Review: “The Golden Compass” – Chris Weitz

PODCAST:

S3E10M – The Golden Compass (movie)*

SHOW NOTES:

And we watched it, we watched it, oh God almighty, we watched it.

It was a low point. The movie was a big f-around. Not something we wanted to watch, but something we had to watch. The consensus was that it certainly was a movie, but not one that anyone needed to watch, or make, or be in. Although it had some star power.

We discussed the movie and how it compared to the book. We also discussed the director, and why he was a terrible person. It was a sort of low, for me, Dave Wilkinson, who has so many things I would like to read or watch, and this movie was not one of them.

However, it was a pretty good episode, lots of good banter, and all in all one of our better shows. The movie may appeal to young teens, and fans of the book. Maybe. If that is a thing.

Anyways, next time you go to space, don’t bring this movie. Because it stinks and there is no deodorant in outer space.

– Wilk

WRITTEN FILM REVIEWS:

Book: “The Golden Compass (2007)” by Chris Weitz (Nicole Kidman)

Ryan: 3 Stars “…It’s a well done movie…it lacks something…”

Wilk: 2 Stars “…It’s got a good production value and that’s about it…”

Rick: 1 Star “…I was completely turned off by it, literally…” (Caveat: please note the disclosure in Rick’s Show Notes for the book episode.)

 

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

Director Chris Weitz also worked on the script for the new Star Wars movie “Rogue One,” which came out earlier this month (December 2016).

On the episode Ryan mentioned podcast interviews of the author, Philip Pullman. If you want to hear from the author directly check out these two interviews:

• Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/geeks-guide-to-galaxy-science/id395738416?mt=2&i=127252765
• BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qgj4/episodes/downloads.rss

Also here are some articles on the religious controversy surrounding this fantastical tale and it’s author:

• http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=3970783&page=1
• https://www.tor.com/2013/09/24/banned-books-week-philip-pullmans-his-dark-materials/

And Roger Ebert’s review of this movie which was discussed on the show: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-golden-compass-2007.

Wilk and his wife Laura Valle started a true crime podcast called, “How to Avoid Murder …and other awkward situations,” which he plugged on the show. You may remember that Laura Valle joined us (with our former co-host Beam) for discussion on The Hellbound Heart and Hellraiser during our special torchlight recordings.

The website for their podcast is: http://www.avoidmurder.com/. You can also find it on iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-avoid-murder-other/id1187366565?mt=2

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

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Preview Episode (The Golden Compass)

PODCAST:

S3E10P – Preview Episode (The Golden Compass)*

SUBJECT MATTER:

Book: “The Golden Compass a/k/a Northern Lights  (His Dark Materials #1) (1995)” by Philip Pullman

“Lyra Belacqua is content to run wild among the scholars of Jodan College, with her daemon familiar always by her side. But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle—a struggle born of Gobblers and stolen children, witch clans and armored bears. And as she hurtles toward danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle.

Philip Pullman’s award-winning The Golden Compass is a masterwork of storytelling and suspense, critically acclaimed and hailed as a modern fantasy classic.” (from Amazon.com)

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Film: “The Golden Compass (2007)” by Chris Weitz (Nicole Kidman)

“In a wondrous parallel world where witches soar the skies and Ice Bears rule the frozen North, one special girl is destined to hold the fate of the universe in her hands.” (from Amazon.com)

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Review: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel – Philip Kaufman)

PODCAST:

S3E4M – Invasion of the Body Snatchers (movie)*

SHOW NOTES:

I go out on a limb to express a genuine and legitimate worldview, hold out a loving hand to my cohorts and get sawed off the tree. This time there was a shiny thing of fancy out on that branch placed by a rather large weasel. Instead of venturing out there to take a sniff, I stayed close to the trunk – the permanent home of the ever cautious one among us. Was I proud of using caution in a ridiculous environment characterized and ruled by the peevish obsessiveness of the Comic Book Guy? No. Until next show, hyper-nerds.

-Rick

WRITTEN FILM REVIEWS:

Film: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)” by Don Siegel (Kevin McCarthy)

Ryan: 3 1/2 Stars “…I enjoyed it…definitely worth checking out…”

Wilk: 4 Stars “…kind of like watching the twilight zone…”

Rick: 2 Stars “…it applies to whatever the current flavor of politics is…”

 

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Film: “Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)” by Philip Kaufman (Donald Sutherland)

Ryan: 4 1/2 Stars “…I like the movie better than the book…”

Wilk: 5 Stars “…probably the best version out there and I think it really stands on its own …”

Rick: 5 Stars “…the horror element is there, there’s more graphic detail…”

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FUN FACTOIDS:

During this episode Ryan mentioned that he thought Clint Eastwood had seen Don Segal’s version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and was so impressed that he asked him to work on this next film. While this is incorrect, the real story is more interesting. In the book “The Cinema of Clint Eastwood: Chronicles of America” author David Sterritt noted that the two met due to a computer glitch (according to the director’s autobiography). Two director’s were pitched to Eastwood to direct his next film (Coogan’s Bluff), one of which was director Alex Segal. Apparently, the computer generated Don Segal’s name by mistake. An executive producer had to inform Eastwood who Don Segal was and so the actor checked out three of Segal’s films (none of which was “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”), and in turn Segal checked out Eastwood’s work. With mutual admiration the two met and formed an alliance that would later span five films. It’s worth noting that after Segal’s death, Eastwood did select the director’s version of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” to screen as part of a 2005 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tribute to the deceased director as discussed in this article “Clint Eastwood praises pod film” by Steve Biodrowski for cinefantastiqueonline.com.

On the show we mentioned an article on Litreactor.com by Christopher Shultz called “Book vs. Film(s): ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers‘” which breaks down some of the differences between the book and various movie iterations: https://litreactor.com/columns/book-vs-films-invasion-of-the-body-snatchers.

We also briefly mentioned that there are other movie versions of this persistent story. Here are a few below:

Film: “Body Snatchers (1993)” by Abel Ferrara (Babrielle Anwar)

“This new version follows the fates of a group of people on an Army base who discover that something is taking possession of the minds, bodies of the people they once knew and loved.” (from Amazon.com)

Stuart Gordon was involved with the screenplay of this movie. You may remember him from our episode on H.P. Lovecraft when we discussed his movie “Re-Animator” and briefly mentioned “Dagon.”

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Film: “The Invasion (2007)” by Oliver Hirschbiegel/James McTeigue (Nicole Kidman)

“As a Washington psychiatrist (Kidman) unearths the origin of an alien epidemic, she also discovers her son might be the only way it can be stopped.” (from Amazon.com)

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Review: “Stepford Wives” (Frank Oz – Bryan Forbes)

PODCAST:

S3E1M – Stepford Wives (movie)*

SHOW NOTES:

Esteemed listener, this is our first show dedicated exclusively to a movie review so don’t freak out if you notice anything different, it will be a consistent thing from here on out, promise. The director’s bio was glossed over intentionally, he’s very prolific in England but virtually unknown stateside. My desensitized and ignorant American mind fails to grasp why an Englishman changes his name from John Clarke to Bryan Forbes. It’s like “upgrading” the paint job on your car from vanilla to light beige. Couldn’t find an explanation for that so I can only assume the surname “Forbes” implies nobility, which is forever dangled in front of the British proletariat.

To give you a tease on what you missed out on, Lord Forbes’ prolific work includes dull movie titles such as, “The Whisperers,” “The Wrong Box,” “Séance on a Wet Afternoon,” “I was Monty’s Double,” and let us never forget the imperialist and xenophobic, “Restless Natives.” These titles scream at me to be ignored. He was given the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his drudging perseverance in advancing England’s brand of sedatives.

There was a bit of a debate during the podcast about which movie was superior. Ryan and Wilk thought the 1975 version was superior to the 2004 version. I gathered they liked Forbes’ movie because it brought them a sense of nostalgia for the malaise of a decade they were born in? Being born in 1977 as well, I enjoy reminiscing when “Rocky” hit the theaters. Oh, and Katherine Ross’ anorexic figure seems to get their blood up? Purism? No other reason was really given by those guys. I could not appreciate the glacial pace and the sparse script of Forbes’ version. His film tried to closely mimic the book, so it had all the suspense of rolling your grocery cart to the checkout line, or seeing “One Direction” live, lip syncing their hits. I argued the 2004 version had an excellent cast who nailed a fast and witty script. The 2004 screenplay took a more explicit angle on the underlying satire Levin conveyed in his book. This led to an enjoyable film. Also, the movie took a risk with an alternate ending that could be seen as politically incorrect which I find daring.

Speaking of “suspense,” I believe we came to a realization that we were actually reviewing a story that could legitimately and exclusively be categorized as such. Our NDIOS modus operandi is horror and sci-fi, and for this gaffe I apologize. Maybe this will open the floodgates next year to timeless boring suspense classics such as, “The Long Goodbye,” “The Fallen Idol,” and “Mystic River”? Or, if anyone in the British islands is inclined, they can do a film adaptation of a Cambridge Microbiologist’s observational dissertation describing the slow decay of his teeth. American Michael Crichton and his “Andromeda Strain” took a worthy shot, but there must be millions of zombie English courtesans out there who can top it. Let’s go blokes!

Hold onto your hats voyeurs, this season just got started! My hope is it will not continue to be like watching a sloth take his entire nap in a tree.

-Rick

 

WRITTEN FILM REVIEWS:

Film: “The Stepford Wives (2004)” by Frank Oz (Nicole Kidman)

Ryan: 2 1/2 Stars “…ultimately I think there is something missing from it”…”

Wilk: 2 1/2 Stars “…It’s the kind of movie you watch on an airplane…”

Rick: 4 Stars “…Loved it…packed full of great dialog…”

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Film: “The Stepford Wives (1975)” by Bryan Forbes (Katharine Ross)

Ryan: 3 1/2 Stars “…I did really like it…”

Wilk: 4 1/2 Stars “…If you love 70’s horror…it’s everything you want…”

Rick: 1 1/2 Stars “…it kinda put me to sleep…it just wasn’t for me…”

 

FUN FACTOIDS:

On the show Wilk mentioned that The Simpsons had made reference to The Stepford Wives. One such reference was in the episode “You Only Move Twice” (from: http://simpsonsgifs.tumblr.com/post/628842768/autovac-is-on-dirt-patrol?is_related_post=1):

 

Also on this episode Rick and Wilk made reference to the fact that director, Frank Oz, has played a police officer in two iconic comedy films: “Trading Places” and “The Blues Brothers”.

(From Flicker: https://www.flickr.com/photos/24752161@N05/5730556361)

(From Vine: https://vine.co/v/hxlznzQTpOF)

 

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.

Preview Episode (Stepford Wives)

PODCAST:

S3P1 – Preview Episode (Stepford Wives)*

Listen to the podcast here (click to play/right click and select “save target as” to download)

 

SUBJECT MATTER:

Book: “The Stepford Wives (1972)” by Ira Levin

“The internationally bestselling novel by the author of A Kiss Before Dying, The Boys from Brazil, and Rosemary’s Baby With an Introduction by Peter Straub

For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true. It is. For behind the town’s idyllic facade lies a terrible secret — a secret so shattering that no one who encounters it will ever be the same.

At once a masterpiece of psychological suspense and a savage commentary on a media-driven society that values the pursuit of youth and beauty at all costs, The Stepford Wives is a novel so frightening in its final implications that the title itself has earned a place in the American lexicon.” (from Amazon.com)

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Film: “The Stepford Wives (1975)” by Bryan Forbes (Katharine Ross)

“Ira Levin’s savagely satiric sci-fi novel The Stepford Wives provided fodder for one of the biggest moneymaking films of the 1970s. Joanna (Katharine Ross) moves with husband Walter (Peter Masterson) and their children to the “ideal” suburban community of Stepford, Connecticut. Slowly (perhaps too slowly) Joanna deduces that something is amiss; most of the other housewives are vapid creatures who speak in trivialities and live only to please their husbands. Together with new friend Bobby (Paula Prentiss), she investigates this curious status quo. When Bobby also succumbs to sickly sweetness, Joanna discovers that Stepford’s husbands have conspired with male chauvinist scientists to replace all the wives with computerized android duplicates. The final closeup is a gem of compact horror and black comedy. Earning $4,000,000 domestically, The Stepford Wives opened itself up for sequel treatment, but the subsequent Stepford films were cheapjack TV movies unworthy of the original.” (from Amazon.com)

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Film: “The Stepford Wives (2004)” by Frank Oz (Nicole Kidman)

“A woman moves from New York to the town of Stepford, a town where the women are too perfect and pliant to be real.” (from Amazon.com)

* DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that the views and opinions of the hosts and guests of NDIOS are completely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views and beliefs of the other hosts and guests or that of NDIOS.