Tuesday’s specials
THE WAR IS OVER.
Oprah… Dave. Dave… Oprah. I expect a talk-show troop withdrawl will follow straightaway.
QUAID TALKS ABOUT HIS CHRISTIAN FAITH
Meditation, he says, should be yours… mine… ours….
“IT’S UNDERWHELMING!” “IT’S LESS THAN ORIGINAL!”
Critics are raving about today’s special sneak-preview clip of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They’re raving about how much it looks like footage from the video game, or a scene from The Return of the King in which certain characters have been replaced by cheetahs.
Are you getting that sinking feeling that maybe this first Narnia movie is going to be disappointing? Can you feel it in the fact that after all of the pre-release hype to Christian audiences, Christianity Today and most other Christian film critics were disallowed passage to the film junket, but the sure-to-embrace-it-because-it’s-Christian CBN reporter was given a place at the table?
Can you feel it in the fact that the only clip they’ve given us is a clip that looks just like a battle scene from The Lord of the Rings, except there are more felines involved?
Can you feel it in the fact that most press screenings aren’t happening until December 6th, a couple of days before the film opens? (UPDATE: Okay, I withdraw that complaint. Just today, several more press screenings were announced.)
A friend of mine has seen the final cut. He’s sworn to secrecy until opening day, but he did offer a caution: Don’t expect it to be very faithful to the source material.
Of course, it could be that this sinking feeling has more to do with the Panang Curry combo I ate for lunch today…
Ugh. I really, really hope that you’re wrong… but after watching the ten-minute “super trailer” for the film at SPU a couple weeks ago, I’m starting to fear that you’re right.
As long as it for the most part keeps with the novel I don’t care. I am not listening to any critics (sorry dude, no offense) because when it comes to this story I don’t care what they or anyone has to say. This is a story that means more to me than anything any person whether a critic or Christian orginization can say or do. They will not ruin this for me. Only it being bad will ruin it for me.
Underwhelming is a good word for that. Yeesh. I can see cats running on Animal Planet.
The film is rated PG, too, isn’t it? I fully understand how flawed the U.S. film rating system is, but movies with wars in them that aren’t at least rated PG-13 make me very skeptical.
Don’t care, don’t care. I’ll reserve judgment until I actually see the movie.
Cheetahs good, tigers bad? It looks weak.
More screening dates were announced? Not in Vancouver, at least not yet. Any chance I could come down to Seattle? 🙂
Personally, I am not only underwhelmed, but I am a little put off by the way everything goes to slow-motion and then we hear that loud “shing!” as the centaur in the middle of the screen pulls out his swords.
It just seems kind of … tacky. Like someone wants to make a Peter Jackson film but doesn’t quite know how to do it. It’s like watching Woody Allen make imitation Ingmar Bergman movies. Or like watching Kevin Costner make imitation post-apocalyptic movies.
Don’t care.
OK y’all! I respectfully have to disagree. Did you notice that those were centaurs charging? And all of the other weird creatures? I thought, hey we ARE in Narnia here and it looks REAL. I could practically smell the sweat. If you connect this clip to the ones shown on the Disney channel where Lucy tries to shake Tumnus’s hand and where the kids meet Mr. Beaver, (Not the clip in the lodge), I think it all adds up to a very strong character driven film that may well be a real classic when all is said and done.
Here is the link to the clips I mentioned. There very brief and are part of some TV show for kids and contain spoilers. Unfortunately the file is Windows Media only.
http://www.narniaweb.com/video/moviesurfers1.zip
spoilers? on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
isn’t that kind of like telling us the ending of Titanic?
Cinderella Man? A Beautiful Mind?
But yes, not expecting much from this one…
By the way, I just noticed your “must see list” in your sodebar – that’s a really good idea – very helpful, thanks
Matt
So you didn’t like _Gung Ho_? _The Paper_? _EdTV_?
Honestly, I’m a big fan of _Apollo 13_, but that’s just me.
Nick,
No, no, no. And “Apollo 13” fulfilled what it set out to do, but it didn’t give me any reason to revisit it.
Howard is an entertainer, but he’s not an artist. He deals in straight storytelling, not metaphor; crowdpleasing, not challenges; craftsmanship, not creativity.
In fact, he may be the perfect example of the American moviemaker.
which is why, isn’t it, that this movie could be dangerous. the american public has already shown itself woefully mis- and under- informed when it comes to issues of religion (really, any organized religion, not just Christianity).
the da vinci code may be hackneyed in all of its aspects, but that won’t stop people from believing it and embracing it en masse (‘left behind’ anybody?)
i’m not saying we should protest it or anything (never seen a howard flick i like either – even ‘splash’!), just that we should be ready to give a defense for the hope that lies within us.