Dogma

Rating:
Summary: Best of Kevin Smith
Review: I absolutely loved this movie. If all the Christian groups during this film's release bothered to actually watch the thing, they'll realize that is is very faith-affirming. I admit, casting Alanis Morisette as Christ and Chris Rock as the 13th apostle may seem a little wrong, but you really have to watch the movie to understand Kevin Smith's message. One of the deleted scenes on this DVD is a monologue by Jason Lee, who explains that Hell used to be merely the absence of God -- which, if you had ever been in God's presence, would be the worst kind of punishment to endure. I think that one idea summarizes Smith's movie very well.

Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed to make you laugh.
Review: Kevin Smith, the king of quirky, teenage stoner movies, is back with what is, in my not-so-humble opinion, the best of the "View Askew" series. The movie was preceded by "Clerks," "Mallrats," and "Chasing Amy," and is the second to the last in the series. The movies are actually excellent stand-alones; the "series" is very loosely connected, but having watched all of the previous movies in the ViewAskewniverse, I caught quite a few of Kevin Smith's "in" jokes. Silent Bob and Jay are, of course, the best characters in the movie, once again upstaging the stars.

This movie will most likely offend anyone sensitive about the topic of religion. And if you think movies today have too much violence and bad language... welllll... perhaps you should rent a Disney movie instead! But for anyone looking for sarcastic humor and religious satire, you're guaranteed good entertainment with "Dogma."

While seeing Ben Affleck and Matt Damon together again is a highlight of the movie, the best part about it are the smaller parts. Chris Rock as Rufus is hilarious - and I don't even like Chris Rock! Alan Rickman as the voice of God is perfect... there's nothing that improves a movie more than sarcastic British wit. Janeane Garofalo, in a bit part, is wonderful - as usual - and Alanis Morissette makes the perfect God (I'll worship her any day).

If you're looking for something to liven up your weekend, go out and rent "Dogma." And better yet, rent "Clerks," "Mallrats," "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back," and "Chasing Amy" with it and get your fill of Jay, Silent Bob, snootchie bootchies, the Jedi Mind Trick, and comic book fun.

Rating:
Summary: Better to have an idea and an open mind
Review: Thirty-something divorcee Bethany Sloane of Illinois has the unlikeliest mission thrust upon her by Metatron, an angel representing the voice of God. Basically, she has to go to a church in New Jersey and "stop a couple of angels from entering and thus negating all existence."

Accompanying her are two droids, a Wookiee... oops! sorry, wrong story. Accompanying her are two prophets with the unlikely names of Jay and Silent Bob, (or is that C-JayPO and R2-SB?) Rufus, the New Testament's unnamed 13th apostle, and the muse Serendipity. Actually, Jay does refer to himself and Bob as Han Solo and Chewie, and Bethany as Ben Kenobi.

The aforementioned angels are Bartleby and Loki, who discovering a loophole in Cardinal Glick's campaign to revamp Catholicism via a plenary indulgence, discover they can end their exile in Wisconsin--worse than Hell--and go back to Heaven. Come on, Wisconsin can't be as bad as New Mexico!

However, Azrael the fallen angel and his helpers, a trio of evil-looking rollerblading, hockey stick-wielding imps referred to as either the triplets or by Jay under a funnier name, are out to stop Bethany. There's a very funny scene in the movie which gives a new meaning to the phrase, "--it happens."

Rufus says it best when instead of beliefs, "...it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier." Trickier and more downright tragic, too. We have the Balkans, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East as testimony for that.

Bethany's abortion clinic campadre Liz has a very sound line on faith: "...faith is like a glass of water. When you're young, the glass is small, and it's easy to fill up. But the older you get, the bigger the glass gets, and the same amount of liquid doesn't fill it anymore. Periodically, the glass has to be refilled."

There are shades of Star Wars, but that's hardly surprising, considering how that's one of the cornerstones of Kevin Smith's formative pop culture foundation. Another theme borrowed is that from M, where both police and underworld are hunting for the serial killer.

All the key performers work wonders here, with guest appearances from other View Askew alumni, such as Jeff Anderson, Brian O'Halloran, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell and Scott Mosier, as well as stars such as George Carlin and Janeane Garofalo, added for extra flavor. O'Halloran's character is Grant Hicks. Hmm, did Dante have a twin brother? Kevin Smith's masterful dialogue is at Clerks-level hilarity.

In closing, Dogma's purpose is not to trash organized religion, especially Christianity, but serves as an introspective look at how much of religion is taken for granted or blindly accepted. Using brash humor can sometimes be the only calling card to get the people to look deep inside themselves and test and question their own spiritual conceptions or beliefs, and in that, Dogma is a triumph. Rufus is right--it's better to have an idea rather than a belief. Dogma's irreverence far exceeds that of two other religious comedies, Monty Python's Life Of Brian and the shallower but still funny Wholly Moses.

Rating:
Summary: Yowza Redeux
Review: Dogma is a brilliant film. Possibly Smith's best. While not as dramatic as Chasing Amy, it is a great flick.

Sure, if you're not religious, you may not get much of it, but I'm an Agnostic and had No real problem with it.

I'm not going to bother with a summary of the movie, because I want to get straight to the reviewing.

The writing for this movie is genius. Every character is well-rounded, even Jay and Silent Bob. The only problem I had with it was all the cussing.

"But," you say, "this is a Kevin Smith movie! Shouldn't that be expected?"

"Yes, but why should there be so much when most of the characters would work so well without them?"

Aside from that, there are really no big problems with the movie. It's well-paced and has a great cast. Jason Lee, once again, proves that he is a very talented guy.

Linda Fiorentino seems to be in a different movie, but it's no real problem.

The DVD is a sight to behold. With 100 minutes of deleted scenes, there's enough to make a DOGMA TV-movie.

There are two commentaries on the DVD. The 1st is a cast and crew commentary featuring the same commentators as the Mallrats commentary... But it's nowhere near as funny. The second has only Smith, Pereira, and Mosier in it and is much more interesting.

There is a fifteen minute gagreel that is quite funny.

The trailer for this movie is terrible. Horrible music.

There are storyboards for a few scenes. Interesting, but unimportant.

There are three easter eggs on the DVD that are all quite funny. Two of them are acted out by Jay and Silent Bob action figures and one's a commercial for Jay and Silent Bob's Secret stash.

Great movie and DVD

[5] out of [5] for both

Rating:
Summary: Favorite movie and favorite dvd
Review: My favorite movie from one of my favorite writer/directors, is also my favorite dvd. this two disk set is packed with extra features, two commentary tracks and tons of deleted scenes, with an introduction to each by kevin smith himself. the movie itself is filled with both comedy and drama, similar to chasing amy, and again, the balance is excellent. the comedy in this movie has (except maybe jay's lines) definately grown since, say, mallrats, and was equally hilarious, if not more. the movie is thought-provoking, action-packed, and gut-busting. everything about this movie is great. it is also not in any way blasphemous no matter what some of the right-wing christians may say. i loved this movie, and would reccomend to anyone to see it as soon as you can.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing better.
Review: This is without a doubt the best film by Kevin Smith,EVER!I mean,who else would make a big soldier made of poo.I think Jay and Silent Bob are so funny.That cast is an allstar cast.Jay and Silent Bob are like the Chiche and Chong's of our time.George Carlin is so funny on HBO,he should have had a bigger part.Poo king was the best actor of all the actors,he's Kicking butt left and right,it's awsome.Ben Affleck is like the best actor ever,he's is so cool he's like The Rock only not a wrestler.Matt Damon,he's cool I mean he is Ben Affleck's partner.Know we get to the best actor of all time Jason Lee...

Rating:
Summary: One of the funniest cleverest films ever!
Review: I love this film, it is so increbily funny, and you dont need to know much about the bible or Catholisism to understand this. The plot is incomplicated and easy to follow, yet very clever, the humor comes fast and thick, and has many classic lines( well there classics among me and my friends im not sure about anyone else) for example: "do it, do it and i'll...spank you" and "why the...did you hug my head" anyone who's seen the film and is not sure weather or not to buy the video or go all out and get the DVD I say get the DVD. The audio commmentary although it may not be very informative on the making of the film (who wants that anyway??) is abseloutly hillarius and ive listened to it loads of times. So next time you get a spare [$$] buy this, you wont be disapointed

Rating:
Summary: FUNNY! HILARIOUS! GREAT ACTORS AND MANY MANY EXTRAS!
Review: I would buy this if you like comedy. Who wouldn't like Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as angels. They already are so why not just show it! The whole theme of the DVD extras seem to be Mooby the cow. Very funny! Jay and Silent Bob are great! Selma Hayek is hilarious as a muse and Jason Lee is hilarious as he always his. Buy it for a laugh on a rainy day... or a sunny day. Whenever. It's great.

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your time... BORING and ANNOYING
Review: This has to be the worst DVD I ever bought! Not only was the movie boring, but it was also quite annoying due to the extremely terrible acting -- Ben Affleck and Matt Damen needed to be smacked for their horrid performances in this film. The only characters that manage to draw any giggles or smiles at all were Jay and Silent Bob, but well... that's been done before already, and it's just not enought to carry the whole movie. See this movie only if you want to get a good baseline of what bad acting, script and film work are.

Rating:
Summary: Very Funny
Review: haha this movie is a very funny movie. the weakest Kevin Smith did was Mallrats. and his best would be Clerks. and this would be his 3rd and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back would be his best................