Movies »

The Golden Compass

In a parallel universe, young Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization

My comment: Wow! What a movie! To be honest, I didn't understand everything since this story seems to be a part of a larger saga. I was captured at once though by the idea of Demons who walk beside the humans and are their souls. It was wonderfully done, as were the animations for the armored polar bears. Awesome graphics. The story was a little rushed at times (I guess the book - Northern Lights - will go into more detail) but there were not that many gaps that it became difficult to follow. I would've liked to learn more about the Authority and especially Lord Asriel (really, Craig David should have had more screen time). With that background some aspects of the story (the Authorities gruesome attempts to separate children from their demons=souls; Lord Asriels opposition to the Authority...) would have become clearer. Still, it was compelling enough to make me order the "His dark materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman at once after finishing the movie last night. Because - and I wish someone had made me aware of that - the movie just covers the first novel! Suddenly the movie was done and I sat up on the couch asking my monitor: "Well, what now? How does it end?" There. Bought the books. Will find out on my own.

Year:	2007
Genre:	FAnta Fantasy
Actor(s):	Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Dakota Blue Richards
Rating (Age):	12+
Links	Amazon.de
Rating: max. 5 stars

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Movies »

Stardust

A young man in 19th century England ventures into a mysterious land behind a brick wall to find a comet that has crashed to earth. In bringing the comet to his love he wants to win her hand in marriage. Since the comet has crashed into a magic land, it has turned into a young woman. And Yvaine, the comet, is not only sought by Tristan (the English boy), but also by the ruthless sons of the dying king and three witches ... they all have their rather nasty plans with her.

My comment: It's a wonderful story ... and I was surprised to find out the book, on which this movie is based, was written by Neil Gaiman (whom the B5 geek should credit for the amazing episode "Day of the Dead", btw). Like I said, wonderful story ... after you've put the first 20-30 minutes behind you because they are so boooooring and sometimes not very believable (even for a fairy tale). Come on, you set out to find a comet, find a beautiful girl and the first thing that comes to your mind is to chain her up and drag her as a present to your girlfriend? Huh? Anyone else have a problem with that state of mind? Anyway, the interesting parts in this first sections are that we learn that there are evil witches who want to cut out the stars heart to replenish their youth and there are the evil sons of the dying king who need the star to become the rightful heir to the throne. There, now we have drama. Michelle Pfeiffer portrays one of the witches and does a great, great job! And it's also incredibly funny ... especially when she uses magic to give herself a facelift - and by that makes her boobs turn old and saggy For me, the movie really kicks in when Robert De Niro enters the scene. I had no idea he was in this movie and he was AMAZING! I won't write why because I won't want to spoil it for you but believe me ... you'll never guess what surprises lie ahead of you ... (not to mention laughs!) Of course, at some point during their voyage back to Wall (the town Tristan lives in) he and the star (Yvaine) realize they are in love with each other. You get the love scene, you get the confusion when Yvaine thinks Tristan has taken advantage of her ... and of course we also get a spectacular showdown in the witches lair. With a little unsatisfying end, I must admit. The way Yvaine uses her power to get them out of trouble was a little too easy for my taste. All in all, a nice movie, a nice fairy tale. Not outstanding, but nice. I will, however, strongly urge you to have a look at the extras. There's a wonderful MAKING OF that will give you a humorous and interesting view on what has been going on behind the scenes and you will find out why Neil Gaiman felt terribly guilty when he walked on the set.

Year:	2007
Genre:	Fantasy
Actor(s):	Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Claire Danes
Rating (Age):	12+
Links	Amazon.de
Rating: max. 5 stars

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Books »

I just watched “The Golden Compass“, which was terrific (and I will give it a full review later), but of course the ending … how on earth is this story ending? I have no idea and since I will cash in another book voucher this week, I have already ordered the “His Dark Materials” Trilogy by Philip Pullman. There is a re-seller on Amazon who offers hardcover books second hand. I get the whole trilogy for the price you’d normally pay for one paperback. I am SO excited! (And I should probably stop spending money right now.)

Sitrep »

Passed my oral communication exam today. Sheesh, that was the most difficult so far. I didn’t get asked a single thing from the texts I had to read but almost only general stuff … which I of course didn’t know. Surprisingly enough, I walked away with a 2.0 (that’s 3.0 for you Americans). Which is awesome, because that’s a lot better than I expected.

In addition, I got my working contract (YAY), had lunch with my colleagues (after being away from work for three works due to learning), and sold a book voucher to a colleague. I couldn’t use the voucher because I can’t use it for Amazon, but now I have 20 Euros cash that I instantly converted into book orders

I also tried for the first time to share my Amazon birthday wish list and that worked rather nicely. I can tell because two books are now listed as “purchased” that I didn’t buy. I have the peculiar feeling they might find their way to me on my birthday. To keep track of everything, I even started a new list called “Books I own, but haven’t read yet” … I know. Totally unimaginative. But fun to do, especially since the developer implemented a great feature¹ yesterday about 4 hours after I asked him if he could do that at all! Love it! myTeasures rules!

Now I have to read three more texts, try to cramp some more knowledge into my brain and keep it there until Thursday, 10am. And then, 30 minutes later, I will be exam free for over a month! (And for the last two exams, I have already done all the preparation, so it’s only a matter of revision.) And I start to work full time (and earn (a little) more money)! YAY, yay, yay!

DANG! Just heard a mosquito zoom by my head! Now I have to go find it or I won’t have a good night’s sleep!