December 2007 Archives

I saw The Golden Compass today and it was a lot of fun. I checked out the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes before seeing this movie and found it odd that some of the positive reviews were erroneously marked as negative reviews by the Fox-owned review aggregation site. (By contrast, some "rotten" reviews for the Chronicles of Narnia were erroneously marked as "fresh".)

In the majority of the legitimate negative reviews, the critics found the movie to be too fast-paced. After seeing the movie, I must say that I disagree with those professional critics. I found the story to be perfectly clear and perfectly paced. I have not read Northern Lights, but I appreciate the editing that took place to make a 2-hour movie because I don't have the patience to sit though 3-hour ordeals like the Lord of the Rings. I doubt that most children would have that kind of patience either.

I thought that the steampunk aesthetic was a nice touch that heightened the fanciful feel of the movie and I enjoyed the importance of female characters in the movie.

On the whole controversy about the anti-religious undertones in the movie, I don't see what the big deal is. If Christianity is infallible, Christians should not be so concerned about what undertones might cause believers to think. The irony in the boycott of this movie by some religious groups is that in doing so, they are acting out the role of the villains in the movie.

For me, one of the highlights of the movie was seeing BCE Place as the backdrop in one of the scenes.

The Canadian Expat job board features job openings from companies that hire Canadian professionals for jobs in the United States. From now until July 1st, 2008 (that's Canada Day!) you can post jobs for free on the Canadian Expat job board when you use the discount code, CANADA.