…By the time he he made 1995’s Mallrats, things seemed to be going from bad to worse. But it was this misbegotten mistake that would turn his life around. Mallrats was an embarrasing failure, but its writer-director Kevin Smith was able to see past Affleck’s baby face and envision the makings of a star. “I was like, ‘Why is Affleck always playing the bully? He is so not that,’”, Smith told Premiere magazine. “Around that time I started writing Chasing Amy and I decided to give him the leading man part.”……Last November, they (him and Matt Damon) co-starred in Kevin SMith’s Dogma, a controversial comedy in which they play a pair of fallen angels whose banishment lands them in the American Midwest-a fate to which they can relate. “It was easy to fall into playing old buddies who have been kicking around on Earth together for eons, because that’s how we feel about each other,” Damon explained. “We’ve been through a lot together; we’ve had some exciting times and some pretty boring ones, so we can imagine spending an eternity in Wisconsin together.” And then there is the loyalty factor. Affleck’s career started to take off while Dogma was in production, but his commitment to the project never wavered. “No matter how much Ben’s star rose during the making of Dogma he never lost his desire to make the film or his belief in it,” reported Smith. “Without Ben, I don’t think I could have done this movie.”…

Coolest Omnipotent Being: ALANIS MORRISETTE AS GOD

It was God versus Satan in our celestial poll, and being the Good Samaritans you 11th Hour readers are, Dogma’s God (Morissette) triumphed over End of Days’ Satan (Gabriel Byrne) 37% to 31%. (Although one enthusiastic fan did specify “Gabriel Byrne pisses fire!” on their ballot.) Other cool omnipotent types: Imhotep, The Blair Witch, Mr. Jingles and the Headless Horseman.

Dogma and the world of Kevin Smith

The new movie Dogma opens this week. We take a look at the film online and how director Kevin Smith has used the Internet to build quite a fan base.

To a broad audience, Kevin Smith is not the most well known director. But to the under 30 “Generation-X” crowd he is a near God. His four films to date have covered the 1990’s and left a trail of pop culture references and impressed fans. His new movie Dogma opening this week, and it takes a potent mixture of Catholicism, fart humour and comic book adventure and turns it into one of the most controversial, yet entertaining movies of the year.

The Kevin Smith legend started in the early 1990’s. A native of Red Bank, New Jersey, Kevin had always been interested in writing and film, but dropped out of the Vancouver School after one year. Working in a local convenience store, he was inspired by Richard Linklater’s film Slackers, and decided he would make his own film with some friends. Turning the camera on his own life, he created a story set in his own place of work, populated with the suburban freaks and weirdo’s that he knew so well. This movie, Clerks became an enormous hit at the Sundance Film Festival, was bought by Miramax, and while it was not a box-office blockbuster, it did very nicely (especially considering the film’s budget was around $27,000.) More importantly, Smith began to draw more and more fans that enjoyed his humour, his pop-culture references and his outlook on life. The biggest thing he has going for him is that he is almost exactly the same as most of his fans, he just gets to make movies for a living.

Smith’s next film, Mallrats could hardly have turned out worse initially. It was a studio film with a $6-8 million dollar budget and was not what anybody really expected. It failed at the box office, and was panned by the critics who had adored Clerks. All was not lost in the long term though, because Mallrats has become a hit on video, and has drawn even more fans. It may be less perceptive than his other films, but Mallrats is simply a laugh out loud silly comedy. Even Smith jokes about its lack of success now, and it has never really done him any harm.

Chasing Amy was a return to form on all fronts. The amusing but also romantic and bittersweet story of a comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian was adored by critics and made a very healthy box office total. It helped make Ben Affleck a star, and earned Joey Lauren Adams a Golden Globe Award nomination. It had all Smith’s hallmarks of dirty humour and weak men coping with strong women, but it added a much deeper love story and look at relationships. During this time, Smith also helped Ben Affleck and Matt Damon get their project Good Will Hunting made at Miramax – a move that yielded mega-success and several Oscars for his good friends.

It also led him to Dogma. Billed as a fantasy, it details the story of two renegade angels (Affleck and Damon,) who attempt to get back into heaven, but destroy humanity in the process. Trying to stop them are Bethany the abortion clinic worker (Linda Fiorentino,) the unknown 12th Apostle (Chris Rock,) and Smith’s favourite duo, the Cheech and Chong for a new generation, Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith himself.) Immediately attacked by a group known as the Catholic League, Dogma was called blasphemous in as many ways as possible, despite Smith always stating that his film is “pro faith.” More importantly, Smith is a practicing Catholic himself, and had always wondered whether non-Catholic fans would get some of the references that he had written. With most of the protests directed at Miramax and their parent company Disney, the film was quickly sold to the smaller Lion’s Gate studio, who set out to market their cheaply bought new property in the best way possible. Their tactic worked well, and Dogma has given Smith and his View Askew team the biggest box office total in North America of any of his films – over $30 million. More importantly, it has given him more fame than ever before.

Years before this, Kevin Smith discovered the Internet. From late 1996, his View Askew company website has consistently informed and entertained fans, and given them more access to his inner world than any filmmaker has ever allowed. He has his own real-life and online store Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, that sells movie merchandise and comic books, including everything to do with Smith’s movies. Hot items include the comics based on Smith’s films, and the issues of the classic Marvel superhero comic Daredevil that Smith has written.

Fan sites abound for Kevin Smith movies, with the biggest and best being News Askew. The two fans, Brad and Chris, that run the site are the biggest Smith devotees out there, and chronicle every move that Smith or his ever widening circle of friends and colleagues make. It makes for very informative reading when you want to know what’s happening and can’t be bothered to wade through the message board or dozens of other media sites. Other interesting sites include Project Pocket Watch, one artists vision of Kevin’s now rejected Superman movie script, and Graphitti Designs, where you can buy action figures of many of Smith’s characters, from Jay and Silent Bob to the upcoming “Buddy Christ”. You don’t know who “Buddy Christ” is? You’ll have to see Dogma and find out!

Kevin Smith is an outstanding example of someone who is famous, yet retains his roots. He refuses to leave his hometown, and will never give up contact with his fans. His web presence is what should be standard in the film world, but rarely is.