amalthya

I know livejournal is for whining, but while I wait for the final verdict on my apartment, I should share other news!

I've seen a couple movies lately. I know I wrote about Beowulf, but a bunch of us all went and saw The Golden Compass on Saturday (including grysar , dshadow , kamalloy  and Adam). Now, I know from the flist that others have despised it, even loathed it, but I gotta say: it was, at many times, enjoyable.

Firstly, the CG was AMAZING. With so many characters that were mostly graphical, I wasn't aware of any funny tennis-ball eye-ing, or lines around people riding giant bears. And I loved the depiction of the ice bears. Especially their little bear-hip-wiggle.

Acting was good! They seriously pulled out some A-list talent, and the girl playing Lyra was very enjoyable and believable, and Nicole Kidman's scary Barbie doll plasticity actually worked in her favor.

Loyalty to the book was good! In fact, I think it was _too_ good (see below)

They tried to pack EVERYTHING in! So that, to make a movie that fit into the timeframe, every line of dialogue had to be plot and exposition-laden.

"Hi, my name is Lyra. Did you know that I love the North, am precocious, love Ice Bears and will meet one very soon?"

"That's nice! I'm Billy Costa. I'm a ragamuffin and let's quickly discuss the gobblers because I'm about to get GOBBLED up!!"

Also, there were parts that were just downright BORING. They chose to keep pretty much all of the principle characters, so every 2 minutes, you're introduced to someone new and there's never time to actually get to know (or care) about any of them! Instead various deep character relations are just graced upon. Witch-snookering, Scoresby-knowing, Gypsy-dealings.

And what was with the gypsies anyway? It seemed like the only qualifier of a "Gyptian" was Copious Eyeliner. And I couldn't tell half of them apart.

I knew some things would be Hollywoodized. Of course Billy Costa wasn't going to die (onscreen). And most notably: I'd read previously that they filmed a new ending, despite having already shot the ending from the book. It was still shocking to see a cheesy sunset-end to the movie, but I sort of knew it was coming.

Supposedly, they will add that scene to the beginning of the next movie. Which... I guess... is right. If they make another movie. It does make me sad that people are saying the movie "tanked." I feel like it somehow disparages the books too.

Long story short -- I enjoyed it. The parts that were good were *really* good and swept me away. And the parts that were maddening or slow or maddeningly slow were still pretty to look at. The intercission scene was a traumatic for me as it had been in the book.

I wonder if I'd seen it with people who hated it more whether I'd have more to complain about but really, I might see it again and I'll definitely get the DVD.

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I've done most of my Christmas shopping. It's funny, but I have gifts for people sitting around my house that I got so long ago, and I'm not really sure what to do with them.  I'm keen to start celebrating Christmas properly.  After having a dream about finding a Messiah score on the street, I think I need to go and sing it (which rosefox and I plan to do on Friday after my exam!)

I have tons to do, and will probably pull another all nighter tonight. If I wonder why no one comments anymore, it's probably because I've become so depressing and overworked!  Bah!

To prove that I am still fun, feel free to enjoy my winter wonderland, courtesy of Peter the Penguin.  And, if you need even more Wintry Fun, there's also Ice Skating in Columbia, MD!

Now, off to festive E3B Departmental Fun and Food