finalblood69

So, a friend of mine won tickets to catch a screening of "Red State" followed by a Q&A session with Kevin Smith and the cast, which included Melissa Leo, John Goodman, and more. The show was at the stunning Radio City Music Hall, which felt strange considering the elegance of the venue when pitted against the griminess of the film. The film was wonderful. In Smith's own words, "A nasty-ass little horror flick with few (if any) likable characters". Three young men encounter a cult-like church (modeled after the ever-so-famous Westboro Baptist Church), whom they discover is up to more than simply protesting funerals. That's about as much as you need to know. This is easily Smith's best work to date. From a visual/directing standpoint, the camera is so effectively used to capture the unsettling tone. He makes an extensive use of the shaky-cam, which, but in more creative ways that I've seen in recent times. The shaking is definitely more subtle than say "the Bourne Identity", which adds just the perfect amount of tension during dialogue heavy scenes, and just the right intensity during the more violent ones. Both are which are in great quantities. The quality of the picture was also very good (shot of Red Cinema cameras). The sound is also a high point of praise. The real charm of the movie is its unsettling tone, which pervades throughout most of it. There is no real score here, either. Every song you hear is within the film itself, mostly sung by Michael Parks, the man playing the villainous preacher. And speaking of him, I must say that his performance was Oscar worthy. Absolutely terrifying. The writing itself might be where my few criticisms lie. The film has many twists, a few too many for my liking. These "surprises" impress a lot of people, but to me, they come off as cheap and make the film feel really inconsistent at times. Also, whereas the first half of the film is a genuinely frightening horror film, the second half feels most like an action/thriller. It was all very good, but only until the film nears its conclusion does it really feel scary again. But, the writing is also rather impressive. When I look back on it, nothing in the film feels superfluous, it all flows and connects greatly. The opening few scenes set the rest of the film up awesomely. And, of course, there's a small dose of humor in it, much of it compliments of Mr. JOHN F-ING GOODMAN. The Cast was all fantastic, but particularly Parks, Melissa Leo, and John Goodman come off as shining stars here. The Q&A was fun, mostly because I got to see such awesome people in person, but I never got to ask my question, and some of the questions asked were so bad they got boo's all around from the rest of the audience. All in all, when Red State hits theaters this October, you really need to see it. It's all around a wonderful piece of indie cinema, and will satisfy horror-fans, and casual movie goers alike. My rating, 8/10. I have every intention of seeing this again when it's actually released. P.S. Best Opening credit sequence ever!!!

I must say i really enjoyed this film. It gave itself a sensible and realistic plot without trying to be too in depth to the point where the audience is not interested.

It takes so many twists and turns that I myself was not expecting, nor were my friend who saw it with me.

The action is constant and keeps getting better and better as the film goes on.

The characters are amazing. Hoffman's character was great because you never quite know what he's thinking, giving his character a sort of mysterious feel, and brutal as well. The addition of Simon Pegg to the film makes it all the more better. And Tom Cruise does a fantastic job, as do all the actors.

I have no real complaint about the film. I liked how it began, how it ran, and i loved the ending. I liked how Hoffman's character was ultimately dealt with, because i didn't see it coming, and it wasn't over the top.

I cannot say whether or not this is a good video for people trying to learn about them, or if it has good sound quality or not, because when i watch it, i hear the songs very well, but I've heard others complain about it. It was incredibly funny. it's cool to know that a band this awesome can also have a fun time with each other, just hanging out, joking around, blowing up toilets, and the fact that it's filmed by the band with their own regular cameras gives a sort of home-movie feel to it, making you feel like these guys are your buddies. It has plenty of clips from shows, so people looking for live show footage will be pleased (again, it sounds fine to me, but I've heard others complain about the audio), those looking for behind the scenes footage with the band will be pleased, and people looking for a laugh will definitely love this. Jens is my favorite member due to this video, he is definitely one of the coolest people I've ever heard speak. He's just really funny and you can tell that his life isn't ruled by music, he also liked to have fun, and it shows. Not to say the other members aren't cool enough, they're all amazing, both as people and musicians. Fans of stratovarius will love this, and so will people who've never heard of them (hope it doesn't open the door for posers) and though i haven't even watched all the videos on the special features, it's cool to see their videos. This video has so much, you can be entertained for hours, if you've got a bunch of friends who like metal/stratovarius, and you got a long time to kill, pop it in. if you're all alone and wondering what to do, do the same. It is really hard for me to think anything negative about this video, it has nothing bad about it, and i hope that there will be another made sometime in the same style, but it's probably be more dramatic considering everything they've gone through, but it'd still be great.