Well I saw "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". It was actually pretty

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

good. I kinda hate supporting a right winger like the guy who financed the movie, but it was my wife's turn to pick and that was her pick...

The Jesus allegory is a central plot element, but if you knew nothing of Christian mythology, it would still just be a ripping good yarn and wouldn't detract from the story in the least.

The child actors in my opinion are all excellent, once again reinforcing to me what a hack George Lucas has become, with the casting he did on "Phantom Menace" etc.

The special effects are good, they didn't blow me away, but the story and strong acting are what make the film good.

[nytemare]

1. I will have to check it out.

I agree on the casting for Phantom Menace. Jake Lloyd blew rotten eggs.

I was pleasantly suprised by Revenge of the Sith, but still felt a bit cheated because I thought he totally lost it, and he could have hired someone who could act all along. That, and the only thing engaging about Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones were the fights and the underlying sub-plot.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. What is funny and sad to me, is that this film is apparently being pimped

really hard by Jeb Bush and RW fundies as some kind of Christian alternative to Harry Potter etc. (although the ignorant sheep probably have no idea it's primarily "returning a favor" to Phillip Anschutz, the producer, who's given $100K to Repub campaigns and causes), and that they are endorsing a movie with a witch as a central character (and in the title), at the same time that they denounce other movies for having the same type of magic and sorcery.

It's like, people just march the direction the puppetmasters point them, no matter how absurd, and never even give it a second thought.

http://www.cinematical.com/2005/10/06/jeb-bush-helps-out-with-narnia-promotion

[nytemare]

6. I was thinking the same thing.

A magic wardrobe and a witch, and a lion who represents Jesus. Why couldn't they just come out and say he was Jesus? Why have a witch and a magical wardrobe? I imagine these are the questions the fundies will ask.

I always just thought it was a good, decent story.

[AmyDeLune]

18. CS Lewis always got really annoyed when people assumed

that he was pimping religion with his Narnia series. To quote a quote-

"'In a 1956 essay for the New York Times Book Review, he denied that his Narnia books were merely thinly disguised lessons for children. He stated, "Some people seem to think that I...drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine....Everything began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion."'

[Ladyhawk]

12. From interviews I've seen, Lucas is a TERRIBLE actor director.

The actors are pretty much on their own. If they're great actors, they may turn in a halfway decent performance, but young actors and not-so-great actors.

Lucas has a great eye for scenes, detail and action. He can tell a good story, but he doesn't get the kind of performances out of actors that he could. Empire might have turned out so well because someone else was directing the story. Lucas wrote the story and made decisions on the "look" of the film, but someone else coached the actors and they all did a pretty good job in that movie.

[AmyDeLune]

19. A friend of mine has a theory--

that George Lucas has come to hate Star Wars and with all his "special editions" and crappy prequels is seeing how much he can piss on the fans before they stop showering him with money.

[nytemare]

20. That seems to be the case.

The original trilogy didn't seem as badly acted, really. The only thing looking back on that I would say was annoying that I didn't recognize as a kid was Mark Hamill's whining in Star Wars. He seemed to recover after that one.

In the prequel trilogy, I honestly was disappointed with Sam Jackson, and obviously Jake Lloyd. Jackson seemed wooden, and the kid seemed to pretend like he was pretending. This was a big budget movie, and surely he could have found somebody. Seeing childhood performances by Kirsten Dunst, Haley Joel Osment, and the kid from "Jerry Maguire" show believable performances by kids. Hell, a Culkin kid could have acted better.

Sith was a bit redeeming. The story coming together and some good performances by the actors had much to do with that.

[Maine Mary]

2. Thanks

You appear to be very objective which helps considerably. I read all the Narnia tales as a child. I was abit afraid that any Hollywood-iasion might over (or under) emphisize the Christian undertones of the story. I'm looking forward to finding out. Thanks for your thoughts on this. It helps. :-)

[CarpeDiebold]

4. We watched it last night

and I didn't think the Christian allegory stood out that much. You really had to look for it(or you had to have fundies peddle it) but the story was nice, the little girl who acted as Lucy was amazing and the grown up Lucy was pretty hot. I was stunned by the CG Aslan and the voice(lian neeson?) did a fantastic job of conveying Aslan's character. I was really blown away by how far live action/CG has come along(and it's not on the same level of complexity as LOTR) but it is a nice film on its own.

Don't let this fundie take over of a gem keep you from watching it, peeps. It's really a good film and worth the $7.25 to get in.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. Yes, it's kind of funny, the fundie pimpage is entirely unnecessary as the

film is quite good. It might even be detrimental to its box office, as it might deter normal people from seeing it.

[Nothing Without Hope]

10. Yes, the lion's voice is from Liam Neeson. And funny that you mention

LOTR - another of the frequent comments at Rotten Tomatoes is that this is a LOTR wannabe.

[GOPBasher]

7. I watched it today, too. I really loved it.

Awesome story, awesome movie, in my opinion. I agree, though, about the right wing hack that made it. But hey, I liked the movie.

[C_eh_N_eh_D_eh]

8. Great flick. (SPOILER)

Sadly, a bit I really wanted to see was missing: the part near the end, where Lucy wants to stay with her brother instead of tending the other wounded. I don't know why, but that was always one of my favorite parts of the book and the BBC series. Maybe because that's one of the few times when we see Aslan's stern side, and we understand he's not just a big teddy bear. Anyway, I was very disappointed with the way that scene was handled on the big screen.

(SPOILER ENDS)


Apart from that, I loved it. The filmmaker didn't stick to the original nearly as much as he claimed to have wanted to, but most of the changes were made simply to make the story more accessible to today's audience. The dialog was largely rewritten, though the story itself was left untouched. There were also a few scenes added near the beginning, explaining to modern viewers things that Lewis' readers would have already understood.

The visual effects, sets, and costumes were absolutely brilliant. Richard Taylor didn't have the opportunities to show off that he did with Lord of the Rings, but that didn't stop him from doing one helluva job. The acting was great, too, especially Tilda Swinton as the White Witch.

Parents of small children are advised to bring some tissues along, because there will be tears involved. The sad scenes (if you've read the book, you can guess what they are) are very touching and emotional. In fact, better bring a few extra for yourself.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. Getting mostly good reviews at at Rotten Tomatoes:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_lion_witch_wardrobe

76% "fresh" rating is not quite as good as the latest Harry Potter movie or King Kong, but loads better than many others. I always check this site when I'm making up my mind whether to go to a movie. I can usually tell from the kinds of positive and negative things said whether I would enjoy it or not. I don't always agree with the consensus judgment, but the individual comments are often telling.

One repeated statement in the various reviews at the above link is that the "Christian" theme is easily ignorable; the movie works as an adventure yarn.

[Ladyhawk]

11. What's bugging me is the prospect of seeing it with my fundy mother.

I don't want her pimping the movie as a way to bring me "back to god." The Narnian myth was actually one of the things that kept my faith going a bit longer before it just collapsed. Being heavily indoctrinated and then giving up a faith and a world view is very, very painful. I just don't want this story triggering more of that same pain. I don't want family members triggering more of that same pain. I've learned to keep transportation handy because I've been trapped before.

Once, when I used the expletive "Jesus Christ!" my mother held me hostage in her car while she drove all over the county yelling at me and berating me. I was in my thirties at the time. Now I'm hesitant to go anywhere with her unless there's an escape route.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. Why would you have to see it with her? You're an adult, choose to

see it, or not, with whoever you want to...

[Ladyhawk]

16. Well, there are complicated reasons why it would be a good idea

for me to go ahead and see it with her. :) Let's just say that seeing the movie with my mother is a way of working on family issues. Unfortunately, whenever I engage family, there's a risk, especially when subject matter involving politics or religion is involved. I'm weighing the rewards and risks of going. In my above post, I was venting the sadness and frustration that interacting with my family can bring. It's never straight-forward. That simultaneously pisses me off and makes me very sad. I wish I had a magic wand to make it all better, but that isn't going to happen. :(

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. Hmm.. if your mom can go off on a rant, holding you captive in the car,

instead of just "harumphing" her disapproval of your sacrilege, when you were in your THIRTIES, yes, sadly, it sounds like there are some issues. Good luck with it! I hope you choose well.

[bliss_eternal]

13. I'm just pleased someone else see's G.Lucas for

what he really is.

Phantom Menace was such a pos--a couple of hours I'll never, ever get back. I wanted to find him and kick his ass for that.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

15. "American Graffiti" was greatness. The original Star Wars (I refuse to

go with Episode 4 etc.) was good, but I still think he was a hack with hack dialogue who lucked out by having Harrison Ford in it and having Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill do very well with their roles. Dialogue sux, but the story idea is good, if not particularly original (hero mythology cobbled together from different sources).

He clearly got WORSE over time, the best evidence, aside from the crappy recent SW films is the fact that he EDITED the original SW to make Greedo shoot first. And pretend like it was always supposed to be that way. Right.

There's a reason he shot it that way originally (Han shooting first). Because it was a great scene, and worked. 'Nuff said.