Dogma (Nov. 12)

Rumors abound that Kevin Smith’s new one is a great religious satire. Rumorsalso abound that Jay and Silent Bob are main characters. These two rumorsdon’t jibe. (Hey Kevin, put those tired, pathetic characters to restalready!) Boasting an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon,Chris Rock, Janeane Garofalo and Alanis Morissette as God, this one justmight have enough star power and semi-witty one-liners, which havehistorically been enough to carry this one-trick pony without a clue aboutdirection, to make it worthy. But we think not.

Genre: Good question. Out-there comedy

Prediction: Bleak

Oscar® buzz: A controversial religious comedy. Uh… No.

Kevin Smith gives Toronto talk about God and Green Lantern. September 1, 1999

Kevin Smith gave a sermon about long-awaited Dogma at last weekend’s Torontocomic expo. Coming Attractions reports that Smith confirmed a November 12release date, denied Alanis Morissette plays God, and called down fire andbrimstone on Catholic League president William Donahue for trying to ban afilm he’s never seen.

A departure from his rawly funny oeuvre, Kev dips into the serious end ofthe holy water pool with this edgy morality tale of renegade angels Loki(Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) igniting the apocalypse in theirattempt to re-enter heaven. Comic touches are provided by Chris Rock as thethirteenth apostle, and “Just Say Yes” poster children Jay and Silent Bob. Dogma’s duality was reflected in the two trailers Smith showed: one minuteangel of death Damon is murdering an adulterer, the next Jay is trying toget The Last Seduction’s Linda Fiorentino into bed (or against a fence, ordamn near anywhere). Declining to name the film’s distributor, Smith did saythat the film was edited down to two hours because earlier cuts were justtoo long.

Power Ring Report: Smith also told fans that he’ll be starting a script fora new Green Lantern flick in the next few months. In the past Smith has saidthat he’d focus on Hal Jordan if he ever did a GL film (although hisultimate fave is a Green Arrow pic). Maybe we’ll see a GL/GA team-up? Butplease, Kev — no boxing glove arrows, okay?

“MGM risks attenuating its prestige by backing such an outlandishly gory and insidious film as ‘Stigmata.’ The idea that salvation can best be achieved by rejecting the Catholic Church is an old and very tired idea. The good news is that there exists a small audience for such an exploitative film, and all the hype and technical effects in the world can do nothing to redeem this bomb of a movie.”

Tickets for the New York Film Festival will be sold to the public starting at noon on Sunday Sept. 12 at Alice Tully Hall Box office. Hours are 11-6 except Sunday which is 12-6. Starting Sept 7, a limited number of tickets will be available for purchase by phone through Centercharge: 212-721-6500, Mon-Sat 10-8; Sun 12-8. There is a $5.50 per ticket handling charge when using Centercharge. There is a limit of 4 tickets per customer per film. Most tickets are $14 except opening and closing which are $30 and the centerpiece which is $20. Prices for the first four rows are usually lower but there is a limited number of these.

From what i’ve been reading of late alot of you guys have been planning to attend the Toronto screening of DOGMA.

My advice…Stay home!

I worked for the Toronto film fest for four years…and let me tell you one thing…it ain’t the fest for the casual fan.

I can almost guarantee that no one will get in…even if you manage to get one of the limited tickets that they might be selling for this screening.

DOGMA is a big event film…it so far has two scheduled screenings…On the Saturday of the 11th…and a to be announced press screening (Which by the way…the truly resourceful should try and get into…Less crowds…but yah gotta be quick on yer feet for).

It is the first North American screening of this flick…I’m already getting calls from guys at the studios to see if lil ‘ol me can get them in (which I can’t)…Suffice to say…a guy with no connections is pretty much fucked.

Fair or not…trust me…that’s the deal.

Best wait for the board screening…Save yerself the hassle…Trust me…I’ve seen VIPs get turned away at smaller screenings.

Toronto is the best film festival in the world for undiscovered gems…but their bread and butter is enticing the corporate bigwigs with “event films”.

In Toronto the ticket system allows pass holders in before even the ticket holders…Now, the Uptown 1 is a big ass cinema. One of my fave screens in Toronto…But it won’t be able to hold all the curious passholders…I’ll bet dollars to donuts.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from partaking in this really cool event…you just have to be realistic about what yer up against…and it ain’t pretty.

Some hints:

Otherwise…stay away and avoid a guaranteeed disappointment.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

The description of episode 6 at the News Askew ‘Clerks:TAS’ site is a bit off. The episode starts with Dante and Randal at a comic-con, appearing for as signing as ‘the stars of ‘Clerks:TAS’. There, they’re given shit for making a show that bears no resemblance to the movie it’s based on. They then decide to do the show more like the movie, no matter what.

And that’s the cold opening. The whole show is about their efforts to keep the episode flat, conversational, and counter-grounded – though they don’t have much luck.

Just thought I’d clear that up.

The ‘Dogma’ trailer is nearly done, and ready to go up this weekend in some places, I think. The poster is now locked, and ready to print. It’s quite cool as well. Things are becoming more and more official, finally.

I agree with Malcolm: the TO screening is going to be tough to get into. Unless you live in the nearby area, I’d suggest waiting until the Stash screening, or opening weekend. You may wind up traveling way north for way disappointment.

And a small, closing suggestion: if you haven’t seen ‘The Sixth Sense’ yet, go check it out. I think it was the best flick of the summer. It’s deliberately paced (so much so that the kid doesn’t utter the “I see dead people,” line from the trailer until over half way through the flick), but well worth it for the tremendous final half hour. I know the theory is that anything that does well theatrically can’t be good (an inane theory, that), or that Bruce Willis is real hit or miss (this is one of the hits), but I’m telling you – it’s a really good flick. Don’t miss it.