Yeah, I can see it. Good one!
Of course, it makes perfect sense, since Luce was a pretty gung-ho Catholic . . .
Posted on 12/06/2007 4:02:42 AM PST by jimbo123
ANTI-CHURCH MOVIE REVIEW
‘NARNIA’ KNOCKOFF WAY OFF COURSE
FIVE minutes before “The Golden Compass" started, I was wondering when it was going to start. Forty minutes into it, I was wondering exactly the same thing.
“The Golden Compass," a sort of “The Empire Strikes Harry Potter of the Caribbean," only with giant polar bears wearing suits of armor and punching each other in the face, reminded me why I stopped reading sci-fi and fantasy when I was 15. It was the nouns. “Hark thee, my fair Stenerud, and wield well this ancient benirschke. Journeyest then to the plain of Septien, and unleash these yepremians with the longbow of Herrera . . . "
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Sorting all this out yields a clanking allegory (Church bad; secular skepticism good) that sucks all the fun away while much more enticing-looking stuff - fanciful zeppelin docks and mysterious pirate ships - hovers frustratingly in the background.
Plus is makes people dress up in "star fleet" uniforms, speak kling-on, carry around pretend phasers, light sabres, or whatever the case may be, and become left wing lunatics who believe in such things as "global warming", vast right wing conspiracy theories, and "big oil" that goes around suppressing technology that can generate "free" electricity.
Best three-word capsule summary: “Chronicles of Yawnia.”
You can interpolate "I stopped reading BAD sci-fi and fantasy when I was 15. It was the nouns." It is a problem that most sci-fi/fan authors have to get over. I remember a review of one of Sherri Tepper's True Game books where the reviewer said that he usually put a book down straightway when something called a "Gamesmaster" appeared on the second page. In that case, it would have been a mistake to put down the book, but often it's a good idea.
Think the worst of Marion Zimmer Bradley. It's not just the goofy nouns . . . it's the preachiness. Kills enjoyment stone cold dead.
Much of it, like much of fantasy, is trash. Some is entertaining trash, but trash nonetheless. The nouns are just as bad in sci-fi anyhow, they just tend to the technical rather than the portentiously medieval. (Some of the really talented ones, like Dickson, can manage both at once.)
Too true. I always found the adjectives more off-putting.
(But then I’m still reading it 30 years after turning 15.)
When John Campbell died, do did real science fiction.
It’s kind of neat that the evil villain-lady is called Coulter. But otherwise, I’m glad it’s a tired and confusing film.
Another flop for Nicole Kidman? We’ll see. As I said on other threads (re boycotting The Golden Compass) if a movie is poorly written, directed, acted (special effects notwithstanding) it will tank. Look for Golden Compass product tie ins at a Dollor Store near you...
I think Kyle has a point. Somewhere along the line, publishers started pushing this fantasy sword and sorcery crap as sci-fi. It’s not. It’s fantasy crap with made-up words masquerading as nouns. I enjoy reading good sci-fi - space travel, time travel, alien creatures - things like that. When you get to flying dragons and mysterious glowing orbs, that’s fantasy. And the only sword and sorcery fantasy I ever liked were the Robert E. Howard Conan stories.
Thank ye, but nay. I'll keep to my abode and verily miss thee when thou comest to DVD.
LOL!
Great review. Nicole Kidman looks more like she's playing Clare Booth Luce, though. Dang, she's gotten skinny! Maybe she's taken up heavy drinking to make Keith Urban feel better.
Great reply! LOL!
This is nothing more than a thinly veiled Michael Newdow-style attempt to eradicate God in the culture. It should be about as successful as Air America.
I can’t remember the last Nicole Kidman movie that anyone actually went to. She’s made one flop after another.
Yeah, I can see it. Good one!
Of course, it makes perfect sense, since Luce was a pretty gung-ho Catholic . . .
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