MOVIE REVIEW
DOGMA

Yeah I know, a lot of people are saying "Yo Judy, what's the deal? That movie came out like 6 years ago, what's up with seeing it just now?" Well there are a couple of reasons, see back when I was 19 I dated this guy for a year - Psycho Ex (he really was psycho, I'm not being mean. Nice guy, just not all there all the time), every weekend we would go to a movie and dinner (Bennigans). It rarely changed unless he felt the need to defile his pastor father's home by having sex with his heathen girlfriend (me) - then we'd rent a movie. By the end of that year I was sick of sitting through movies, especially if the evening was going to be finished off with mediocre food and moderate sex. But I digress, I just didn't like sitting through movies all that much, so after Psycho Ex, I saw about one movie in the theater a year. K learned to pick and choose his movies well as a fucking awful movie would be bitch about by me for an endless amount of time (Titanic). Another reason I never saw Dogma, well 6 years ago I was busy with a new baby. Let me tell you, that first year was crazy, baby's don't come with instruction manuals ya know, so I was just kind of flying by the seat of my pants (like I still am). Movies just weren't on the agenda. I don't think K and I went out minus the offspring until she was 18 months old. New parents. So... Anyway.. That's why.. Now back to the movie...

So I have seen one other Kevin Smith movie and was left unimpressed. I watched Clerks with a group of friends (who freaking recited the dialog like my children do with Disney movies - good lord) started watching with the anticipation that this was going to be a GREAT movie as everyone there seemed to know it word for word (eyes roll up in head now). There were some genuinely hilarious moments in the movie and a few moments of perfect clarity and insightfulness, but nothing else. They should have kept those 20-30 minutes and burned the rest. I watched to the end just to fulfill my curiosity about the movie, but in the end it was like so many men I've dated, sounded promising in the beginning, but left me wanting more and going home to fulfill my needs myself.

Now had that been the only Kevin Smith thing I had seen, I never would have watched Dogma, but it wasn't. At the New Years Eve party, people watched An Evening With Kevin Smith and oh my fucking gawd, that was funny. I had no insight into any of his movies and I was laughing my ass off. Now fast forward to a few months ago. For some reason I'm online looking for movies and I decide to dl Dogma and a few others of his. Fast forward to Monday night, nothing to do, nothing to watch, I scan the dl's and see Dogma. I knew nothing about the movie at all. I told K it was supposed to be good - I'm not sure if I actually had heard that or if I just wanted to convince him to watch it.

Wow. That really was a great movie. The take on the movie seems to be from a Catholic back ground so not all of the theology (Christianity or Catholicism) is part of my belief system but since I am familiar with it, I understood the message of the movie and laughed at the jokes (maybe more than if I had actually been Catholic). Now I could ruin the whole damn movie right now and tell you what it's about, but that would suck. It's well worth watching, especially if you put aside the part of you that would be offended by religion being made light of and George Carlin as a priest. All the laughing is great and there's message that's worth getting. I felt both amused and enlightened.

Nuf' said. Next movie.

Madagascar

Tonight because the pool was closed for undisclosed reasons we took the Little People to see Madagascar. It was funny, not hilarious, but funny. The offspring were entranced enough to actually sit through the entire movie without even one potty break. Amazing. (I swear I had to see Shrek 2 with grown up so I could see the whole freaking movie uninterrupted.) There were some jokes that were aimed at the adults and I always appreciate when that's done (it's hell sitting through a Barbie movie because NOTHING is aimed at the adults, *gag*). The Planet Of The Apes reference was quite funny to me.

Not a bad movie, I won't feel like jabbing my eyes out with red hot spoons when we have it on DVD and it's played 13 times in the first 48 hours. I think I'll still find a few things to chuckle about.

AND... Another movie...

While I was making dinner the Little People rummaged through the video tapes and found Wizard of Oz. I told them they could watch it if they wanted. It was amusing to hear them get all excited because the beginning of the movie is in black and white. hehehe.. Then they got all excited when it went to color. We continued watching it while we ate dinner (fuck, don't look at me like that, you know most of you do the same damn thing so kiss my ass). I tried to convince the progeny that they had been brought to us by winged monkeys and we had to keep checking them to make sure they didn't sprout wings or tails but they pointedly ignored us and focused on the movie. Damn, I'm raising my children right, a good dose of skepticism is healthy at an early age. No matter I have a new goal for this summer, and that is to eventually convince either Super Girl or Cabbage Patch that they really are winged monkey spawn.

At any rate it was cute to see my offspring enjoy the movie I loved so well as a child.

Now I'm off to bed, can't keep BOB waiting forever ya know... Well actually I can, but that's beside the point. I'm off!