“Dogma” — Read Along
“Good Lord! The little stoner’s got a point!”
“Dogma” is one of my favourite films of all time and I revere the madness that this film represents very close to my twisted heart. But anyway, a little bit of scene setting: “Bethany” is working at Planned Parenthood and slowly losing her long held faith. Visited by an Angel in her bedroom, she is handed an unusual task, to save humanity! Attacked in a car park by a ferocious gang, Bethany is rescued by an unusual pair of human beings.
Cue “Jay” and “Silent Bob”.
So, with the help of Jay and Silent Bob, Bethany is to undertake a task completely out of the blue, with the repercussion being if she’s unsuccessful, humanity will no longer exist.
With me so far?
A classic film needs a stand out musical score and Howard Shore provides it in spades and the soundtrack to the film is highly recommended too. “The Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314” by Johann Strauss is mixed with “Magic Moments” from Perry Como, “Candy Girl” from New Edition and the more contemporary “It’s Like That” from Run DMC. Numerous cameos from Kevin Smith regulars, so many subtle, and some not so subtle film references, plus of course the odd mention of Star Wars! A myopic fan I may be but I remain astonished that Dogma did not feature in any Oscar nominations of the year and has continued to be only warmly received. It certainly pokes at least one eye very hard and challenges the audience to go along with the utter absurd nature of the story juxtaposed with a challenge to their beliefs even for those with no religious leanings. 14 years on since it’s initial release Dogma remains fresh and stunning, sublimely edited to just over a two hour runtime with visual effects that 14 years on, on the whole, still stand up to scrutiny. Brilliant character performances bring to life Kevin Smith’s surreal screenplay so put your tongue firmly in your cheek, drop the religious bullshit and dogma, and enjoy one of the best films of all time.
In two hours time, Alanis Morrissette’s “Still” will play over the closing credits and you’ll have enjoyed a stunning film.
The above is the “top and tail” from my much longer yet still spoiler free review of a film I can’t possibly highly recommend enough to you. I have a love/hate association with all things Kevin Smith and although he’ll never read this current sentence if he were, I’m sure it would delight him beyond measure. Since Clerks in 1994 and its second follow on film Clerks III nearly three decades later, Smith has directed 13 further films in between from the beautiful Chasing Amy in 1997, the on-set arguments and recriminations of Cop Out in 2010 and the frankly ridiculous Tusk 4 years later. I adore Clerks almost as much as Dogma here but nowhere near on the scale of love and sheer admiration I have for 2011’s Red State and a film that should have bagged a host of Oscars for director Smith and the incredible performance of his leading man, the much missed Michael Parks.
Suffice to say, I will be releasing a “Read Along” article on my myopic love for Red State in the very near future!
But for now, here follows my original spoiler free review of Dogma, my opus article on the entire cinematic career of Kevin Smith, as well as both my Youtube and Rumble channel recordings of me reading my own review!
So now dear reader you have a choice: You can either
(a) Read my entire review of this film via the first link below
(b) Then read my opus blog article on the films of Kevin Smith
(c) Watch either of my Youtube or Rumble channel videos of my reading of my own review of Dogma, hence the “Read Along” moniker.
or (d) Treat yourself to any combination of the above or even (e) disappear to pastures new within our collective electrical Matrix.
Oh, and (f) There’s a link to Volume 2 of my exhaustive 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” packaged in my e-book and Kindle series on Amazon and where you’ll find my review of Dogma. All free to read if you have an Amazon Kindle “Unlimited” package.
Bless you for reading.
"Kevin Smith - An appreciation"
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection" - Vol.2
My reading of "Dogma" on my Youtube Channel
My reading of "Dogma" on my Rumble Channel
Thanks for reading. Here are three recent additions to my “Read Along” series of articles: