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Moriarty Struggles To Catch Up On Reviews! MARGOT! COMPASS! DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY!

Thank you, Mori, for the first nonpoliticized Golden Compass by CreasyBear	Dec 21st, 2007 06:31:51 AM
review I've seen. See reviewers, you CAN critique this movie on its merits and shortcomings, without using the words "atheist", "religious right", or "boycott".
where's the Rambo review! by theycallmemrglass	Dec 21st, 2007 06:43:37 AM
I cant believe he saw Rambo and just mentions it without much ado....
The Golden... by travis-dane	Dec 21st, 2007 06:43:40 AM
is it really that bad?How can you waste such a great cast?Damn shame!
I saw Golden Compass 2 days ago and sadly agree by theycallmemrglass	Dec 21st, 2007 06:54:35 AM
I love the epic story told as a trilogy in Pullman's books. I even saw a dramatic 6 hour Stage production (seperated in 2 parts) of the whole trilogy at the National Film theatre in London. It was an amazing production and well exucted narrative. Lee Scoresby was one of the characters to be cut but thats because Sam Elliott was not available no doubt! You wont believe this but Lord Asrial was played by Timothy Dalton (yep, another Bond guy!). The play was done beatifully and felt more human than even the books. That is where the theatre version can easily outshine a £200 million movie. The focus is always on the human drama on stage where as the movie wants you to ogle more at the effects. I totally agree with Moriarty in how the disconnected we are from the human charaters on screen. It is so ironic that the movie is largely about Daemons, ie souls, yet the movie itself completely lacks that soul and heart. I hope that there will still be the sequels and that they will address that lack of soul in the movie.
Trsvis-dane - its still worth watching but it falls very short o by theycallmemrglass	Dec 21st, 2007 07:01:38 AM
Highlights are, The whole polar bear story (which is too rushed), the beautiful revealing of Lyra's world, Mrs Coultier (Kidman), Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), Sarafina Pakkata (Eva green), the witches in battle are the most elegant warriors you will ever see. On reflection the Golden Compass is a feast for the eyes. Its just a shame about its narrative structure and lack of heart and soul.
Saw Margot at the Wedding the other day... by DanielKurland	Dec 21st, 2007 08:32:32 AM
Big Baumbach fan, and I did enjoy it, and I agree that Kidman plays an absolutely terrible character, and does it very well. I did kind of feel unfulfilled as the movie does tread water towards the end, but the dialogue is painfully real, and great performances all around. I guess I was hoping for a "bigger" ending, in spite of how that's not what the film is about at all. It's probably something I should see again, but in the end, I was "affected" by it, and it made em a lot more thankful for the good friends I do have, and wanting to be a better person.
Could not give a shit by Internet Thug	Dec 21st, 2007 08:49:05 AM
about any of these movies. How about reviewing something people on this site might like to watch? TIA
Internet Thug, Don't Be A Douche! by raw_bean	Dec 21st, 2007 08:56:04 AM
Seriously.
Sequel to Golden Compass by critch	Dec 21st, 2007 09:04:05 AM
"I hope that there will still be the sequels and that they will address that lack of soul in the movie." Good luck, GC flopped so hard that it sent New Line begging at Peter Jackson's door. It's no coincidence that barely 2 weeks after the release that Hobbit information gets pushed out. New Line got smacked down at the unholy altar of Alvin and the Chipmunks.
Internet Thug by RodneyOz	Dec 21st, 2007 09:34:08 AM
I have come to this site every day for nearly ten years and I am interested in all three films reviewed here. Trolling is SO last year.
GOLDEN COMPASS by lecter1914	Dec 21st, 2007 09:35:56 AM
It wasnt bad to me, it just kinda felt like the cliff's notes of the book. It was like a bunch or related clips strung together posing as a movie. I didnt feel Lyra was too passive in the film. In fact, I was thinking about how cool she was during the film, especially when she dismantled Bolvanger. I actually think they made her more likeable here than in the books where she just came off as really bratty. I hated teh fact that everythign felt so rushed though. I saw teh film with two people who hadnt read teh books and neither one of them really got the film. I really hated the fact that although the daemons were prevalent, it was kinda glossed over how important they were to the humans. When Billy Costa was found without his daemon..he just looked like someone who was really cold as opposed to someone whos soul had been taken away from him.
Exposition: The Major Motion Picture by Saluki	Dec 21st, 2007 09:51:40 AM
At least 70% of The Golden Compass was just people talking about exposition. This means THAT, he did that (off screen!). Ugh. It starts out as such, and just doesn't stop. Haven't a clue about these flying witches, or half the decisions Lyra makes (why didn't she wait for her Polar Bear friend? How did he, a big fat polar bear, expect to cross the chasm!?) Weitz needs to stay the hell away from anything with a pulse, and New Line should sell this off to some foreign company who will end the series on a budget.
U2-3D by DKT	Dec 21st, 2007 10:36:23 AM
How was it? (I'm a big fan).
Diving-Bell... by mymonkeysnameisjennifer	Dec 21st, 2007 11:39:24 AM
I seriously need to see this film, the book had a major effect on me when i first read and I'm so glad to hear they seem to have done it justice. And that's not me trying to be a film snob, I love my dumb summer films too, but there's room to love both.
Diving-Bell/Butterfly by CarmillaVonDoom	Dec 21st, 2007 12:26:20 PM
This movie sounds so boring, I literally haven't been able to read a full REVIEW of it.
HELLO!? Why GOlden Compass REALLY did badly and why no one at AI by ViktorBC	Dec 21st, 2007 12:49:26 PM
Seriously, I know I am going to get tarred and feathered for this, but, Harry is a hippy. Sorry. Most everyone at AICN is a liberal. Compass was an anti-Christian movie and 86% of the US is Christian with traditional, conservative values. That's is why the movie bombed. That is why GI Joe is going to bomb. That's why Superman Returns bombed. Hollywoon need to wake up and smell the family values.
It was a fantastic novel by mukhtabi	Dec 21st, 2007 01:01:30 PM
But as with all great works, you have to have the stamina to sit through it. So I can see why mymonkeysnameisjennifer would be disinterested. Personally I love the story so very deeply cathartic and look forward to watching that film.
RodneyOz by Internet Thug	Dec 21st, 2007 02:44:59 PM
than you must be a 40 year old minivan mom.
I found Lyra more passive in the sequels by Drath	Dec 21st, 2007 03:16:29 PM
Well particularly the third book, where most of everything worth seeing at all was done by other characters. It's like if you had Frodo and Sam just kind of wandering through Mordor in Lord of the Rings WITHOUT their mission or any of the story with Gollum. In the end Lyra and Will are supposed to be important, they are Adam and Eve in this retelling of Paradise Lost (Will is introduced in the next book BTW), but it's hard to give a damn about them as we build up to their disturbing underage sex. Lyra had a more relatable purpose in the first book--to save Roger--and the movie kind of treated that like an afterthought that she only acted on because her trip with Mrs. Coulter turned sour. My audience cheered when she destroyed the cutting machine, but to be honest I felt that machine's scariness wasn't very well established unless you'd read the book.
Margot at the Wedding by Horace Cox	Dec 21st, 2007 03:45:24 PM
Worth seeing just for the brief scene of Nicole Kidman masturbating. Yummy!
I loved COMPASS and DUNE by CherryValance	Dec 21st, 2007 06:01:52 PM
whoops
Will and Lyra don't necessarily have sex by BobPalpatine	Dec 22nd, 2007 01:56:59 AM
Go back and read the passage - it never says they have sex. I'll concede that it looks like they were rounding the bases.
I don't think the box office failure of GC had as much to do wit by BobPalpatine	Dec 22nd, 2007 01:59:51 AM
family values. Certainly a family movie will be hurt by the bad word of mouth, but the real reason it bombed is it was incoherent, uninvolving, and unlike the books - not very unique. It'd be nice to take a break from these type of movies until Hobbit comes out.
Hey Moriarty... by DoctorWho?	Dec 22nd, 2007 08:07:14 AM
Your a guy "in the know"...are you hearing any buzz about a potential ELRIC OF MELNIBONE project in the works? Or were you just using that as an example. Just curious. Your reviews are always my first stop here on AICN btw.
Yeah! Where is the National Treasure Review??? by ViktorBC	Dec 24th, 2007 08:28:07 PM
It was a great movie! I liked it better than the 1st one. How come it wasn't reviewed? Vince
I do find myself agreeing with a lot of the reviews lately by Trader Groucho 2	Dec 25th, 2007 02:49:00 AM
Haven't seen the other two yet, but I agree with Mori about Golden Compass. The heavy exposition seriously weighed this film down. Perhaps a better approach would have been to take Wes Anderson's idea of a short film on the Intertubes as a "prequel" to the feature at the gigaplex a step further. If Weitz had done up a 15-20 minute short packed with exposition, told everyone it was exposition and would be entirely necessary to get the film if you haven't read the books, then made a film that assumed the audience had already either read the books or seen the short, the film could have been shorter, tauter, and generally more watchable.
Viktor - Fundie Xian grps attacked Harry Potter and by Trader Groucho 2	Dec 25th, 2007 02:52:03 AM
Rowling rode her broom (backwards, according to some witches who think they know better) straight to the bank. Maybe GC was just one of those unfortunate creative misfires, as Mori pointed out.

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Moriarty Struggles To Catch Up On Reviews! MARGOT! COMPASS! DIVING BELL & THE BUTTERFLY!

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