I’ve been becoming more and more of a Kevin Smith fan in recent years. Clerks 2 to me was not only the funniest film of last year, but also one of the smartest comedies I’ve seen in a long time. The themes and issues raised and mused about in the movie are layered, and many people over looked them while in the middle of laughing at the about ass-to-mouth jokes. But the themes of friendship, the priority it holds… why would we never hesitate for a moment about moving away from our friends for a job, and yet would never even consider it if it meant moving away from a spouse? Life, getting older, where we are and where we’re going… these are the things in Clerks 2 that really got me. But I digress…
Smith has been pounding away at his first horror script that has tentatively been titled “Red State”. It was the film he was going to do next after “Zach and Miri Make A Porno“. But they’ve hit a snag… for the very first time in their relationship, the Weinsteins have actually turned down a project that Smith has brought to them… they’ve passed on Red State.
Our friends over at /film have the following quote from Smith (which I assume they got from Smith’s site)
“It’s the first time Harvey and Bob have passed on anything I’ve wanted to do, but if they were gonna pass on anything, this’d be the one to do it on. The only explanation Michael gives me is ‘Harvey thought it was more of a Bob flick and then Bob didn’t get it. They’d rather just concentrate on ‘Zack and Miri’ at the moment, which we’re all pumped about.”
To me this isn’t really a surprise at all. The Weinsteins have just been brutally burned by investing in a horror/genre flick, Grindhouse. I mean seriously… they really took it in the pants on that. Some trades are saying when all is said and done, the Weinteins could end up having lost over $40 million on that project. OUCH! I don’t care how big you think the Weinstein company is… that’s a LOT of money that can sink a company.
And so it begins. I mentioned that our collective failure to support projects like Grindhouse (a colossal bomb) would ultimately lead to studios making safer and safer films and shying away from genre limit pushing films. And if the Weinsteins turned down Smith… that really says something.
Kevin Smith will find a way to make Red State, of that I have no doubt. But having it turned down by the studio signals a really unfortunate new reality… one that we ourselves are forcing the studios to adopt.
I LOVE all the movies Smith made before Clerks 2; simply love them. Clerks 2… not so much. I thought it was a mediocre movie and his weakest film to date. Not that funny, and I just couldn’t care about the main characters. Also, concerning the “themes” – I guess if you’re a certain type of person you may find them deep and inspiring; I just found them obvious, dull and uninteresting. And I really can’t understand all the praise for this movie. After Jersey Girl (which I actually enjoyed more than Clerks 2) Smith seems to have lost his touch. Maybe it’s better that he’s trying different genres, but I’m very doubtful that he will succeed. For a horror movie you need certain skills which he might lack. Anyway, time will tell.
I personally like Smith’s movies..but I don’t want to get into the “No, you’re wrong they suck” “no you’re wrong they rule” argument, because those just go on forever..
I’m interested in the effect…could it be that the studio will take less chances..I mean, sure they don’t need to making Ultraviolets, but think of all the great movies that were made because studios took the chances nobody would take (the first Star Wars)
His movies are just so shallow. Which works fine for the comedy but when he seemingly wants us to take these characters seriously it all falls apart so quickly, because there is nothing to them. They say everything. It’s like a stand-up routine focusing on a relationship.
Not to mention in something like Clerks 2, the so-called dramatic aspects are so indredibly childish and shallow that you can’t possibly feel for any of the characters.
This is very disapointing news. Hope another studio picks it up. I would like to see what Smith can do in the horror genre.
Clerks 2 was the best fucking movie last year for me.
the weinstein company aint that big john…they are the last guys who can afford a bomb like that…..while they were once titans with miramax they just do not have the old mojo that they used too…..
there are a lot of rumours that they have major money troubles and that they had a lot of the companies future riding on grindhouse. I have read a few things here and there that suggest the company will be lucky to last another year…..
as for smith I used to fucking love him but his over reaction to that critic who walked out of clerks 2 was ridiculous and really put me off him.
he came off to me as a big thin skinned fucking cry baby who is can dish it out but cannot take it.
plus clerks 2 was the biggest disappointment i have had in along long time. jaw droppingly bad and I just found the whole thing to be incredibly sad and desperate.
having said that i have been won back by smodcast..it is very funny. and i always have to remind myself how great the original clerks is and how absolutely fucking amazing chasing amy is.one of my favorite films of all time.
I haven’t liked all of the mans work but there are some things I really do enjoy. His Clerks films were good and I really liked Dogma a lot its my favorite film from him but really the man doesn’t seem able to do stuff other than his own personal film that has the same characters. I mean Jersey Girl wasn’t a horrible flick but it wasn’t that good either also if you watch the special features on the Clerks 2 disc it really seemed clear that Smith couldn’t even handle the pressure of making a film with out his typical characters. Its not like the movie was expected to be a huge blockbuster and it didn’t even have a huge budget. I guess Smith just buckled under the pressure of that film some directors can deal with it and some can’t.
I would like to see him do more different projects and a horror film is something I would love for him to do.
Hey hotmale,
you said:
“why? because I said fucking donkies and talking about assfucking? Because that is all the movie was about.”
Wow dude, if that’s really all you saw, I feel bad for you, cause you missed out on the biggest and best part of the movie. To each their own, but I’d suggest watching it again and pay closer attention to the themes. You may still not like it, but I think you’ll agree that there was a least a whole lot more to the film.
Cheers.
why? because I said fucking donkies and talking about assfucking? Because that is all the movie was about. It was complete trash and I didn’t laugh a single time. I never saw the first clerks so I HOPE it was better but doubt it.
Wow, there are some nice people posting comments on this site.
haha…clerks 2 was so bad. How can anyone like that horrible piece of crap of a movie. The movie is sooo layered!!! What with all the fucking donkies and talking about assfucking. So deep.
Pity. The horror genre seems perfectly suited to Smith’s low budget style of films. With some of Smith’s trademark smart dialogue and satire, it could have been very entertaining in between the horror/action sequences, which is where is most horrors the kids whine about being killed before being killed.
“our collective failure to support projects like Grindhouse”
=
“our collective realization that it wasn’t nearly as good as the hype that surrounded it”