His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass (Chris Weitz, 2007)

[John Cope]

The official trailer is now up.

It looks good enough I suppose, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only director I can conceive of who could have done justice to these books is Peter Greenaway. His aesthetic is dead on. I fear this will just be more of the same old family friendly fantasy hogwash, though why I ever thought otherwise is beyond me.

[Barmy]

That linkage to LotR is a bit shameless. The first half of the trailer looks like a cartoon. That polar bear "talking" is a hoot. Looks a bit chick-flicky.

[Antoine Doinel]

Check out the Comic Con Preview here. It looks like I'll be checking this one out. Hopefully this trilogy will make me care enough to watch all three parts. I gave up on LOTR after the second film. I just couldn't muster up the energy to put in four more hours to see how it ended.

[Barmy]

The monkey died.

[malcolm1980]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the only director I can conceive of who could have done justice to these books is Peter Greenaway. His aesthetic is dead on. I fear this will just be more of the same old family friendly fantasy hogwash

Peter Greenaway's style won't exactly endear itself to the kiddies.

Hmmm. I wonder if they'll adapt the other books since they are decidedly anti-organized religion. These movies will be very expensive. Alienating a huge chunk of the audience won't be a good idea.

[domino harvey]

I imagine these films have to be at least partially funded/envisioned for British audiences, because I can't see the anti-clerical message playing too well in the States.

[John Cope]

Here's a recent New York Times piece on the movie. I'll also post it here below as links to NYT articles tend to expire quickly.

[quote]Fate of the Cosmos (and of a Studio) Hangs in the Balance

By MICHAEL CIEPLY
Published: August 30, 2007
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 — Not since Dorothy landed on the witch has a young girl shouldered quite so many worries as 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua.


The fate of the universe, certainly. A movie budget of $180 million, at least. The future course of New Line Cinema, perhaps.

For the last year New Line has been wrestling with its London-based production of “The Golden Compass,â€

[Mr Sausage]

On another note, one thing I continue to find fascinating is that some of the very best theology and religious writing today is coming out of the UK and Canada, places considered totally areligious.

When did Canada become "a-religious," let alone "totally" so?

[John Cope]

Well, clearly it isn't, that's my point. However, it is true that one might be convinced otherwise if he were to rely solely upon the dominant rhetoric here in the States.

[colinr0380]

When did Canada become "a-religious," let alone "totally" so?

When all the English emigrated there!

But I understand John Cope's point. While the UK isn't exactly areligious it seems as if, from my limited understanding, calling yourself a member of the Church of England (C of E) allows people to 'get around' the question of religion, suggesting a generally Christian belief without exactly being a full-fledged church going Christian with attendant absolute investment in that particular belief structure (and it is an easy non-commital response to make if someone questions you about your religion!). The term allows a wider range of responses than saying you are a Christian, from being a regular church goer to someone who has never set foot in a church but holds general religious beliefs to someone who might be completely 'areligious' but doesn't want to rock the boat and come out as a fully fledged atheist! - and saying your religion is C of E is also obviously deeply tied in to notions of national as well as religious identity. (For the record I'd consider myself atheist (but fascinated about the way belief systems are created and are used), but would probably put religion as C of E on a census form for a quiet life and so I don't end up on any government database of godless heathens!)

It seems as if not being tied to a particular religion allows for more consideration about the larger meaning behind the rituals which is more difficult when religion has a much stronger influence on people's lives and the culture of a country. If you are having in some ways to 'defend' your particular religious identity before you can even start considering some of the larger theological questions it can prevent people from taking a step back and looking at these ideas from a more impartial perspective.

For example it seems that the US is a much more Christian country than Britain, at least from watching a show like The Simpsons. The Simpsons family, although they tease the Flanders as being God-obsessed, if based in Britain would probably never even discuss religion. Yet the number of episodes of that show that discuss religious issues and show the family as regular churchgoers perhaps show how it plays a significant role in even the lives of people who wouldn't necessarily consider themselves the most religious of people. Also other character's religions are treated as important character traits - from Krusty the Clown to Apu, which might suggest how a strong religious identity can create a barrier between people who don't hold the same affiliation. However I should be wary of suggesting what I've seen in a television programme should be applied to real people in a real country, but it might suggest a slight difference in thinking. American politicians certainly seem to invoke the name of God in their debates and speeches in a way that would be political suicide if done over here!

[Gropius]

For the record I'd consider myself atheist... but would probably put religion as C of E on a census form for a quiet life and so I don't end up on any government database of godless heathens!

? - This isn't the nineteenth century. Richard Dawkins is given a prime-time TV slot. Less than 1% of the British population attends C of E churches on a weekly basis. Its decline has been inexorable, 30% down from even 20 years ago. Other forms of mysticism admittedly prevail, but the only religion the government is interested in is that of the market.

[Antoine Doinel]

New trailer.

At three minutes long, the studio seems desperate to make those who haven't read the novels (ie. me) understand everything before going in. Despite the sledgehammer effect, the casting looks strong (Sam Shepard? Nice.), and the film definitely looks like a lot of fun.

[domino harvey]

New trailer.

At three minutes long, the studio seems desperate to make those who haven't read the novels (ie. me) understand everything before going in. Despite the sledgehammer effect, the casting looks strong (Sam Shepard? Nice.), and the film definitely looks like a lot of fun.

I got very interested and watched the trailer and it was when Sam Elliott appeared that I came crashing back to reality.

[Antoine Doinel]

Despite the sledgehammer effect, the casting looks strong (Sam Shepard? Nice.)

I got very interested and watched the trailer and it was not Sam Elliott appeared that I came crashing back to reality.

I always get those two confused...

[hot_locket]

:I always get those two confused...

I haven't seen the trailer, but I read your post and thought of Sam Elliott, too

[Antoine Doinel]

From IMDB:

Catholic League Protests 'Golden Compass'

Two months before the scheduled release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, the Catholic League has launched an all-out assault on the fantasy film. The League, the largest Catholic lay organization in the U.S., has produced a 25-page pamphlet, titled "The Golden Compass: Unmasked," that it is selling on its website for $5.00 per copy, which damns the film as a pernicious effort to indoctrinate children into atheistic beliefs. Acknowledging that the film itself is unlikely to contain offensive material, Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement, "If unsuspecting Christian parents take their children to see the movie, they may very well find it engaging and then buy Pullman's books for Christmas. That's the problem. We are fighting a deceitful stealth campaign on the part of the film's producers." Pullman has acknowledged his anti-religious stance but critics have said that his books present little that is likely to offend believers. Stephen Whitty, critic for the Newark, NJ Star Ledger wrote Thursday that he had read C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, which contain Christian imagery while attending a Catholic parochial school as a child and later read them to his Jewish children. "But that doesn't mean that any of us accepted Lewis's Northern-Irish Protestantism as our own faith. ... I know, for example, that when my children saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe they saw absolutely no obvious Christian imagery in it. I am sure that, when we go to see The Golden Compass, they'll see no atheistic agenda either."

[Mr Sausage]

From IMDB:

Catholic League Protests 'Golden Compass'

Two months before the scheduled release of New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass, the Catholic League has launched an all-out assault on the fantasy film. The League, the largest Catholic lay organization in the U.S., has produced a 25-page pamphlet, titled "The Golden Compass: Unmasked," that it is selling on its website for $5.00 per copy, which damns the film as a pernicious effort to indoctrinate children into atheistic beliefs. Acknowledging that the film itself is unlikely to contain offensive material, Catholic League President Bill Donohue said in a statement, "If unsuspecting Christian parents take their children to see the movie, they may very well find it engaging and then buy Pullman's books for Christmas. That's the problem. We are fighting a deceitful stealth campaign on the part of the film's producers." Pullman has acknowledged his anti-religious stance but critics have said that his books present little that is likely to offend believers. Stephen Whitty, critic for the Newark, NJ Star Ledger wrote Thursday that he had read C.S. Lewis' Narnia books, which contain Christian imagery while attending a Catholic parochial school as a child and later read them to his Jewish children. "But that doesn't mean that any of us accepted Lewis's Northern-Irish Protestantism as our own faith. ... I know, for example, that when my children saw The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe they saw absolutely no obvious Christian imagery in it. I am sure that, when we go to see The Golden Compass, they'll see no atheistic agenda either."

We can now expect this film's box-office to double.

[John Cope]

The full version of Hanna Rosin's Atlantic Monthly piece.

[domino harvey]

not quite 1 Million Strong yet

[tavernier]

What's your log-in password, Domino?

[domino harvey]

For those without a Facebook account, it's a group similar to other "1 Million Strong For ______" groups, "1 Million Strong Against 'The Golden Compass,'" except this group so far has fallen short of the goal by 999,066 members.

Last message posted on their group: "Don't Be Discouraged"

[Antoine Doinel]

This school board in Ontario might be interested in joining that Facebook group.

[Mr Sausage]

This school board in Ontario might be interested in joining that Facebook group.

For a moment I thought my province had suddenly seceded in favour of the States. Then I read that it was a Catholic school board, which makes it quite a bit less shocking.

Doesn't this kind of thing look very bad for a religion, that the only way to make sure your beliefs are palatable is to suppress reasonable debate altogether? If your religion is Truth incarnate, shouldn't said Truth be strong enough to overcome its opposite without your help? Ah, but I'm making the mistake of approaching this issue reasonably.

[John Bored]

I think it's more a matter of parents not wanting their kids to build the foundation of their existence off of a line of children's novels.

[Antoine Doinel]

Though one could argue the Bible is somewhat of children's novel as well.