• Dogma hits shelves nationwide on VHS and DVD today. Remember, the DVD is just the bare bones version, which you can buy for about $15 at most discount and web retail shops. A Special Edition DVD set is due this Fall. The VHS tape is available FOR RENT ONLY, if you want to purchase it, it’ll cost you over $100. Most tapes arrive at a “sellthrough” price a few months after they are released, but no such date has been announced for Dogma at this time. There are no plans to release a Special Edition on VHS.

So, what are you waiting for??? Get out there and rent Dogma! Let’s see how high that sucker can get on the video rental charts! And, as a reminder, now that you can have a copy at home, you can safely play our Dogma Drinking Game. Just be careful!

• We chatted with Vincent Pereira briefly today about the “A Better Place” Special Edition DVD that’s coming soon. Seems that the disc is now scheduled to arrive on JULY 22nd, as Vincent has hooked up with some folks from Skywalker sound and is getting the final plans in place. He’s heading up to New York this weekend to lay down a bunch of the soundtrack, and then it won’t be long before he’s off to the Ranch to supervise the brand new Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. It’s gonna be a great disc. We’ll have an exclusive first look of all the goodies on this thing soon.

• Thanks to our good friends at Columbia/Tristar, we were fed-exed review copies of the Dogma DVD! So, we’re proud to present an early look at this disc. Remember, this one will pale in comparison to the massive special edition that they’re preparing right now for this Fall, but all in all, if you just want to watch a damn good movie, this disc is certainly a worthy purchase. Check out our detailed review, menu screens, and cover art of the Dogma DVD here. The disc streets on May 2nd, one week from today.

• Well, if you’ve been reading the site the past few days you’ve noticed that there’s been rumblings of the Chasing Amy DVD’s arrival this June, and now Criterion has indeed confirmed this. Thanks to a post on DVD File, we’ve verified that the disc is planned for release this summer, and will indeed feature all the good stuff from the packed Amy laser from a few years back, AND a brand new anamorphic transfer. Thank goodness! As soon as we get a definite date (online DVD sites are still saying June 13th), we’ll post it here.

• Could we be seeing that Chasing Amy DVD in 2000, maybe even this summer, after all? Over at the Home Theater Forum Sean Anderson (Director Of DVD Development at Criterion) posted this little gem regarding the Criterion release of the disc:

There ya have it, folks! We’ll keep ya posted.

• Kevin sent us the official press release on the Dogma VHS/DVD May release today, and we’ve also got a scan of the ad they’re running in the trades. Keep in mind this is the movie/trailer only release, but it WILL feature 5.1 Dolby Digital sound and a brand new 16:9 transfer, which is excellent news. Here’s the full text of the press release.

“THUMBS UP!
Roger Ebert – Roger Ebert at the Movies

“MERCILESSLY FUNNY…EXHILARATING, AUDACIOUS AND WILDLY IRREVERENT”
Janet Maslin – New York Times

A NEW COMIC FANTASY FROM THE DIRECTOR OF “CLERKS” AND “CHASING AMY”

FAITH IS A FUNNY THING

COMES TO VIDEOCASSETTE AND DVD MAY 2, 2000

(Starring Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Jason Lee and Jason Mewes
( $30 Million Box-Office)
( Day/Date VHS and DVD Release)

DVD EXCLUSIVE ELEMENTS INCLUDE:

(Talent Files (Kevin Smith (Director), Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino, Jason Lee and Jason Mewes

Culver City, CA (02/28/00) – On May 2, 2000 Columbia TriStar Home Video will release DOGMA on DVD and videocassette. From director Kevin Smith (Clerks and Chasing Amy), DOGMA tells the story of two banished angels who find a loophole to get back into heaven, but must destroy humankind in the process. The film features an all-star cast which includes Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley), Ben Affleck (Shakespeare in Love), Chris Rock (Lethal Weapon 4), Salma Hayek (Wild Wild West), Linda Fiorentino (Men in Black) and Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest).

SYNOPSIS – One of the most talked about movies of the year is also one of the funniest! In this hilarious comic fantasy from writer/director Kevin Smith, two banished angels (Damon and Affleck) find a loophole that would get them back into heaven. The only snag? They’ll be destroying existence in the process. In an effort to stop them, the overworked voice of God (Rickman), taps cynical mortal Bethany (Fiorentino), to save the world by preventing the angels from reaching their unholy destination, New Jersey. Throw in two unlikely prophets (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), the quick-witted, yet little-known thirteenth apostle (Rock) and a sexy, former muse with a case of writer’s block (Hayek) and you’ve got an hysterical and thrilling race against time.

Rated R
Color
Feature: 128 Minutes
DSS
Closed-Captioned

DVD SPECS

Format: Fullscreen and Widescreen (Enhanced for 16×9 TVs)
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby 2-Channel
Languages: English, Spanish and French
Subtitles: English, Spanish and French
Suggested List Price: $24.95
DVD #04891
UPC #0-43396-04891-1

TRADE INFORMATION
Order Date: April 11, 2000 (VHS)
April 4, 2000 (DVD)

• Quite a few of you noticed that Criterion has indeed posted an update on the webpage that used to just host info on their Chasing Amy laserdisc — The page now states that the Special Features on the new DVD will be as follows:

• Widescreen digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer David Klein and enhanced for 16×9 televisions
• Discrete 5.1 channel Dolby® Digital soundtrack
• New video introduction to the DVD edition from director Kevin Smith Screen-specific audio commentary by Kevin Smith, producer Scott Mosier, actors Ben Affleck and Jason Mewes, associate producer Robert Hawk, Miramax executive Jon Gordon and View Askew historian Vincent Pereira
• Ten deleted scenes, plus outtakes
• Theatrical trailer
• Video introductions from the cast and crew
• Special poster insert, The Askewniverse Legend: a guide to the characters in the “New Jersey Trilogy”
• English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
• Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

No big surprises there, as we’d heard about the new intro and widescreen transfer (YES!!!) a few weeks back, but it’s nice to see it all confirmed officially. And it’s nice to see they remembered to list Vincent in the commentary, too. 🙂 We’ll have a new release date for the Chasing Amy DVD as soon as it’s announced. Stay tuned. You can find the official Amy Criterion page HERE.

And by the way, Jason Lee‘s “Mumford” was also announced for DVD on April 18th. Pick it up or at least rent it.

• Rumor has it that the Chasing Amy is indeed delayed, folks. We have no new date for release at this time. Word came down to video distributors from Disney. We assume the delays can be attributed to the addition of extra material and the new transfer, so the disc WILL be worth the wait in the long run. In the meantime, don’t be surprised if the agency you pre-ordered from cancels your disc, it’s common practice. As soon as we know more about the delay, including the new release date, we’ll let you know. Rest assured, the disc has NOT been canceled.

• Here’s something we bet you didn’t expect…That’s right…Word comes down from above that the Dogma DVD coming out on May 2nd will be JUST the flick and the trailer, day and date with the VHS release. The second version, the SPECIAL EDITION, the DVD to end all DVDs, will street sometime in October. Vincent Pereira is working very closely with JM Kenny (The same team-up that brought us that groundbreaking Mallrats disc) in putting together a massive super special-edition Dogma DVD that’s going to contain more content than you can believe. Plans are still to include all of the deleted material, though we’re sure the guys have a lot more surprises (kinda like that way cool live video during the Rats commentary). Already in the planning phases is another way cool documentary, this time focusing on the controversy surrounding the flick.

Oh, and speaking of commentary, it’s being recorded for the special edition THIS WEEKEND! Kevin will be hanging out with Affleck at his SNL gig this weekend, and after that, he and Kevin will meet up with Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Vincent Pereira, Scott Mosier, and possibly even Chris Rock (if he can get away from shooting his latest flick in Toronto) for what we’re sure will be another fun and informative track.

So, in summary, that’s TWO DVD releases for Dogma: The planned May 2nd release with just flick and trailer, and the super special edition this fall (presumably October, though nothing has been finalized yet). You heard it here first!

• Well folks, here they are. Right from the distributors come the release details on the Chasing Amy DVD. It certainly looks like Disney/Miramax has somehow gotten the rights to ALL of Criterion’s stuff, since this disc will be a Miramax Collectors Series disc but contain every bit of the Amy laserdisc content. Click the scan above for a description, though, if you’ve seen the laser stats, it’s a mirror copy. The only new item we expect, at this point, is a new 16:9 transfer which, strangely, this clipping does NOT mention. Amy streets on DVD this April 18th. Finally!