Thank you Dogma for breaking my Kevin Smith curse, the lingering fear that I would never come to greatly enjoy a work by him because of his idiosyncratic writing and humor, one that falls firmly into a camp that I can appreciate on paper but revile at in practice. All without actually sacrificing his sensibilities so, all-in-all I really commend this film.

Anyways, the movie itself is extremely ambitious for Smith, a veritable cross-country biblical epic that skewers modern religious, well, dogma, through its re-appropriation of religious figures: in this case fallen angels who seek to re-enter heaven through a ritual loophole that raises all sorts of questions on the minutiae of theology. The implications of their success essentially nullifies…

Good Will Hunting meets angels and demons.

"You people. If there isn't a movie about it, it's not worth knowing, is it?"

If you went back to 1999 I don't think anyone would believe you if you told them this was Kevin Smith making a more clever and restrained film. Who would have thought that Smith, the comic book-loving pothead would want to make a religious commentary comedy set in the View Askewniverse.

Dogma is a dialogue-heavy road movie where Matt Damon and Ben Affleck play two murderous fallen angels that discover a loophole in Catholic Dogma that could help them get back to heaven. The cast of characters is great as we get George Carlin, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek,…

I liked this a whole lot more on this rewatch than I did my first viewing. When I first watched it, I didn't see it as the entirely entertaining, often pretty hilarious and relatively clever comedy from Kevin Smith that I do now. I didn't care much about religion in general - not that I really do nowadays, either - but I understood much more of it now then I did back in the day. Dogma has a great cast going for it, as well as a very interesting (and, of course, controversial) subject matter that is made worthwhile in checking out due to Smith's signature silliness running amuck throughout it's story.

Fun fact: my aunt Marie Elena is included…

One of the things that most people seem to overlook when discussing Kevin Smith is how brilliant a writer he is. He courts a fair amount of controversy with the profanity in his films, but it's usually just how a lot of his protagonists really talk, so that social realism (especially in the likes of Clerks) seems to speak to his generation of film-goer. His View-Askewniverse sets him out as an independent director who rarely conforms to suit others, and that's the reason why I like his stuff so much.
Dogma is the shit. A film so cleverly constructed and so funny that I can't imagine how anyone took it seriously. Yep, I'm talking about you, The Catholic Church, a…

A quick and mostly painless jump back in time to the days when things like this were seen as subversive; back before everything broke. Jay and Silent Bob, Damon and Affleck, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, "Tell 'em Steve Dave", Buddy Christ...Hell, this movie is so 90's, that the inclusion of Alanis as God almost seems like a wink to future audiences. Her last moment appearance doesn't date the movie, so much as plant a proud flag right on top of it, the word "SNOOGANS!" flapping in the breeze.

Smith is doing some of his best and most personal writing here. However, there is a sense that he feels the need to say the things about religion that have…

Or you'll do what, exactly? Hit me with that ffffffish?

Top-tier line delivery right there. Even if I think Dogma is my least favorite of the View Askewniverse Kevin Smith films I have seen, it's finally time to finish off the oversights of this series, and I still found a lot of enjoyment with it. There's an inherent immaturity to a lot of what Smith does, but even now, I find it so charming. I adore Jay and Silent Bob. They're the weed-smoking, sex-crazed duo to end weed-smoking, sex-crazed duos and I wouldn't change a single thing about them. Despite not laughing out loud a lot at Dogma, a lot of the enjoyment for me with it is how it…

Film #2/31 for August Scavenger Hunt #53!

After 20 years of its release, it still holds up. Also, it’s still one of the better films by Kevin Smith.

The cast is huge and everyone delivers. That is the best thing about this film and also the biggest issue. Everyone is good in their parts, but it’s hard to juggle so many characters at once. Because of that, the film ended up being a bit scattered and hectic. There’s so much happening at once on the screen.
Also, I’m not the biggest fan of executing the exposition in this film. Basically, the main character is the audience character. Everything she does is that she asks everyone what’s going on at the…

Endless Exposition: The Movie

For a film that's been courting controversy for what seems like eons now, I found Dogma to be as entertaining as getting into a religious argument with someone for no reason other than sheer boredom. It's an undeniably angry film with some amusing moments and a couple of good points but the one constant throughout was this lingering question: where's the humor? Where are the sharply, effortlessly funny comedic muscles Kevin Smith flexed in Clerks? Comedy is subjective but for me, one of the reason why Smith's first soundly trounces this is the way in which narrative and comedy bolster each other toward a singular goal. I never got that sense of unity in Dogma, a…

Luka finishes long day of assessment so he can finally finish watching Jay & Silent Bob kino.

First Kevin Smith film and it’s a banger! I think what I love best is how the film’s tone never takes itself too serious or too smug for religion, it clearly comes from an earnestly spiritual place. Not necessarily a Christian place in the traditional definition of the term but an absolutely spiritual place. A love for faith and an annoyance at those who abuse faith to their own ends. It kicks ass!

In many ways this reminded me of Good Omens, not just for the obvious religious ties of being stories about angels and demons but because I felt myself almost craving a…

An ambitious story, a huge cast that doesn’t consist of cameos, and a heavier level of production value. Honestly, I think this may be Kevin Smith at the height of his powers.

Alan Rickman, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck always stole the scenes they were in and George Carlin in any religious role is casting genius.

I do feel like Jay and Silent Bob should have “taken it down 20% there, bud” Any scene with them alone with Bethany was utterly unbearable. She said no already. Fuck!

I don’t mind Linda Fiorentino in the role. She does use her sultry, deep voiced, cynical 90s riot grrl jabs to the height of her ability before her career was sadly cut short. …