The Golden Compass

Truth be told, I didn't know what the hell The Golden Compass was. I knew that there were books. I knew that Christians were pissed about it for some reason.

I totally didn't expect this type of movie- going experience. I'm glad I walked in not knowing anything about the movie. What I got was a brand new story, intriguing plot, interesting characters and BEAUTY. This movie was extremely beautiful. I haven't really been overwhelmingly impressed with movie aesthetics since Star Wars Episode I & II. (Shut up! I don't want to hear it!) I'm not sure if the design was steam-punk but it looked like it and I loved all of it. Everyone knows how crazy I am about costuming. The wardrobe in this movie was phenomenal. Nicole Kidman stole every scene. For some reason or another, she annoyed me for a few years. She's been stepping up her game for the past few years. (...cause if she didn't Angelina Jolie would have been equally perfect in this movie.) Daniel Craig was nothing more than eye candy. I think he said about two words and got beat up. He might have gotten naked... or I could have been undressing him with my eyes. Dunno... I forget.

The story was equally fascinating. I was told that The Magisterium is actually called The Church in the books. The story is about a parallel universe where people are accompanied by their power animal or "dæmon." Wikipedia says that the soul actually resides outside of the body and takes the form of an animal. It's a lot of hippie, philosophical stuff but I really liked it. The soul/dust/animal thing is a thought-provoking concept and was well thought out. I can tell that great thought was put into this story. The movie didn't feel overly rushed or dumbed down. I'm glad that "Magisterium" was used instead of "Church". I think the author's/story's dislike for the Church would have taken away from how beautiful the story and the movie is.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have witnessed great movie direction. *applauds!*

Eureka: God is in the Details

Eureka has been smitten with Revelations- type Biblical events. I was really excited to see how a science heavy show would treat religion. I liked this episode for so many reasons. It did not insult the beliefs of religious people and it stuck to a scientific outcome.

There's a new church in Eureka. Shortly after the pastor complains that she isn't getting as many people in the church as she'd like biblical events start to manifest themselves in the town. Zoe loses her ability to speak, Allison starts glowing like an angel, fish water turns red and the whole town goes dark. People start to suspect that something religious going on.

There were some great lines in this episode. I loved the mention that Global Dynamics may be over a Hellmouth. Jo's new boyfriend holding his breath until she talks to him. Jo mentioning she owns a grenade launcher. (Good to see I'm not the only female that thinks grenade launchers are hot!)

This episode shines with the explanation of the "religious" events. Teryl Rothery was our mad scientist of the week. She was so grief stricken at the loss of her husband that she was trying to create a portal to heaven so that she could join him. Not to sound harsh but it sounded like a really nerdy means to commit suicide. The side effect of the portal was infrasonic frequencies and it's reactions with different elements it encountered. This is was what was going on in the town, nothing mystical. We discover that if the portal is shut down, the incidents would stop happening and its effects would reverse. It's a bit of a happy, typical ending but I liked it.

The twist of this episode was Kevin and his "abilities". Nathan seems to think that Kevin's powers healed Allison. What I saw was Allison getting better when the portal was shut down. I'm still not convinced about Kevin having any powers yet. They'll have to develop that a bit more for me to buy it.

Next week: Jack becomes a chick magnet. This is going to be hilarious.