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Jake Ryan takes a gander at DOGMA up in New York
From DOGMA's New York Film Festival screening comes a darn good look at the film from our Hughesy friend here. He likes the film quite a bit, and doesn't use many spoilers... so enjoy..
Mon August 4th. US premiere of Dogma at the NY Film Festival. Review by Jake
Ryan.
You gotta hand it to Kevin Smith. Only he would make the beloved cult
characters of Jay & Silent Bob prophets who are necessary to escort Jesus’
great great great great great great great great great great great niece in
her quest to prevent the destruction of mankind. Wait, you didn’t know Jesus
had brothers and sisters? Neither did I, but just go with it. And if you go
with it, you will get a major major rush from seeing Kevin Smith deconstruct
catholic mythology (but as one of the characters in the film espouses..I hate
when they call it mythology).
As per usual, Kevin’s writing is dead on, though this time he saves most of
the biggest jokes for the stoner Jay, and yes they are of the usual fart and
dick variety, but face it you are going to laugh anyway and you are going to
laugh hard. However, mixed in with all the scatological humor is a heartfelt
message that Kevin crystallizes in the character of Bethany, portrayed by
Linda Fiorentino with the perfect amount of heartfelt emotion and sarcastic
‘what the fuck am I doing with these bozos?’ aplomb. Fiorentino, along with
Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, and Jason Mewes as Jay, are the glue which keeps
this film together.
Somewhere mixed among all this craziness are two fallen angels Loki and
Bartleby, portrayed by the Matt and Ben duo respectively. These two share
most of their scenes and you can tell they love the words Kevin S. feeds
them. Their characters are the murkiest in the film, literally, as it isn’t
always clear if they are good or bad guys (or a little bit of both) but what
is clear is they usually are funny, some of the looks and cutaway shots of
expressions on Affleck’s face are priceless. Incidentally in a panel
following the film at the NY film festival this evening, Matt D. said the
only reason he did this movie is because he was tired of Affleck telling him
how cool my friend Kevin Smith is to work with.
This plot heavy film eventually has all the major characters converging at a
Red Bank, NJ church for an action packed finale where we get to see Ben
Affleck fly and Matt Damon drunk off his ass. But the film takes it sweet
time getting to this finale, and the movie really is about the journey of
both the human and immortal characters. As an added bonus though, the end of
the film features a downright dopey but sweet Alanis Morrisette as God, doing
handstands and smelling flowers.
Kudos also to Chris Rock, who is also a major scene stealer, and his entrance
into the film spawns major laughs (lets just say he makes a big ass entry),
and his character, Rufus the 13th apostle, is also quite important to the
quests of all those involved.
Anyone who grew up on 80’s flicks like I did and Kevin Smith obviously did,
will get a major kick out of an instant classic Kevin Smith scene, where Jay
& Silent Bob give their take on the classic John Hughes films. Well, of
course, its mostly Jay’s take because Bob is being silent, but Bob’s silence
as always speaks volumes. It can't be disputed that Kevin knows his pop
culture and the film is full of references for our generation, and I have to
admit it, I too always wondered how come their were so many hot chicks in
Shermer, Illinois.
While I cant quite rank this as highly as Kevin’s classic Clerks, or as
highly as Chasing Amy even, Dogma is a consistently funny film. It does
cover much more serious topics than Kevin has touched upon to date, and I’m
looking forward to seeing what he takes on next. (Mallrats, while a cult
classic in its own right, and one that grows on you after millions of video
rentals, shouldn’t even be considered next to Dogma because it has neither
the independent film quality of this movie, nor the big laughs that this one
does…the opening disclaimer before Dogma is probably more laugh out loud
funny than anything in Mallrats…and hey I really dig Mallrats.)
I do feel Kevin Smith is one of the few directors of my generation (for the
record I’m 30) with his own voice and I know when I see a Kevin Smith film it
will not fit in a cookie cutter mold. Go see this movie, don’t be scared of
the controversy regarding its catholic themes, have some laughs, think a
little, and learn if stoner Jay has gay fantasies when he masterbates.
You’ll leave smiling after spending 2 hours in this universe.
Jake Ryan
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+ Expand All
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.......well, I forgot about
what the previous post said
after ten seconds.
Can't wait till Dogma!
Even at his supposed worst, Kev Smith kicks a fair amount of writers and directors to the kurb and frankly if things like Double Jeopardy can score big at the box office . . . then anything can.
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Because his 'visual style', Goblin, you prig, is truth telling. He has a very honest approach to flicks and even manages to tell the weepy shit without giving me the the shits. I for one, can't fucking wait to see this flick. The naysayers can take a big ol suck on my knob. And hey, after spending all that time fellating themselves, they should be pretty good at it.
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Okay, Kevin Smith is not my favorite filmmaker. He's not in the running, actually. But he does have a lot of spunk. I found Chsing Amy to be a very good film until the unsettling change of tone at the midway point, and I found that it was full of a lot of very good points and interesting ideas. Clerks was also full of said good points and interesting ideas (and anyone who has a shitty retail job like myself has to respect it just for nailing our lives right on the head). Mallrats was not that great, but it was worth the price of rental for the discussion of what constitutes a food court alone. Not to mention the fact that Jason lee is one of those actors I could watch in anything. He has a better slow burn than anyone his age, and you can see the impish glee in his eyes no matter what. So, yes, I am looking forward to Dogma. But after reading the script, I am also hoping one or two things get excised before it makes it to the screen. I was hoping the Wormer, Illinois thing would get ditched, because frankly it seems kinda stupid, but oh well. I love his religious statements in the script, but found the rather mundane things that Jay and Silent Bob do to be thhe one thing that kept me from getting into it. The script I saw was one I would describe as a wonderful vision with several flaws to it. Then again, the trailer which showed Alan Rickman with a pair of white wings was enough to get my ass in the seat, so there. Make of this post what you will.
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You can hate Chasing Amy if you want, but what I want to know is why many people bring up the three-way solution as a reason why Smith gives terrible logic? Smith isn't saying the three-way is a solution to their problems, and I personally love it when what's-her-face (sorry, I need to see the film again and I'm on pain killers right now) stands up and says, "I'm not your whore." Right on! The three-way is not a solution, just a classic example of what happens when people stop thinking, especially about their friends' and girlfriends' feelings. Again, hate Chasing Amy if you will, just give me a better reason than that whole three-way mess.
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Let's see here .. you say that his camera angles are boring. I give you that, the man hasn't improved in that area, but ho can write ... he has a voice, even if its covered with comic book subtext, 80's films, dick jokes, fart jokes, and fag jokes... his ideas are interesting... they can cause some discussion, Chasing Amy was Kevin's strongest work to date ... the three way solution? Well Holden wasn't the brightest bulb in the chadelier... you can catch that very early in the film. He felt inferior... to bad, but this was a hard lesson he learned ... personally, I agree with a friend of mines ..."Man, I don't care who's dick my girlfriend use to suck ... she's sucking mines now" Yes he's a bit ... can we say a ass, but our man Holden couldn't get over our girl's vassssst experience. Okay.. all of Kevin's movies are the same ... same subject matter, same topics...cause it takes place in the same little world ... characters who need some insight, some much needed advice ... but you can truly same they are all the same Mallrat is NOT Chasing Amy ... not even close!!! Clerks is rude, offensive and downright fucking mean ...but it's not like Mallrats or Chasing Amy. Quentin Tarintino could be viewed as a one trick pony...but I don't consider him one, cause this are the storie that he wishes to tell ... like Kevin Smith... but what about the man's ideas, his concepts, his knack for dialogue ... but than again the man may not be your cup of tea and that's understandable...I personally think that Quentin is good but his film is True Romance ... Tony Scott KICK SOME MAJOR ASS! and there is no way that Quentin would have been able to pull it off as well ... anyway, I WILL have my ass in the movie theatre to see JAY AND SILENT BOB! Later.....
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OK, the title of this email robs a bad Pepsi commercial. Just a few words about Smith, where he stands in 'our generations' pantheon of filmakers and why. sure, he's not the most creative person with a camera -- he doesn't do wannabe John Woo slow motion gun battles where we watch limbs spin and spray blood. His camera angles and moves are pretty average or better yet, normal. What makes him great is the writing! Sure it's full of popculture referances ad-nauseum, but that's the fun. And the characters make interesting, complex choices that are - gasp! - not always right! Sure the end of Chasing Amy is infuriating -- a threesome, what a ridiculous notion! But that's the damn point! The character doesn't get it -- he fails to grasp the knowledge he's been given by Silent Bob and others! HE misses the point! He is frustratingly and alarmingly human! I find it refreshing to find a character like that, the main character I might add, who is allowed - gasp again! - to fail. And his movies are chock full of idiots and fools -- just like real people. And that is where his success as a filmaker lies. Not with psuedo hip camera work or wannabe nior filmwork -- but with real characters. People that most of us can identify with. Thank you for your time -- I'm off totake my Ridalin now.
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I cry bullshit and at anyone who trys to tell me who is and who isn't someone who speaks for my generation (I'm 28). No one speaks for me, I speak for me! It pisses me off when the media, or anyone for that matter, tries to tell me that a Kevin Smith or a Kurt Cobain speak for my generation. I love the music of Tom Waits, John Hiatt, and Radiohead! I love Gene Kelly movies yet I think "From Dusk till Dawn" was pretty cool! I don't fit into anyone's preconceived notions of what someone who is 28 is supposed to be so stop telling me who speaks for me...*pant, pant, wheeze* Sorry for the rant!
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2.35:1 is right. Trying to say that someone speaks for your generation is stupid. At most they are a voice of your generation. Since most people's tastes are so incredibly varied by themselves (Stephen King sits next to Nietzsche, Shakespeare, and Stoppard on my bookshelf, Beethoven and Dave Matthews Band on my CD shelf, and "Go" next to "Blade Runner" on my movie shelf), it's impossible for one person to speak completely for a generation. But that said, Kevin Smith does seem to speak strongly for a group of people I consider myself apart of. Linking "Star Wars" to our lives in esoteric ways, making wrong decisions about relationships, hating our dead-end jobs, etc. I think just everybody between about 18 and 30 knows someone like Banky (or is someone like Banky). -Loki
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I don't think we're saying he speaks for an entire generation -- rather he is (or in some cases, isn't)one of the best directors OF our generation. They are two different things. I wasn't trying to say he speaks for anyone.
And yes, the hype is strangling the movie slowly for me too. -
while I understand the above thought, and it's based on your experiances I'm sure so it's true to you. However Alissa, while an odd character and definately not the norm, is not wholly unrealistic. I have metpeople like her -- in fact know some very well. Men and women who are bi, or experimental and, as she is, ultimately very confused. I found her very real in many ways. But I can see where some might find her fake or impo9ssible to grasp.
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