Episode 202: Fish-out-of-water

[vulpix]

I love fish-out-of-water movies. A few of my favorites include The Little Mermaid, Finding Nemo, and Ponyo... or am I taking this too literally?

Seriously, though, as someone who moved frequently when I was young, I am all too familiar with the notion of being a fish out of water, which is why I tend to be drawn to movies with that theme. The best example I can name is the documentary God Grew Tired of Us. In the episode, Tyler asked about movies where "the world learns from the person and the person learns from the world," and I think God Grew Tired of Us fits that description well.

[Dr Handsome]

Wow, good call, The Little Mermaid is quite literally a fish out of water story.

And by the way Invader Zim is messed up in all the best ways. It came on when I was just 13 and I literally wouldn't miss an episode and mind you my mom wouldn't let me watch Power Rangers. I even kept a few of the collectible action figures I had at the time which look really nice and break really easy. Can I be this person for a moment: I was watching Invader Zim before it was cool, man.

In all seriousness, are the kids wearing Gir sweatshirts now even aware of the show? Are they all watching it on DVD or something?

[deadpool]

Hey I just listened to the episode and I wanted to talk about the whole kevin smith thing. Though his movies have never been a big blockbuster they have all been successful. They have all made a profit in box office (he also has good international following.) Well they may not break 100 million or won acadamy awards he has never really set out to do that.

Kevin makes movies because he loves movies. He puts out movies that he enjoys and connects with and if other people do then thats a bonus. He makes films for a specific audience and he has found a carrear in that. I really admire that, he is not in it to make money or win awards or become the best filmmaker ever. He is who he is and loves what he does. He has admitted that he is not a very good director which is why he turned down directing the green hornet. He is not the best but he is good.

[bouncingbrick]

I just want to talk about Invader Zim for a second. I don't get it. I think it's ugly and stupid. I don't care for the humor and I can't stand looking at it. It's yucky (yes, I used the word 'yucky').

That said, David said in the episode that he doesn't think kids get it or that they would be into it. My six-year-old thinks it's hilarious. He loves it even if he doesn't get all the jokes. So there's at least one kid out there that likes IZ.

[helpfulsnowman]

Feb 7, 2011 0:23:42 GMT -5 deadpool said:

... he is not in it to make money or win awards or become the best filmmaker ever. He is who he is and loves what he does...

I'm a fan of Kevin Smith, but more because of what he's doing in the podcasting world than anything else.

I was excited to hear that he was doing his own thing, and pretty pumped to go see him about an hour's drive away. Then I found out the screening was a Tuesday night, and it cost $55 a ticket (fees not included). I saw Metallica for that much, and they included a copy of their newest album, a PHYSICAL copy, in the ticket price. And Sarah Mclachlan tickets for the same venue start at $28.50.

I must be making a lot of friends here between Metallica and Sarah Mclachlan.

I'm sure that there are things that go into the price beyond just whatever the performer decides, and maybe Kevin Smith doesn't control that. But as the end-user here, it's just too expensive.

[deadpool]

Now you see to me that would easily be worth it. He said he would be doing a Q&A session after and I'm not sure if you have seen the evening with kevin smith movies but when that guy does a Q&A magic happens. He went on for over an hour on a single question once. He came to toronto recently doing a Q&A but it was only for the college students.

[nickmagoo]

On the Kevin Smith thing - I'm not a huge fan of his movies (I've enjoyed several to some degree, others not so much), but I do really enjoy listening to him talk about movies, and life in general. His Smodcast mini-empire is always good for laughs and insight. And he would be the first person to say he's not a great movie maker - his comments on the failure of 'Cop Out' are hilarious, and it was interesting seeing the process of what he said on various podcasts and interviews before the film's making (loved the script, couldn't wait), during the filming (loved most of the actors, but the studio was getting in the way throughout), and the aftermath. He is one of the few filmmakers who can work within and outside the system fairly well - the films may not make hundreds of millions, but they have all (outside of Cop Out I believe, and possibly Zach and Miri), made a lot more than their budgets. That, in the end, defines him as a highly successful director.

The roll out for Red State is, frankly, brilliant - he's taking a movie that only cost $4 million, and set up a marketing strategy that will in essence make all that money back before its full release in the fall. Instead of using the studios to create advertising that would cost double or triple the film's budget. He's a very smart dude who knows he has an audience who will come out to see him in every city - it may not be a huge audience, but it is a very loyal one. And it will create much more word of mouth and free publicity than any studio run campaign. BTW, you mentioned the Fred Phelps crew at ComiCon - they also picketed him at Red State at Sundance - and in turn had a large counter protest, which he talks about in some of his podcasts.

In the end, he's no Orson Welles, who was a genius artist beat down by the studios and became so disenchanted he basically destroyed himself and his talent, but rather Smith is a guy who knows who and what he is, knows how to game the system to work for him, and does so gleefully. He doesn't bite off more than he can chew (except at the dinner table).