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in The Golden Compass
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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