| Sunday, December 02, 2007 |
| Girls rock! |
All too often, when there's a movie that looks interesting, I wind up second-guessing whether I really want to see it, checking its RottenTomatoes.com score, etc. "Well, I loved Todd Haynes' last two movies, but I can't stand Bob Dylan. It's got a 79% 'fresh' rating, but Rex Reed called it 'a tumultuous disappointment.'" Etc., etc., until it just seems easier to stay at home and read a book. However, as I've mentioned before, I do love the blank slate that a sneak preview provides. So on Saturday, Joe and I went to see "The Golden Compass," the new film based on Philip Pullman's novel (which neither of us have read), the first in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.
Unlike "The Lord of the Rings," where New Line committed to filming all three parts of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic saga, we won't get Parts 2 & 3 of "Materials" unless "The Golden Compass" does well, so here's my opinion: everyone should go see it when it opens next Friday! Not only is it an entertaining film but it has a totally awesome young (age 12-ish) girl as its heroine. I'm sure this provided quite an obstacle in bringing Pullman's book to the screen because movie & TV execs believe that boys won't go see stories about girls, but girls will go see stories about boys. I hope people of all ages and both genders will support "Compass." I am not a big fantasy fan and tend to prefer the sometimes ploddingly literal world of police procedurals and detective fiction, but after "Compass" got underway, I totally bought into the talking polar bears and Nicole Kidman's wildly sophisticated dirigible (picture the Hindenburg crossed with a Rolls Royce) and lots of other stuff that requires a serious suspension of disbelief. It's fun. I only wish there had been more Daniel Craig -- he's depicted prominently on the posters but his role is really more of an extended cameo. Presumably if Part 2 is made he'll figure more prominently in that... but will there be a Part 2? Only your box office dollars can decide. |
posted by 125records @ 6:44 PM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Cool, Sue. This movie is causing quite a stir on some of my horror/sci-fi message boards. A few folks seem to be upset about the "anti-Christian" message(!) Does she really...
Spoilers!
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kill God?
Gil
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There is nothing either pro- or anti-religious in the film... any pro-atheist messages in the book (apparently Pullman is an atheist) must have been watered down quite a bit. I think even the groups protesting the film aren't claiming the movie is anti-Christian, they're afraid the movie may cause impressionable young'uns to read the books.
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At the screening I attended there were several people who mentioned before the movie started that they were going to be looking for the supposed anti-religious messages and anti-Catholic themes the Catholic League has been protesting. When the lights went up, they all said variations on the same thing: "What's so controversial about that?" Everyone seemed to enjoy it as an adventure, a few people commented on how much they liked the actors or the visual effects, and that was about it. Frankly, if I had not heard about the controversy and someone asked me what religion was the basis for the Magisterium (the mind-controlling bad guys in the film) I would have guessed it was a comment on Scientology. The whole idea of separating people from their "spirits" so that they can be easily commanded doesn't instantly make me think of Catholicism as much as it does the L. Ron Hubbard followers.
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Name: Sue
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Cool, Sue. This movie is causing quite a stir on some of my horror/sci-fi message boards. A few folks seem to be upset about the "anti-Christian" message(!) Does she really...
Spoilers!
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
kill God?
Gil