Should we start passing the hat around for writer/director Kevin Smith?

Smith, the mind behind the low-grade classic “Clerks” and last year’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” says he can’t get the funding together for a new project dubbed “Red State.” The film, ostensibly a horror movie, would be based on a Fred Phelps type character. Phelps is the infamous pastor behind the Westboro Baptist Church, the group known for its awful God Hates Fags rhetoric. Smith claims the dark subject matter is scaring potential studios away.

The Weinstein Co., his usual financial partners, passed on the film. And Smith recently hinted he might try a donation model to get enough funds for the project. Why is “Red State” so radioactive?

Smith has been cryptic about the film’s content … but the name of the title certainly is one indicator. One would wish Smith, or any other director for that matter, might see Islamic terrorism as the source for some horror movie mayhem. But that’s an argument for another post. (more…)

Some of the biggest movies of any year aren’t in wide release until January, so some of us don’t see all them until much later. As of this week, I think I’ve seen what passes for “everything” from 2008. Herewith, my list of the Top Ten for the year just passed:

10. Sex Drive. Hilarious, under-seen, low-budget comedy starring the creative partner of the funny Michael Cera. Defeated at the box office because of its name, it features a few show-stopping scenes with Seth Green and a live-action pair of Beavis-and-Butthead types who steal the whole thing. This’ll do great on DVD. (more…)

My son is only three weeks old, but he’s already impacting how I feel about censorship and marketing in the 21st century.

Kevin Smith’s latest raunch-fest, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” comes out on DVD Tuesday (Feb. 3). It’s a sweet romance wrapped in Smith’s signature humor – the R-rated variety. Nothing wrong with that, assuming older audiences are the ones gobbling up the movie tickets – or DVDs starting this week.

But Wal-Mart didn’t want to stock the DVD with the word “Porno” in the title. The Weinstein Company, which is distributing the DVD, agreed to meet their request.

The Red Bank, N.J. native is bemused by the brou ha ha.

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