Dear Kevin Smith, how’s it going, buddy? We’ve been following you on Twitter and couldn’t help but notice you had a rough go of it yesterday with those Indie Spirit Award nominations. No love for Michael Parks, John Goodman or Melissa Leo for "Red State"? That’s tough. Melissa’s probably okay with her Oscar, but we know what you mean—she was good in “Red State.”
Let’s take another look at what you wrote: “How the fuck did the @SpiritAwards NOT nominate Michael Parks? Nor John Goodman? Nor Melissa Leo? Fuck your idiotic organization. #FakeIndie.” Ouch. That’s a tough one. We know how you feel. Nobody likes to be looked over when they think they deserve some acknowledgement for their work. And Twitter is a great place to express your frustrations about life, in general.
Here’s the thing though: This sort of thing happens all the time. Films get overlooked, great performances go unacknowledged and it’s a shame, but perhaps we should leave the indignation for cases where harmful ignorance is the issue, like “Do the Right Thing” getting passed up at the Oscars in favor of “Driving Miss Daisy” or “Brokeback Mountain” losing out to “Crash” because old white dudes didn’t want to see two men in love.
Also, your film is a horror movie, a genre that is typically not acknowledged by any major awards body. Perhaps your point is that this exclusion should be changed, but this is not the way to do it.
You need to take into account that even though this is the “indie” awards, schmoozing, glad-handing and general campaigning is still very much a part of who gets nominated for these things. The Spirit Awards will always be a lot more accurate than the Oscars in terms of acknowledging quality films, but throwing a pity party on Twitter is exactly the reason you were not invited to this party.
We just think you should spend some time apart. Let Twitter do its own thing, and you go off and take care of your SmodCast empire. See how you feel about it in a few weeks. Who knows? You might realize that these things happen for the best.
Sincerely,
The Playlist
Liked red state and thought goodman and parks deserved the nod despite plot weakness. Not sure why smith needs to spend time away from twitter or why commenting in that arena is a problem. From what I can tell that cite is devoted to far whinier hateful people pushing more petty things and by your own admission it's a "great place to express your frustrations about life in general" so your conclusion seems confused especially with that cliche "things happen for the best" talk. Also how is choosing crash, the race issue movie, over brokeback, the gay issue movie, harmful ignorance? Maybe just because a guy gets buggered in a major feature doesn't mean it needs an Oscar.
i loved red state, thought it was the best film of the year, and an incredibly intense experience. But i understand why people didnt like it. What i dont get, is how Michael Parks can be overlooked for a nomination. it was one of the greatest performances of the last ten years, and deserved to be recognized.
I thought Red State was wretched, making Jersey Girl and Cop Out both look like really solid flicks. That said, Michael Parks is excellent in it, and not getting nominated for a Spirit counts, to me, as a snub. Doesn't change that Kevin Smith shouldn't be upset that his negatively reviewed, direct-to-Netflix horror flick is not getting award consideration.
I'm sorry but Driving Miss Daisy > Do The Right Thing.
and i love how the comments light up only if it's a batman tidbit or something kevin smith related.
"Do The Right Thing" gushing and old white dude bashing in one sentence. People may be bitching about the new format but you guys are still hipper than thou. That any of the four of these would be considered among the best films of any year except the weakest (which 1989 decidedly was) continues to perplex a few of us. Signed, an old white guy (ancient by PL standards) who has no problem seeing two men in love, esp. as brilliantly acted by the late, lamented Ledger.
kevin smith is a whiney little bitch. Very funny, but he bitches about everything.
kevin smith is
Kevin, unfortunately, it's not the 1990s — time to hang up your, er, flatbed or moviola.
@AR, I'm not sure what you're insinuating, but I think most people agree that 'Brokeback Mountain' is better than 'Crash' and that it lost because of older Academy voters. I'll tag in Kenneth Turan to break you off some knowledge on the rest of the deets: http://theenvelope.latimes.com/awards/oscars/env-turan5mar05,0,5359042.story
He does know that these awards are, at least in theory, for *good* films, right?
"because old white dudes didnât want to see two men in love."
And Ryan Sartor, with this statement you subtly proved Being stupid and narrow-minded has nothing to do with age
yes, he should try making a good movie if he wants some nominations. however good the performances were, they are overshadowed by an uneven film.
The other thing is, Red State was pretty fucking terrible.