Kevin Smith Updates Us On 'Red State'

By far one of the best things about Twitter is that filmmakers use it to update fans from the set. Jon Favreau and Kevin Smith are two of the leading proponents of this phenomenon and Smith has been tweeting up a storm recently from the set of his latest film Red State. That's how we saw the first official image from the film, and more recently, he's been talking about performances, editing and tone. We've got it all after the jump.

Red State is about "a group of kids encounters a crazed preacher (based on Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church) who gives a whole new meaning to the term 'extreme fundamentalism' and stars Michael Parks, Kyle Gallner, Melissa Leo, Michael Angarano, Stephen Root, John Goodman and Kevin Pollak.

After Smith tweeted the photo of Parks as Pastor Abin Cooper, his next related tweet was as follows:

Another quality RED STATE evenin'. Tonight, we badger Matt Jones. 45 mins of footage cut. We're halfway done. Parks & Leo & ALL crushing it.

A few days later, he tweeted that he will have a version of the film done at the wrap party, which is coming very soon:

Via @Stevezie "Filming?" 10 days left. Editorially, I'm current w/what's shot – so at the wrap party, the crew can watch the entire flick.

That was followed by the most revelatory tweet yet about the tone and themes Smith is going for in the film:

Act 2 is all about self-sufficiency: relying solely on one's own abilities to achieve & satisfy. No more intermediates; no more middle-men.

There was then one joking tweet about how he feels the film is turn out. Or, at least how his wife does:

Via @Pix_R "jen says its your best film to date, you agree" Jen's taste is notoriously questionable. I mean, look at who she f***s. Gross...

Then, Smith put his feelings in his own unique words:

Via @thewoodyatt "Happy with RED STATE so far?" SO f***ing happy. There's not a weak link in this bunch... #FilmmakingTheWayItShouldBe

If Smith weren't happy with the film, it's not like he would tweet negative things about it, and we know he did toot his own horn for the awful Cop Out, so you have to take these tweets with a grain of salt. However, Smith wrote the script for this movie and he's been so passionate about making it for so long, I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt. There's no denying that Smith has a gift for writing good characters and great dialogue so it's going to be very interesting to see how those strengths play out as Smith goes out of comfort zone making a thriller instead of a comedy.

What do you think about the potential of the film? Is Smith just talking up the film or do you feel it really has a chance to be great?

Source: NewsAskew