Love or hate his shtick, Kevin Smith dropped some amusingly candid real talk on Larry King Now as he explained to the media kingpin why it is he's retiring from moviemaking after his forthcoming hockey film, Hit Somebody. "If I can’t bring anything new to the game, and I assure you I cannot, there’s no point in stepping up to the plate," said Smith, who also charmingly compared his 20 years behind the camera to getting an unexpected blow job.
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In Monday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Sundance Institute, the group behind the annual Sundance Film Festival, announced details about its summer producing labs; Anthony Mackie may join the Captain America sequel; And, superhero comedy Alter Egos is set for Kevin Smith series.
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Also for Thursday morning's look at news headlines, Kevin Smith will embark on a tour promoting a Slamdance film, Obama cha-chings at an exclusive fundraiser in L.A. with A-listers, Matthew Modine lands a role in Steve Jobs pic and New York's Stony Brook Film Festival set to bow this summer with No God.
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There's a movie for every special occasion/holiday, but when it comes to Easter you've got a lot of very, very different viewing options. Why go the traditional bunnies and kiddies route (a la Hop) or take a more pious tack (Passion of the Christ, anyone?) when there are so many other, less predictable ways to celebrate? I'll start with a few to whet your whistle as you dip into the chocolate basket this Sunday...
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"I wanted to run Michael Parks from Red State for an Oscar this year, and I was told I'd need $250,000 minimum to do that. We thought we were eligible for SAG Awards, but it turns out that you have to actually submit to the SAG Awards, even if you're a SAG member, which doesn't make sense to me. And then the Golden Globe people didn't want to give Michael Parks consideration because we didn't screen the movie for them specifically when the movie was out in theaters, but it never was out in theaters so it was kind of ridiculous. You have to jump through these ridiculous little rings to even be considered, and then it's a popularity contest around who has the most money to run." [Moviefone]
Kevin Smith was tickled when his Red State star Melissa Leo won the Oscar last year, as he tells it in Movieline's exclusive behind the scenes featurette from this week's DVD and Blu-ray release of the provocative horror film. In the clip, meet Leo's Sarah Cooper, the steely and devoted daughter of Red State's fire and brimstone villain Pastor Abin Cooper, as described in Leo's own words.
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You know which underrated actor I love? Michael Biehn. You know which other underrated actor I love? Milo Ventimiglia. (Gilmore Girls forever!) So the tense, bloody trailer for Xavier Gens' apocalyptic horror pic The Divide pretty much had me at the get go, even before Biehn and Ventimiglia faced off for control of a roomful of survivors bunkered down in a basement after the world outside apparently succumbed to Sarah Connor's nightmare nuclear blast from Terminator 2. Watch the trailer and get more midday treats in today's Buzz Break.
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When word hit that Kevin Smith was aiming for the Oscars with a qualifying theatrical run for his divisive film, Red State, critics split over his perceived goals and, more specifically, the financial terms of his week-long engagement at L.A.'s beloved, family-run New Beverly Cinema. Reached for comment, Smith explained his award season intent and why he's charging $20 for a screening and Q&A at a theater where you can get a double feature for $7 every night, often with an amazing Q&A for free.
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In a blog entry posted Tuesday to his website The Red Statements, Kevin Smith spoke out again against critics of the unconventional plan to self-distribute his latest film, Red State, and explained how his twofold VOD/live Q&A strategy will work. (Boiled down to the post's essential message: "Suck it, haters!") And to think, just five months ago the world thought Smith's Sundance stunting was all crazy-talk.
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Surprise, haters! Kevin Smith's big Red State gamble has paid off. A report last week cited Smith as having announced that his film was "in the black" during a keynote address at a National Association of Broadcasters event last week -- a vague phrase that suggested that somehow Red State had earned back its $4 million budget through Smith's 15-city screening and speaking tour. Yet Box Office Mojo lists a mere $851,832 box office take to date. How does Smith's math work out, exactly?
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Michael Angarano has been acting since the age of six, so you could take his collective filmography, as he jokes, as a "well-kept home video" of his life captured on screen. For much of that documented life he's been a steadily-rising young performer amassing a wide range of credits (Almost Famous, Sky High, The Forbidden Kingdom, Gentlemen Broncos), but 2011 marks an important turning point; with roles in Max Winkler's Ceremony (in theaters), Gavin Wiesen's Homework, Steven Soderbergh's Haywire, and Kevin Smith's Red State, Angarano is in the midst of carving out a fascinating adult career for himself.
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Kevin Smith made waves in Park City by buying his own controversial horror pic, Red State, and announcing his impending retirement from directing, but buzz continued to build around his next (and allegedly final) film, Hit Somebody. The 1970s-set hockey pic, named after a Warren Zevon song, will reunite Red State cast members Michael Parks, Nicholas Braun, Michael Angarano, and Kyle Gallner, the recent Verge interviewee who also starred in the Sundance entry Little Birds. Movieline caught up with Gallner to ask: How did Smith recruit him for a second go-round?
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Among the topics at hand today as Robert Redford held court in Park City, Utah to open the 2011 Sundance Film Festival: The Sundance Institute's commitment to artists, their plans for global domination, how the fest is getting with the times (Twitter!), and of course, Kevin Smith's Red State. Because even in a wide-ranging convo about the storied indie mecca that Redford built, Smith's attention-grabbing, not-screening-for-press Christian homosexual murder pic had to steal the spotlight. Highlights of what Redford, festival director John Cooper, and Executive Director Keri Putnam had to say (including awkward chatter about marketing "riff raff" and rival fest Slamdance) after the jump.
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