2)”Clerks” and “Chasing Amy” will be shown here Feb. 27 in the Squires Commonwealth Ballroom. Tickets are $3 and will get you into both films. Doors open at 9 PM and the show starts at 10 PM with “Clerks” leading off. It’s a buck cheaper for these if you buy tix for Kev’s appearance, too.
I saw Dogma last night at the Riverview United Artists here in Philly …… Wow, the movie was unbelievable. Jay and Silent Bob were hilarious, as usual, Chris Rock was funny as hell, Jason Lee played a good bad guy, Salma Hayek looked unbelievably good, and Ben Affleck and Matt Damon played characters that make us question, laugh, and believe in religion. In other words, this movie completely kicked ass.
A few small spoilers ahead…
Before the film started, they said that we were watching a workprint. The music was temporary and some of the footage would be grainy. They also said the film was about two hours and fifteen minutes long. I guess that this is closer to the final cut of it, since the last cut was about two and a half hourse long, from what I heard. The only footage that was grainy were the dissolves and wipes. It looked like the special effects were mostly done. I wish they could keep some of the music, because it worked perfectly. They used the Danny Elfman “Batman” theme when Jay and Silent Bob were introduced, and it rocked! The roar of the crowd was deafening. Silent Bob’s one line, aside from the whole “Fat Albert” rap, was classic. Sadly, I think I was one of the only people who caught that movie reference.
What really amazed me about the movie was the level of the acting, and the maturity and depth of the writing. Linda Fiorentino did a wonderful job, Alan Rickman was Alan Rickman, and Chris Rock flat-out surprised me. I knew he could be funny, but I didn’t expect him to go beyond that. The sensetivity he showed at the fast-food joint and in the campfire scene impressed me. And the dialogue blew me away. Anybody that thinks that Kevin Smith can only do pop-culture laden, low-brow humor should listen to these conversations about faith, what’s wrong with “beliefs”, and why organized religion is being looked down on now.
I’m not a very religious person, but it made me think alot about religion in general. The film may deal with the Catholic church, but the same things could be said about all major religions. I hate the fact that I’m going to have to wait another six to eight months before I see it again.
We filled out another survey card at the end, asking what I thought about the film. I gave it mostly “excellent” or “very good” ratings across the board, except to Jason Lee’s character, Azrael, who was a bit of a weak link, albeit a necessary one. Hopefully, my fellow audience members, especially those in the focus group, don’t butcher it up too much.
That be it for today, folks…Glad ya stopped in.
Kevin also stopped by the board to give his opinions on the screening, as well as today’s Oscar nominations:
Ready for the staggering revelation?
Some people like the flicks, some people don’t.
It’s pretty simple. Thankfully, in the case of this flick, more people than not like the flick (our ‘Poor’ score remained the same – 4%) – the ‘Definite Recommends’ were high enough for me. It’s still far more fulfilling to listen to the audience react to the film as it’s screening, that it is to listen to the focus group (which – while well-conducted – are still rather leading, in my opinion). If we cut anything more, it’d amount to about two or three minutes. This is pretty much the flick (minus the final music and effects), and Scott and I are happy with it (as was the majority of the audience, give or take some slow points). Beyond that, there’s not much more to tell.
As for the Oscar nods – there were only a few surprises, both pleasant (Ed Norton for ‘American History X’ was out of the blue and well-deserved), and not so pleasant (the screenwriting nod for ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was a shocker; I thought the script to ‘Titanic’ was better than the director-driven ‘Ryan’, but hey – what do I know about writing anyway?). Nice to see ‘Shakespeare’ get a load of nods (Affleck sure can pick ’em’; let’s hope his good juju rubs off on us for next year, and that his third time is the charm, as far as acting nods go). I still haven’t seen ‘Life Is Beautiful’, but I guess I will now. I found it odd that the Time-heralded ‘Movie of the Decade’ (if it wasn’t Time, I apologize) got the shaft, yet the helmer of said pic was embraced (‘Truman’ and Weir), but it happens all the time (‘The Sweet Hereafter’ anyone?). And apparently, Carey’s going to have to wait for his Oscar nod, and be happy with his Golden Globe (shades of Madonna and ‘Evita’ there). I still can’t get all the hub-bub about the sterile and antiseptic ‘Elizabeth’, and I haven’t watched Malick’s flick to know what to think (though I’m sure it’s pretty as hell).
All in all, nothing shocking. And with the ‘Ryan’ win all but guaranteed at this point, watching the Oscars in April seems like nothing more than a chance to watch Affleck on t.v. again (a pastime I never grow weary of).
It certainly is a shame that stuff had to be cut, though the 3 hours of film that we saw DID run a bit long for mass consumption (though we certainly enjoyed every second of it)…Kevin and Scott definitely have a tighter film on their hands now that can pack an extra show in every night when the sucker finally opens. Plus, it just gives us more to look forward to when that Special Edition DVD/Laser hits shelves down the line. As for the Oscars, no big surprises, except of course the stuff Kev pointed out: the Truman snub and SPR’s SCREENPLAY nomination. Ay yaah.
ALANIS : It’s a small role of of God, and it’s funny, and Kevin Smith wrote it and he directed it and he’s brilliant, and I read the script a long time ago and I just was completely blown away by it, so to be part of it was really great.
JANCEE : How did you prepare for the role?
ALANIS : I didn’t. I think the point is that we’re all God, and you don’t really have to prepare because we already are it in our own way–whatever we are is already God
JANCEE : And Ben Affleck is also in the movie, and he said that you his impression of you was that you were incredibly Canadian. And he would imitate your accent, very I heard an imitation and it was
ALANIS : It was horrible. He has the worst Canadian accent. Actually it’s Irish. He speaks with an Irish accent, says it’s Canadian, yes.
The really amazing thing about Dogma is the amount of press it’s managing to grab, due to the various different areas that the ensemble cast touches. By the time the flick eventually hits theaters in the fall, EVERYONE should have heard the name brought up on SOME television program or read about it in a magazine. Great stuff.
Except your’s truly.
After attending the mass in the morning, and hitting the after-party for a bit, I went to the new Stash (whose sign is finally up), and spent five hours manning the register.
It was pretty fun, actually. You can take the boy out of retail, but you can’t take retail out of the boy, I guess. When the day ended, I was a bit disappointed.
Onto other stuff…
Tonight, we’re having the second test screening of ‘Dogma’. I’ll let you know how it went tomorrow.
Wednesday, I’ll be heading west again, for about two weeks or so. I’ll be putting in some time at the Bruckheimer offices, doing a little mixing on the ‘Dog’ (which I’ve seen refered to as ‘Dogshit’ by some non-fans; always a pleasure, that), and attending Malcolm’s AFM premiere of ‘Tailights Fade’. Hopefully, I’ll be bringing the ol’ WebTV terminal in tow, so I can keep in touch.
For those who know (or care), the Rider’s Board is being shut down. Some have speculated on the reason, so I figured I’d put the subject to rest here.
The reason: there’s nothing that board accomplishes that the so-called ‘Other Board’ doesn’t. No sense in having three boards on the VA teat, when two’ll do the job nicely. It just seemed like common sense to me.
So if this has disappointed or inconvenienced anybody, I apologize. But all good things come to an end. One day, this board, too, will go the way of the Rubik’s Cube and parachute pants. It doesn’t look like that’s going to happen anytime soon, but it is inevitable, isn’t it? When my popularity dies (not that my popularity is wide-spread now, but let’s be honest – the flicks we’ve done DO have a certain following), and the Stash isn’t pulling in enough to make the rent, and Jay and Silent Bob is a concept I have to explain to my daughter when she looks at a dusty action figure of her old man holding a ‘blunt’, and demands explanation, there will be no reason to keep a board up and running. Hopefully, you’ll all have made some friends here, and gone on to do some cool stuff yourself (then open your own websites, and deal with the agony and the ecstasies of flamers and fans), and you’ll like back on this time and smile (or shudder).
Me? I give it all another five years.
But until then, let’s milk this fucking thing for all it’s worth, I say. Rise and fall with me, good people; vicariously celebrate my successes and suffer my demise – all from the comfort and safety of your keyboard. It may embarrass you in years to come, or it may always hold a place in your heart as a weird, fun, and special time, but I promise you (as something I can attest to after doing this for going on three years now)…
It’ll never be boring.
5 years??!?! We find that quite hard to believe. As the current audience continues to grow and enjoy the new flicks, new generations are still discovering the original trilogy. Nah, we think ‘ol Kev’s got plenty more than 5 years of filmmaking left in him…And hell, we HOPE so, there’s gotta be a TON more stories to be told!
My current computer job’s getting to be a bit tedious, especially considering I’m not having the opportunity to do what I really love: Web & Internet related programming. So, I’m currently in the process of conducting a job search to see what might be available out there, and, considering that quite a few of you stop by over the course of a day, I thought I’d ask for your help. Maybe you work for a company that could use a guy like me, or have heard of something in your area. You can see from the kind of stuff that pops up daily on the page that I’m competent, consistent, a decent writer, and dedicated. I’m hoping to get a new job developing & designing webpages, supporting PC’s…Stuff like that. It all comes very natural to me, and I enjoy it a great deal.
Anyway, if you think you might have something suitable, DROP ME A LINE, andI’d be happy to forward you a copy of my resume and chat about it further. Thanks for your time!
