«Movie: 2/5 Picture Quality: 3~4/5 Sound Quality: 4/5 Extras: 4/5»

Version: U.S.A / Region A
VC-1 BD-50
Running time: 1:53:17
Disc size: 48,426,421,480 bytes
Movie size: 25,958,633,472 bytes
Average Video Bit Rate: 22.63 Mbps
DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 24-bit

(BonusView) PiP Secondary Encode
VC-1
Movie size: 21,609,013,248
DTS 5.1 1509Kbps 24-bit

Contains moderate to heavy application of Digital Video Noise Reduction (DNR)

[Friday, August 29, 2008]

«Didn't read the book.... sorry»

I never heard of the books but then as far as i knew young Mr. Potter was all the rage. I had to give this film a pass when it first came out even though I wanted to see it. Life got in the way and many moons later I finally viewed the film on DVD, a rental to boot.
I have to say, I'm not sure why this film has so many mixed reviews when I, my wife and college age daughters all loved it.
Why? Because we did. We found the characters to be both complex and sympathetic. The story is very intriquing and well paced. I'm glad it was rated PG13 because it had a few rough spots (the polar bear warriors fighting was particularly savage). As I don't own this film (a problem I'll rectify soon) I have to forego with explicit descriptions and character's names since it has been a few weeks since we viewed the film. Despite that it left its mark on me. The young lady (Lyra?) was a treat. She was payed with just the right amount of precociousness and innocence as well as drive to make her the perfect foil for adults who disregard youth as simply precocious and naive. Her rescues, escapes and minor triumphs are all worthy of acclaim. Her friends (rescuers and defenders) may have their agendas but they also sincerely help her. The polar bear warrior king was (voiced by Ian McKellen) was perfect as her loyal protector with a history that needed to be resolved.
I've read the complaints about this film and was prepared for the worst. It's too bad their noise prevailed in making this film so unpopular.
Now, thanks to that rabble, I'll have to read the books to get to the finish of the tale. That's not so terrible but this franchise deserved better than it received at the box office. I'm sure the nay-sayers are delighted in their results.
As for the complaints that this film (and the books?) impugned "mother church", well, I saw no such evidence to validate those claims.
No surprise there.

[Thursday, August 28, 2008]

«A little disjointed.»

I watched this movie with no memory or knowledge of the controversy surrounding its release. Apparently both sides of the religion and free speech argument had plenty to say. I'm not here to stir that pot. Certainly the controversy precipitated a mediocre box office showing upon the film's release just before Christmas. Yet, the box office intake quadrupled once it hit the international scene, garnering over $360 million. Instead, I rented the DVD with only the knowledge that my wife and kids refused to watch. No matter, there are plenty of films they have self banned to include the Harry Potter series, and I had nothing else to watch on a Sunday afternoon while they were at church.

As the plot opens we are thrust into a fantasy world where our characters exist in a parallel universe. Their souls exist in the form of different kinds of animals called daemons and walk side by side with their human hosts throughout their lives. The kid's daemons can change shapes into different animals, but by the time they are adults the souls become one kind of animal. Our main character Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) is an orphan who is somewhat of a leader among her peers and challenges her friends, foes, and adults to get to the bottom of a mystery. Her child friends are being kidnapped by the "Gobblers" and taken to a far away place in the north. Her mission is to somehow find them and save them from whatever dark fate awaits them. At the start of her journey we meet her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) who is trying to prove the existence of "dust" which he believes exists in a parallel universe and enters a person's body through their daemon. Lord Asriel obtains funding from the College and proceeds north to prove his theory. Mean time Lyra his taken away from the college by Mrs. Coulter (Nichol Kidman) under the story of being her assistant. Lyra is a little wary of her new found supporter and before she leaves the college is given an alethiometer by the master of the college. The alethiometer, also called the Golden Compass, is an ancient device banned by the Magesterium, the ruling religious party, because it can be used to find the answer to any question as long as the user is skilled in the interpretation of the device. Confusing yet? Lyra escapes her would-be supporter and captor and enlists the services of many adults to include the Gyptians, a head witch, a Texan aeronaut (Sam Eliot), and an outcast armored polar bear as she heads north to solve the mystery and rescue her friends. The pace and sequence of this trek was at a minimum confusing and downright disjointed. I found myself wondering who edited this thing because the transitions from one plot line to the next were as if something important was left on the cutting room floor. For example, Lord Asriel is captured by some nasty tribes of the north and for nearly an hour of the flick we don't know his fate. Then suddenly a narrator says basically he's OK because he bribed his captors....what? The ending seemed absolutely abrupt, and apparently the original ending was deleted in order to bring it back as the start of a planned sequel. On the good side however, the special effects were excellent and garnered an Academy Award. The acting OK and predictable, especially the somewhat type cast antagonist Nichol Kidman and our rustic hero Sam Eliot. I'm thinking kids could probably follow this better than I and would be thoroughly entertained. We have a kid hero on a mission of mercy assisted by all her new found friends and she is the only one that can read the Golden Compass to keep everyone on track. I probably won't be buying this one, but it is certainly worth a watch...that is unless you have religious reservations.

[Wednesday, August 27, 2008]

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