- Whew. Is this week OVER yet? It’s draggin’! We had a bit of a mixup yesterday with the link to the Light House Shines Dogma review that’s fixed now. So do check it out if you dismissed it yesterday. Other than that, just a few more tidbits. Look on, dear readers…
Archive for June, 1999
Dark Horizons Does Dogma…
- Our favorite movie site, Dark Horizons, printed a Dogma summary today of stuff that’s happened over the past week or two. Nothing that you dedicated readers don’t know already, but Garth gave us a nice plug as usual, so we wanted to do the same:
Dogma: When he’s not being kissed by Ben Affleck at the MTV awards,writer/director Kevin Smith is still trying to get his latest film sold to a distributor – and the conservatives are right behind him in hot pursuit. A Catholic group known as ‘America Needs Fatima’ have been posting flyers strenuously objecting to the movie (have any of them even seen it yet?) and urging people to send in complaints to Disney and the Weinstein brothers. While the cards do make one (and only one) good point – “Freedom of expression does not allow one to attack the rights of others”, their making a pretty big leap of logic to include comedic satire into that. One line it quotes from the film – “The nature of God and the Virgin Birth – those are leaps of faith. But believing a wife never humped her husband – that’s just gullibility”,is that an attack on rights? An insult or joke at the expense of ones beliefs possibly, but an all-out attack on their rights as an individual?. Anyway off my soapbox and back onto the news again and Smith, whose a devout and practicing Catholic if you didn’t know,stands behind his film in comments he gave to Newsday magazine: “When I heard [critics] calling me anti-Catholic I was so * * * and hurt,because, I thought, `Man, I’m doing your job. I’m out there talking up Christ.’ You read their literature and never does it say, `P.S., God bless you.’ It’s mean-spirited. I’ve read the Bible. Nowhere does Christ say, `Go out among the masses and kick – – – among anybody who doesn’t agree with Me”. Affleck also stands by the film telling ‘Entertainment Weekly’ that “It’s a rumination on faith and dick jokes.If you see the movie you understand the tone. It’s a fable. It’s a comic book”. Nevertheless, the ridiculous cries of censorship from right-wing parties sadly look like they’ll continue for quite some time yet, but whatever side of the fence your on over the issue, your opinion will likely be polarized by the excerpt below – the first draft of a disclaimer to air just before the start of the film. I’d like to thank ‘TVs Henry’, EW.Com and the great dudes at News Askew for their help.
“For those of you who are thinking about smiting us over this trifle of a film remember that that’s God’s job, and if the film is truly blasphemous, God himself will kill us and we’ll burn in hell. Thank you. Enjoy the show.”
Entertainment Weekly Online On Dogma…
- Entertainment Weekly Online ran a new story on Dogma today as their top headline! In it, they actually got some new quotes from Kevin & Ben on the flick, which does feature a few MINOR PLOT SPOILERS on the basic premise of the flick for those of you that want to go in dead cold. Otherwise, it’s pretty safe to read, and definitely paints a picture of where the film stands.
Angel Ayes
The latest on the ”Dogma” controversy. Kevin Smith and Ben Affleck tell EW Online why they may burn in hell
by Jeff Jensen
”It’s been a miserable f—ing two months,” says writer/director Kevin Smith, whose low-rent yet highly entertaining ”Clerks” and ”Chasing Amy” have made him an indie icon. His latest, ”Dogma,” proves that Smith has more on his mind than sex and comic books. You can see for yourself — if someone would just let you. Fearing that potential controversy would once again put protest-target Disney under fire, Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein bought back the Catholic satire from his own studio and has begun shopping it to other distributors. To date, it remains unsold.
Hence, Smith is miserable. But he found reason for optimism last month at the Cannes Film Festival, where Miramax screened the film for press and distributors. Smith’s spin on the reaction: ”There’s going to be no outcry. Nobody’s life is in danger. Maybe some will maintain that it’s a little blasphemous, but it’s not ‘Priest,’ it’s not ‘Hail Mary,’ it’s not ‘The Last Temptation of Christ.”’
In ”Dogma,” Linda Fiorentino plays an ancestor of Christ and a lapsed Catholic who’s inexplicably tapped by an angel (Alan Rickman) to save the world from two fallen angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) who are conspiring to re-enter Heaven. Other stars include Chris Rock and Salma Hayek.
But is ”Dogma” controversial? Depends how you feel about playing the sacred for profane laughs. ”It’s a rumination on faith and dick jokes,” quips Affleck. ”If you see the movie you understand the tone. It’s a fable. It’s a comic book.” Still, it’s a dicey decision for Fiorentino’s descendent of Jesus (itself a thorny thought) to be employed by an abortion clinic, especially given the conceit’s origins. Explains Smith: ”It just afforded me the ability to make one cheap joke — when Jay says, ‘We’re here to pick up loose women.”’
Yet ”Dogma” also wants to be taken seriously, bouncing as it does between puerile humor and provocative theological ideas. Smith says it’s the work of a devout believer, one who attends mass every week, even though he often finds the worship uninspiring. ”I don’t have, like, a zillion problems with the church,” says the director. ”I definitely object on a lot of points but not so much that I reject the whole concept out of hand. I wanted to do something that celebrated my faith because I certainly wasn’t getting to do that in the church.”
One of the funniest things about ”Dogma” is its pre-credit disclaimer. Weinstein had to twist Smith’s arm to add one — the director felt he was being asked to apologize for his movie. But Smith warmed to the idea when Weinstein told him he could write anything he wanted. Still, even the disclaimer was subjected to censorship. ”In the first draft there was a line that said ‘For those of you who are thinking about smiting us over this trifle of a film remember that that’s God’s job, and if the film is truly blasphemous, God himself will kill us and we’ll burn in hell. Thank you. Enjoy the show.’ Harvey didn’t like it. ‘Don’t bring up smiting,’ he said. ‘You’ll give people ideas.”’
Frankly, it doesn’t sound too good on the surface, but, call us crazy, we’ve got a feeling that the next time Kevin resurfaces we’ll have a distributor or be VERY VERY close. Stay tuned.
View Askew NewsBites™
- The Clerks voice recordings continue to go well. Reports from the scene tell us that Episode 1 recording is complete, and the gang begins Episode 2 this week. After that, they’ll take a break and some time to read #3, and most likely pick up with that at a later date. More news as we hear it!
- In the tradition of “The Hampster Dance” (which went crazy and became one of the most popular, yet useless websites around), comes The Snootchie-Bootchie Dance, which looks to have been constructed from our animated Jay & Bob icons.
- Disney dumps ANOTHER one! How about THIS for news? Seems Disney’s now ALSO drop-kicked “Summer Of Sam” out of theirsummer roster and onto someone else’s plate. Wow. Talk about wussing out! Even after the film took cuts to receive an’R’ rating!
Disney has reportedly washed its hands of the controversial Spike Lee movie Summer of Sam — at least in the U.K. Carlton Communications’ Popcorn Internet site is reporting that Buena Vista International, the Disney U.K. distributor, has sold distribution rights to the film, which deals with Son of Sam serial killer David Berkowitz, to Downtown Pictures, a small company that has previously never released product from any of Hollywood’s major studios. When the film was first shown to the MPAA ratings board last March, it was slapped with an NC-17. Lee has reportedly been working on the film ever since to gain an R rating. Disney Studios chairman Joe Roth told the Los Angeles Times in April, “Let’s judge it when it’s finished…Lee’s got stuff in there that is rougher than I would make. I’m hoping at some point he will trim it out.”
- Those of you with HBO Comedy (most likely you lucky satellite-owning bastards) can catch “Clerks” tonight at 8 PM!
- Build your own pack of Nails cigarettes! Amaze your friends! Click HERE for the files. Print out the bitmap, wrapit around your brand of choice, and voila.
Commentary
- This just in! A brand new, positive review of Dogma from famous net reviewer Light House Shines!
Dogma Review By Light House Shines
(Positive, Spoilers)
View Askew NewsBites™
- Files Askew has added a new Mallrats Screensaver created by Ryan Whelan! Well worth the download. Be sure to surf over and check that out.
- Joey Lauren Adams starts her press junket for “Big Daddy” this Tuesday. She’ll be appearing on the Rosie O’Donnell Show.
- One of our readers checks in with a report on the “Mallrats” screening recently held. Sounds like a good time!
Just wanted to check in about the Mallrats screnning in Warrenville tonight. My friend Huck and I drove down from Rockford (about 70 miles) to go see it. I probably would have driven twice as long for the chance to see it on the big screen (since I missed it the first time around, my bust). Anyway the nearly filled auditorum was definately into the movie, with a healthy mix of vets and newbies enjoying the show. Everyone that knew the dialogue spoke along with the movie, and thankfully enough, very few seemed to mind at all. The best part of the whole event was getting to see some of the hokes that you miss by watching the movie on the small screen (the “Clerks” hat picked up by T.S., something i never noticed in the dozen or so previous scrennings). All in all, easily worth the drive and admission.
Commentary
- Howdy folks! Just caught a matinee of Austin Powers…Incredibly silly flick, but a lot of fun as well! Catch it sometime if you’re up for a good laugh. We’ve got some cool stories for ya today, as well, including some way cool prototypes of the Clerks action figures, and even a status update on that “Alien Love Triangle” flick. Thanks go to Rod Santacruz for this week’s new poll topic.
First Look: Clerks Action Figures!
 Randal Prototype |
 Dante Prototype |
 “RAYGUN” Magazine |
- Thanks to the Jim Mahfood Official Site, we’re pleased to present these sketches of the prototypes for the upcoming Clerks action figures! Not much has been said about these puppies in a while, but it seems from the look of this that development is going quite well. Like Jay & Silent Bob, these guys are gonna be quality work, and come with some quite hilarious accessories. No release date has been set for the figures, but we’ll keep you posted on that, since we’re certainly anxious to get a look at them in person ourselves. All the scans expand, so click away and check out all the cool details!
An ‘Alien Love Triangle’ Update…
- Heather Graham spoke about her “Alien Love Triangle” segment of the Light Years Trilogy, and mentioned the status of Kev’s involvement. For the unacquainted, this is a 3-story flick, with one of the pices being written and directed by Kevin, from what we’d heard. Doesn’t sound like Kev’s gotten very far with the project, but it’s definitely something that sounds cool, so we’ll work on getting some clarification on exactly what Kev’s involvement is, as well as how far along he is with the project, considering Dogma and the Clerks series have obviously been keeping the guy quite busy.
You can read the full article HERE, but we’ve got the relevantstuff right below:
MR SHOWBIZ: “Have you finished shooting Danny Boyle’s Alien Love Triangle?
HEATHER: Yeah. That was actually a while ago, and it hasn’t come out because it’s part of a trilogy, kind of like New York Stories. Danny Boyle directed a segment, Gary Fleder, and Kevin Smith. And I don’t think Kevin Smith has done his part yet. But mine is called Alien Love Triangle, and I play an alien with a green head. I’m totally bald and I have pointy ears, and I wear fake contact lenses. It’s with Kenneth Branagh and Courteney Cox. Courteney Cox is a male alien in the body of a female, and I come to pick her up on Earth because she’s my husband. She’s a very chauvinistic male. So it’s funny; there’s Courteney Cox yelling at me, and being really mad, like “Where have you been?” and “I just wanna scratch my balls and hang out with the men!” [Laughs.] It’s a comedy, but in a very dark way, and a commentary.”
Commentary
- Here we are, rounding off what’s probably been one of the more dead weeks in News Askew history, at least lately, with a few stories that we’ve been either holding onto or getting more info on. Kevin’s been noticeably absent from the board and the net in general lately, but his plate’s been REALLY full lately, so it’s understandable. Most likely we’ll hear something from him soon, especially now that his MTV Awards stint has aired. Other than that, just a few stories for today, then it’s off to the microbrewery festival tomorrow! We’ll be back Sunday with an end of the weekend update and a new poll topic, of course.