Ponderings by @ThatKevinSmith
The other night, director Kevin Smith was having an interesting monologue on twitter. It took him quite some tweets. Here’s everything combined (space between individual tweets)
Via @nicko786 “Then explain garbage movies like Vampires Suck and DragonballEvolution” Sir, there will ALWAYS be movies made YOU don’t like.
Bad movies have existed since human beings have existed. Movies are a SUBJECTIVE experience. EVERY movie is good to some, bad to others.
So bad movies, like the poor, will be with us always… unless YOU do something about it. THAT is how we replenish the world of cinema.
Case in point: eons ago, I was desperate to see films in which I could recognize MYSELF (aside from the Jabba scenes in RETURN OF THE JEDI).
None existed. Lament or fill a perceived hole? Commentate or create? Easy choice: it’s always more fun & fulfilling to play God than Man.
So I started making flicks I knew I’d love if I was in the audience. They weren’t better or worse than the same-old-shit; just different.
And on the back of different, I built a career. And as part of that career, 20 years in, I made a plain-old movie. Was fun for me & a smart
career move (those who’d argue differently a) have no fucking clue, b) have no fucking life, arguing about shit that doesn’t effect them).
But let’s be honest: it wasn’t DIFFERENT. Different enough, within the parameters, but the flick was familiar. Someone else coulda made it.
And we all know there were very loud folks who let us know how much they didn’t like #CopOut . But change never comes from that sector.
No, where change comes from is that moment someone can’t take the crushing sameness anymore/wants to see THEMSELVES reflected on the screen.
Change doesn’t churn out 1000 words only 10 people will ever read & absolutely nobody will remember; change writes a script & goes to work.
So I accept my ironic role in all of this: movies LIKE #CopOut made me wanna make CLERKS. And years later, I wanted to make #CopOut.
But just as Willis sees his adult fate at the end of 12 MONKEYS, I live in a constant loop of my own: CLERKS begets COP begets CLERKS, etc.
We’re on the verge of the next golden age of creativity. People are tired of the same ol’ shit & they’ve got LOTS to say. Once they stop
using energy to emo-bitch about how it should be done differently instead of just DOING it differently themselves? Might see some cool shit.
Obviously it seems Smith got some criticism about his latest movie Cop Out, which seems to be no typical Smiths movie, and this is how he respond to it.
I love this answer, because I know he’s right, and I know he walks the talk. I read about the beginning of his movie carreer. He financed his first flick, Clercks (very enjoyable movie), by the use of some credit cards he managed to sign up for. He figured he prefered being in depth for the rest of his live over not trying. He created the story based on his own world, and shot it after hours with his own friends. He figured he could do it, after seeing Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead which was cheap but brilliant at the same time. He told himself, if he can do it, without a pile of money, I should be able too, and he managed doing it for $25.000 or less - at least, all of this from what I remember ;)
As a moviemaker, Smith isn’t my favorite director. I like his movies, sometimes a lot, but in the end it’s plain fun. They’ll never rock my world as so many other movies do. As a person however, Smith is my favorite director by far. Because of his attitude and way to approach life, that’s all.
Follow his tweets on @ThatKevinSmith, and if you’re lucky, he might be talking to you. Just like that.
Respect.
