• The UK continues to be gripped by Dogma Fever, with more articles and television appearances popping up overseas. As usual, we’ve posted all the latest stories (as well as a new positive review from L.A. Weekly) over on Dogma: Rumor Control, so be sure to make that a part of your News Askew surfing routine to get the full picture.

In addition to the print articles, Kevin, Alan, and Salma were all interviewed on Barry Norman’s UK Sky Film show, in a short 4-5 minute segment.

MTV Europe ALSO aired a Dogma segment featuring Kev, Ben, Salma and Linda:

As well as a few NEW clips not before aired, including (SPOILER FREE, UNLESS YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING):

Again, Dogma RC has more press and reviews, just added today!

• Here’s a couple new Dogma articles two sccopers found on the net…

Under The Skin (LA Weekly)
(Very Positive, MINOR Spoilers)

Cannes Recap (Christian Science Monitor)
(Slightly Positive, MINOR Spoilers)

• Two of our favorite clips from Dogma aired on television in an unlikely place yesterday, the U.K.! The BBC film show “Film 99”, hosted by Jonathan Ross (who said Dogma was the funniest film at Cannes), was proud to unveil these scenes, courtesy of Dogma’s new distributor in the U.K., Film Four! Yep, you heard it right, Film Four has picked up distribution rights to the flick overseas, and actually plans a SEPTEMBER release for the film! Will that beat out a U.S. release? Time will tell.

The clips were presented in their true ratio of 2.35:1. A description follows of each, which are VERY spoiler filled (considering these were 2 of the best scenes in the film, in our opinion), so click the Dante button on the right ONLY if you wish to reveal the text and be spoiled:

1) Alan Rickman (Metatron) arrives in Linda Fiorantino’s (Bethany’s) bedroom. . He was in her room and on fire, she put him out with a fire extinguisher, and then he complains that it’s ruined his suit. She then asked if he’s gonna rape her, and he says he can’t, as angels don’t have any genitals…Which he proves.

In relation to this clip, Ben had a comment in an interview he gave:”I had to imagine what life would be like without my genitals and, erm, that was the research I did, I castrated myself, ‘cos I’m a method actor, you know how we are in America, and erm, Hence forth I had a whole new perspective on life. And that’s really what I brought with me to the role, unfortunately I haven’t been able to shake it since. But, er, that’s the price of, er, you know being commited to your art.”

2) The next clip was Bartelby and Loki on a bus. A man and a woman (the man being Scott Mosier) are kissing in a nearby seat. Loki (Matt Damon) asks Scott if he’s married, to which he shows his wedding ring in reply. Matt then asks if it was to the woman he was kissing, Scott replies no. Matt then pulls out a gun and it cuts to outside the bus where we see a flash and hear a bang.

Here’s what the BBC website had to say about the film, by the way (BEGIN VERY MINOR SPOILERS):

Finally, The Movie Show on SBS TV (in Australia) ALSO showed some scenes from the film. Sounds like “Dogma” fever is sweeping the globe!

• We’ve got an excellent review/article on Dogma from the Village Voice that we liked so much, we wanted to place the whole darn thing right here on News Askew’s front page. Here ya go:

Smith: “I didn’t set out to make a controversial movie.” (photo: Henny Garfunkel)

IN LIMBO: DOGMA DELIBERATED AT CANNES

By Amy Taubin

Disappointed Star Wars devotees take note: Kevin Smith’s Dogma is the real Phantom Menace, as inspired, goofy, subversive, and thought-provoking a pop-culture vision of the battle between good and evil as has been presented on the movie screen. Dogma follows the further adventures of Jay and Silent Bob, the movie-buff stoners from Clerks and Chasing Amy, as they become enmeshed in a struggle between angels and demons and try to prevent the apocalypse from starting in New Jersey.

With Smith, producer Scott Mosier, and stars Ben Affleck, Alan Rickman, and Linda Fiorentino in attendance, Dogma screened out of competition at the tail end of the Cannes Film Festival and made it seem like there was something new to be found under the intermittent Mediterranean sun. It also made it seem as if the dream of American independent film— the fusion of personal vision and popular culture— might survive the millennium. At various moments reminiscent of Star Wars, ’60s Batman comics, and the Bible, Dogma has a script as hilarious as The Rocky Horror Picture Show (it demands to be memorized and chanted back at the screen).

After the first press screening, Miramax’s Harvey Weinstein held an informal press conference in the middle of the street outside the theater. He is in a bit of a bind here, having bought the film from his own company for $14 million when Disney got nervous, fearing the wrath of the Catholic right. What Disney doesn’t understand is that what Dogma could have done for Disney is what American Graffiti did for Universal. The only way for Weinstein not to alienate such a talent is to release his movie in 1500 theaters ASAP.

“I didn’t set out to make a controversial movie, and I don’t think I did,” says Smith, a practicing Catholic who attends Mass every Sunday. “How can any church take a stand against a movie with a rubber poop-monster? The movie doesn’t fuck with any of the key characters. Christ isn’t even in the movie.” Stay tuned for imminent developments.

A great piece…And we’d also like to congratulate Kevin on logging his first “official” scoop here at the site. Wow, we must be slacking!

• We missed it! Apparently, Entertainment Tonight showed Dogma’s early Airport Scene (yes, the one we had walk-on parts in) TONIGHT!!! Who knows if any of our coverage saw airtime, but we’d like to see it regardless. If anyone has a copy of the episode on tape (if you taped it for posterity or just weren’t home and set the VCR, we’d LOVE a copy. Drop us a line.

• Two more reviews have surfaced today…First, we’ve got that controversial review by Todd McCarthy of Variety that Kevin referenced above, which, in so many words, suggests the film be cut down to nearly 90 MINUTES! Ridiculous. We can only hope we’ll have the chance to see the 3+ hour cut again someday. Maybe Todd should, too. Next, an outstandingly perceptive and kind review from Roger Ebert. If you ask us, Ebert’s on a hot streak with this insightful Dogma review and last week’s Phantom Menace praise (one of the few reviews we read on TPM from a critic who actually seemed to put some real thought into it). Anyway, these reviews are SPOILER FILLED, so be wary, and read at your own risk.

Dogma Cannes (Variety)                     Cannes Dogma (Roger Ebert)
(Mostly Negative, MAJOR Spoilers)       (Very Positive, MAJOR Spoilers)

We’ve also added a few more Dogma news blurbs (very short pieces) that stemmed from events in Cannes. NewsWeek even went so far as to call Dogma a “Comic Sensation”. Surf over to Dogma Rumor Control’s main page to check them out.

• It’s a race! Will ARTISAN nab Dogma? Who’s it gonna be? Seems everyone wants the flick…This would certainly be a1-2 punch for Artisan, since Blair Witch really blew our socks off. IndieWire is keeping track of this with up to the minute reports, including this one:

• Seems like something we said got blown waaaay out of proportion, and we want to clarify: A story posted a few days ago mentioned another Dogma screening on May 17th – But if you look at the headline, you’ll see it was “News From CANNES”…Meaning, the screening WAS to take place in Cannes, not anywhere stateside. Also, we just heard that the screening was cancelled regardless. So, it looks like Dogma will first hit screens in France only this Friday, May 21st, as planned.

By the way, Kevin & crew left for Cannes today, so wish them luck! The film’s sure to be the talk of the festival after it plays.

• More folks that really enjoyed Dogma have submitted their reviews of the film, and we’ve got ’em!

Dogma LA Screening – Review   Dogma LA Screening – Review
 (Very Positive, NO Spoilers)     (Very Positive, Minor Spoilers)

Dogma LA Screening – Review  
(Positive, NO Spoilers)

• Word has it that there’s going to be ANOTHER screening of the flick before the official date, private as well, on May the 17th. We also hear that yet ANOTHER one-sheet is hanging up in the Miramax office. This one is basically a montage of a bunch of stills from the film, mainly highlighting Matt and Ben, with DOGMA written across it in a “graphitti” style. Nothing special, but cool none the less. Under “Dogma,” it also said: “A Kevin Smith Flick”. This sounds similar to the Camp Chaos design we posted a couple months back, but we’re not sure if they’re one in the same. Buzz is strong at the festival, and lots of folks are anxiously awaiting their chance to see the movie!