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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 13, 2007)
!24 #).%-!3 ,HZ[[O BY MOLLY TEMPLETON Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) and Iorek (the voice of Ian McKellen) look to the skies in The Golden Compass 6WDUWV )ULGD\ O[[W!IPQV\JPULTHZJVT /Q^M*QRW]/QN \+MZ \QNQKI\M[ H H NWZ\PM0WTQLIa[ ´,QYHQWLYHDQGYHU\XQXVXDODFFRXQWRIWKHOLIH DQGWLPHVRI%RE'\ODQµ 'LUHFWHGE\7RGG+D\QHV &KULVWLDQ%DOH&DWH%ODQFKHWW ,¶01277+(5( 5 1LJKWO\6DW 6XQ0DW )URPSURGXFHU0RUJDQ6SXUORFN 683(56,=(0( ´$ZLFNHGO\HIIHFWLYHLQGLFWPHQWRI$PHULFD VFRQVXPHU FRPSXOVLRQRXUPLQGOHVVVKRSSLQJDQGWKHPXOWLQDWLRQDO FRUSRUDWLRQVFRQWUROOLQJLWDOOµ ³-HVVLFD5HDYHV&KLFDJR7ULEXQH BSL_BZ`WO5P^`^-`d* 1LJKWO\6XQ0DW 3* 1H[WZHHN520$1&($1'&,*$5(77(6 3KLOLS6H\PRXU+RIIPDQ(WKDQ+DZNH O ILQD N ZHH 1LJKWO\6DW0DW 5 1H[WZHHN0$5*27$77+(:('',1* %,-28/$7(1,7( )5,'$<6$7 ´7KLVLPSHFFDEO HGFRPHG\KRUURU ILOPHFKRHV$Q \ILOP ULFDQ :HUHZROILQ /RQGRQDQGHDU $PH O\6DP5DLPLDQ G3HWHU -DFNVRQEXWLWKDVLWV RZQXQLTXHHQHUJ\ DQGLW VDPXVWVHHµ %/$&.6+((3 85' $< 681 '$< 1V+WVKMZ\4I\M6Q\M;-) ;76 *96:)@:;033: 5(:/ @6<5. -LH[\YLZ*:5@MYV T:LW[LTILY >LTISL`:[HKP \T 3VUKVU)LOVSK[OL IHUKH[[OLPY 7,(2ILMVYLHTHZZP ]L ,UNSPZOH\KPLUJL7Y ]PKLVYHaVYZOHY V:OV[ ;6),40::,+ WZV\UK56; IULVDW VXQ I AM LEGEND PG13 11:10*(EXCEPT SAT 12/15), 12:25, 1:10, 2:00, 3:25, 4:00, 4:50, 6:15, 7:15, 7:40, 9:05, 10:05, 10:45 ALVIN AND THE CHIP- MUNKS PG 11:45, 1:00, 2:15, 3:30, 4:45, 5:50, 7:15, 8:15, 9:45, 10:40 THIS CHRISTMAS PG13 1:15, 4:10, 7:05, 10:00 THE GOLDEN COMPASS PG13 11:35, 12:35, 1:35, 2:35, 3:35, 4:35, 5:35, 6:35, 7:35, 8:35, 9:35, 10:35 ENCHANTED PG 11:25, 1:30, 2:10, 4:15, 5:05, 7:00, 7:45, 9:50, 10:30 METROPOLITAN OPERA: ROMEO ET JULIETTE NR CELINE DION CONCERT NR ONLY ON MON 12/17 AT 7:30 PM HITMAN R 7:50, 10:35 AUGUST RUSH PG 1:50, 4:30, 7:50, 10:25 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN R 1:45*(EXCEPT SAT 12/15 & SUN 12/16), 4:40, 7:40* (EXCEPT MON 12/17), 10:45 THE MIST R 12:30, 3:20, 7:10, 10:15 BEOWULF PG13 11:15, 2:05, 4:55, 7:45, 10:40 MR MAGORIUM’S WON- DER EMPORIUM G 12:00, 2:25, 5:00 BEE MOVIE PG 11:30, 1:55, 4:25, 7:00, 9:35 ONLY ON SAT 12/15 AT 10 AM, ENCORE ON SUN 12/16 AT 12 PM Compass Points IULVDW VXQ RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION R [12:30] 2:45, 5:05, 7:40, 10:10 AMERICAN GANGSTER R [12:00] 3:40, 7:00, 10:20 SUPERBAD R [12:45] 4:10, 7:20, 10:00 MARTIAN CHILD PG [1:05] 4:25, 7:35, 10:30 3:10 TO YUMA R [1:00] 4:05, 7:15, 9:55 UNDERDOG PG [12:20] 2:30, 4:40, 6:55, 9:30 A DOZEN ANSWERS TO THIS QUESTION: STARDUST PG13 [12:55] 4:00, 6:50, 10:15 HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX PG13 [12:50], 3:55, 7:05, 10:05 THE BOURNE ULTIMA- TUM PG13 [12:35] 4:15, 7:25, 10:25 RATATOUILLE G [12:40] 4:30, 7:10, 9:50 GOOD LUCK CHUCK R [12:15] 2:35, 5:00, 7:45, 10:35 DRAGON WARS PG13 [12:25] 2:40, 4:50, 7:30, 9:45 I FRIDAY, DEC. 14 TH • 11:50 AM Adv. Tix on Sale NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) ★ DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB Adv. Tix on Sale HANNAH MONTANA CONCERT 3D (NR) ★ I AM LEGEND (PG-13) ★ (1105 1135 1215 140 210 355 425 455) $3 admission • Free to City Club Members 640 710 740 925 955 1025 485-7433 www.cityclubofeugene.org ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (PG) (1145 1210 205 235 435 505) 700 730 920 950 THIS CHRISTMAS (PG-13) (1220 420) 720 1010 THE GOLDEN COMPASS (PG-13) ★ (1100 1130 145 215 430 500) 715 745 1000 1030 OC & DA: HITMAN (R) - ID REQ'D AUGUST RUSH (PG) 940 PM (1155 350) 645 945 ENCHANTED (PG) (1100 135 410) 650 930 BEOWULF DIGITAL 3D - $2.50 FEE FOR 3D (PG-13) (1110 155 445) 735 1015 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (R) - ID REQ'D(1200 415) 725 1020 FRED CLAUS (PG) (1205 405) 655 AMERICAN GANGSTER (R) - ID REQ'D DAN IN REAL LIFE (PG-13) (1125 300) 635 1005 (1120 200 440) 705 935 Adv. Tix on Sale NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) ★ ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS (PG) I AM LEGEND (PG-13) ★ (1155 215 450) 720 935 (1105 1145 140 230 420 505) 700 740 940 1015 THE GOLDEN COMPASS (PG-13) ★ THIS CHRISTMAS (PG-13) Calendars MOrnaments M c ards (1110 150 430) 710 950 (125 405) 645 925 ENCHANTED (PG) (1150 220 455) 730 1000 FRED CLAUS (PG) (1100 135 410) 650 930 Adv. Tix on Sale NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS (PG) ★ Holiday Hours: daily 10-6 +7 Th,Fri,Sat G REATER G OODS 515 HIGH 541.485.4224 EUGENE www . g reater g oods online . com 38 DECEMBER 13, 2007 THE GOLDEN COMPASS: Written and directed by Chris Weitz. Based on the novel by Philip Pullman. Cinematography, Henry Braham. Production design, Dennis Gassner. Music, Alexandre Desplat. Starring Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman, Sam Elliott, Daniel Craig, Eva Green and the voices of Ian McKellen, Ian McShane and Freddie Highmore. New Line Cinema, 2007. PG-13. 113 min- utes. 44411 [ ] FRIDAY THRU SUNDAY ONLY If you could give the comminity any gift, what would you give and why? Hurrying through a magical world THIS CHRISTMAS (PG-13) (1130 205 440) 715 950 I'M NOT THERE (R) - ID REQ'D (1230 330) 640 930 LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (R) - ID REQ'D (1220 320) 630 920 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (R) - ID REQ'D (1110 150 430) 710 950 Times For 12/14 - 12/16 ©2007 t gives me not even the tiniest spark of pleasure to have to report that other critics were, for the most part, right about The Golden Compass, director Chris Weitz’ adaptation of Philip Pullman’s mag- ical book, the first of a trilogy that explores the nature of destiny and the power of con- nection. The film, which I’ve been anxious- ly excited about for years, is a bit of a mess — a beautiful mess, at least, but an untidy tangle of the ideas of Pullman as interpret- ed by Weitz, set to an overwhelming score and then lined up and knocked over scene by scene like fantastical dominos. It’s always difficult to see an adaptation of a beloved book without counting the ways in which the film differs, but with The Golden Compass, the problem isn’t really the changes, illogical as some of them seem. It’s that the film hops, skips and jumps through the story, failing to con- nect one set piece of a scene to the next, its characters repeatedly making unlikely leaps of intuition in order to move the plot along. And it moves along at quite a clip, in a hurry to get from Jordan College, where 12-year-old orphan Lyra Belacqua (a per- fect, spunky Dakota Blue Richards) lives, to the snowy fields of the north, where ice bears battle and the Gobblers, a mysterious group of child-stealers backed by the world’s ruling body, the Magisterium, do their horrible work. In Lyra’s young hands rests the fate of worlds. That fate involves Dust, a mysteri- ous particle feared and sought by the adults around her, including her gruff uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), and the devious Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman, slithering about in icy gold and white). Dust, Lyra guesses, has something to do with why people’s dae- mons — exterior manifestations of the soul that take the shape of animal companions — change forms when people are children, but settle on one form when they grow up. Dust also has something to do with the alethiometer, the compass-like device of the title, which is given to Lyra to under- stand and protect as she ventures north, in search of her missing friend Roger (Ben Walker) and of Asriel, who’s searching out Dust in the Arctic. One of the filmmakers’ best decisions was to let us see, through shifting, glow- ing Dust, what Lyra sees when she reads the alethiometer. But a poor decision was to let it appear just a pretty, handy gizmo, easily understood, and to fail to flesh out characters who appear just pretty, interest- ing variations on fantasy tropes. We’ve got witches, ethereal and earthy at once; cowboys, in the form of aeronaut Lee Scoresby (casting Sam Elliott in this role was a bit of brilliance); scholars; gyptians, with eyeliner and tattoos; adventurers; and, of course, talking animals, though those — both daemons and armored bears — are lovingly created and often seam- lessly integrated into this fantastical yet familiar world. There are reasons to see this film even though it lacks the wonder and intelligence of its source material. The perfect, spine- tingling image of Lyra riding the armored bear Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen) is worth the price of admission, and the two battles are unforgettable: one because it’s between two armored bears, the other because while it’s as bloodless as a battle in Narnia, it’s not without effect: When people are killed, their daemons go out in a golden swirl of Dust. It’s a striking, original way to present the horrors of violence. For these reasons and one other, I want to tell you to go see The Golden Compass despite its fail- ings. See, I still want them to make the next movie, and the third. I want Weitz, who was clearly overwhelmed by the scope of this film, to hand over The Subtle Knife, book two, to someone who can handle it, so that it might appear on screen with more weight and heart. The Golden Compass’ mislead- ingly happy ending simply can’t be the last bit of Lyra’s story we see. ew
