C'mon Kev, I'm Pulling For Ya!!! Check Out Kevin Smith's Red State Poster

As a rare person who actually liked Kevin Smith's buddy cop movie Cop Out (I know,  know... I am the only one who liked it), no one is rooting for Kevin Smith more then me. He is my second favorite living director (behind Mr Tarantino) and I watch his Jersey Trilogy + 1 (Clerk, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Clerks II) more often then any other DVD's I own (and I got a bunch!). But after the drubbing he took for making Cop Out, I am really hoping he gets his first foray into the horror genre, Red State, right so that people lay off him a bit. Leave Kev alone god dammit!!!

Listen, I can see why people didn't like Cop Out. It was cheesy, cliche, and predictable... but I counter that it was supposed to be. That's exactly what Smith wanted to make: An 80's cop/buddy comedy that hearkened back to the days of Lethal Weapon & Beverly Hills Cop. Was it as funny as it could have been? Probably not. Was it as good as all of other Smith's movies? Nope. But they all can't be the best. If you are gonna rank a guys work, something has to be at the top, some in the middle, and some at the bottom. If not, then you don't have a ranking. So I will accept the overall failure of Cop Out, but look optimistically forward to Smith's next release...

Red State is a horror type film that will star Michael Parks (Sheriff Earl McGraw from Death Proof, Planet Terror, Kill Bill & From Dusk Til Dawn) as a rouge preacher in the vein of Fred Phelps  (a real life creep) and his terrorizing of a small town through fear, extreme fundamentalism and propaganda. It sounds creepy as shit, and also features Kevin Pollack, John Goodman, and Melissa Leo. The film just wrapped shooting, and Smith already had a first cut edit ready to show the cast at the wrap party. This is Kevin's style, he edits while he shoots... but this is highly unorthodox. But since he is so meticulous and hard working, he will probably make his goal of having it ready for this years Sundance Festival (it needs to be complete in 2 months for submission). I am really looking forward to this film. The poster looks cool, and the story sounds solid. Let's see if Smith can conjure up some of his older film's magic... Snootchie Bootches, Bitches!!!!

Kevin Smith Is Cool As Shit... Pass It On

Everyone knows I sweat Kevin Smith. I think he is a great director, and I love all of his movies (even Jersey Girl). I don't really have a favorite, but I think Clerks 2 is his funniest. His newest film, CopOut, stars Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan and is in theaters right now... Get out and go see it. But this post isn't about Kevin's films, no sir. It's about how down to earth and fucking cool Mr. Smith really is.

I have been getting accquainted with the social networking service Twitter over the past few weeks. If you are not familiar with Twitter, basically it is just digital bulletin board where people can post messages of 140 characters or less. This "micro-blogging"service is highlighted by celebrities who have embraced it and confirm their pages on the site. One of the most well known Twitter users is Kevin. He has over 1.5 million followers... that means 1.5 million people get updates from him. Smith is a frequent tweeter, having posted over 6500 updates since joining. And that is what makes this next story cooler.

While I was watching CopOut in the theater this weekend, I tweeted the following:

@ThatKevinSmith im watching #Copout in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Theater went crazy when beastie boys came on... well done, sir!

This tweet was sent to Smith. I sent a direct message to one of my favorite directors. But thats not the cool part... on March 1st, like two days later, Smith tweeted the following:

Via @YouDownWitC_C_D "im watching #Copout in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Theater went crazy when beastie boys came on" That makes me so happy.

He reposted my comment and answered it... Holy Fucking Shit. Yes, granted his answer is only 5 words... BUT HE FUCKING ANSWERED ME DIRECTLY!!! And for all you naysayers, take this into considearation. 1) He has 1.5 million followers, all of who can send him messages. 2) His movie opened this weekend, so he was flooded with even more messages then usual. 3) He includes most of the original post, so he is not left with much to work with since the message can only be 140 characters.

I think this is so cool, cause it shows that he takes the time to answer his fans. Thank you sir... it meant the world to me. I encourage all of you to join twitter, and after you begin to follow C_C_D (@YouDownWitC_C_D) become a follower of Kevin Smith (@ThatKevinSmith). Good luck with CopOut, and thanks for filming it in my current hometown of Bayridge, Brooklyn.    

Silent Bob Has One Thing To Say... Southwest Airlines Can Suck It!!!

The past few days the media has been ablaze with a story about filmaker Kevin Smith. It seems that Smith was booted from a Southwest Airline flight from Oakland to Burbank because he was too fat... Now this might seem crazy to some of us, but the airline industry is scrambling to find new and exciting ways to squeeze more money out of travelers. The newest gimmick is to require heavier passangers to purchase two tickets. This way there is nobody in the seat next to you inconvienced by your size. But that is not the problem here. The problem is that fat people are become targets of objective bias, and thats not cool.

I am all for rules and regulations, in fact I encourage them. As a self proclaimed "fatty", I know I'm big. So make up a clear cut rule about it. Give a weight requirement, and if that person doesn't meet that requirement, then assess them the penalties accordingly. If the weight requirement is 285, anyone over 285 will have to buy two seats. Simple enough, right? No, it's not so simple. Airlines, like most corperations, are pussies. They are to scared to come out with a policy to offend people. So what they instead do is act like this. They have no dicernable policy, then AFTER BOARDING the plane make a judgement that a passenger is to big for one seat. They then rely on the fact that once they inform the obese passenger they will have to get off, the passenger will be so embarassed that they will either buy the additional seat or go along quietly as to not embarass themselves. But when they booted Kevin Smith, boy did they fuck up on multiple levels. 1) The guy is a comedian and writes comedic movies. He is going to make you look extremely stupid for the slight you made towards him. 2) He is a Twitter freak. He posts all day long and will keep smashing you to all his loyal fans on the social networking site. 3) He is Uber famous and will finally bring a spotlight to this unfair practice. Smith even went so far as to say that he normally buys a second seat on Southwest to be more comfortable, but in this case the flight was full and he was on a deadline. He fits into the seat, can buckle his belt, and didn't spill over onto the passenger next to him. There was no reason to discriminate against him, and I'm glad he is laying the smack down on them right now. FUCK SOUTHWEST AIRLINES!!!!!! If you want my respect, come up with a policy and stick to it no matter how biased it is. Do not leave it up to the personal opinion of your staff. Now feel the wrath and learn to stop being such assholes.... and make sure you check out Kevin Smith's new movie "Cop Out" with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, coming to a theater near you on February 26, 2010.