Warren Spector wishes he'd made The Golden Compass

Random el Nino references FTW?

Could not have said it better, + to you.

It's always good to bring back a random refernce from the 90's ;)

I remember a time when you couldn't watch MadTV or SNL without getting a random El Nino Joke in every episode... those were simpler times, before La Nina came in and Ruined all of the fun :'(

Ouch, Catwoman, i would have asked for a refund :-P

But seriously, i don't find little details to be something that makes a movie good, it's required these days, otherwise people complain :-P Happy Feet had little details, but it didn't make me like it.

I guess i have no inner child :\

It's not so much expected because people rarely notice when it does not appear. Like the road sign in LOTR sceneraio or boom microphone dropping in Elf. But beyond that, so many films BREAK Mise En Scene nowadays, so it's refreshing when a film doesn't.

Essentially in the movie, NOTHING is out of place. From the city designs to the encampments, nothing seemed just thrown in.

You got it. The problem with the film was that it felt entirely rushed and took no time to flesh a lot of important things out. I'm not sure who got to makers and told them it had to be so short but I hope they are kicking themselves right now.

"I'm not sure who got to makers and told them it had to be so short"

You mean nearly 2 1/2 hours long? There's nothing more obnoxious than hearing a novel-to-film adaptation criticized by somebody who read the book. It glossed over some of the details? Maybe that's because they're trying to fit 20 hours worth of material in one film!

As somebody who did not read the books, I was quite impressed by most of the movie. Sure, you could tell that certain points were stuffed in just to please the nitpickers, but I thought they did worlds better at create a coherent and interesting film than many other adaptations I've seen (such as every Harry Potter except #3), and I think part of that is due to the fact that they were willing to cut and reorganize when needed. Just because something works in a novel doesn't mean it works equally well on film.

"There's nothing more obnoxious than hearing a novel-to-film adaptation criticized by somebody who read the book."

Actually there's nothing more obnoxious than people that don't read the book, and then go on to say that the adaptation was just fine. It's called perspective, get some.
Also, I saw the movie first and I thought it felt rushed. Then I read the books and I thought it felt really rushed. You may have liked and that's fine. Then again, there's no accounting for taste. How was Saw 3?

"Actually there's nothing more obnoxious than people that don't read the book, and then go on to say that the adaptation was just fine."

I didn't say it was a good adaptation. I said it was a decent film. I don't care how closely it followed the book, I care whether or not the movie kept me interested for the duration, and in this case it did.


"It's called perspective, get some."

Apparently you're mistaking my criticism of Dan's post for criticism of your own. I thought your "montage" post was hilarious, however I thought Dan's post suggesting that somehow the 2 1/2 hour movie was too short was absurd.

Point is, you can't compare a book to a film and judge them solely on the amount of content: the book will win every time. You have to judge it on it's own merits, as a film (something your "montage" joke actually did).


"How was Saw 3?"

Wouldn't know, I'd never watch it. Not sure what your point was there.

JBourrie,
Sorry dude. I totally misunderstood your post and your point. My bad.

No joke... read the Controversies section here ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_dark_materials )

(Spoilers, obviously)

Ironically, he's spoiling the third book/movie, not the first. And trust me, if they screwed up the first installment so badly, they can't possibly get the third one right unless they are completely unfaithful to the source material. And I hope they are.

You mean they're making more?

Because they changed the name over here.