Specials: Guardian defends Narnia. Malick's "New World." Haneke spoils. Earthsea animated.

Tuesday’s specials:

I found most of these links at GreenCine Daily, and I’m glad I did.

GUARDIAN GUARDS CHRISTIANITY FROM GUARDIAN JOURNALISTS (AND OTHERS)
The Guardian, home of the now-notorious Polly Toynbee who used her Narnia review to bash Christianity, bashes Narnia critics!

The Bible is a narrative blueprint for a lot of western culture – if everything referencing it is dodgy then the nativity is dodgy, a lot of Shakespeare is dodgy, some of The Archers is dodgy, everything is dodgy. To what do we object, then? That CS Lewis’s allegories are too obvious? That there are too many of them? That he didn’t bother disguising them, as Tolkien did?

Anyone holding to this “dodgy” orthodoxy, especially those who don’t explain why, is treating Christianity as inherently underhand. This is unfair to all Christians, not just hardliners. And it is not the time of year to be unfair to Christians. We’ve pinched their festival. We can hardly talk about “underhand”.

RAVES FOR MALICK’S NEW WORLD
The best film of the year? I cannot wait.

SPOILER ALERT FOR HANEKE FANS
Here’s an article you shouldn’t read until you’ve seen Michael Haneke’s excellent film Cache. It’s a good interview, but it tells you too much about his mysterious new film.

EARTHSEA ANIMATED?
The studio that brought you Howl’s Moving Castle is moving on to Ursula LeGuin’s The Wizard of Earthsea.