I’d say 13 years ago Kevin Smith came into my life. That was when I saw Clerks for the first time and fell in love with his body of work. Mallrats, Dogma, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks 2, Jersey Girl, Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Cop Out have all been movies I really dig. I await his new flicks just as much as any other filmmaker if not more so, because I feel like his movies speak to me more than most.
Clearly he has fallen out of good graces with some people, but not me. I still listen to every podcast, watch every Q&A and follow him on the Twitter (@ThatKevinSmith). It feels like years since he first announced that he wanted to do a horror movie called Red State and now people are finally getting to see it on his awesome Red State tour. He shows the flick then does a Q&A after. Genius right? Well, to some, you’d think he said he was gonna punch everyone in the face. This is the worst thing to happen to film since the shakey cam. No friends, this is how releasing a movie used to be. They’d release a movie in one city, let it play then move on to the next. AND the movie comes out wide in October, so cool your jets.
The tours second stop was in Boston last night and I was there.
“Three boys go into the woods to find sex, but instead find God.” That is Mr. Smith’s one sentence to sum up this movie. Does it? No, this flick is SO much more than that. Its not horror, its not a thriller, its not a comedy…it’s something else. He truly has made his own genre with this flick. A genre, for brevity’s sake, I will refer to as awesome. Its such a brutal, fun flick that has genuine shock moments but also has some true laughs in it. I haven’t seen a film like this in…I don’t know how long.
It stars Michael Parks as Abin Cooper, a Fred Phelps like preacher who leads a church in protesting a homosexual mans funeral among other heinous things. It really is his show. He is incredible and by far the best work I’ve seen him do. He is so believably creepy that I would be mortified to be in his presence. I can’t say enough good things about his performance. Also in the church are Oscar winner Melissa Leo (terrifying), Ralph Garman (also terrifying), Kerry Bishe (Much better than she was on the last season of Scrubs) and Smiths wife, Jen Schwalbach (doesn’t say much, but is nice in the part). They certainly are a creepy bunch and all do fantastic in their roles.
The three boys who go traveling into the woods are Michael Angarano (Whom I’ve been a fan of for quite some time), Kyle Gallner (Whom I’ve been a fan of since he was on Smallville) and Nicholas Braun (Who I can’t wait to see more from, he was fantastic). They were GREAT together, but are sort of sidelined when we meet Parks and crew, I would LOVE to see more of them. Maybe an extended cut on blu-ray? (please?)
Stephen Root, John Goodman and Kevin Pollak round out the cast and are obviously terrific. I mean come on, look at those names. Goodman? Pollak? Root? All class acts.
The movie jumps all over the place and I mean that in the best way possible. You truly DON’T know whats gonna happen next or who is safe. We have no idea who to root for and it makes it all that much more exciting. It is Smith’s strongest script since Clerks II and his best directing ever. But let’s talk about the real stand out of the show here for a second. Dave Klein. Holy cow. If you didn’t know better, could you tell this was the same cinematographer who shot Clerks??? Heck no. The picture was beautiful. He’s really grown as a DP and its awesome to see his work here. Such a good looking film with some camera tricks I’ve never seen in a Smith film. I would give anything to able to talk shop with Mr. Klein or Mr. Smith if it was possible.
I don’t wanna give anything away because this a flick that should be seen without much prior knowledge to the plot. Its shocking, fun, brutal and in short, awesome.
Clerks made me wanna be a director. I haven’t felt much like creating lately, but Red State really has reignited my passion to want to direct. It had so much life and vitality in it that it makes me wanna get out there right now and just shoot. So, thanks for that Mr. Smith.
When this is released wide in October, go see it. If you dig dark brutal films, I think you’ll love it. I give this movie a 9/10. I’d give it a full 10, but I wish there was more of the three boys, they were awesome together.
Holy cow, we’re finally here. It’s taken me far too long. I apologize for the delay.
#01 - My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys
Not 6 months ago, if you told me this would be my favorite album of the year I would have done one of three things. Laughed, slapped you or ran away. All acceptable. I just never liked My Chemical Romance. At All. I would scoff at the mention of them. “Ha, right. THAT silly garbage” I’d say. But my beautiful wife Kait is a huge fan and like any loving husband, I wanna like what she likes. So, I got my hands on the discography of the Romance. Over night I became a fan. It’s just such fun music that I can’t predict. They always surprise me, especially with this album.
Gone is the black wearing, vampire looking My Chemical Romance and in walks these awesome dudes who wear a lot of bright colors and make music very danceable. Na Na Na Na Na Na Na was an amazing first single that I am still obsessed with. But this stuff is NOTHING like their old stuff, how do they do it?! I’m a fan of any band who can successfully change their sound without selling out to the man. Although, I even enjoy that sometimes too.
Danger Days is different, yes. But differently awesome. Yes, once again, I love every track. They all flow together so perfectly. I’m sure there is a story here of the Fabulous KIlljoys not unlike the Black Parade but I am not smart enough to hear it. But I AM smart enough to get/love the music videos for Na Na Na Na Na and Sing with Grant Morrison. Those are two amazing videos, please check them out.
Key Tracks: Na Na Na Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na), Planetary (GO!), S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W
We’re almost there…
#02 - Brett Detar - The Bird in the Tangle
Yes, that IS one of the best album covers ever…thank you for asking.
Now, I was a huge Juliana Theory fan. They could do no wrong in my book. But they DID do wrong. They left me. Broke up. Kaput. Done. I was sad. Its that simple. But lead singer Brett Detar comes out of nowhere to release a solo album this year (It was also free at the time) and holy cow knocks it out of the park.
Now this is nothing like The Juliana Theory. No. This is much better. It’s beautiful country music. (WHAT? COUNTRY?? OMG NO! I HATE KENNY CHESNEY) Don’t worry y’all. This country music isn’t about losing a tractor or slapping a woman whilst drinking your beer. This is good, raw country that is so beautiful with amazing lyrics. The opening track, Empty House of a Famous Hill is gorgeous. Its slow and beautiful, listen to it asap. Preferably while your flying on a plane looking down at this crazy world, like I did.
Its crazy to me how many times I’ve listened to this album since November, but there it is. Coasts, A Miner’s Prayer and Caged Bird have become three of my favorite tracks all year and could listen to them a billion times.
Brett Detar is a heck of a man and I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Key Tracks: I just told you! Coasts, A Miner’s Prayer, Caged Bird.
Ok, my top three are really interchangeable. I can’t decide for the life of my if any are better than the other. So….here goes.
#03 - House Of Heroes - Suburba
House of Heroes came out with an album a few years back called The End if not the End that I adored and could not wait for a new album. Well they did not disappoint. Such a full fantastic album. I love every track and could listen to it anytime any day. If I’m bummed out I pop it in to lighten my spirits. If I’m happy I pop it in to dance all sexy like to. What can’t House of Heroes do??? They even have three Beatles covers I love. (One of which was played at my wedding. Holler)
Suburba starts of very strong with Relentless and just doesn’t let us. Every track is so so good. Elevator? Amazing. God Save the Foolish Kings? Genius. Somebody Knows, Disappear, Constant, Burn Me Down??? So gooooood. I love this album so much. And like I said, could easily be my number two or one of the year, but someone had to be number three and these guys just fit nicely into this spot.
In such a vast internet, I’m sure the House of Heroes boys will never see that I put them on the top ten of 2010, but I hope they know how awesome they are. But without being cocky, that’d be weird. Only Kanye can get away with that.
Key Tracks: Elevator, Disappear, Burn Me Down
Hows about we get some hip hop up in this piece?
#4 Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
I’ve always been a Kanye defender. I love his music and his ego delights me to no end. I agreed with him about the Taylor Swift thing, the Beyonce video WAS the better video, and lets me honest. Swifts head was getting big and she needed to be taken down a peg or two, I think we all owe a thank you to Kanye.
That being said, this album is pretty incredible. There isn’t a Kanye album I don’t like, but this one is so…epic. I’ve never heard such a huge hip hop album before. The instrumentation, the lyrics, the structure - everything. The album is complete. For me there isn’t a track I don’t like and I feel it really flows well. Runaway and Lost In The World have become two of my favorite tracks ever and I could listen to them all day everyday.
I once saw Kanye West live for the Glow in the Dark Tour. The premise of the show was he was an astronaut crash landed on a planet and his spaceship wouldn’t work. He needed a star to help it get back up and running. And let’s be honest *spoiler alert*, the ending of the show, when the spaceship told him HE is the biggest star is once of the greatest things ever. It was an amazing concert made even better by his incredible ego. I could listen to him talk for hours.
Ok, I’ve sidetracked myself. I love this album, I love everyone on the album. (Not separately, but people always seem to work better with Kanye) I listen to it all the time and can’t wait to see what he does next because I’m sure I’ll love it.
Key Tracks: Lost in the World, Runaway, Monster
With the exception of the horrible Human Nature, I’ve loved everything by Michel Gondry. Eternal Sunshine, Science of Sleep and Be Kind Rewind are flicks I can watch anytime.
Now we have to add another movie to that list. The Green Hornet is an absolute blast. Its fun, funny, and has sweet action. As far as I could see there was only one bad part and that was the atrocious Cameron Diaz. She was terribly miscast and her normal annoying self.
The Green Hornet is about Brit Reid (Seth Rogen being awesome) who, after the untimely death of his father (Tom Wilkinson) is put in charge of the dying newspaper his father ran. Brit meets Kato (Jay Chou, my new favorite person) who was his fathers mechanic and also made an awesome cup of coffee. They decide they’re doing nothing with their lives and decide to fight crime. The major bad guy of LA, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) wants The Green Hornet dead, naturally. Hijinks and awesome action ensue. Oh and then theres Lenore Case (Diaz) who is Brits secretary and she’s pointless. Well she has a point, but the point is pointless.
Rogen is in top form here. He is hilarious and is perfect for this role. He is pretty much how he always is, so if you’re not a fan, you won’t like this either. I, for one, dug it. Chou is fantastic as Kato. He barely speaks English, but for what he lacks in speaking he more than makes up in his handiness around the house and his total ass kickery for Brit.
Waltz is fantastic as the villain here. His opening scene (with an awesome cameo) is the perfect set up for his character. The biggest villain of the flick though? The script, for not using him more. The script was written by Rogen and his always co-writer Evan Goldberg and as much as I liked the script, I feel like there was something cut out. Maybe for the rating? Who knows.
Michel Gondry can shoot anything, I’ve decided that. The action here is done very well and the whole “Kato-vision” type thing is done just enough to never get annoying. The movie has a slick look to it and I can’t wait to see what he does next. (I say that after every movie he makes, but its true. I want more from him everyday.)
The cars, the ammo, the everything. I love all the artillery Kato has for Brit to use. The Black Beauty is the best car ever and I want/need it. Especially for that “Ben-Hur Sh**”.
My only complaints are for Diaz and I wish the movie was rated R. The action gets reallllly close to stepping into that R-rated territory, and I wish it went there. I don’t care if it means lower ticket sales, some of that action deserved more. That and even though I don’t think its the case, I feel like it was written FOR an R rating and they cut stuff out. But, I’m probably wrong.
As for the 3D? Meh. It was fine. The best part of the 3D (and it really was awesome) was the closing credits. They are pretty awesome and if only they were in 3D, it’d have been perfect.
I’d say if you’re a fan of Rogen, his writing, Waltz, Gondry or sick action, this flick is for you. If you don’t like any of those things and hate life, you’ll probably wanna sit this one out.
I’m gonna give it a 7.5/10. Diaz really held back the flick for me and I wanted more Waltz.