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BUZZ-SMITH

“The Dogma director looks for a little Net religion”

Alanis Morissette is God. Linda Fiorentino is a descendant of Jesus who works in an abortion clinic. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon? They’re angels who take to gunning down innocent churchgoers. Sure, wilder rumors have sprouted on the Internet, but in these cases, the heresay may actually be true.

The object of speculation is Dogma, the contentious new film from Kevin Smith that follows a pair of fallen angels scamming a passage to heaven. As the Catholic League vigorously attacked the film and Disney subsequently backed out as its distributor, the Net buzzed with gossip.

Throughout this tumult, you’ll find Smith where few of his peers dare to go: online with his fans. The director, via his company’s site, VIEW ASKEW PRODUCTIONS [viewaskew.com], keeps up an online dialogue. Inviting visitors to the Chasing Amy premiere or asking them to be extras in Dogma are just two instances of Smith’s relatively intimate rapport with his fan community. “The main interest for me as a filmmaker is communication,” says Smith, ” Rather than just making a movie for people to watch, I can actually talk to them about the process of making it.”

So when the Dogma controversy started to simmer, fans swarmed to DOGMA RUMOR CONTROL. [newsaskew.com/dogmarc]. Now, “people are so anxious to see this [film] because of the anticipation levels out there,” says the site’s co-founder, Brad Plevyak. “For a guy like Kevin, who has only been around for a few years, the amount of traffic we’re seeing is pretty astounding.”

With the film due for release mid-month, the momentum at Dogma Rumor Control, the Kevin Smith newsgroup [alt.movies.kevin-smith], and Smith’s official DOGMA site [dogma-movie.com] is building to Blair Witch Project proportions. ANd that doesn’t surprise Smith: “Word-of-mouth pictures thrive on the Internet. That’s all it is out there anyway–word of motuh.”

View Askew Productions Presents
Clerks in “On the Perils of Cinema”
Written by Kevin Smith
Illustrated by Jim Mahfood
Colored by Laura Allred
Lettered by Sean Konot

Randal: (off magazine) Says here that they’re clamping down on movies, because they’re too influential on America’s youth.

Dante: Must be an election year.

Randal: Do I detect a note of governmental incredulity in that snarky remark?

Dante: Of course. Movies aren’t what’s wrong with the youth in this country. Movies are only as influential as a weak mind allows them to be.

Randal: I don’t know. I spent two years looking for a girl-net-door-type-hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold to marry after I saw “Pretty Woman.”

Dante: I rest my case. If they’re going to regulate what we see in theaters for fear of inciting kids to do insane things, where will it stop?

Randal: I’ll tell you where it should start–the worst, most influential flick on our culture that’s ever come down the pike.

Dante: “Titanic”?

Randal: “The Wizard of Oz.”

Dante: “THE WIZARD OF OZ”?!? IT’S AN AMERICAN CLASSIC!

Randal: An American classic that’s corrupted the most young minds. Everyone sees the movie about the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion when they’re kids, right? And look at it’s eventual effect on the masses–I’d say almost everybody I’ve ever met in life is either brainless, heartless, or chicken-shit. Hell–most are all three.

Dante: Oh, brother…

Randal: And let’s not stop there. Let’s get rid of “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” too.; One honest guy shaking things up in our government?! Please–”Smokey and the Bandit” is more plausible. And let’s get rid of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” before sad-sack teens start offing themselves just to see if an angel will show them how different everything would be if they’d never been born. Hell–let’s get rid of all the Jimmy Stewart movies while we’re at it.

Dante: I take it you’re being facetious.

Randal: Duh. I’m with you, man–people should quit blaming movies for social ills. Because there’s never been a single movie ever made–not one–that’s influenced how anyone thinks.

Dante: (off cash register) Hey–the drawer’s stuck. I can’t get it to open.

Randal: Use the Force.

Too bad the Catholic League is so busy attacking good films, like “Dogma,”that it can’t spare the time to picket bad ones. I’m not in favor ofprotesting films on the basis of theology, but to picket them becausethey’re boring could be an act of mercy.

“#15 SUPERSTAR – SNL’s Molly Shannon takes her panty-flashing Catholic schoolgirl to the big screen. It’s Dogma Lite”

DOGMA

Directed by: Kevin Smith
Starring: Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Chris
Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Alanis Morissette
Release Date: Early November

I think the world needs far more religious comedies. With Dogma, indie hipster king Kevin Smith, the brains behind such comic favorites as Clerks and Chasing Amy, spins this irreverent tale about a pair of renegade angels (Good Will Hunting pals Damon and Affleck) trying to scam their way into heaven. The only one who stands in their way is Fiorentino, who plays a descendent of Jesus working in an abortion clinic. Rock star Alanis Morissette pops up as God, George Carlin dons the robes as a foul-mouthed cardinal, and Jason Lee plays Azrael, desperately trying to escape from Hell. The premise is terrific, but I think it’s worth noting that if I were running things, Jennifer Love Hewitt would be God.