The Golden Compass - Winter 2007

The Golden Compass – Winter 2007

Review originally published in Stony Brook Univerisity's The Statesman

(This review has been updated with better grammar from the originally published version. Significant changes are noted with strikethroughs and/or asterisks. Updated and additional notes are further below.)

"Films have long been considered as a means of escape from everyday life and never is that more possible than watching one of science fiction or fantasy. For almost a decade now Hollywood has been producing a number of series based on other-worldly novels; Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, and the recent Stardust. This weekend's The Golden Compass' source material is Northern Lights from the His Dark Materials Trilogy written by Philip Pullman.

The very quick introduction claims there are a great many parallel worlds of an important particle material called Dust. However, the Magisterium government has made it blasphemous to mention its existence. Every human soul is in an animal form called a Daemon. The pairs experience the same emotions and acts as a voice of intuition and advice. The human and Daemon are literally soul mates and if the connection is broken, death comes soon after. 

Dakota Blue Richards is Lyra, the headstrong and clever girl who is able to read the last surviving alethiometer or 'golden compass' answers of truth fulfillling a prophesy which leads to war. The golden compass itself is the most advanced Magic 8 Ball ever manufactured. (*Newsday may have seen this review and used it in their own review published after mine was.)

Nicole Kidman gives a chilling yet graceful performance (*as always) as Mrs. Coulter, a powerful woman of the government. Daniel Craig, as Lyra's closest relative Lord Asriel, is an adventurous scientist seeking the knowledge and truth of Dust in the Arctic. He is both a help and threat to the government's supremacy. 

Lyra's team of support is an eclectic group of Gyptians,: a Texas 'aeronaut' with a flying boat, Iorek the armored ice bear, and the witches of Lake Enara led by Serafina Pekkala (*played by the practically supernatural Eva Green). They all come to Lyra's rescue at just the right times (*yes, Lyra gets into a bit of continuous trouble). Her enemies are rather institutions *rather than individuals. She must disobey The Magisterium to find and save those she cares about. It is a battle between the deviants and the megalomaniacs (*my words, not the provided press materials. I double checked my copy).

The Golden Compass is almost a parody or satire of fantasy epics. It is obvious who are the heroes and villains, the hero's personality of independence and quick wit, a team to help the hero, and the hero's mission of savior that is thwarted by the villain. In this case, it is a herione versus villainess with a not-so-shocking revelation of what binds them. And of course the main themes are metaphysical *metaphorical for the world. 

There has been some controversy centered on the film's non-Christian story that is based on the novel's 'non-religious' allegory. But Hollywood had to make it palpable for audiences, especially since its release is just weeks before Christmas. (*I no longer think that's not the reason.) Just as the books are deserving of intense study for its philosophy, the film will become one to be studied for its adaptation inclusions and absenses. (*Now, I don't think it has. But perhaps the 2020s TV series is?)

It seems odd at first why The Golden Compass received a PG-13 rating by the MPAA but there are many elements that younger audiences may not understnd or relate to that older viewers would. 

There is more adult humor than expected and a slight King-Kong-ish relationship between Lyra and Iorek, the polar bear. The one secene that exemplifies the MPAA's description of "fantasy violence" though is a fight between to ice bears with an ending that received unanimous applause at the film's press screening." 

Updates from 2024:

The Golden Compass - Thrillist

I remember going to this film's press screening held at the AMC movie theater in Times Square. I took the train from Stony Brook to Penn Station and walked to the theater at 42nd Street. Then I saw how long the audience line was, and made it to the press check-in table with my Statesman creditials. It was the first and only kind of press screening I got to attend while at The Statesman. I don't think I got a voucher for snacks. But I remember the feeling of awe to be in The City, to attend a press screening, and the rush back to Penn Station for one of the few trains back to Stony Brook that night. (My first of many similar future experiences.)

For all this time, I've held onto the 65 page press booklet they gave me. About 10 of its pages was the final credits to cast and crew. 

Production intended to make this the first of three films but they never got to making the second. However, in 2019, a closer adaptation to the novel was released as a television series, called His Dark Materials that ran for three seasons until 2022, starring Dafne Keen as Lyra, Ruth Wilson as Mrs. Coulter, and James McAvoy as Asriel.

Something I try to keep in mind when looking back at fantasy and sci-fi films is that even in the mid-2000s, special effects were ever changing, mostly for the better. So despite the story's problems, it was a feast for the eyes to behold on the big screen. And with music by Alexandre Desplat, it had your heart and emotions going along for the ride.  

But funnily enough, it was one of the first films that Nicole Kidman worked on with such signficant special effects...long before joining the Aquaman franchise. And it recalled my memory from the interview she did with Jenelle Riley for the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, about how when Nicole was first taking acting classes she learned to do mime work, which helped prepare her for such scenes in The Golden Compass, with her CGI'd monkey Daemon companion. 

In my initial review, I made fun of the tropes and formula that this film followed (not really knowing if it was the same or not to the novel) but now I realize that stories have to share tropes and formulas in order to work properly. It's the tweaks to these commonalities that can set one apart from others. 

And, I initially assumed that its less religous undertones were changes from the novel meant to appeal to a wider audience, as a dystopian winter wonderland. But looking back and doing some additional research, it had more to do about self-censorship to avoid problems from the religious Catholic groups that would alienate and possibly boycott the film for the books' pro-atheism. 

Smokin' Aces - From Spring 2007

 Smokin' Aces – Spring 2007

Review originally published in Stony Brook University's The Statesman

(This review has been updated with better grammar from the originally published version. Significant changes are noted with strikethroughs and/or asterisks. Updated and additional notes are further below.)

"From the moment you see what Ben Affleck is dressed in at the pool hall, you know Smokin' Aces is a comedy. The characters and situations are so exaggerated, there is no way this could or should be taken seriously. And in the spirit of Kill Bill, there is plenty of blood and death. Aside from the good cinematography, edit transitions, and some dialogue, most of the film's technical and structural elements were obviously the work of an amateur. Writer/Director Joe Carnahan has made a guy's film. And as a woman, I was not the target demographic. 

Buddy 'Aces' Israel made a successful career as a Las Vegas magician, had an in with the local mob, got too full of himself, took the lower ranks of Don Sparazza for his own, then decided to snitch on Sparazza. Waiting for his deal to be settled with the FBI, Buddy is held at the not-so-secret hiding location of a Lake Tahoe hotel penthouse. Meanwhile, sSince there is a $1million bounty out for his heart, the world's top hired assassins begin their race to accomplish the job. 

Although the story exists because of Buddy, the story is more about the predators than the prey. The tag line on imdb.com reads "May the best hit-man win?" Smokin' Aces sports a cast of impressive veterans like Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Ben Affleck, and Ryan Reynolds to the relatively unknowns of Martin Henderson, Chris Pine, Christopher Holly, and the introduction of Alicia Keys. Even Wayne Newton makes a cameo. For years Jeremy Piven has been best known for his supporting roles and his latest part in Entourage. However, except for a few good card tricks it is unforutnate he couldn't take center stage. This being Alicia Keys' first major try at acting, she should realize ASAP that the best way for her to earn a paycheck is to put out music, not movies. (*I wish I didn't write this, it's too harsh. But, see my updated thoughts below.)  Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta's (*RIP) characters were too flat to be done with depth but they were the right choices to bring the story's eccentricity back to a cool calm. 

Only one performance stands apart from the rest and deserves extended recognition: Ryan Reynolds. We know and love him from Just Friends, Waiting, Van Wilder, and even the show Two Guys and a Girl (*I swear it used to be called Two Guys A Girl and a Pizza Place), but this character, Richard Messner, shows just the right spark of his dramatic talents. His performance was natural, believable, and enjoyable to watch. He has done so many comedies in the past but this could be his transition into more serious roles; especially once you've seen the ending. (*This paragraph is the reason I decided to republish my Smokin' Aces review.)

Having Mauro Fiore as the cinematographer (imdb.com) really helped this film's image presentation. His previous works include Driven, Training Day, and The Island. His professional style brought Smokin' Aces to a much better level than what it would have been if it rested on the ideas of the director. The editor, Robert Frazen, (imdb.com) has his most *of his experience with television and so even though the transitions were based on image or dialogue, there wasn't much 'out-of-the-outside-the-box' creativity. 

As said before, this is a guy's film."

Updates from 2024:

Ryan Reynolds in Smokin' Aces - From BluRay

First off, I apologize for even differentiating this film into the binary split of who this film was made for, and furthermore completely disregarding myself as someone who enjoys movies regardless of the sex or gender target demographic it is "supposed to be for". 

That all being said, the film did lean significantly into a more masculine tone. 

Although I don't think many of those who have seen this movie would hold it close to their hearts, I do want to point out that now nearly 20 years later, I was spot-on about this being a turning point in Ryan Reynolds' career - as well as an interesting place in many of its other cast & crew's filmographies. 

Ryan's first major introductory role was playing heart-throb crush Seth in the TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch with Melissa Joan Hart, before it became a separate series. Ryan had been working steadily in films and shows since then, including the titles listed above. But his characters in them were very much the same juvenile comedic relief. That is until Smokin' Aces. He goes on to take lead roles in films that blend his unique sensibility of humor with significantly more pathos and depth. To start was Chaos Theory, but then more so with Definitely, Maybe, and Fireflies in the Garden. From then on he has been a household name working in major studio pictures and indies: 2009's Adventureland, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (the beginning of a beautiful friendship with Hugh Jackman), The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Betty White (whose own career was jumpstarted from playing his grandmother), and Paperman with Jeff Daniels and Emma Stone. 

Jumping ahead to 2015, he starred in Woman In Gold with Dame Helen Mirren and Daniel Bruhl. Playing the descendant of an Austrian-Jewish family that emmigrated due to Nazi persecution, and helping an elderly Austrian-Jewish woman retrieve with legal action of the paintings that had been in her family's possession but stolen by the Nazis and then held by the Austrian government for decades later. This could very well be the most important film of Ryan's career. 

But of course, 2016 was the year that he finally got his Deadpool movie released! And, he's been riding that franchise wave ever since, except for 2021's extremely noticable Free Guy (that included an incredible, Chris Evans' cameo)!

With Deadpool & Wolverine now available on streaming, I am sincerely interested to watch!

(Sidenote: For the record, no actor who is a SAG-AFTRA member can do a role for "nothing" or $0. They all have to be paid at least the day rate minimum - which is currently $1,204. It might be "nothing" to Chris Evans or Brad Pitt, but is definitely something for a John Doe member.)

Ryan Reynolds's career wasn't the only one that benefited from this otherwise unimpressive movie. 

Common had been rapping since the early 1990s, and had been featured in many music videos. Then in 2003, he acted in an episode of Girlfriends. Although he had a few more spots on television, Smokin' Aces was his first feature film role. And he's been steadily acting since, playing a variety of roles in Wanted, Date Night, Just Wright, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Now You See Me, Hell on Wheels, Selma, Entourage (reuniting with Jeremy Piven), and especially lately in Never Have I Ever and Alice.

Chris Pine's first major roles were in The Princess Diaries: A Royal Engagement opposite Anne Hathaway and then in Just My Luck opposite Lindsay Lohan. Three years after Smokin' Aces, he was Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. 

Other notable cast members were Joel Edgerton and Taraji P. Henson!

For Alicia Keys, although she had been acting in some telelvision episodes and music videos as a singer, Smokin' Aces was her first feature film role. Then from seeing her in The Nanny Diaries, I still wasn't impressed. But in 2008, she was in The Secret Life of Bees, doing a significantly better job and holding her own in scenes with Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, and Dakota Fanning. She hasn't been acting in films since. So in retrospect, though I had been too succinct / harsh in my initial review, I did call it for her like how I called it for Ryan. 

In 1999, Martin Henderson was a blond hair blue eyed nerd in the Australian film Kick, that also starred Radha Mitchell. They played the supporting role characters who each went on to have strong North American based careers. Like Ryan, before Smokin' Aces he had been in some notable movies, like The Ring, was in Britney Spears' Toxic music video, the action films Torque and Flyboys, and (a beloved) Bollywood-like remake called Bride & Prejudice. Although after Smokin' Aces, Martin's career seemed mostly back in Australia/New Zealand, he returned in full force to US screens as Dr. Nathan Riggs in Grey's Anatomy and then as Jack Sheridan in Virgin River. Fun fact: Martin played Mr. Darcy in Bride & Prejudice opposite the nemesis character, Johnny Wickham played by Daniel Gillies. Daniel plays Mark Monroe, Mel's dead husband in Virgin River. 

It could be said that Joe Carnhan failed slightly upwards. It took a few years to recover, but he went on to direct The A-Team with Bradley Cooper, Liam Neeson, and Jessica Biel. Then, The Grey (also with Liam Neeson), and then has since stalled. (From just looking at his imdb page, he's actually directing an action-film that my Union Consulting Services were engaged to help with but I do not know if I have my credit. Either way, I won't be watching it.)

Also as for crew: 

Mauro Fiore went on to do cinematography for the James Cameron's behemouth Avatar, and then The Magnificent Seven remake, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. 

Editor Robert Frazen had done Friends With Money the same year as Smokin' Aces, and then did a few more movies: Smart People, Please Give, Synecdoche New York, and The Company Men. In the last ten years his credits go back and forth between film and television.

Interestingly, the film's music was credited to Clint Mansell, who is Darren Aronofsky's collaborating composer.