Kevin's Watch

New film adaptation of the first novel of Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" is due out in December.

Trailer

This is one fantasy series that for some reason I never read (I will before the movie comes out though). I think it looks very good! Maybe some of the readers of it will feel differently.

oh HELL YEAH. looks good to me!!!!

i've never read it either. sigh. another for the TBR stack. yikes!

Looks good. Some big name stars. Didn't like seeing that talking bear though, so that lost some points with me. I still wait for the fant film without little kids and talkin critters. Oh, guess that was LOTR.

Wonder if it'll be called "Northern Lights" here in the UK.

dude, the bear was the deciding factor for me.

You and my wife ... talking polar bears is a lock.

But I'm sure from watching the trailer that it will be as lackluster as the book was. 90% special effects, 10% story.

For example: in most of the scenes in the trailer - even one the one-sheet by gum - shows Lyra without her daemon. If they got such an important thing wrong, there's not much hope.

yeah I saw the trailer on the big screen a few times at work the other day (I work in a theatre/restaurant in Melbourne) and it looked pretty good, but that's coming from a non-reader of the books ..

... but it just made me wish for a TC movie all the more ...

What's going on at Revelstone productions ?
Is there still a Revelstone productions ??

If the Pullman books do well as films, and the likes of Bridge to Terabitha and the Narnia films continue their momentum, surely studios would be remiss not to have a closer look at a TC feature ... bring it on !!

Check out the TC movie forum... there's a movie news thread stickied to the top. The short answer is:

Spoiler

they could not make the movie, and the options on it lapsed.

Kil Tyme wrote:Looks good. Some big name stars. Didn't like seeing that talking bear though, so that lost some points with me. I still wait for the fant film without little kids and talkin critters. Oh, guess that was LOTR.

Ah, you have no idea. The polar bear is AWESOME, he wears armor and drinks spirits (the alcoholic kind) and stuff.

I've been contemplating this series as my next fantasy foray. I hear it's geared toward younger readers, though. Still, like Harry Potter, it probably appeals to all ages.

I just hope the movie doesn't pull an Eragon.

I much prefer The Northern Light's as a name but anyway....

I think this looks awesome; i thoughts books were great, i hope this films are as good.


(BTW the Polar bears look ace )

I saw the trailer in the theater and decided on the spot that I need to read it and watch it.

... but it just made me wish for a TC movie all the more ...

We saw the trailer for this movie yesterday and after it was over I turned to my wife and said "How I would love to see a Thomas Covenant movie...."

I'm reading these books at the moment and really enjoying them, so I was quite excited when I saw the trailer. It's true that they are aimed at younger readers, but I think the quality of writing and focused storytelling makes them quite superior to Harry Potter in many ways (certainly, the feeling I get from HP that everything is too contrived, is absent).

The talking bears are really good in the books (they live on Svalbard, how cool is that?) and are quite central in the Golden Compass. I wasn't blown away from the Iorek I saw on screen though, as I think he'd be much bigger and uglier. Apparently Pullman himself suggested Nicole Kidman to play Mrs Coulter, but I'm not sure how she'll handle some of the aspects of that character. Good actress, but I want someone who makes me feel uncomfortable in that role and that isn't Nicole. One thing that did draw my attention to the trailer were a couple of shots that I'm sure are in the second book (like the one with Pan transforming and the cat hissing at him), so I'm not sure at which point they are planning to end the first film.

The first five (ten?) minutes are available for viewing.

Initial reviews of this movie are not so good.

The (predicatable?) religious backlash is also rearing up in the news.

Well, in this case, they probably should be upset. Unfortunately for them, most moviegoers are now immune to that kind of thing. The boy who cried wolf and all that.

Better than I thought or read. Ended up liking the bear dispite my initial comment some months ago. I read about all the religious shrills, too, but it didn't effect me one way or another; in fact I can see just the opposite: the magistrium (sp) being a group of athiests wanting to take the spirit of god (in the form of the animals) away. Read into it what you want, but it was a good action flick. And for the first time in years I actually inadvertentally spoke aloud in the theater, as did lots of others, at the end of the bear king fight! That was a friggin awesome and suprising end to the fight.

I can't help but want to see this one. I mean really, if they can pull off talking Beavers, the Polar Bear has to be at least that good, right?

Lucimay, Bloodguard Bob and I are going to see it together tonight. We will post our individual reviews shortly after.

Ok, just got back from the theater with BGB and Lucimay. I liked it. Some of it was ridiculously pat and some was incredibly well done. The actress who played Lyra was very good but I'm not sure she's gonna grow up that well. I sense some very awkward teen years ahead for her. Nicole Kidman was creepy and her demon was really really creepy. Overall I liked it and enjoyed seeing it on the big screen. As for the Santa smileys, ugh, just ugh.