• Updates over at the official Dogma website continue — An exclusive set ofbehind the scenes photos from the lens of producer Scott Mosier have been addedto the photo gallery for your enjoyment. Surf over to the Dogma website tocheck them out, and lots, lots, lots more.
• Pittsburgh Screening Update: In an interview from the recent issue of “In Pittsburgh”, Kevin reveals that he does indeedplan to be in attendance for the Dogma screening at the Three Rivers Film Festival. There ya go! Got your tickets?
• A representative from FilmFour International confirms that Dogma will indeed hit theaters on Boxing Day (Sunday, December26th) in the U.K. The flick’s just 2 months away for our friends over the pond…
• Those Affleck as Batman rumors are back, thanks to AICN. The fifth Batman movie reportedly has two scripts in the running. One is a Batman: Year One style work in which Warner wants Ben Affleck to star, and the other is reportedly isbased on the animated TV show “Batman Beyond” and would star Keanu Reeves. “Hey, Commissioner Gordon. Whoa.”
• Dark Horizons breaks another big story today regarding Ben Affleck’s recently filmed “Reindeer Games” that we’ve beendoing tidbits on here and there. It appears the flick’s undergone a name change and may actually have some MPAA problems.Here’s the story:

Deceptions (aka. ReindeerGames): Miramax’s most expensive movie ever has just undergone a name changeaccording to Entertainment Tonight. Originally entitled “Reindeer Games”,the $60 million thriller with Ben Affleck has now changed to the simpler”Deceptions”. Meanwhile there’s talk that a few seconds of a rather steamysex scene between Affleck and Charlize Theron in the movie may have to becut. While the obligatory T&A shots of the two leads will likely make it in,there’s one scene of simulated sex on a floor which some think the MPAAwon’t approve of. Will it be spared? Lets hope so, and I’ll keep you abreastof the issue (just had to slip a pun in somewhere).

They can cut the Affleck stuff if they want, but leave Charlize in there, darn it! Like there’s anything she can hideafter “Devil’s Advocate”, anyways. And hey, call us crazy, but we liked the old title better. MUCH better. It sounds likea Shannon Tweed direct-to-video flick now. It’ll still be a good movie, though.

• A scooper in St. Louis slips us a rumor that the Archdiocese of the church there sees Dogma as “Apocryphal” and mayattempt to ban the movie from playing in that town. It’ll be fun to watch them try, anyway.
• And finally today, we always like to have a little bit of Jason Lee news: In the new “Skateboarder” Nov/Dec 1999 magazine there was a small article called “Popular Misconception” and it spoke very highly of Mr. Lee: “When Skateboarding’spopularity began to wane in the late 80’s and early 90’s we were blessed with the birth of shoes designed by skateboarders,jeans that don’t hug your nuts, graphics that go beyond skulls and daggers, Matt Hensley and Jason Lee.”

• Film Threat‘s Chris Gore, a well-known antagonist of Kev’s work since Clerks (and one of the few critics out there who vehemently spoke out against Chasing Amy) threw a little diatribe into their weekly newsletter, stating his reservations about Dogma but giving great praise to the soundtrack that features Alanis’ amazing new song along with that brilliant Howard Shore score:

We think Chris is in for even more surprises: Sure, Dogma’s got lots of dialogue, we wouldn’t have it any other way. The flick is ALSO heavy on action, plot developments (incredible amounts of them, actually), and a completely different direction that any of the previous three flicks. And no men feel threatened by women’s sexual activity in this one. We promise.

Oh yeah, by the way, the music IS outstanding, too.

• View Askew’s website posted all you need to know about getting your ticket, your exclusive swag, and your very own cushy, comfy seat for the hometown premiere of Dogma this evening. Read on for all you need to know. By the way, tickets ARE sold out in case you didn’t notice the news a few days back…

Good luck, have a safe trip into town, and we’ll see all of you there!

• Well, today’s the day that the first large group of rabid, drooling, honest-to-goodness Kevin Smith fans will sit down and enjoy Dogma together. There’s no way we’re going to miss this, so we WILL be there. We’re hitting the road around 5:00 tonight and should arrive in town a little after 8 PM. We may check the chaos at the Stash or just head right to the theater. If you spot us (shouldn’t be too hard, hopefully), stop us and say hello.

We know that Dogma Rumor Control is behind in updates, and we missed the new poll topic changeover. We’ll have everything squared away ASAP, but probably not for a few days considering the incredibly late night we’ll have tonight (and going to work tomorrow on about 3 hours sleep), as well as the remaining chaos to settle from the move. We’ll get it, though.

In the news today, we’ve of course got full details for those of you heading into Red Bank tonight, and a few other tidbits of note. The Dogma commercials have started to air more widely now, so expect to see the flick’s name plastered all over the place as part of Lions Gate‘s huge marketing campaign. And now, on with the show…