Golden Compass

[ourchair]

Hey, money is God, after all. Or so you'd think anyway.

Regardless of the (anti-)religious themes being removed from the book, I think I'll still enjoy it in an aesthetic sense. It is a shame though, as the underlying concepts behind the series were very thought provoking.

In my opinion, any book that involves looking for God so they can punch him in the face is a must-read... simply because Christian or not, all good art is about crossing a line and trying to provoke thought from that act.

And besides, the trilogy isn't anti-Christian, it's anti-organized religion and other forms of institutionalized belief.

 

[Fuzzy Birds]

In my opinion, any book that involves looking for God so they can punch him in the face is a must-read... simply because Christian or not, all good art is about crossing a line and trying to provoke thought from that act.

I'd have to disagree there; in fact, I find some of the best pieces of art, be they comics, books, movies or whatever, are pieces that don't cross lines. There are plenty of interesting topics and scenarios to be found that don't require crossing into taboo territory. But that's a discussion for another thread I think.

And besides, the trilogy isn't anti-Christian, it's anti-organized religion and other forms of institutionalized belief.

Precisely. But of course, most organized religions are tremendously narrow-minded. I'm still surprised they don't burn witches and have music bonfires.

Though I'm sure they still do.....

 

[ourchair]

Precisely. But of course, most organized religions are tremendously narrow-minded. I'm still surprised they don't burn witches and have music bonfires.

I don't know any REAL witches. Because those ****ers burned them all. Damn Bibleheads.

 

[Grocer Man]

For the record, I'm not a hater, I actually rather like it, I just can't read Megatron with a straight face.

 

[ourchair]

For the record, I'm not a hater, I actually rather like it, I just can't read Megatron with a straight face.

That's because it's not Megatron... it's METATRON.

Stupidhead.

 

[ourchair]

In the hopes I can get people other than Fuzzy Birds, Grocer Man and me to care.

The three-minute length trailer for The Golden Compass:

http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?sid=46332580&sdm=web&pt=rd

 

[ourchair]

Rhythm & Hues, the special effects studio that has provided work for Superman Returns, Night at the Museum and Happy Feet recently invited members of the press for a Visual Effects (VFX) event at their Los Angeles studio.

HisDarkMaterials.Org reports:

In response to concerns from director Chris Weitz over making dæmons clearly distinguishable from normal animals - if speaking weren't enough - Rhythm & Hues created a number of differences in individual dæmons, as well as an overall "dæmon sheen," a slight colorization that plays off the light on a dæmons's fur. Individually, the golden monkey is so otherworldly that he has no real-world counterpart. Said Chen, the golden monkey has coloring based on a golden lion tamarin, with the movements of a spider monkey or capuchin monkey. His individuality combined with the ability to make humanistic features and his interactions with Nicole Kidman made the golden monkey the most challenging individual dæmon to animate. Unlike normal animals of prey, Hester's hare eyes were moved to be forward-facing. Also, Stelmaria's snow leopard fur was shortened from the true animal to show more sleekness and power from the dæmon.

ComingSoon.Net reports:

Gary Nolan, another Visual Effects Supervisor, talked to us about how Rhythm & Hues became involved with the project.

"We did extensive bidding on the project. We were bidding against all of the major effects companies. And we were fortunate enough to get awarded all of the daemon work. Which are all of the animals in the movie for the most part. Bill and I went to London for all of the principal photography from August of last year until February of this year. Ray Chen [Co-Visual Effects Supervisor] was here, heading up all of our model building to work on the shots when we came back. We have been working on the show since that time, and we will be delivering the film in about a week. We are almost done. We will have worked on almost eight hundred shots when all is said and done. By far, it's the biggest show we have ever been involved with. We have five hundred artists both here and at our facilities in India that have worked on the show."

Click the links above for more.

 

[ultimatedjf]

I think this looks pretty good.

Anything with Daniel Craig and Eva Green in it is guaranteed to be sweet. (See: Casino Royale)

Plus, Nicole Kidman definitely needs a box office hit. None of her last 10 movies were. Seriously. You can look it up. (This isn't counting Happy Feet.)

 

[ourchair]

Plus, Nicole Kidman definitely needs a box office hit. None of her last 10 movies were. Seriously. You can look it up. (This isn't counting Happy Feet.)

I know, right?

To be entirely fair, it's not because of anything she's done wrong... she just happens to coincidentally NOT be in a lot of profitable films this half-decade, and the only reason why her career heat hasn't been completely put out is because all of her 'bombs' involve her in roles that are moderately respectable.

Meaning, she has yet to star in two to three high budget bombs (Invasion was one) or humiliate herself in a BAD superhero movie. It also helps that her good looks can sell magazine covers, which is a gig that was keeping Ben Affleck afloat until he decided to star in three consecutive flops in the same year.

 

[Lynx]

The Catholic Church is only against it because the Church in His Dark Materials basically IS the Catholic Church. If it wasn't so blatantly Catholic, I guarantee the Catholics wouldn't have said anything.

Personally, though, all their boycott does it stimulate interest to go see the movie. This coming from a Catholic.

 

[ourchair]

The Catholic Church is only against it because the Church in His Dark Materials basically IS the Catholic Church. If it wasn't so blatantly Catholic, I guarantee the Catholics wouldn't have said anything.

Personally, though, all their boycott does it stimulate interest to go see the movie. This coming from a Catholic.

I know, right?

The thing of it is this: the books have never been anit-Catholic faith so much as they've been anti-Catholic CHURCH. A lot of people fail to make that distinction which is why it's such a big deal.

But then again, even if the Catholic Church recognized that it was 'just' anti-Catholic Church it's not like it'd make them any less angry, but still.

What I actually dislike are fans of His Dark Materials actually TRYING to defend the books like they're NOT anti-Catholic Church. They try to excuse it, usually by saying something like how it's merely 'critiquing' it.

When in fact Pullman has NEVER denied that his books were against institutionalized/organized religion. It's a pretty damn clear stance.

 

[ourchair]

Sam Elliott on the TODAY show, on the day of the premiere for the final Golden Compass trailer:

"I dunno, I think it's baggage I've packed for a long time. Too many Westerns. You know, it's not like I haven't played this character before.... A guy from Texas that flies a hot air balloon, it's pretty appropriate on some level."

Director Chris Weitz and Eva Green (Serafina Pekkala) are interviewed for a featurette called, "Flying With Witches":

"I would like to say that it was some kind of brand new technology, but essentially it wasn't. I mean it was wire flying, which has been done throughout recorded history."

 

[Lynx]

I know, right?

The thing of it is this: the books have never been anit-Catholic faith so much as they've been anti-Catholic CHURCH. A lot of people fail to make that distinction which is why it's such a big deal.

But then again, even if the Catholic Church recognized that it was 'just' anti-Catholic Church it's not like it'd make them any less angry, but still.

What I actually dislike are fans of His Dark Materials actually TRYING to defend the books like they're NOT anti-Catholic Church. They try to excuse it, usually by saying something like how it's merely 'critiquing' it.

When in fact Pullman has NEVER denied that his books were against institutionalized/organized religion. It's a pretty damn clear stance.

Yep. Pretty much.

Sam Elliott on the TODAY show, on the day of the premiere for the final Golden Compass trailer:
Director Chris Weitz and Eva Green (Serafina Pekkala) are interviewed for a featurette called, "Flying With Witches":

Man, I love Sam Elliot. He is the quintessential wise, old cowboy.

 

[Iceshadow]

Hmm, you guys have piqued my interest in this movie (maybe the books too).

 

[ourchair]

Hmm, you guys have piqued my interest in this movie (maybe the books too).

I loff the books.

Seriously, though, I like it for a lot of reasons beyond having a Texas cowboy in a balloon and a warrior polar bear.

For one thing, it mixes magic, religion and science together in a manner that should be interesting enough to anyone who enjoys that aspect of Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis' works.

And then a few characters try to beat up God.

 

[ourchair]

OLD NEWS POST

Movieweb has a complete transcript of the press visit to Rhythm & Hues reported previously:

What were some of the challenges of working on this opposed to working on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe?

Erik D. Boer: In Narnia we had two major sequences that we needed to tag on. The big battle, and Aslan. We had to make sure that we got his performance right. Here, we have Pan changing shape a lot, which was very challenging. You will give me that the face on a moth is very different than the face on a wild cat. We were looking for ways to tie them together with some sort of emotion. We had to telegraph that these two creatures were the same guy. That was quite a challenge. We had a lot of fun with the wild cat. Pan's favorite form is the ferret. That was great to play with that. It is a very reactionary character. There were quick shots spread out over the entire movie. I think we had about eighty sequences. From that point of view, it was a very different movie. It was very fragmented in a way. We had to get the consistency throughout the entire movie just right.

Also, some weeks ago, Chris Weitz wrote an open letter to the fans explaining the decision to alter the ending of the movie from that of the books:

I have decided, along with Scholastic and New Line and, most importantly, Philip Pullman, to shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife.

To me, this provides the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second.

As always, click the links above for more.

 

[ourchair]

From HisDarkMaterials.Org:

New Line Cinema and WWF launch Global Warming awareness campaign

New Line Cinema and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are launching a Global Warming awareness campaign to help educate the public about the impact global warming is having on animals throughout the world.

On the campaign website www.worldwildlife.org/goldencompass visitors can view a panoramic lineup of the animal spirits or "dæmons" featured in the film, many of which are the same species that WWF works to protect in the real world. Fans of the film can also show their support for WWF and its message of species protection by "adopting" a real-life animal whose species is featured in the film – including polar bears, snow leopards, and monkeys – through the site.

"Polar bears are an iconic image in our film, and this is a very organic partnership for us," says Chris Carlisle, New Line's President of Domestic Marketing. "It adds an important layer to our campaign and we're thrilled to work with the World Wildlife Fund and support the work they do."

The partnership will also include a public service announcement about global warming that will be voiced by actors in the film and a sweepstakes featuring a grand prize trip for four to Manitoba, Canada, to view polar bears in their natural habitat.

A video has already been released on the official Golden Compass site highlighting the problems polar bears face in climate change, voiced over by Dakota Blue Richards (Lyra Belacqua). You can see it here.

 

[ourchair]

Cowboys & Indians Magazine spoke with Sam Elliott, the character noted for playing cowboy types, who plays Lee Scoresby, the Texan aeronaut of The Golden Compass:

[IMGL]http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q32/experimentego/07-cowboyseninjuns.jpg[/IMGL]"It's odd in some ways," Elliott notes in the sandpapered drawl familiar to his fans and admirers. "But it makes sense in others. Especially since I've got this history of playing these cowboys, Westerners, whatever you want to call them —these guys with principles. I've spent my life kind of doing the whole Western thing, and I'm blessed that I've had the opportunity. There were times when I thought, 'Boy, I'd like to get out of this box.' I don't feel that way anymore."

More can be read from the above link, but the full article is only available in print.

Al's Book Club, part of the NBC Today website, hosted a Q & A with Golden Compass author Philip Pullman, headlined "Pullman not promoting atheism in 'Golden Compass':

How do you respond to the claim that your books are anti-Catholic and promote atheism?
---Lyndsay Petersen, Parkersburg, Iowa

Hello, Lyndsay: In the world of the story — Lyra's world — there is a church that has acquired great political power, rather in the way that some religions in our world have done at various times, and still do (think of the Taliban in Afghanistan). My point is that religion is at its best — it does most good — when it is farthest away from political power, and that when it gets hold of the power to (for example) send armies to war or to condemn people to death, or to rule every aspect of our lives, it rapidly goes bad. Sometimes people think that if something is done in the name of faith or religion, it must be good. Unfortunately, that isn't true; some things done in the name of religion are very bad. That was what I was trying to describe in my story.

I think the qualities that the books celebrate are those such as kindness, love, courage and courtesy too. And intellectual curiosity. All these good things. And the qualities that the books attack are cold-heartedness, tyranny, close-mindedness, cruelty, the things that we all agree are bad things.

 

[ultimatedjf]

Finally saw the new trailer for this when I took my little sis to see Bee Movie. For some reason, she really wants to see this, despite the fact that I know she's confused as heck as to what they are talking about in the previews she's seen. I'm already sold on the movie, but I guess I'll see it first alone or with friends before deciding whether to take her to it or to wait to rent the DVD; she's seven so she gets easily scared / bored if she doesn't like what's going on onscreen. Thankfully there was none of that in Bee Movie, so I got to enjoy it without having to worry about her.

 

[ourchair]

Variety names Golden Compass cinematographer Henry Braham as one of 10 Cinematographers to Watch:

For Braham, the pic's major challenges sprung from its heavy reliance on visual effects. "Certain movies you can work on in near isolation," he says, "but this type of moviemaking has to be collaborative. And because it's a completely imaginary world, everything needs to be thought through and make sense, so that the audience isn't distracted by the way it looks, but rather excited by it."

The list includes Larry Fong (300, Watchmen), Eric Gautier (Into the Wild) and Alwin H. Kuchler (Sunshine). Click the above link for more.