Dogma

Studio: Miramax.
Production Company: View Askew.

Project Phase: In the Can.

Who's In It: Linda Fiorentino (Bethany); Chris Rock (Rufus); Jason Mewes (Jay); Kevin Smith (Silent Bob); Ben Afflick (Bartleby); Matt Damon (Loki); Dwight Ewell (Gang Leader); Alan Rickman (Metatron); Ethan Suplee (Noman); Selma Hayek (Serendipity); Jason Lee (Azrael); Brian O'Halloran; Janeane Garofalo (Liz); George Carlin (Cardinal Glick); Jeff Anderson (Gun Shop Owner); Bryan Johnson (Steve-Dave); Walter Flanagan (Fanboy); Scott Mosier (Guy on Bus); Alanis Morissette.
Who's Making It: Kevin Smith (Screenwriter, Director); Scott Mosier, Kevin Smith (Editors); Scott Mosier (Producer); Vincent Guastini Productions (Makeup and Creature Effects); Station X (Special Visual Effects); Richard Payne (Special Visual Effects Supervisor).

Premise: The two renegade angels Loki and Bartleby seek re-admission into Heaven but God ain't playin' their game. But the two have figured out a way to get back in...but one of the side-effects happens to be the end of the world. Now a woman named Bethany must ally herself with two holy men to stop the angels. She'll find these two prophets headed towards the town of Sherman, Illinois, to score chicks, sell their goods and see the sights. Pray for us all.

Release Date: April, October or Christmas 1999. take your pick; we don't know.

Comments: The phrase 'it's a religious comedy' gets people in Hollywood nervous. But we've been getting very positive feedback from those who've read Smith's script (written before Clerks) - some even calling it his best yet. Smith describes his motivation for writing Dogma as being based on his Catholic upbringing and views on organized religion. Sure to spark controversy, Smith's script features a black thirteenth apostle, a female God and the missing chapters from the Bible that chronicle Jesus' adolescence and his family squabbles with his brothers and sisters...

Also, Smith got the chance to let his characters 'sort of' interact with another one of his early influences, that being the films of John Hughes. Hughes placed many of his 1980s films in the small town of Sherman, Illinois, just outside Chicago. So that means that the kids in detention in The Breakfast Club, Ferris and his gang and the whole slew of actors filmed in the throws of teenage angst are, kinda, set in this little corner of the Hughes-verse. And Jay and Silent Bob decide to take a road trip there.

Speaking after a screening of Chasing Amy, Smith addressed why our two favorite stoners would want to search for the Hughes holy grail (and maybe see if there's a Target store with Jennifer Connelly locked inside.) After watching all of John Hughes' movies back-to-back, they come to realize that Sherman is the perfect place to live in. "All the guys are pussies, all the women are hot, and there are no drug dealers," Smith told the audience (who looked to their closest companion and nodded their head, reports informed us.)

"This is no doubt our most ambitious effort to date, with a cast to match," Smith told Variety. "I only pray I can do the script the justice that I know these all too talented individuals will. Because if this flick doesn't pan out, it's back to register jockeying for me."

Ok, so that reason alone will get us to see this film. When you add on the other reasons - Fiorentino, Rickman, Jay and Silent Bob as holy men and the storyline...you got us. We're there, man.

What's the Script Like?:

(Keep in mind this is just our personal view of things...and not your own, so don't get all uppety, ok?)

In our humble opinion...it's the best of Smith's work, hands down. Funnier than Clerks, and even more involving than Chasing Amy, it's a first-rate marriage between Smith's brand of comic book/Star Wars fan/white guy comedy and his talent at spotlighting human reaction and emotion.

Without saying too much, the parts where Jay and Silent Bob were in action were not only very funny and true to the characters but in one instance actually brought us to tears. One scene (and line) in question so perfectly shows us the depths of depravity Jay's mind floats around in. For those of you in-the-know, it's gonna be a treat to see the look on Linda Fiorentino's Bethany when she shakes Jay awake on the train!

The script is chock-filled with more of the classic Smith observations and dialog we come to expect in his films. We can't pick a favorite character because they all have great lines, but favorite scenes include a confrontation between the two fallen angels and the executives of a corporation; the Stygian Triplets; Bartleby and Loki's agreement on their 'plan'; Bethany dressing down the Voice of God; and everything, everything Silent Bob and Jay...ok, especially when they go mano-a-mano with the Street Gang. Even with that small list, it's still hard to not wind up just simply saying "Ok, just everything between pages 1 and 120." It's that good.

Smith has crafted a one-of-the-kind story linking the end of the world, the influence organized religion has in society and some gut-wrenching (and over-the-line) laughs. We'll be looking forward to opening day for this one!

Rumors: Unknown.

Scoop Feedback:

[Page drafts submitted by 'Widgett' and 'Deadpool'. Keep your eye on 'em both.]

August 19, 1997... Production is set to start in February with filming in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jason Lee's character is reported to be the Angel of Death.  Chris Rock was mentioned by Variety to be an angel, but Kevin (on View Askew) remarked, "[Rock] won't be playing an angel, as pointed out in the piece. Chris is playing Rufus (and if you don't know who that is... good)."  [Scoop submitted by 'Widgett'] This fellow told us that in his copy of Smith's third draft, there'll be some special effects creations required, "...including a monster made of excrement from thieves and crooks killed on the Golgotha Hill." To which the scooper added their own personal views on this plot device: "Cool." [Submitted by 'renton020'.]

This fellow heard that Jay and Silent Bob's roles will see them more or less as modern-day prophets; their task investigating loopholes in the Catholic religion. Well, God certainly picked the right guys, huh? [Provided by 'Fugazi'.]

The film has a budget of around 6 million and will be shot in a 2:35 aspect ratio, a first for Smith, in order to enhance it's more epic feel. [Thanks to Mark Stewart.]

Then, quite mysteriously, this enigmatic scooper tells us Winona Ryder has agreed to play an angel in the film. Whoa! [Sent in by 'support'.]

Then, roundabout the beginning of July, reports came in that Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee had decided to opt out of the film. Adams and Smith recently ended a multi-year relationship. [Reported by 'ckilpat1'.]

If the subject matter is offensive to you, or you're wondering by Smith wants to make such a strange comedy about religion, then you should search through the back issues of Playbill magazine. Smith described himself as (and we love this!) "a big God-fan", and said that the script will be "reverential," using comedy to make its points. Keep this in mind before you decide to attack the film if its subject matter does irritate your personal beliefs. The script has already come under fire in a Baptist newsletter for its attack on "archetypes of Christian mythology," according to a report in the Detroit Free Press. [Thanks to 'Mr. Orange' for the wonderful background information.]

Here's a more detailed premise of the storyline as posted on the ViewAskew site:

"We have Loki, the angel of Death. That is, until Bartleby convinces Loki to stop killing for God. God, being a vengeful God, wasn't too thrilled with this, and thus sentences the two to live in Wisconsin.

"On to present day... The boys figure out a way to get back to heaven. A church in New Jersey is having a rededication to coincide with the Cardinal's plan to make Catholicism more popular (the "Catholicism - Wow!" program). According to Catholic Law, if you pass under the arches of the church during the rededication, all your sins are forgiven. So they plan to walk under the arches, clearing them of sin. Then, they cut off their wings, making themselves human. They die. Vi≥la, back to heaven.

"But, in doing so, they prove God wrong. If God is wrong, existence is "un-made, and the world will cease to exist". They don't realize that this is the case, though.... "Meanwhile, in Chicago, Bethany, who works in an abortion clinic, is contacted by Metatron, the voice of God. Metatron tells her to stop Loki and Bartleby. Bethany is skeptical, but is told by Metatron that she will meet two prophets to help her... "Jay and Silent Bob, as you'll recall from Chasing Amy, headed for Chicago. Shermer, Illinios, actually (the town where some of the John Hughes flicks were set). They are there to, what else? Sell their product and to get girls. One of their girl-catching activities happens to be hanging out in fron of abortion clinics ("to pick up loose chicks"). Bethany, working at the same clinic, is attacked by the Stygian tripletts, who are three boys/demons on rollerblades (they went to hell because they killed their neighbor's child "just to see what it looked like"). Needless to say, Bethany, Jay, and Silent Bob hook up and make their way to Red Bank. "...and it all ends at the church, with lots and lots of death. Oh, and some other characters in the film are Rufus, who is the 13th, black, apostle, kicked out of heaven for saying that Jesus was black. There's also Serendipity, who is a stripping Muse, who came to earth to become a writer, but unfortunately got a case of writer's block. (don't you hate that?) Oh, yeah... there's also a monster made of shit, the same shit from the hill Jesus was crucified on." [Thanks to ViewAskew and 'imho', 'Mallrat82' and a brave anonymous person for sending it to us.]

[In addition to Widgett and Deadpool's page creation, the following individuals also contributed towards this page. Kevin, if you're surfing here, this is proof of your legions of fans - Chad Hetterley, Ernest Cline, 'Simon Templar', 'Zinfendel', Mike Smith, 'Dr. StrangeLove', 'mcgillj', Dane, 'Boywonder', 'Julius Erving', 'Argos23', 'Carson', 'unclepedro', 'Stinkor', 'ladnar', Clay Johanson, 'Mulch Man', 'Lillepus', 'Neilster' and the many anonymous individuals who gave us their information. Thanks!]

September 2, 1997... In 'getting our facts straight with the casting' news, Alan Rickman will be playing Azrael, who's a demon. And Matt Damon is playing Loki who is also known as the angel of death. That would seem to settle the Jason Lee controversy. [Sent to us by 'rebelscum3'.]

September 21, 1997... We're told Peter Jackson's special effects company WETA will be providing the digital magic for the film; if so, check out The Frighteners to see what they can do on a small budget. A tentative release date is December 1998. [Sent in by 'Dr.Strangelove'.]

A correction to a previous scoop: Dwight Ewell does not have a major role in this film. He is only making a cameo as a Gang Leader who gives Jay and Silent Bob a rough time. [Thanks to 'Mallrat82'.]

September 24, 1997... In Norse mythology Loki is the god of mischief/evil and in the Bible Azrael is the name of the Angel of Death. Really - this guy told us so! Just ask them! [Sent anonymously.]

'Mulch Man' sent us some great stuff but the problem is that some of it gave away some of the major surprises in the film. We edited it down a bit and came up with this entry:

"Rufus wasn't thrown out of heaven for saying that Jesus was black. He was stoned to death for saying that Jesus was black. He keeps getting thrown out of heaven because he keeps pissing people off up there.

"Also, if Winona Ryder is to be in the movie, the two most likely roles for her would be Serendipity the Muse or God.

"Jay's main reason to join in on this crusade is to eventually have sex with Bethany.

"Care to know what Silent Bob says this time? Well, in tribute to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Silent Bob throws Bartleby off a train and when the bewildered passengers stare at Bob, he replys, 'No Ticket'. Also, he and Jay sing the 'Fat Albert' song." Isn't that great? Smith can write and direct this fantastic script with solid stars backing him up and he gets to geek out and toss us nerds an in-joke our way. He's dreeeemy.

"Bethany's problem is, she questions the existence of God for the first half of the script."

[All this courtesy of the 'Mulch Man'.]

September 30, 1997... Filming of the picture may get pushed back past its planned February 1998 start date, this scooper tells us. The reason may be due to actor/comedian Chris Rock and his schedule. According to our scooper, Rock's been apporached to play a significant role in Lethal Weapon 4, which plans to shoot around the same time. Will Dogma be delayed, or will Rock's role be re-cast if the actor chooses to star in the Mel Gibson/Danny Glover picture? [Credit given to an anonymous person for this scoop.]

October 1, 1997... Emma Thompson is being considered to play The Big Girl in Smith's next film. Who's that character you ask? Well...y'know! [Scooped by 'Mallrat82'.]

Also in casting news, Dark Horizons reports that Ethan Suplee, who was Willam in Mallrats ("Why, God!?! When can I see the sailboat!?!" and "Brenda?") and the Chris Farley-esque comics fan in Chasing Amy ("Why'd you kill Chronic, man?") will be portraying none other than Smith's Shit Demon in Dogma. [Reported by 'Stinkor'.]

October 28, 1997... While at the East Coast Video Show this scooper asked Kevin Smith about the Chris Rock situation. Smith said that, at the most, the shoot would only have to delay filming one month and so they still wanted Rock to be a part of the project. Smith also added he'd enjoy seeing Chris do LW4. [Submitted by 'imaskewed'.]

November 2, 1997... View Askew has approached actress Selma Hayek to play the role of the muse Serendipity in the picture. Please, please God, make this happen... [Thanks to 'brodie21', 'Mallrat82', Justin, Duane, 'Watcher', 'Fake Shemp', 'H.B.'.]

Unfortunately, Ben Affleck will not be in Dogma due to scheduling confilcts. [Thanks to Benjamin.]

November 22, 1997... Kevin Smith spoke this week at this scooper's college, and they had the opportunity to interview him for their local newspaper. In talking about Dogma, Smith confirmed a few things: Emma Thompson and Salma Hayek are both signed for the film; Chris Rock will be in the picture; and shooting begins March 2, 1998 in Memphis, Tennessee. Smith was very enthusiastic about the project, and has received a great deal of positive response from fans who have read the script on line (avaliable at Drew's Script-O-Rama, which can be accessed from our 'Hot Links' section). As far as the film being an attack in any way on the Catholic church, Smith told the scooper said that "...it's actually a very reverent piece." [Cool on-line jorunalism skills put to good use by 'Brently'.]

November 25, 1997... Ben Afflick is most definately in the picture, not as our earlier Nov. 2nd scooper had informed us. Indeed, Afflick got his bud Matt Damon to star as Loki when Jason Lee opted to work on a film in France. [Thanks to 'va homie', 'Mallrat82', 'Fake Shemp' and anonymously.]

January 6, 1998... The FX for Dogma seem to be undecided as of yet, but one scooper writes in to keep us updated with the contenders. A new image house, Max Ink Cafe (who recently broke off from Sony Pictures Imageworks) are now in the bidding competition. This scooper, who sounds like they may have an inside track with MIC, reports the new company is "seriously courting" View Askew for the digital effects gig for Dogma. The scooper also gives the gang at Max Ink Cafe a plug in the form of this end sentence: "Word has it this crew is talented and are capable of doing anything." Does that include making Jay and Silent Bob appear as decent, honest law-abiding (and rated PG for their dialog) citizens? Now that's a tall order. [Scoop provided by 'krbigred'.]

January 10, 1998... As announced by Kevin Smith at Vulgarthon earlier this month, Jason Lee will play Azrael in the film. So, Rickman's out? [Sent in by ' jedi_harry84', 'PaPaYoda', and anonymously.]

We knew there'd be a debate eventually on here. This anonymous scooper voices their thoughts on part of the scoop 'Mulch Man' left on Sept. 24/97 (go read it, then come back here.) Here's what the latest scooper had to say: "OI oi oi, the 'Right to Take People OFF Life Support' was won by Catholics in the famous 'Karen Ann' case, theory being that it is WRONG to artificially sustain life if family objects - take 'em off life support and it's up to God whether they live or die. So is this a breakaway sect of Catholics or what?" [Dropped in our confession box by an anonymous person.]

January 11, 1998... Wiser people than ourselves have pointed out the error of our ways. Alan Rickman was going to play the voice of Metatron all along in the picture, not Azrael as we thought. Damn -- we coulda swore Alan told us that when we were out for dinner a few months ago. [Noted by these kind souls: 'KarnageGOD', 'Goofball' and anonymous individuals.]

January 12, 1998... 'Narcolepsy' reports that the character of Cardinal Glick will be played by either Chevy Chase, Robin Williams or Bill Murray. They also report that info about the special effects for the film was posted by Kevin Smith himself about 10 days ago on his View Askew web site. The actor rehersals start "pretty soon now", but a new shooting location referred to as 'Metropolis' is being thrown about. Speculation is the place is Pittsburgh, since there was a flurry of rumors that Superman Lives was planning to shoot there at the start of the year (yes -- it was false.) Both Boston and New \ York City and Redbank, NJ as possible shooting locales have also come up. [Nuggets mined by 'Narcolepsy'.]

January 19, 1998... Because we were so distraught over the news, we didn't want to tell you that Emma Thompson had decided to...drop out of the picture.

Miss Thompson apparently has more important plans -- something to do with giving birth or something like that -- but we'd like to suggest that our view of God includes pregnant women. Why can't God be a woman and pregnant too? It's God, right?? [And here's who also agrees with that philosophy: 'PaPaYoda', 'Narcolepsy', 'Ribcage', 'brodie21', 'Fake Shemp', 'choves', ZENtertainment and anonymously.]

Oh, yeah. Pittsburgh is definately one of the shooting locations for the church scenes...but it all seems so hollow now that Emma's out... ['Narcolepsy', 'Kevin 2010' and 'Ribcage' found the strength to bring this item to us.]

But you still wanna know the story how Emma was cast as The Big Girl? Of course you do -- that's why you're our friend! " Apparently, Alan Rickman LOVED Chasing Amy, told Kevin Smith, who showed him Dogma. Alan Rickman loved the script so much, he made Emma Thompson read it. Emma loved it so much, she decided to be in it. Except now she's not. Oh, and another thing; as Metatron, the voice of God, Rickman will be using his 'fantastic' accent. The quotes are because that's what Kevin called it when a person asked if Rickman was going to disguise it." [From our favorite 'Fake Shemp'.]

Still, on our minds no one can replace Emma...but instead of crawling across a field of broken glass like we would do to get her back, this Kevin Smith guy has some other people in mind. Among the possible field of candidates are Julie Andrews (bah...cute but no major deity) and Anne Bancroft (which almost had us fooled into accepting her...except we realized it was a cheap ploy by Kevin to confuse us with the mirror universe spelling of Emma's name.

(Emma = Anne spelled backwards, after a few beers. Even 'Bancroft' has seven letters in it, just like Emma's surname. Nice try buddy! Have you re-evaluated the broken glass angle yet??)

['PaPaYoda' started us off.]

February 3, 1998... "This just occurred on the View Askew Website web-board. Kevin Smith stated that, now that Emma's out, they're going a different direction with the God casting... as in they are going to try and find someone who is a kind of an icon, who has a history. Someone immediately suggested Carrie Fisher, and Kevin immediately responded 'That is a great fucking idea,' and proceeded to state that 'great things come out of this board all the time.' So, I know we can't get over how perfect it would have been for Emma to be God (star of Merchant Ivory productions takes scale to appear in movie shot by production company with tranvestite clown named 'Vulgar' as it's mascot) but we have to move on... there will be another God.

[But] wouldn't that have been weird to see Emma as God and then go home and watch her nude scenes in The Tall Guy? Sacrilicious..." [Sent in by the sinning 'Fake Shemp'.]

March 15, 1998... As confirmed on View Askew last week, George Carlin will play Cardinal Glick in the film. [Info submitted by 'crowboy', 'Ribcage', 'Lech', 'UsualSuspect'.]

Our man the 'Fake Shemp' was kind enough to send us some background information on Smith's casting choices for the film a few (dozen -- ok, not that bad) weeks back. Since he palmed us a C-note, we feel it's our duty to give the fellow some podium time, don'tcha think?

"A while ago, Kevin Smith wrote on the web-board about his insecurities on doing his Dogma script justice as a director. He was afraid that his (self-proclaimed) 'limited ability' in moving the camera and creating visuals might sink the whole flick. He said that at one point he broke down and asked Robert Rodriguez to do it. Robert said he'd love to, but he really thought that it is Kevin's movie, and that Kevin should do it. Apparently, Mr. Smith drew much advice and encouragement from Robert, enough to take the bull by the horns and helm the flick. Which is a good thing, because this is the story that Smith has wanted to tell, even before Clerks.

"Okay, so that was a long time ago. More recently, Kevin reported that 'if we are actually able to shoot what we've story-boarded so far, this will be the most visually dynamic View Askew film we've produced by far.' When asked by a web-boarder if he watches other, similarly themed movies in preparation for shooting his own, Kevin stated that in preparation for Dogma, he's been watching From Dusk Till Dawn. When I asked what aspect of From Dusk Till Dawn he's planning on applying to Dogma, Kevin answered that the pacing and editing was what he was studying.

"Also on the subject of similarities to From Dusk Till Dawn, Kevin spoke of a dinner he had with Salma Hayek where she presented costume ideas (some of which were very, very sheer, says Smith). By the way, Salma's breasts will NOT appear in the film, but... the following dialogue took place at that dinner:

Salma: "You're going to shoot my ass?"
Kevin: "Oh yes."

"All I have to say is... no, I can't even say that. Although the images of those spurs running over those gorgeous curves come to mind...

"Speaking of gorgeous curves, Kevin's beautiful ass also said they were inches from sigining their DP for Dogma, who will be different from 'DP Dave', resident View Askew cinematographer David Klein ('ooo NAVY Seals!'). This is not due to Kevin's wishes, but Miramax insistence.

Also important; Kevin says that if all goes to plan, George Carlin will play Cardinal Glick. Kevin wrote the part with Carlin (one of his main influences and idols) in mind, but couldn't get him through his agent (who said the part was too small). But, when in L.A. a few months ago, Smith spoke to Carlin personally, and now he's in the cast. Oh, and the supporting cast has been filled out, including 'Whitland', 'the gang', and, most notably, 'the Stygian triplets'.

"One more thing; Kevin said the draft that everybody's been reading on-line looks like the third draft, which is 'so different from the fourth draft.' Recently, while holed up in the Pittsburgh hotel which he is staying in during the shoot, Smith hammered out the fifth draft (the shooting script), rewriting the characters with the new cast in mind, changing a thing or two, and successfully getting the script from one hundred and thirty-six pages to one hundred and twenty-eight. And the Golgathon costume, the design of which apparently drew some inspiration from the 'Batman: The Animated Series' version of Clayface (who was voiced by Ron Perlman! Did you know that?) has been made. Oh, and it 'looks cool.'

"And that's my plethora of Dogma information. Might I just say that I haven't personally read the Dogma script, and I don't plan on it, but this film is the MOST anticipated by me out of all the upcoming movies that you have pages for. Seriously, I can't wait."

[Signed by the 'Fake Shemp'. You Darkman fans know what that is, right?]

April 5, 1998... Our main Dogman, the 'Fake Shemp', hits us with 'nother casting note for the picture...

"Look for Janeane Garofaelo to have a cameo in Dogma. No, she's not God, she appears in a clinic scene and might be sharing the screen with Bryan Johnson (Steve-Dave) and the (in)famous cousin Walter Flanagan (Fan-boy Walt... 'You tell him Steve-Dave!'). Janeane is a Smith fan, as anyone who has seen her HBO comedy hour will know, in which she praised Chasing Amy (poked fun at it as well), and suggested that it is 'a romantic comedy for people who don't like romantic comedies,' which, incidentally, became the tag-line to her film The Matchmaker. Expect her cameo in Dogma to be unbilled, and smaller than her role in Touch but larger than her cameo in Kids In The Hall: Brain Candy, which the IMDB acknowledges but, for the life of me, I still can't find it in the movie."

[Thanks to the one and only 'Fake Shemp'.]

April 7, 1998... Last week The Drudge Report stirred it up by reporting singer Alanis Morrisette will be stepping into the role of God. Drudge's news was picked up far and wide it seems, because the rumor is being reported as fact by just about every TV, radio and local entertainment show in the country. We first heard about it from 'Mariner21' on March 6 and completely, utterly discounted it as pure bunk. Uh uh. We've seen so many fake ones in this job we could shoot models for Playboy. Uhm..Kev, it's untrue, right?

Hey, Kev? Hello??

['Mariner21', Martin Valent, 'Mysterio', 'Vincent Vega', 'TriDave' 'vega', 'MC Man-At-Arms', 'Narcolepsy', 'fiveminutes' and many anonymous readers all had religious epiphanies.]

April 11, 1998... 'The Fake Shemp' told us who he thinks will be cast in the role of the 'Old Man'. "Talk about inspired... in Dogma, the old man will be played by... Bud Cort! Cool, huh? Actually, I don't know. I haven't read the script. But I have reason to believe he'll be the old man 'at the beginning' and whatever other place that old man at the beginning appears. So I don't know the part, but I do know Bud Cort, and all I have to say is... nifty"

'Fake Shemp' also reports that Smith is shooting from a closed set as per Miramax's insistence and the film has been given a code-name (much like the Return of the Jedi shoot shot under the code-name 'Blue Harvest', which must delight Kevin that his own film is following in such SW footsteps!) The secret code-name? 'Bearclaw'. That's been reported by a couple of newspapers articles as the new name of the picture, but trust us (and 'Fake Shemp'): it's not the new title for the film.

'Shemp' also reports that he's got a gut feeling Alania Morrisette won't be playing God, mainly because of "how amused/indifferent Kevin and the Miramax people have been acting towards it being reported everywhere," 'Shemp' tells CA. [Miner 'Fake Shemp' brought these little nuggets to our attention.]

Here's another view of the whole Alanis-as-God controversy:

"Do NOT expect an official announcement on GOD until the film is released. The speculation came from www.Newsaskew.com and it was supported a bit by an MTV special where Kev declared his admiration for the Canadian Rocker and Jay who referred to her as his 'Canadian Angel'. He claimed he was given cash to leave her alone by her 'handlers'. Beyond that about a week or so broadcast Kevin announced he had FOUND GOD.. But he never has made an official announcement and has no intention to. The role of GOD in the film while over reaching through out is only a brief, at least in draft 3, cameo. With MAYBE 2-3 minutes at the very end of the film." [Justin McGill, ace reporter, as your service.]

A scooper spotted Matt Damon and Ben Affleck filming a scene in New Kensigton, PA, a subburb right outside of Pittsburgh. [Anonymous.]

April 19, 1998... Smith will pen the novelization of Dogma himself. It'll be a hard-cover novel, 256 pages in length, scheduled for release in August '98.

June 23, 1998... A nice readers gives us a little nudge about our lack of updating this page. Since we last reported, Dogma wrapped in the end of May. 10 to 12 minute 'sneaks' played a few weeks back at Ohio State University where Kevin Smith was giving a talk. Our scooper said that the film's rushes "are said to be seriously amazing, especially sfx of Alan Rickman walking on water". The View Askew site reports that a probable release is Christmas '98. "I'd keep an eye on that, since there are already slight rumblings from the religious right about the script," our scooper adds. [Thanks to Robyn for the report and to 'Jedi B.', 'Drhughes' and 'cfry' for coming to the rescue of their school's honor.]

July 1, 1998... Now that the film has wrapped, let's get all the credits straightened out, shall we? Creature effects and all makeup effects for the picture werecreated by Vincent Guastini Productions. Some of these effects include Norman (a.k.a. 'The Shit Monster'); Ben Affleck's angelic wings; and all the prothetics for Alan Rickman and the rest of the cast; and all the many bodies, blood and gore you'll see in the film.

Digital effects are being done by a company called Station X. The crew at X all worked for Digital Domain; they're artists who worked on Titanic and have created a new effects new company. Supervising the special visual effects for Dogma is Richard Payne. [You can thank the man responsible for the cool makeup you'll see in the picture for reporting the facts - Vincent J. Guastini.]

At the Ohio, Kevin Smith denied that Alanis Morrissette is playing God. Smith said she's in the movie, just not as God, so there. Nyah. ['Ribcage' and 'moviemaven' get the facts straight.]

Brad Plevyak, the co-creator and webmaster of the Dogma Rumor Control website contacted CA to clear up a mistake we had made. Their site is in no way connected to Smith's View Askew production company -- they're just fans and friends who follow Kevin's films. You'll still find a wealth of info about this picture and the others Kevin is involved with on their site. [Brad Plevyak, you da man.]

Here's some more dish:

"The artist currently known as Beck's touring DJ, DJ Swamp, will provide the scratching for a scene in Dogma when Silent Bob and Jay get into a tussle with some local homies, and Bob takes to the turntables to mix the Fat Albert Theme Song and something else, I forgot." [Jammed in by 'Truck'.]

"2 weeks ago Kevin was shooting Dogma in the Northside of Pittsburgh. My friends and I are in film school so we were interested in the cast and the filming process...blah..blah... Anyway my friend and I were driving really fast down Federal St. and we almost hit Salma! We slammed on our breaks and she looked up scared - she almost got hit by a car for God's sake! Anyway she looked at us for a minute and then smiled and waved ! Definitely not what I would have done..." ['brprincess' dispenses with the dirt (but we're not printing what they had to say about Jason Mewes' girlfriend...no way!]

July 9, 1998... As some of you have already heard, Dogma is already starting to ruffle the feathers of religious groups. If you haven't heard yet, our scooper will fill you in on the details..

"The New York Daily News gossip column, 'Rush & Molloy', reported earlier this week that (surprise!) the right-wing religious nutcases already have the knives out for Dogma.

"The particular nutball who's making the knee-jerk, no-idea what the movie is really about, haven't seen anything or read the script, etc., comments is William Donaghue. Donaghue is the leader of the reactionary Catholic League, which led the successful campaign against ABC-TV's excellent program, 'Nothing Sacred', earlier this year. 'NS' was the tender story of a liberal young Catholic priest who was the pastor of a struggling inner-city parish (and IMHO, as a young man raised Catholic, the best PR the priesthood has gotten in years, if not decades). Unfortunately, the League's organized campaign against 'NS' hit the show hard, causing it to never attract the requisite advertising support. (It didn't help that ABC, in an apparent attempt to dodge negative publicity, shuffled the program around the schedule, landing it in any one of a number of dead-end timeslots.)

"Donaghue has so far mouthed only the usual garbage about how Hollywood doesn't respect Christians, it's easy to target Christians for mockery, etc. Nothing we haven't heard before. But given his proven clout in attacking 'Nothing Sacred'... I worry for Kevin Smith's Dogma. A lot. All the crazies need is the chance to call it another Last Temptation of Christ and that'll be the last most of the country hears of Dogma. Why can't people just wait to hear what somebody's saying before denoucing him as a heretic??

"(Uh, in case the film really -is- sacriligious... I haven't read the online script so I can remain surprised when I go see the pic.)"

[Brendan was just on the podium.]

We don't think Dogma has the same sort of trouble Nothing Sacred had. Kevin Smith's already got a huge following of fan from both comics and films, so there's already some level of expectatation and hype for his new project. If the religious controversy does anything, we predict it will heighten awareness of the film so it will reach a wider audience.

And our opinion of the film when we read (and reviewed) the script still stands: it's Smith's best work. It's funny, it's lewd at points and it also gives anyone who watches the film something to talk about. We didn't think at all it looks down upon Catholicism; instead, it treats the subject with a heavy dose of surrealism and comtemporary humor. Sure Jay is a cocky and foul-mouthed dopehead, and The Big Guy appears as a woman and there's a black apostle...but it doesn't belittle one's faith in God.

August 31, 1998... The rumors are indeed true. Miramax is holding back Dogma until next Christmas -- Christmas 1999, for Pete's sake. There'll be a presentation of the film during next May's Cannes Film Festival but that'll be it until the holidays. Why the holdup? Apparently the studio wants to build up media support for Smith's possibly-controversial film. If we could be allowed to present our humble opinion about this matter to Miramax, it would be this: release the film!

Nuff said. [Sorry we couldn't deliver better news to the many Dogma fans who've written in their thoughts about Miramax's choice.]

September 1, 1998... Looks like we may have spoken too soon about next year's late opening of Dogma. But which scooper is right?

"My university has been trying to get Kevin Smith to speak with us in conjunction with the Dogma release this fall, and I spoke with Smith himself two days ago. He said he'd be glad to speak, but that Miramax is going to keep the film until Cannes, next Spring, and open it nationally after that. He says to expect it probably April of next year." ['Nootch' was spreadin' the news.]

"Guess what, you're wrong. And it should make you feel good to know that Dogma will be realeased October 1999, a couple of months earlier than you reported. The release plan follows exactly the one applied to Pulp Fiction (which you rabid Reservoir Dogs and True Romance fans who anxiously awaited Tarantino's next will remember was originally a summer release, before being pushed back to October so that publicity and anticipation could build upon the Palme D'Or). Miramax pushed back the film because they think they have another big Cannes winner on their hands (and Bob Weinstein, upon seeing a forty minute chunk of the film prepared by Kevin, is sure that Ben Affleck will get a Best Actor nomination). The Palme D'Or for Dogma? I don't see it being really that appealing to the Europeans (though Pulp had that European influence), but then again, who knows? But I share your pain, kids. I hate this having to wait for Dogma... I mean, shit, Kev is already done with his first cut... of course, it is three hours and thirty minutes long, and he does intend to seventy minutes out of it, but hey! How long will that take, right? Aw, shitburgers." [Will someone validate 'Fake Shemp' parking pass, please?]

Related Sites:

Dogma Rumor Control -- Fans, friends and some of the crew from Kevin's productions post the latest poop about his films on here. The site houses a list of the cast and crew, production summary and the script itself.

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