Nordling here.
Like many of you, I'd give my right nut to be at Sundance, but sine I can't I live vicariously through Quint and Rav's set reports. And fortunately for them, they were able to snag what is arguably the hottest tickets at the Fest this year - tickets to Kevin Smith's RED STATE. If any of you have been following his Twitter feed, you'd know about the various controversies rising up about the film. Kevin Smith's a master at how to manipulate the press, I'll give him that. Access denied is access desperately desired. Whether or not the film is good or not, we'll find out shortly as it looks like everyone's sitting down to them as I write this at 7:25 PM Central time. His skills as a filmmaker are obviously up for debate, but Smith's gotten everyone's attention with this film, and it probably hasn't been since CLERKS that a Smith film has created so much buzz and interest, not just at Sundance, but with the film community as a whole. For that, I take my hat off. From P.T. Barnum to William Castle, I'm a fan of self-promotion like that, and Smith's simply damn good at it.
In recent days, if you've been following his Twitter feed (and who hasn't? He's probably the most prolific Twitterer out there) he's been getting into it with the Phelps clan and their idiot ilk. If you don't know who the Westboro Baptist Church is by now, I'm not going to get into their douchebaggery here. The vast, open Internet is at your disposal. But due to the subject matter of RED STATE (it's Smith's first horror film, concerning a group of religious zealots not unlike the Phelps family, and lots of murders are involved) apparently they consider it an insult to the family, to the church, and to God and have been unequivocal in letting Smith know he's damned to hell. Smith (a Christian himself) never met a press opportunity go to waste, so he fought back with his humor and good spirits, and the past few days have seen him go after the Phelps clan with relish. Can't say I blame him. It's just too much fun not to. If for nothing else, it's worth it to follow Smith's feed for that alone. But Westboro announced that they were going to protest Sundance and RED STATE, and Smith announced he'd counter protest right back. So this afternoon, Rav got some photos of the whole event. Gotta warn you, people easily offended might want to steer clear.
The parade begins. This is apparently the counterprotest, and it's good to know that normal people outnumber the assholes.
"God hates your feelings." That's some deep Yoda shit right there. Seriously, it takes some skill in juggling four signs like that. And I'm not sure, but is she standing on the American flag?
FOR GOD'S SAKE! CAN SOMEONE GET THIS POOR WOMAN SOME CHOPSTICKS! DAMMIT, HIPSTERS GOTTA EAT TOO!
Not much to say about this. Take it back, there's a whole bunch to say about this, but not enough space to say it in.
Good to know. You hear that, Hoover?!
You should be embarrassed, you spelled the word wrong.
I hope RED STATE is good. I'm a fan of Kevin Smith. Every filmmaker has duds in their catalog, and I have to say that Smith's voice, especially in the 1990s, spoke to me in a way that most other filmmakers of the time didn't. RED STATE's a different film for him, and the mutual feeding going on between Smith and the Westboro loonies is actually pretty great, as Smith beats the haters at their own game. The Westboro Baptist Church is loathsome, and I hate to see them pop up in the news whenever some terrible event happens in this country, like bottomfeeders. But they probably aren't going away anytime soon, and so the best thing we can do is approach their hateful rhetoric with humor, love, and support for the gay community. I trust Quint and Rav implicitly when it comes to film, and they'll give an honest assessment of RED STATE, of that I'm certain. We'll know in a couple of short hours.
Nordling, out.
