Smith and Mosier assembled a group of visual artists to realize their concept of a surreal, abstract environment "somewhere between reality and unreality": production designer Robert Holtzman, special effects supervisor Charles Belardinelli, creature effects supervisor Vincent Guastini, costume designer Abigail Murray, and director of photography Robert Yeoman. [6] Locations [ edit ] Cline, Austin (May 30, 2018). "Top George Carlin Quotes on Religion". ThoughtCo . Retrieved March 5, 2019.

What's more, I think a Catholic God might plausibly enjoy a movie like "Dogma," or at least understand the human impulses that made it, as he made them. ("He's lonely--but he's funny," an angel says in the movie.) After all, it takes Catholic theology absolutely literally, and in such detail that non-Catholics may need to be issued Catechisms on their way into the theater (not everybody knows what a plenary indulgence is). Sure, it contains a lot of four-letter words, because it has characters who use them as punctuation. But, hey, they're vulgarities, not blasphemies. Venial, not mortal. Sure, it has a flawed prophet who never gives up trying to get into the heroine's pants, but even St. Augustine has been there, done that.Some religious groups—in particular the activist Catholic League—denounced the film as blasphemous. [28] Other groups staged protests outside theaters screening the film. [4] Director Kevin Smith himself attended one of these protests, pretending to be opposed to the movie. [29] Roger Ebert noted that no official objection came from the Catholic Church itself. "We are actually free in this country to disagree about religion," Ebert wrote, "and blasphemy is not a crime." [27] Accolades [ edit ] Year

Oliver Jones (September 9, 1999). " 'Dogma' goes to Lions Gate". Variety . Retrieved November 21, 2020. Personally - If I had to guess, I think Jesus would love this movie. And so will you! Read full review Dogma is clearly a beloved film. Smith continues to hold appeal among cinephiles (and New Jerseyans), and despite getting larger budgets and bigger casts, he doesn’t seem to have changed his sensibilities much since 1999. But I wish he were given a smaller budget for something like Dogma. Clearly, he’s here for the dialogue, as the large-scale ambition of his storytelling pales in comparison to his only true loves: pop culture references and people talking about stuff. The story revolves around two fallen angels who plan to employ an alleged loophole in Catholic dogma to return to Heaven after being cast out by God, but as existence is founded on the principle that God is infallible, their success would prove God wrong, thus undoing all creation. The last scion and two prophets are sent by the seraph Metatron to stop them.The oddest casting decision in Dogma is that of Smith himself, as he and Mewes reprise their roles as Silent Bob and Jay, respectively. They’re one-note joke characters. They constantly try to shag the lead, have very little bearing on the plot, and really don’t change much at all by the end of the picture. Caro, Mark (November 7, 1999). "A Practicing Catholic on the Religious Storm of 'Dogma' ". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on April 21, 2013 . Retrieved November 1, 2022. Smith, Kevin (November 27, 2005). "The View Askewniverse Message Board". Archived from the original on March 23, 2006 . Retrieved June 18, 2009. If the film is less than perfect, it is because Smith is too much in love with his dialogue. Like George Bernard Shaw, he loves to involve his characters in long witty conversations about matters of religion, sexuality and politics. "Dogma" is one of those rare screenplays, like a Shaw playscript, that might actually read better than it plays; Smith is a gifted comic writer who loves paradox, rhetoric and unexpected zingers from the blind side. In New Jersey, Bethany asks why she has been called upon to save the universe; why can't God simply do it himself? Metatron admits that God's whereabouts are unknown; he disappeared while visiting New Jersey in human form to play skee ball. The task falls to Bethany because—she now learns—she is the last scion, a distant but direct blood relative of Jesus.

This film was originally scheduled for a November 1998 release by Miramax Films, but due to controversy, [16] the film was postponed for a 1999 release, and the rights were passed on to Lions Gate Films for the United States, although Miramax Films retained foreign distribution rights. [17] Dogma is both one of the worst movies ever made and also one of the best. Its cultural identity (white, American, and nerdy) is loud and precise, but its actual filmmaking is incredibly sloppy. Kevin Smith seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t care too much how a shot is framed or whether the lighting is right, only if his actor can nail this scorching-hot joke he’s written about Home Alone.

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It feels like an extension of the same ethos that got Clerks made — everyone’s having fun, saying witty, punchy dialogue. For many of these performers, I’m sure movies like Dogma are why they got into acting in the first place.

In late November 2005, Smith responded to talk of a possible sequel on the ViewAskew.com message boards:Kevin Smith's Dogma Isn't Available to Stream - And It's The Weinsteins' Fault". ScreenRant. September 2, 2019 . Retrieved March 30, 2020. Smith was the Next Big Thing in 1999, hot off a string of beloved indie hits. He was like if Jim Jarmusch was hip and wrote masturbation jokes. Just as Harvey Weinstein initially invested in Clerks to bolster his company’s image as a studio that supports indie filmmakers, it stands to reason that some of Dogma ‘s cast is there to similarly prove their indie bona fides. source: Lionsgate Films Damon returned to reprise his role as a reborn Loki in Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. In a fourth-wall breaking monologue, he explains after the events of Dogma God once again banished him to Earth, this time to the Mediterranean Sea where he was rescued by Italian fishermen after getting amnesia, describing the plot of Damon's film The Bourne Identity: he remarks that would make his current form his " reborn identity".