session. It all adds up to a unique experience that you are unlikely to find anywhere else and, for me at least, was worth every penny. Honestly it is, check it out for yourself, tickets are still on sale at http://www.coopersdell.com/ you won't regret it.

The Green Hornet 3D Review

I went into Green Hornet expecting to love it, wanting to love it, I left a little sad inside. It's not that it's an awful, awful movie that doesn't deserve anybodies time or hard earned cash, it will just appeal more to a certain kind of person. The kind of people who doesn't know much about Green Hornet as a character would enjoy it more I think. Not that I am any kind of expert I just know enough about him to disagree with the path the movie takes. 

Seth Rogen stars as Britt Reid, the son of newspaper mogul James Reid (Tom Wilkinson), he's a spoiled, rich, party boy and a perpetual failure in his father's eyes. After his dad dies from the result of a bee sting Britt inherits his fathers media empire, including his paper, The Daily Sentinel. He meet's his father's old valet/mechanic Kato (Jay Chou) when he realizes that he fired the guy who makes the good coffee and has him called back in, turns out Kato makes the coffee with a special machine he built. Suitably impressed by Kato's skills he keeps him around and they get a little merry together. Britt decides he want's to go out and play a prank, specifically cutting the head of his father's memorial statue. After the deed is done Britt notices a couple under attack from a gang and decides to interject, making himself a new target, Kato comes to the rescue and saves him with his impressive martial arts skills, including the ability to somehow slow down time when he gets an adrenaline rush...seriously what the fuck? 

Flush from their success Britt declares they have both been wasting their potential and based on how good it felt to help those people they should fight crime, but they won't make the mistake that all those other comic book heroes do, they won't let people know they are the heroes they will play the villains instead. He decides to use The Sentinel to publicize his own exploits and dubs himself The Green Hornet, using the knowledge of his newest hire Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) to map out how a new criminal would take over the city they set out to take on crime. This doesn't sit well with current criminal kingpin Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) (I was tempted to mention how ludicrous his name is, but it only get's worse so that can wait until later). After our heroes get into a fight over how important they each are to the Green Hornet project they part ways. Britt soon realizes, with the help of Lenore, that his fathers old friend DA Scanlon (David Harbour) is corrupt and in league with the NOW ludicrously named Bloodnofsky (he grew tired of people being more afraid of Green Hornet that he decided he needed a new name, honest). Luckily our heroes patch things up in time to take them down and save the day.

So let's start with my problems with the flick. First there is no real motivation for Britt to even become Green Hornet. Traditionally he was spurred on by his father's murder, here he doesn't even know his father is murdered until 10 minutes from the end, which he comes to realize in a badly conceived scene that not only makes zero sense but appears to be there for nothing more than a cheap laugh. Said scene see's Rogen as Britt meeting with Scanlon who comes clean about not really ridding the city of crime, admits he was using his father to lie to the public and is ultimately responsible for his death. Britt then, supposedly, experiences one of Kato's slow-time moments brought on by the adrenaline of finding out his father was murdered, where he pieces together the puzzle while conversing with his dead father in his head, only to be told he has been sitting there with a blank look on his face for five minutes. Get it? hee-haw very funny, not. The scene makes absolutley no sense what so ever, yes it's a comic book movie but it's traditionally been one based more on gadgets, toys and skill a la Batman than super powers. An even bigger crime is the whole joke of it all falls flatter than a transvestites chest. Bringing me to problem number two, this flick just can't seem to decide if it want's to be serious or ridiculous, bouncing around from sincere serious moments to moments that are so ridiculous they almost make you cringe. 

The plot itself is so completely contrived that both myself and my wife, who saw it with me, had a hard time even following anything that resembled logic. It's almost like the writers (Rogen and Evan Goldberg) knew the bones of a Green Hornet story, plotted out the major events, father dies, Britt becomes Green Hornet, Kato becomes his side kick etc then wrote a semi-comedy story around them not really caring if it all made much sense. For example, it's hard to believe that Reid would go from playboy, to vandal, to watching his new best friend kick a few guys asses, to vigilante taking down the criminal underworld with no motivation other than 'it felt good to watch you help those people and punch that one guy because I have zero fighting skills'. As far as who is more important to the Green Hornet project? I'm with Kato because Rogen as Green hornet does next to fucking nothing in this movie. Except gush, in typical Rogen fashion, over how awesome everything Kato can do is. Yeah Kato has always been the bodyguard of the story but at least previous incarnations of Green Hornet could take care of themselves. 

Overall, for me as a movie fan, it's just a bad, bad movie. Full of plot holes, cliches and badly timed gags. As a little added insult to injury it's some of the most shoddy 3D I have ever seen, I was repeatedly trying to wipe my 3D glasses clean thinking there was some sort of blemish or something that was distorting the picture only to realize I could watch the movie without them and, excluding a slight blur here and there,  not even tell the difference. May as well have flushed the $8 extra down the khazi. As I have stated before anything I say here is merely my opinion and there are people out there that will find this movie perfectly enjoyable, Chou is a particular bright spot as dead pan Kato to Rogen's buffoon. As someone who has enjoyed Seth Rogen's work in the past I can definitely see how his fans will enjoy his performance here, what stopped me from doing so was knowing what the Green Hornet should, or could have been, and watching him play the complete opposite. Unfortunately I couldn't in good conscience recommend this movie to anyone who has been a fan of the Green Hornet in his past incarnations, this just isn't the GH you are used to. 


Directed by: Michel Gondry
Written by: Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
Created by: George W. Trendle
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Website: http://www.greenhornetmovie.com/

Exclusive interview with Red State star and KROQ's Ralph Garman

Ralph Garman as 'Caleb', image courtesy of xcellentcreations.com. Click to enlarge

For those of you who read my article about Red State and the reaction from Sundance last week, you'll remember I said over the coming weeks I would be reaching out to members of the cast for interviews. This is the first in what I hope will become a series of interviews with the cast about their time on Red State. If you want to see Red State before the 10/19 release date go check out www.coopersdell.com for a list of all the dates the flick will be hitting cities across the country on the great Red State U.S.A Tour. Each date will include a viewing of the movie followed by a Q & A with Kevin Smith, Michael Parks and more special guests.

Many of you will know Ralph Garman from the Hollywood Babble-On pod cast he co-hosts with Kevin Smith or from the Kevin and Bean Show on Los Angeles radio station KROQ. In Red State  he plays Caleb a member of Abin Cooper's flock and the husband of Sarah (Melissa Leo). I was recently privileged enough to converse with Ralph via e-mail and get his thoughts on the whole Red State experience.

In Red State you play Caleb, a member of the Five Points Trinity Church, how was the overall experience for you?

I’ve been lucky to do a lot of different things in my career .. Voice-over work, radio, TV, stage, film … But, RED STATE was one of the best working experiences I’ve ever had.  Weirdly, I think a lot of it was due to its small budget.  Because when you’re not paying people much, you know they’re there because they really want to be.  It becomes all about the project.  And, a small budget means you gotta work fast, and that cuts down on a lot of the “waiting around” time which is the worst part of being on any set.  You wanna be in there working, and we were.

You're a good friend of Kevin Smith's and work with him every week on the Hollywood Babble On show, what was it like to work with Kevin the director as opposed to Kevin the comedian?

I’d never seen Kevin direct before, which is one of the reasons I really wanted to do the film.  I wanted to see him in his element and watch him do his thing. He’s a very different cat when he’s on the set, but, that’s out of necessity.  He’s so focused, because he’s dealing with so many different elements and constantly being asked to solve a gripload of problems.  I had to change my relationship with Smith when we were on the set, too, because we’re straight-up partners when we do HB-O, but on the set, he needs to be totally in charge. So, I had to catch myself and realize that he was the boss and I needed to just shut up and do what he said. I’m a creative guy, so, sometimes I have an unfortunate tendency to volunteer unsolicited advice or ideas. On RED STATE I had to remind myself to shut up, stay out of the way, and let the man do his job.

I'm a listener of your HB-O podcast and ever since you guys said that Caleb originally had lines in the script but you requested they be taken out I've wondered, what were the lines?

To tell you the truth, I don’t really remember.  I know one of them was Caleb spewing some anti-gay hatred.  I really thought that was already covered, and better delivered, by other characters, so I didn’t feel it helped my character, or the story.  I was sort of this silent “blunt instrument of God’s vengeance” in other parts of the script and so I really wanted to carry that throughout the whole movie. I just suggested to Kevin that those lines be cut, and he agreed.

Did you just get a better feeling for Caleb as the menacing silent type or was it because Kev was like here's your line but you have to do it as Jerry Lewis motherfucker!

Caleb, silent and menacing, from the Red State teaser

That would’ve been awesome!!!  No, Caleb was just most interesting to me as this “attack dog” that Abin (Michael Parks) had on a chain and would unleash when it was time to kill in “God’s name”.  I started to think of Caleb as Abin’s pet animal that could turn vicious, so the silence worked in that regard.  And then, I thought it would be extra creepy if it wasn’t just that Caleb didn’t talk, but couldn’t.  I wanted to make him a mute.  So, I asked Smith if we could have the make-up team put a really awful looking scar on my throat to visually tell the story of the fact that Caleb was a mute.  Like “something bad happened to this dude” and that’s why he wasn’t talking.

I only ask because it's obvious from your previous body of work you’re a fan of talking.

Yes.  To say the least.  In fact, it was a real challenge for me to give a performance and not have any words to lean on.  But, on the other hand, it was great to walk onto a set and not have to worry about forgetting my lines!

A lot of people have raved about the performance of Michael Parks and I have to say just hearing him deliver the 'I fear god' line in the trailer gives me chills. What was it like to work with him and what did you think of his performance?

Parks is remarkable in this role.  The guy’s been doing it for 50 years, you know, and it’s like he’s brought all that experience to bear on this one performance.  He’s charming, chilling, funny, terrifying, and scary as fuck.  We all hope he gets some attention when award season rolls around, but even if he doesn’t, it’s a brilliant piece of acting.  Off the set, Parks is one of the funniest guys in the world.  He would tell me jokes and stories all day long. He, his son, James Parks (“Mordachai” in the film) and me were the “three musketeers” hanging out in our trailers, and I think I laughed more with those guys than I have on any other set.  Plus, Parks is so “old school” when it comes to the work. He shows up prepared, and just gets to work.  No frills, no drama. He’s a true pro.

The rest of the cast obviously did a fine job too as half of them have been cast in 'Hit Somebody' including yourself, any character details you can share yet?

I would, but, I don’t even know who I’m playing!  Smith hasn’t told me yet.  Not that it matters.  I love the guy, and love working with him.  If he thinks I can help the movie by playing a mute Zamboni driver, I’m in.

I read online that you couldn't make it out to Sundance with everyone, were you aware of the distribution plan beforehand and what do you think of it?

Nope.  Smith kept it all a secret.  I was as surprised as everyone else.  But, I’m glad I found out before all the internet stuff was written.  My manager was at Sundance and went to the first RED STATE screening, and he texted me right afterwards that he loved the movie.  I wrote back, “Who bought it?” and he told me the whole story, so I knew right after it happened.  I laughed out loud!  I think it’s awesome!  Smith has worked so hard for almost 20 years to cultivate this amazing fan base, why not take the movie right to them?  I think this tour will make a much bigger impact than another fucking movie ad on the side of a bus would.  He’s cutting through the noise.  I think it’s a really smart move.

How does it feel to not only be a part of the movie that is blazing the trail so to speak but to also be friends with the guy trying to make it work?

Caleb's best side is from your knees cowering for your life

It’s cool to be in the eye of Smith’s hurricane.  I’ve done so much crap in my career, that it’s fun to be involved with something that’s noteworthy, for whatever reason.  I have images of me being interviewed when I’m an old man by some film student asking me about Kevin Smith and the RED STATE experience.  I’ll be like Joseph Cotton in CITZEN KANE, old, cranky, and smoking a cigar in my wheelchair.

Obviously you have heard some of the crap being said online, it's what motivated me to reach out for an interview and share more honest information about the flick and everything involved. As someone who works in and around Hollywood do you have an opinion you would like to share?

The internet’s a great thing, but you can’t take a lot of it too seriously.  It’s such a massive outlet of endless, unfiltered information, so that anybody can write anything, and they may or may not know what the fuck they’re talking about.  You gotta just do your thing, and not pay too much attention to what anybody says, good, or bad.  I think it’s cool of you to try and get information from people actually involved, rather than just write another “opinion” piece.

Are you planning on attending on of the screening on the Red State USA tour? Would you participate in the Q&A's if you did?

I’m only going to be able to attend the kick-off of the tour in NYC at the Radio City Music Hall, and the one here in Los Angeles at the Wiltern in April.  I wish I could do more, but I’ve got the day job on the radio, and I’ll be carrying on with the HB-O show while Smith’s out there hustling.  I’ll be there for the Q & A’s in NYC and LA, and I’ll be happy to answer questions, if anybody has any.  Honestly, my role isn’t that big, but I sure am proud to be a part of RED STATE and the amazing cast that Smith was able to put together.

__________________________________________________________________________

I just want to say a massive thank you to Ralph for taking the time out to answer my questions and for giving us some excellent insight into Red State, he's a true Hollywood helper in his own right. For anyone who hasn't already you should check out www.babbleonralph.com and have a listen to the Hollywood Babble-On  show or if you're in LA do yourself a favor and go watch the guys at The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club up at Universal City Walk.

Poster image courtesy of www.xcellentcreations.com

If you’re a movie website or film journalist and you want to feature this poster or use it in a story, don’t be a detail-thin dick.

Be sure to tell people WHY the poster was released: because http://www.xcellentcreations.com/www.kennygordonfoundation.com in less than 30 minutes. bid $1800 to The Kenny Gordon Foundation

If you also include the link for The Kenny Gordon Foundation charity in your story/article, you’re not only being a thorough journalist, you’re also helping to save actual lives – lives whose progress you’ll be able to trace via www.kennygordonfoundation.com!

It only takes a few seconds longer to provide all available facts in any story.

Including THIS fact can help save a life.”

Screencaps taken from the Red State teaser trailer, the trailer can be seen in full at www.coopersdell.com

Interview copyrighted by www.thegeektank.org 2010

Kevin Smith leaves Sundance in a 'Red' State of shock and awe

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First Look at the X-Men: First Class cast in costume!

From left to right: Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Emma Frost (January Jones), Azazel (Jason Flemying), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havok (Lucas Till), Angel Salvadore (Zoe Kravitz), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Professor X (James McAvoy)

Check it out, this is our first look of the cast from Matthew Vaughn's X-men: First Class, what do you think? Unfortunately that is the best image I could find. Let's hope there is a hi-res version along with some other material dropping soon. 

I like it, the uniforms look to be staying more faithful to their comic book counterparts than the previous X-men movies did. How can you argue with January Jone's wearing nothing up top but a leather bra and feathered cape! The 'White Queen' does appear to be in her more bondage inspired wardrobe this time around. I'm not sure I remember Dr. MacTaggert sporting all that much Celtic green but that's OK. I'm pretty excited about this movie as I'm a big fan of the original source material.
 
X-men: First Class focuses on a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and a young Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender). Before their differing views on mutant politics forced them onto opposing sides they were the best of friends. The flick is set in the 1960's and explores the origins of each of their respective 'groups'. The X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.
 
X-Men: First Class is slated for a 06/03/2011 release date.
 
*Credit to http://geektyrant.com for the image.

First look at Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man!

Click the image to enlarge

There have been a few glimpses of actors on the set of the new Spider-Man reboot, we've seen both Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy respectively. Today we got our first look of Garfield as Spider-Man, sporting a modified costume that will probably be equally hated and loved by the web masses. I think it looks kinda cool from what we can see of it so far. The image was dropped by Columbia Pictures on the movie's official Facebook page.