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.”