Dogma

Rating:
Summary: Not To Be Taken Seriously
Review: This movie was very funny from the opening segment where View Askew was apologizing to Platipi enthusiasts to the last scene where the 3 main charactors are sitting at the steps of the church.

Kevin Smith is a great director and Dogma shows how wonderful he really is. Dogma has a funny and creative story that shows how hes matured as a writer and director from Mallrats. (*note* I liked Mallrats, but I agree with most, Mallrats wasn't nearly as good as any of the other Kevin Smith flicks)

Rating:
Summary: Judge not, in defense of dogma: a true classic
Review: I'm not writing a review of the new special edition dvd which i purchased today, im writing a review for people who haven't seen this film. And i say that you should. If your christian or catholic, and your over 16, you should take a look at dogma. Actually it doesn't matter what faith you believe in, it's only the importance of faith that matters. It's good to think of something, but to have faith in it is much more. Dogma takes a new look into the world of god & jesus & the whole holy thing. Sure there are some dirty jokes in the film but besides that is what the film stands for. It's not intended for comedy but it's made from a comedic genius so what the hell are you gunna do? It's a smart great film that goes inside the world of faith & pictures itself the way some people do. This film is not some joke, because it's a story of faith which takes to the next level in a some what funny way. So im not gunna give alot of clues that u might have heard already of this film, but angels & the 13th apostle, the prohpets, the voice of god, god him/herself can only make you wonder. Or believe. Or to have faith in it.But hey, "God must have a sense of humor, look at the platapus"-Kevin Smith

Rating:
Summary: The best of The NJ Five
Review: Dogma not only is a wonderful film but very thought provoking. Smith shows is true love of christianity and makes a lot of thought provoking facts and questions about faith. All the extras are great and we a treated with not one but TWO audio tracks. Best DVD I own well worth the money and the easter eggs are cool as well.

Rating:
Summary: Great packaging and presentation
Review: (This review is also, for some weird reason, published for the regular edition. THIS is the edition to buy. Accept no substitutes.)

This is a very interactive, funny and elaborate 2-DVD set. In my review of the regular (read: cheap-@$$) version, I looked forward to a DVD packed with the usual commentary, insider info, jokes and celebrity shmooozing that graces the other View Askew Spec. Editions. I was not disappointed.

(When you listen to Affleck on the first commentary track, see if you don't think, as I do, that he's using the "biz" speak for the first time, talking as though the Entertainment Tonight cameras are on him instead of the home boys from VA.)

On the Special Edition DVD, there is a scene where Bethany, who works in a Planned Parenthood clinic, discusses her past with a young woman who is prepared for her third abortion. This is a scene where the most skilled and political writer tempts violent retribution from the masses on either side of the abortion issue. Bethany, played by Linda Fiorentino, describes in visual imagery most suited for a novel, her own back story or reason for being in her particular line of work. In this 3 minute speech, you see the power of Kevin Smith as a writer. It may not be best suited for the big screen where we now expect million dollar variations of explosions and intercourse every Memorial Day weekend, but it is a bit of Hollywood driftwood preserved for us backwater types who don't get to screen View Askew movies at parties or film festivals before they are cut to commercial specs.

Had this scene taken the Dragnet "I've been down that road and you just don't know" approach it wouldn't have worked. Had it been forced and ditatched, it would have been artificial...but this one scene, a minor part of the 2-disk set, proves that Smith is destined for greatness, perhaps he is the one of our generation who can turn his skill to the printed page to create that mythological Great American Novel that has baffled and eluded the Gen X ilk of the early 90s.

As Smith and Co. restate in their introduction of each deleted scene, most of what was cut from the philosophical/religious treatise "Dogma" was because it added too much info to already established scenes. This is true and reminds me that Smith could be a great novelist should the urge strike. He has a gift for narrative and could write a vivid first-person novel without fear of being pretentious.

If you hated Dogma, or have a religious bias against it, these words won't mean anything anyway. But "Dogma" is more about faith and love of God than most so-called "christian" movies out there. Its about Ideas and faith and renewing our relationship with God than about obeying and swearing our oath to the ancient, faceless patriarch. This is the only DVD version of the film you should own and only because it does justice both to the film and to the reasons behinds its production.

Nice work, Kevin and Scott. Keep it coming. You're both ready for much more.

Rating:
Summary: Faith May Be A Funny Thing, but DOGMA is Hilarious!!!
Review: Ok I wanted to remain silent on commenting on DOGMA until the special edition DVD came out. Well now it's here, FINALLY! And I am prepared to comment...

Now, in my humble opinion Kevin Smith is truly one of those filmmakers that really doesn't give himself the credit he richly deserves. I work in a video store, so, with the benefits I get to rent movies for free, and after a year or so I've seen great film (Smith's films included), but unfortunately, I also see films that are unoriginal, uninspired, and lacking substance (40% of those belonging to either Martin Lawrence or Adam Sandler). But Kevin Smith somehow manages to make something that tickles and stimulates your subconsious and makes you feel intellectually invigorated. Starting with "CLERKS," the raw, gritty, and realistic look at the minimum wage hellholes that decorate our suburbs. Then the underappreciated "MALLRATS" a film that provoked watchers to stop a think about the things we typically never think about (i.e. the overpowering coital abilities of Superman). Third was the brutally honest and deeply emotional dramadey "CHASING AMY" a film that pointed out how important is is to focus on the now and also to trust your heart.

And then Smith's latest opus DOGMA.

Not since Albert Brooks' comedy "MOTHER" has there been a movie that gave me the desire to sit down and privately evaluate where I stand in my own life and the way I see the world, and more importantly next world. In total honestly, the people that shunned this movie needed to look past the ugly shell and see the deeper motivation of "DOGMA." The implications laid forward by this film are really the most intelligent observations I've ever heard, and when I thought about them to myself I realized how much sense they've made to me. It now makes sense to me that God could be a woman, that Jesus was black and that these facts were omitted in order to hide the hardcore truth. Come to think of it those people have a mild similarity to Disney (who turned it's back on this film) obviously they don't want their audience to actually think! (Hence the succes of Pocahontas.) Fact is all of those films that dared to make the audience feel, have been given nothing but trouble (Just look at what happened to "BRAZIL").

But Now I'll comment on the comedy and performances. I still state that Kevin Smith is still the only person who manages to make curse words sound natural and evenly balances with Smith's intelligent, and witty writing. His immortal characters Jay and Silent Bob, upon their hilariously heroic entrance seemed like an addition that would end up clashing with the idea of the film, but soon you begin to welcome their presence into the proceedings. The material as well is fresh, original, and risky. Not since "Monty Python's Life of Brian" was there a comedy that dared to use the gospels as a platform for off-the-wall hilarity. Only in this one, the humor is natural and is perfectly in character for this film, aided in no small part by brilliant acting. We truly see a versatility in Chris Rock we never thought was there. Damon and Affleck obviously have no trouble working off each other. Salma Hayek has successfully managed to say "I'm sorry for my useless character in Wild, Wild, West," and played a role that always puts a smile on my face. Jason Lee is also a diabolical delight (as usual)as our villain Azrael. Alan Rickman is hilariously british, as Metatron, and our heroine Linda Fiorentino makes you genuinely feel for her as the film progresses.

But you get even more of these feelings as you watch the extras on this fully loaded Special Edition DVD. supplying us with with over 100 minutes of deleted footage. You must definitely watch the flick before you watch these scenes, so you can absorb the scenes. The scenes are more interesting to watch on their own. I agree with Kevin Smith that if the film had not been cut it would've been WAAAAAY too long, and fact is comedy was not made for 3 1/4 hours. But watching these scenes alone make some of the motivations of the film more clear to me. Plus, add Two great Commentaries from cast and crew and then you'll get a welcome addition to the View Askew DVD collection.

In conclusion, DOGMA has meant alot to me on a personal level. Because now, I've been provoked to give my faith a final evaluation and finally have thoughts of my own, and the fact that it's a comedy makes it moreso satisfying. You just don't get those feelings with a movie featuring a moron yelling nonsensical gibberish for an hour and a half.

Rating:
Summary: DOGMA? more like DOG$#!@
Review: I really did have high hopes going into the viewing of this movies. Were those hopes met? NO WAY. I really can't imagine anyone enjoying this movie. It's a "dark comedy" as the two creators would like to think. But Dark Comedies usually are intelligent and thought provoking, if not always entertaining. This movie is simplistic and wraught with poor performances. From the creators of the MALLRATS and CLERKS, I expected better. All they could get out of great talents such as Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, and to a lesser degree Ben Affleck and Matt Damon is a monotonal emotionless walk-through of the script.

This movie is the BOMB...er I mean A BOMB.

Rating:
Summary: A solid movie. Flawed as hell, but solid.
Review: Considering this movie got made for $10 million bucks, it's better than it should be. That's meant to be a compliment, by the way. The DVD is pretty good (considering censoring on the commentaries and the missing documentary from...um, well let's just call them Di$ney), and includes an hour and a half of deleted stuff (a lot of continuity issues are addressed here, and a few scenes would have been nice to see in the film's release), plus there are some insanely funny outtakes (Matt Damon's theories on "Star Wars" seal the deal for me). Add to that some rather funny menus (feel guilty for buying this DVD with the opinions of a elderly "church-goer") and some funny commentaries from the cast and crew, and you got a "must-buy" for fans of the film.

Rating:
Summary: Some pretty cool extras one major glitch
Review: I thought this dvd had some really interesting extras but i found one fatal glitch. It may just be in my player but if you try to select a subtitle in the directors comentary with video hijinks it locks up my player completely cannot turn it off or stop it nothing! Have to unplug the player to get it to reset. Never scene anything like it before in my life. You will spend hours watching all the extras in this special edition.

Rating:
Summary: Why Kevin? Why?
Review: This is one of the worst movies ever. I'll say it, flat out, right there. Poor acting, poor script, poor characters, Matt Damon. It had all the elements for a terrible film.

The worst part about it all is this is by Kevin Smith, the man who wrote, directed, and starred in 3 of my favorite movies ever, clerks, mallrats, and chasing amy.

for those of you who thought mallrats was dumb, you're about to see a new low. demons made of excrement, stripper angels, and hockey demons.

not to mention this has some of the poorest and dumbest acting (matt damon, i blame IT ALL on ben's dumb buddy) and worst cameos on film to date.

the only good acting is by jason lee who tries his very hardest to pull of a roll of a character similar to the devil, but it just doesn't work with the surroundings, he's too good and everyone else is too subpar.

all in all you have an overblown piece of hollywood crap. this was supposed to be a thought provoking movie that was blasphemous and sacriligious with a message, instead it was just alanis morrisette as god.

the dialogues are dumb (blame chris rock trying to do his own thing and matt damon for being matt damon). the characters are whiny and annoying. the movie is out of smith's style, and it's just more big budget hollywood stuff, the type of movie he was going to avoid.

do not buy the special edition dvd, do not buy the dvd, do not buy the VHS, do not even download the DIVX, i am serious, if you are a smith fan who has yet to see this you are in for the disappointment of your life. 3 years for a new movie and this is what we got, oh well, look for jay and silent bob strikes back this fall.

and for an alternative buy smith's previous 3 movies and the clerks cartoon, it's better than this overrated garbage

Rating:
Summary: Funny as hell
Review: This movie is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, it may be a little sac religious but oh well it is still funny. This one is worth buying.