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Reviews
The Golden Compass (2007)
The Fools Golden Compass
After reading the reviews for this film, I was expecting to hate the film after spending the summer reading the trilogy. The whole atheism thing that many annoying people have been talking about was watered down, and even in the books it was on the side. The film's main problem was that the books were always about the message that was conveyed in Pullman's writing and narrative flow. The narrative was disrupted by the screenwriter trying to keep the film to around 2 hours long, which is not what it deserves.
Also because of this the film become unmemorable and slightly boring. This wasn't helped by the fact that in some places it was obvious that Dakota Blue Richards had been through too many takes and her acting was as if she was just reading from the script.
Another problem that faces the next film is that it will be too long and the last 4 chapters of the Subtle Knife will have to be cut out so the ending from the Northern Lights will be at the beginning. This choice of playing around with the book was not a good choice by Chris Weitz because a lot of people have read the book and were obviously going to be angered by this 'wishy-washy' version of a great story.
What was good about the film? Well the CGI, although very obvious, especially with the bears, was competent and aided the narrative. The professional actors; Sam Elliot, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, lit up what could have been a very poor film and turned it into an OK film that had moments that could go down in cinematic history.
The film stands up very well to the other blockbusters currently around, and if you have already seen Enchanted then Golden Compass is the next family film to see this year and will get you through to the next set of blockbusters, chief among which is Will Smith's I Am Legend
Alien Autopsy (2006)
The Magic of the Geordies
I was impressed by the ease of Ant and Dec when they were able to step in to the roles. Both added extra comments in scenes of conversation that you don't see (or hear) in major films today which make it seem like realistic conversations.
Before watching this film I saw a documentary with Eamonn Holmes about the story of the real hoax and you were able to see that the writers of the film had to make the film more interesting because it would have been extremely boring. The Hungarian gangster was added because Ray and Gary had to collect money over a few years after the USA visit. Also if you think about it, the fake cameramen who did the interview could be the real cameraman and the Harry Dean Stanton character could be based on a fake.
I can't believe that this movie is so underrated because it is both a British feel good comedy and leaves you thinking at the end whether the footage is another hoax or real proof of alien life. The people who have added negative comment on this film are being fickle because they are philistines who prefer Hollywood films and can't watch a film with no special effects or actors who have been in other big films.