Dogma Doc

You may have heard there was a documentary about the religious controversy that was sparked by Kevin Smith’s satirical 1999 film, Dogma. You may have also heard it won’t be included on Columbia TriStar Home Video’s special-edition Dogma DVD (due June 26) because lawyers for Disney and Miramax didn’t want it seen out of fear it might stir things up again.

If you did, you heard right. It’s called In Defense of Dogma, and Smith slipped me a copy Wednesday night. It’s a good piece, and it’s a shame it’s been suppressed. But it’ll at least be viewable on Smith’s View Askew site in late June.

Directed by J.M. Kenny, Defense is a smart, passionate, substantive explanation of what the hoo-hah was all about. (In a word? Ignorance.) It certainly rounds out one’s appreciation and understanding of the film. And it sure as hell bitch-slaps Dogma critic and media hyena Bill Donohue, the head of the Catholic League who used the movie’s allegedly blasphemous potshots to get himself loads of press coverage in ‘98 and ‘99.

Anyone reading this column has probably either seen Dogma or read the headlines. The pic is basically an irreverent send-up of religious beliefs that try to separate the essence of God’s message from what the uptight enforcers of Christianity and Catholicism have tried to intimidate people into believing over the years. Donohue said at one point that Dogma was filled with “all kinds of filthy statements.”

The plot is about a pair of banished angels (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck) looking to get back into heaven. The casting of George Carlin as a Catholic cardinal should spell out the tone for you. It’s got Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Smith, Jason Mewes, Jason Lee, Alanis Morisette, and Bud Cort playing various metaphorical characters.

Dogma was originally developed and produced by the Disney-owned Miramax Films, but was put up for sale when Disney chief Michael Eisner, who didn’t want his company tussling with religious-right leaders, insisted on cutting it loose. Lions Gate eventually picked it up, although Miramax stayed involved with the marketing and publicity. Shot for $10 million, it made over $30 million in the U.S.

Don’t ask me to explain how Disney lawyers managed to prevent a Sony-owned video company from including Kenny’s documentary in the Dogma package, but somehow they did. The version that will go up on View Askew has a “beep” sound on the soundtrack whenever anyone says the word “Miramax” or “Disney,” and you can thank the lawyers for that also.

It’s not like the Dogma DVD doesn’t lack for extra features. It’s got audio commentary by Smith, Affleck, Lee, Mewes, producer Scott Mosier, and Vincent Pereira. 100 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes are included, along with outtakes, “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash Spot” (whatever the hell that means), “Saints and Sinners Talent Files,” and so on.

The doc’s talking heads include Smith, Mosier, Affleck, Lee, Rock, Hayek, Fiorentino, and a few others. Pastor and religious scholar Ken Stevenson, a bright guy, is interviewed at length.

I wish I could give Kenny more points for his visual coverage. Over and over he cuts to the Dogma crew shooting a scene on the steps of a church. Church steps, church steps, church steps, church steps. Why isn’t there footage from Cannes and the NY Film Festival, where Dogma played? Why weren’t more people who saw it interviewed? Why didn’t we see or at least hear Donohue’s voice? Why weren’t some of the other anti-Dogma fanatics interviewed, or at least shown in clips?

And why wasn’t Eisner’s view of the film at least alluded to? Or, for that matter, Disney’s history of previous hassles with rightist activists? Or statements that ran in the press about Disney’s dropping the film?

This failing is balanced, however, by the eloquence used by Smith and Mosier in discussing their two-year wrestling match.

“I thought I was doing the Lord’s work,” says Smith, who’s a sincere believer on his own time and dime. “I was really naive, I guess.” But in the opening seconds he admonishes Dogma critics by asking rhetorically, “Are you a true Catholic? Then shut the f**k up. Listen to the word of God and turn the other cheek.”

Smith strikes back with final Jersey flick
By Kerri Chyka, MUSE staff

It’s going to be hard saying goodbye to independent film’s favorite duo, Jay and Silent Bob. But they’re leaving the silver screen with one hell of a bang. “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” due for a release on Aug. 10, is the fifth and final frontier of writer and director Kevin Smith’s “Askewuniverse” series.

“There will be no more Jay and Silent Bob,” Smith said during s recent phone interview. “There will be new characters-like Roy and Silent Bill.”

Debuting with the low-budget and wildly adored black-and-white Sundance hit “Clerks,” Smith series, always somehow affiliated with the director’s hometown of Redback, NJ, continued with the surprising smash film “Mallrats,” “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma.” Audiences may be getting their last taste of Smith’s Askew world this summer, but nonetheless they will have plenty to savor and remember with this highly- anticipated film.

“`Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ is a bit on the bombastic side,” claims Smith. “It looks big, feels big, plays big.”

And there’s no doubt that “Jay and Silent Bob” is a mammoth flick. While “Clerks” cost a mere $28,000 to make, and “Chasing Amy” a modest $250,000; “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is a whopping $20 million production. How many candy bars is that, Dante Hicks?

[START SPOILER] The premise of the film is quite enticing and leaves us dying to know where on earth Smith will take us. When Jay and Silent Bob discover that the comic “Bluntman and Chronic” is based on their lives, they set out on a road trip to wreck the movie adaptation when they realize they aren’t making any profit. [END SPOILER]

“It’s satirical in nature, but doesn’t go for the lowest common denominator of humor,” said Smith, who expressed disdain for the wave gross-out humor that has been manipulating Hollywood comedy over the past few years. “It (the film’s humor) is highbrow and, at the same time, lowbrow.”

While the wise-ass Jay (Jason Mewes) and low-key Bob usually serve as unique side commentators/keen observers in the first four Viewaskew films, they are the central characters of the latest.

“[Jay and Silent Bob are] two idiots at the forefront, like ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ or ‘Waiting for Godot’ but not so smart,” according to Smith.

If there’s anything to get excited about “Strike Back,” it is the enormous cast, which includes recurring characters and actors from Smith’s other films and a few out-of-nowhere surprises. The cast list combines “American Pie” –era actors with cable television, “Saturday Night Live,” with a few missing faces from the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Do you want a list to drool over? Well, here you go (take a deep breath):

Let’s start with Matt and Ben. Ben Affleck returns to his part from “Chasing Amy” as Holden McNeil, and Matt Damon plays Mr. Will Hunting one again—yes folks, his leading role from 1998’s “Good Will Hunting.” We also have teen idols James Van Der Beek (“Dawson’s Creek”) and Jason Biggs as the comic strip duo Bluntman and Chronic, Shannen Doherty, Will Ferrell as a wildlife marshal, George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Seann William Scott, Shannon Elizabeth, Chris Rock, Tracy Morgan, Adam Corolla (Dr. Drew’s “Loveline” sidekick), and Alanis Morrissette just to name a few. Hell, Smith even threw in Steve Kmetko and Jules Asner from “E! News Daily.”

Some blasts from the past include Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia from “Star Wars”), and Judd Nelson (Bender from “The Breakfast Club”). [START SPOILER] And who closes out the movie? The ‘80’s pop-cheese-funk band, The Time (“Jungle Love”), whom Smith saw play live (they’re still touring, believe it or not) at Prince’s Paisley Park in 1999 and then decided to bring them into the film. [END SPOILER]

Smith film regulars and favorites in “Strike Back” are Renee Humphrey (Trisha “the Dish”), Joey Lauren Adams (Alyssa Jones), Jeff Anderson (Randal Graves), Jason Lee (appearing as both Brodie Bruce from “Mallrats” and Banky Edwards from “Chasing Amy”), and Brian O’Halloran (Dante Hicks).

Smith even cast his daughter, Harley Quinn, in the film. “I never knew how much I didn’t like child actors until I worked with my own kid,” he stated.

Whew. Are you sucked in yet?

It is pretty safe to say that (maybe aside from Baz Luhrmann’s “Moulin Rouge”) “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” is going to be the ultimate summer 2001 movie. Kevin Smith has already become an unexpected household name and subgenre creator, and it seems as if his latest movie will push him over the top. And no worries—he plans on continuing his career as a filmmaker, even though the Jay and Silent Bob days have winded down. And what does Smith have to say about his life as an acclaimed and much-hyped director?

“It’s way better than jockeying the register for a living. I get paid to make pretend.”

Smith established his indie cred with low-budge wonders like Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma (we’ll overlook Mallrats for now)–and somehow, characters from each of those movies turn up here, as Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) come to Hollywood to oversee their biopic. Smith’s successful track record attracts young Hollywood’s cream of the crop, aching for fresh material–which means cameos from Affleck and Damon, as well as Chris Rock, Eliza Dushku, James Van Der Beek, Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott…

No, we haven’t lost our minds–Smith’s movie made both our lists. Depending on whom you ask, the New Jersey-based auteur behind Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma is either a brilliantly inventive talent with the comic mind of a Gen-X Woody Allen, or a puerile, foul-mouthed egomaniac who confuses pop-culture marginalia with plot and character. Either way, Affleck and Damon and a brigade of genuinely funny people (Will Ferrell, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Jon Stewart) were quick to jump aboard. Bottom line: If you’re drinking Kevin’s Kool-Aid, it’s a must-see; if you ain’t a fan, keep your distance.

KG: Would you ever return to writing Daredevil again?

KS: The problem is monthly runs kind of conflict with my day job, so I have to pick them carefully. I’ve been offered a bunch of different things to write, like ‘The Authority’ (which I’ve yet to read, even though I’m a Millar fan), ‘The X-Men’ (which was too daunting to jump onto, due to all that continuity), and even ‘Daredevil’ (which I had zero interest in, if Quesada wasn’t drawing). But while a monthly ‘DD’ is out of the question, a one-shot or a hardcover story of some sort is not. Joe and I have talked about doing something along those lines.

“We’ve been trying to keep things as secret as possible,” says Scott Mosier, producer of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” a follow-up of sorts to Kevin Smith’s “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Mallrats.” So what’s it about? “It’s sort of like ‘The Muppet Movie.’ Only without the Muppets. And rated R.”

You’re hearing it here first…

Dimension chief Bob Weinstein called to say he’s moving ‘Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back’ off the August 10th release date. Our new release date is August 24th, two weeks later.

The reason for the move has more to do with the ‘Rush Hour 2′ juggernaut than the ‘American Pie 2′ juggernaut. ‘RH2′ opens August 3rd, and it’s going to be huge. If it opened to, say, forty million that weekend, even if it dropped by 50% percent the following weekend, that’s a potential 20 mill we’d be competing for (and losing, no doubt). Add to that the fact that ‘AP2′ opens the 10th, along with ‘Osmosis Jones’ (and to a lesser degree, the new Woody Allen flick), and Bob surmised it’s just plain stupid to jump in the pool that soon, when by waiting two weeks, we stand a better chance of doing some strong business.

Disappointing? Hardly. I trust Bob. This is the guy who did the then-unthinkable and put ‘Scream’ out on Christmas day. This is the guy who moved the ‘Scarey Movie’ release at least twice before it opened last year. The man knows what he’s doing.

All it means for you guys is you’ll have an additional two week wait for the flick. What it means for us is a slightly looser post schedule, which we can really use at this point. The test screening was scheduled for May 17th, but now we can do it two weeks later instead. And in a world where we jumped from thirty digital effects shots to over two hundred during the course of production, this’ll give the multiple effects houses doing the shots a bit more time to nail them all in time for the test screening, as well as give our composer, Jim Venable (the genius behind the score of ‘The Powerpuff Girls’ score, as well as the ‘Clerks’ Cartoon) some more time to lock in most of his original score for said test screening, so we’re not forced to use a temp score.

All in all, this is a good thing. The only aspect of it that bugs me is that we were on that date before any of the other flicks got scheduled in there. And when push came to shove, WE wound up moving.

But, hey – if it means some folks won’t have to choose between ‘J&SB’ and four other flicks on opening day, I’m kosher with the move.

In other news, I’ve checked out half of the aforementioned effects shots. All I can say is… Wow. Kudos to Joe Grossberg and the many artisans crafting these images that look like they don’t belong anywhere near a View Askew Production.

But then, come August 24th, the audience’s perception of what a View Askew Production looks like is going to be blown out of the water.

I just remembered, I’m going to be away next week from Tuesday until the weekend, so I won’t be posting the info re: the A BETTER PLACE film cells until after I get back and get the heads-up from Don at Synapse. Sorry. So, look for THAT info next weekend, not mid-week as I originally said.

That being said, since I goofed I’ll give the street date on the DVD and VHS now- June 19th. Barring any major catastrophies (like the DVD pressing plant spontaneously combusting), this date is definite. The DVD will be chock full of extras, and we’ll put a few of them (such as one of the Kevin and Scott intros) on the VHS as well. The VHS will also likely be sell-through and released by Ventura, the same company that put THE LAST BROADCAST out on VHS.

A BETTER PLACE will also be airing on the Independent Film Channel starting in either September or October. It’s actually going to be listed in the June issue of their viewing guide as premiering on June 4th, but I asked them to move it to the fall due to the film’s schooltime setting and also to give some distance between the June 19th DVD/VHS release and the pay-cable airing on IFC. However, the June issue of their magazine had already gone to print so it’s still listed in there, but it won’t be airing until the fall.