Since then, every time Smith disappoints his fans, it’s like he runs back to this franchise to try to redeem some of his rumpled cred. Of course he’s going to call it his “final” film because he wants to go out on a good note.

Blaming distribution, theaters, the MPAA for your own shortcomings isn’t a get-out-of-creativity card either. Because NOBODY likes those entities, neither consumers nor prosumers. 

Feel free to disagree, but all I can see here is Smith taking (what he perceives as) an easy road.

We should be satisfied with a few zingers and several interludes of witty dialogue that don’t otherwise cohere with the movie they are placed in.

Had some interesting scenes, but overall, it was just terrible.  The actors did their best, but the script sabotaged their efforts.

The film is the physical manifestation of a director “phoning it in.”

I’m not saying Kevin Smith doesn’t mean it.  I’m just saying I’m not sure he’ll still mean it in a few years.

At any rate, it seems to me that a guy like him can really blaze a trail with original Internet content.  He doesn’t like the Hollywood distribution system?  Can’t say I blame him.  But he’s proven he can make a memorable film on a shoestring budget.  I’d love to see him try his hand at a distribution model like Dr. Horrible used, or like Louis CK and other assorted standup comics have been using for their acts.

The original Clerks had a budget of, what, $30K?  I’m betting Smith could put together a perfectly satisfying 90-minute film for a million dollars, sell it for $5-$10 a download, and turn a profit.

AMC has really pushed the envelope in terms of violent and disturbing content for basic cable TV, but they still don’t let you say “fuck”.  Yes, that’s a frankly absurd standard for where to draw the line — “Horrible, deplorable violence is fine, as long as there are no naughty words,” as the South Park movie put it — but, well, welcome to American TV.  Including basic cable.

The climatic end scene is such an amazing pile-on of brilliance (the fire chief’s reaction to Randall’s shirt) that the rest of the movie stumbles up to instead of crescendos at.  If you weren’t a big enough fan to watch it when it came out I just think you wouldn’t be impressed by it now.

And again, it’s ok if you don’t agree with him but honestly I wouldn’t want my posting something someone else did to actively drive traffic away from a site.  

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/5733-Battleship, opening line :”Battleship is pretty much as bad as everyone said it was going to be all along.”

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1982-Resident-Evil-Afterlife
“The scariest thing about the Resident Evil movies is that they seem to be getting better.  Which is not to say that they have gotten somewhere close to good yet.”

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1107-New-Moon
“The sheer magnitude of [the Twilight series's] popularity coupled with the fascinating psycho-sexual implications churning beneath its surface rendering easily one of the most interesting pop-culture diversions in recent memory.  Too bad it sucks! … the whole thing is just [bleep]ing awful.”  (Twilight predated vids on this site, so that’s for New Moon.  Still, you grok the general slant of his opinion)

There’s stuff he likes, too – reviews for District 9, Cabin in the Woods, etc.  Anyway, thanks and maybe I’ll watch Red State sometime because of your enthusiasm.