I also saw one of the festival's most controvesial films, Kevin Smith's religious satire "Dogma"(It will open in the U.S. in November.) Based on its Cannes Film Festival screening last May, it has become vilified in some quaters as anti-religious, especially anti-Catholic, and maybe even blasphemous.

It turns out to be funny and sometimes thoughful, if sloppy and frequently vulgar and violent.

It also turns out to be steeped in religious allegory, filled with so many references to religion that one needs a reference book to understand it all. Smith, a practicing Catholic, has a tough, critical love for God and his own religion. It could stimulate a young-adult audience to think about religion.

At its best, the movie is hilarious. At its worst,"Dogma" seems less a movie than a monologue by George Carlin, who appears in the movie as a priest. Among a cast that includes Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, and Linda Fiorentino, the stand-out performance is a cameo by Alanis Morissette-as God, no less.