Last year, four new movies opened, none of them in more than 3,000 theatres and none of them really breaking out with Mel Gibson's Mayan epic Apocalypto (Touchstone) coming out on top with just $15 million. Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz starred in the romantic comedy The Holiday (Sony), which opened in third place with $12.8 million, just behind Happy Feet in its fourth weekend. Although it would wind up with a number of Oscar nominations, the African drama Blood Diamond (Warner Bros.), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, couldn't hold its own against Gibson's movie, grossing $8.7 million in less than 2,000 theatres. Opening in the most theaters, Warner Bros.' other movie, the family comedy Unaccompanied Minors by Judd Apatow's pal Paul Feig bombed with just $5.8 million. The top 10 grossed $83 million and this week's offerings should end up around the same place with most of that money going to The Golden Compass.

The Golden Compass (New Line)
Starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott, Eva Green, Dakota Blue Richards, Ian McKellen, Ian McShane, Freddy Highmore, Kathy Bates, Tom Courtenay, Ben Walker, Adam Godley, Simon McBurney, Nonso Anozie, Jim Carter, Clare Higgins, Jack Shepherd, Magda Szubanski, Christopher Lee
Written and directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie, Down to Earth)
Genre: Adventure, Fantasy
Rated PG--13
Tagline: "There are worlds beyond our own - the compass will show the way."
Plot Summary: A teen girl named Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) who lives in an alternate world where everyone's soul is represented by an animal "daemon" discovers that things aren't what they seem as friends of hers start disappearing, pointing to a plot by a group called the "Gobblers" lead by the beautiful but cold Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman). With a magical compass given to her by her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), Lyra is led on an adventure to the kingdom of the bears where she teams with a group including the Armored Bear Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian McKellen) to find her lost friends.

Mini-Review: Without having advance knowledge of Philip Pullman's novels, this masterpiece of production design and world-building might take some time to get into because there's a lot of heady ideas about alternate dimensions, souls living within personal animal daemons, "Gobblers", "Gyptians" and "dust" which might not be immediately clear to the unitiated. Once you get past that, there's the problem that many of the ideas and visuals seem to have been clipped from movies based on the works of Tolkien, Lewis and Barrie, distilling any originality amidst feelings like you've seen this movie already. Fortunately, there's a number of fine performances that keep things going at a brisk pace despite an excessive amount of exposition, but it's especially fun watching Nicole Kidman slip as comfortably into the role of ice queen antagonist as Tilda Swinton did in "Narnia." Newcomer Dakota Blue Richards does a commendable job holding things together while sharing screen time with talking animals and odd characters, but you might hope for more with her and Kidman. Likewise, there isn't nearly enough of Daniel Craig's Lord Asriel, Lyra's explorer uncle, though he does get a nice fight sequence that would make his Bond alter-ego proud. There's even less of Christopher Lee who briefly appears as the head of the domineering government Magisterium, who bear more than a passing resemblance to Catholic Church officials. Most of the special effects are impressive indeed, the CG animals seem to be far more sophisticated and evolved than those in "Narnia" even though the voices aren't particularly well cast, the one exception being Ian McKellen as the giant polar bear Iorek Byrnison and Ian McShane as his nemesis. By the time we've gotten through a number of impressive set pieces, including an amazing battle between the two armored bears, one can almost forgive the movie for ending so abruptly with a non-conclusion that makes a sequel mandatory. Fortunately, once you get past the confusing premise, it's easy to enjoy the film as an epic sci-fi fantasy adventure worthy of plunking down another $7 to 12 to find out what happens next. Rating: 8/10

It's December, which means that it's time for a studio to try to roll out an epic holiday fantasy movie and this year, New Line, the studio that started the trend with the success of their three movies based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 2001, 2002 and 2003, are hoping to recapture that magic with a movie based on the first book in Philip Pullman's popular and controversial sci-fi fantasy trilogy "His Dark Materials," The Golden Compass. The three books published between 1995 and 2000 have sold millions of copies becoming popular favorites among young adults winning many awards and even coming third in a British poll of favorite books right behind "Pride & Prejudice" and "The Lord of the Rings." In England, the book has been adapted for the radio and stage, but this will be the first major feature film based on Pullman's work, and it's likely that while there isn't as much of an audience for the books here, the number of fantasy fans looking for something meaty to sink their teeth into will be intrigued.

Last year, 20th Century Fox tried to start their own series of movies based on Christopher Paolini's fantasy novels starting with Eragon but its weak showing at the box office, grossing just $75 million, pointing to it never seeing any kind of sequel, and earlier this year, Paramount tried to introduce Neil Gaiman's Stardust to the masses of starved fantasy fans but they weren't having any of it. Even their recent animated Beowulf (also penned by Gaiman) did not bring in the sort of fantasy business some might have expected, doing business more along the lines of Eragon than The Lord of the Rings. Walden Media has had mixed results with their fantasy adaptations with 2005's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe being their biggest hit with a total gross of $291 million, in part thanks to the Christian groups who got behind the movie. (More about them in a bit.)

The director of "The Golden Compass" might seem like an odd choice, since Chris Weitz has mainly co-directed comedies with his brother Paul, most notably the first American Pie and Hugh Grant's About a Boy, neither big budget fantasy epics. Apparently, Weitz started this project many years ago and then gave up on it after a lot of pressure from fans about rumored changes to Pullman's work. Weitz was replaced for a short time by Anand Tucker, but Weitz then returned to see the film to fruition, assembling an amazing cast of actors, some of them merely providing voices for the film's talking animals.

The clear star of the show is newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, as Lyra, who spends much of the movie interacting with strange characters and talking animals, including her animal daemon Pantalaimon, a shape-changing otter voiced by Freddie Highmore. Nicole Kidman’s career has seen better days as she hasn’t had a significant (non-animated) hit since 2004’s The Interpreter, but she continues to be considered an A-list actor despite her quirky choices like Noah Baumbach's Margot at the Wedding, now in theatres, while her presence did little to save the long-delayed Warner Bros. remake The Invasion, which tanked over the summer. Maybe appearing in a big fantasy epic like this will remind people how good Kidman is when doing big movies like Moulin Rouge!, and it's certainly smart for her to get away from comedy for a while considering how bad The Stepford Wives and Bewitched did in theatres. (Probably good she's getting away from remakes, too.) The Golden Compass may be Kidman's first crack at something resembling a family film as well, which might help her to build-up a new less cynical audience, as well as the potential for creating a long-term franchise. Her part is fairly small in the movie but it's bigger than that of Daniel Craig (another victim of The Invasion) who plays Lyra's uncle and will probably have a larger part if there's ever another movie. Another satellite character from the books, the witch Serafina Pekkala is played by Craig's Casino Royale love interest Eva Green. The Lord of the Rings connection goes beyond the studio releasing the film, as the movie includes a small appearance by Christopher Lee as the head of the Magesterium and the savage fighting bear who helps Lyra is voiced by the always great Sir Ian McKellen, while his arch-enemy, the king of the bears, is voiced by Ian McShane.

Pullman's novels are a complex blend of fantasy, science fiction and quantum physics dealing with multiple dimensions and concepts like souls being kept within "animal demons" which might not be something that young kids understand, so instead, New Line is hoping that the film will appeal to those who enjoyed the talking animals of Narnia and assume this is a similar movie. Despite the best intentions, the movie was stamped with a PG-13 rating rather than the more traditional PG, which means parents might not bring their younger kids, something that's helped previous Disney and Walden films do so well. Then again, to most people over 10 who haven't read the books, this movie is going to look like little more than a "Narnia" rip-off anyway, so the rating won't matter much.

It's obvious that New Line would like to see this movie attain the success of the Lord of the Rings franchise or The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but unlike those popular fantasy series, which have been around for decades, Pullman's books are newer, and they haven't had as much time to build up an audience of adults over 30, so one figures the movie's biggest audience will be in the 13 – 20 range, probably skewed towards women and girls. After a slow weekend with only one other new movie, The Golden Compass looks like a solid epic movie worth seeing even if it hasn't achieved the status of an event film at this point. Unfortunately, a number of Christian church group have been trying to stage a boycott of the movie based on Pullman's less-than-subtle agnostic undercurrents from the books, which seemingly started with a few message board posts on Snopes. Oddly, that link got around fairly fast with various church groups trying to dissuade parents from bringing their kids to see it. (They're obviously underestimating the number of agnostic, atheist and pagan film lovers who worship at the altar of cinema, such as myself.)

Either way, this is New Line's big holiday tentpole and even if it doesn't do as well as its precursors, it should interest enough fans of fantasy and adventure to do better than Eragon. Knowing they had a strong film, New Line gave The Golden Compass a not particularly well-attended sneak preview this past Saturday, which could help raise awareness if those who saw it rave to their friends, and since there will be few other movies worth seeing this weekend in most places, this might be the only choice. Then again, most younger moviegoers might already be looking forward to Will Smith's I Am Legend and the sequel to National Treasure, so it might be hard for this movie to find its business if they don't show up opening weekend.

Why I Should See It: Pullman's complex combination of science fiction and fantasy has been turned into an epic adventure film that can be enjoyed by a wide range of audiences.
Why Not: The chances of your younger talking-animal-lovin' kids understanding what is going on is slim to none.
Projections: $35 to 38 million opening weekend and roughly $145 million total.

COMPARISONS

THE CHOSEN ONE:

Since it's sorta unfair to make Fox Searchlight settle for another Honorable Mention two weeks in a row, we'll go with two Chosen Ones this week, both first seen at the Toronto International Film Festival back in September and reviewed on our Festival Blog, and in fact, both of these are among the movies being considered as worthy of being a major part in the upcoming Oscar race.

Atonement (Focus)
Starring Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave, Brenda Blethyn
Directed by Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice); Written by Christopher Hampton
Genre: Drama, Period, Romance
Rated R
Plot Summary: In England during the late '30s, the romance between two young people, a wealthy debutante named Cecelia (Keira Knightley) and the family's handyman Robbie (James McAvoy), is disrupted when Cecelia's 13-year-old sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan) tells a lie about Robbie that gets him sent to jail and then off to the warfront, making it harder for him to rekindle his short relationship with Cecelia.
Tagline: "You can only imagine the truth"

My Thoughts from Sundance

Interview with Joe Wright

Interview with James McAvoy (Coming Soon!)

My Dual Review with "The Kite Runner" (Also Coming Soon!)

I feel like I've been talking about this film for months from the first time I saw it at the Toronto Film Festival (see link above) through all of the Oscar stuff I've been writing (which you can read elsewhere on this blog) and all the interviews I've been doing, many of which will be appearing on ComingSoon.net soon. Now I haven't read Ian McEwan's bestselling novel on which this is based, though the last movie based on his novel Enduring Love was pretty strange, basically involved a stalker-like love triangle where Rhys Ifans fell in love with a pre-Bond Daniel Craig. Thankfully, Atonement is a bit more accessible involving a war-time romance between the beautiful Keira Knightley and the equally beautiful James McAvoy (okay, I'll admit to having a slight man-crush on the guy… he is quite charming after all with that Scottish accent of his). Many people think this movie will finally put McAvoy on the map after being overlooked for his part in last year's The Last King of Scotland which got his co-star Forest Whitaker an Oscar and not even a nomination for McAvoy. While this year might offer too much competition for McAvoy to get Oscar attention, this movie is really all about his character and the three actresses playing Briony Tallis: Romola Garai, Vanessa Redgrave and newcomer Saoirse Ronan, who will blow away anyone who sees this movie as the younger Briony who falls for McAvoy's groundskeeper to the point where she lies to try to break-up his relationship with her older sister Cecelia, played by Knightley who oddly ends up playing more of a secondary role despite her top billing. "Atonement" is an intricately plotted film that might surprise those who haven't read McEwan's novel, because it leads the characters on a strange journey from a look at the idle rich in the British countryside, to a crime mystery, to a war film and a romance that tries to survive through it all. The script is great as is the cast, but one really has to give a lot of the credit to Joe Wright for pulling it all together and creating a visually stimulating film with a tone that leaves a lasting impression long after you've seen it.

Atonement opens in New York and L.A. on Friday and will expand wider over the next few weeks leading into awards season.

Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby, Rainn Wilson, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
Directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking); Written by Diablo Cody (debut)
Genre: Comedy
Rated R
Plot Summary: Juno (Ellen Page) is an outspoken teenager who inadvertantly gets pregnant when she has sex with her friend Beecher (Michael Cera) but instead of having an abortion, she decides to have the baby and give it to a wealthy couple (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner)

My Thoughts from the Toronto International Film Festival

Interview with Ellen Page

Interviews with Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody (Coming Soon!)

This was another one of the better films from this year's Toronto Film Festival and while I'm not sure I immediately fell in love with it as some people did, it certainly has grown on me with repeat viewings. Of course, we already knew that Ellen Page was great from movies like Hard Candy and Mouth to Mouth but it's nice to see her doing something a bit more in the comedy realm, because she's naturally funny with her deadpan delivery. Give her some great dialogue as she has here in the form of first-time screenwriter's snappy in-your-face script and you really have a film that quickly wins you over despite sometimes seeming too clever for its own good. Oh, and did we mention that this was directed by Jason Reitman (son of Ivan) who knocked one out of the park with his first film, the dark comedy Thank You for Smoking? Despite being edgy, "Juno" is a fairly straight-ahead tale of a bratty loud-mouthed teen who gets pregnant and it follows her journey to find a couple to adopt her baby, in this case a well-to-do yuppie couple played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. It's equally fun to see JK Simmons (a.k.a. J. Jonah Jameson) and Alison Janney as Juno's supportive father and stepmother who bring a lot of their own natural humor to the mix.

Juno opens in New York and L.A. on Wednesday and expands wider on Friday, December 7.

Also in Limited Release:

Billy the Kid (Elephant Eye Films) - Jennifer Venditti's documentary about an imaginative teen boy growing up in Maine who is prone to flying into fits of rage follows him as he goes through his day-to-day life. It opens in New York at the IFC Film Center on Wednesday.

Mini-Review: It's not quite clear why Venditti thought the film's annoying teen with ADD would make an interesting subject matter, but Billy seems just like any other weird kid from the suburbs with delusions of his own grandeur, seemingly on the verge of becoming some kind of serial killer at the slightest provocation. Watching him talking to people and trying to woo a girl at a diner with his exploits is grueling to watch because he doesn't even hold the audience's interest with his lame exploits more than Napoleon Dynamite. I guess some people might find watching this weird teen falling in love rather sweet and touching but he's so strange that it's very hard for the audience to ever really connect with him, because it's basically this guy talking and talking and talking without any sort of filter, and frankly, it irks me even thinking that someone would find him interesting enough to put him in a movie, let alone that he might have a girlfriend. About half hour into the movie, it dwells on the possibilities of this constantly picked-on boy being one of those kids who goes to school with a gun and starts shooting everyone, but no, that never happens, which is a shame only because it would have made a far more interesting film. This "documentary" would have been better left at the festivals or relegated to cable. Rating: 4/10

The Amateurs (First Look Studios) - Michael Traeger's comedy stars Jeff Bridges as a divorced man who with a bunch of friends decides to get their small town community together to make an amateur porn flick. The long-delayed comedy will open in L.A. and Dallas on Friday and in more cities on December 14.

The Band's Visit (Sony Pictures Classics) - Eran Kolirin's festival favorite about an Egyptian police band's inadvertent arrival at a small town in Israel leaves them stranded for 24 hours where the men of the band try to find ways to get along and click with their Israeli hosts. The film will be opening next year on February 8, but it gets a one-week awards run in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Mini-Review: You sometimes have to remember that you're watching a film set in Israel because Eran Kolirin's debut is so reminiscent of the work of Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, particularly Leningrad Cowboys Go America, maybe because it's a similarly charming fish out of water tale of a group of well-dressed musicians who find themselves in a strange situation when stranded in the middle of nowhere. The film quickly sets itself apart from the grim politically minded films that often come from the region to how this dysfunctional band of misfits and their stiff, stodgy bandleader deal with their surroundings in the small Israeli town as spend one night making new friends and exchanging ideas with the locals, despite an obvious language gap. (Much of the film ends up being in sub-titled English as the two camps try to find common ground in which to communicate.) Most of the film's best scenes involve the interaction between noted character actor Sasson Gabai as General Tewfiq and the town's sexy hot-to-trot restaurant owner played by Ronit Elkabetz ("Late Marriage"), as the duo go on an awkward date on the town, but it's equally amusing to watch the band's resident Casanova (Saleh Bakri) teach a local misanthrope how to talk to and make advances on his date. Kolirin really has a knack for creating humor in a subtle way within very believable situations, and with just one film, he has created a niche within the oeuvre of world cinema, because "The Band's Visit" is a genuinely touching crowd-pleaser and a real treat. Rating: 8.5/10

Dirty Laundry (Codeblack Entertainment) - Maurice ("The Chappelle Show") Jamal's comedy stars Loretta Devine (now appearing in This Christmas) in this tale of a magazine writer named Patrick (Rockmond Dunbar) who seems to have a perfect life until he uncovers a secret that brings him back home to his traditional Southern family after ten years. It will open in New York and L.A. on Friday.

Grace is Gone (The Weinstein Co.) - James Strouse's drama stars John Cusack as Stanley Phillips, he father of two young girls whose military wife is killed in Iraq. Instead of telling his daughters the truth, he decides to take them on a road trip to an amusement park. After winning the dramatic award at Sundance and being picked up by Harvey Weinstein, Strouse's debut opens in select cities on Friday with a new score composed by the one and only Clint Eastwood.

Interview with director James C. Strouse

Mini-Review: This is a well-crafted directorial debut from James Strouse (Lonesome Jim), a character drama that takes the overused dramatic premise of casualties from the Iraq War in a far more original and palatable direction, setting aside politics and which side is right to focus on the families who've lost loved ones in the war. More to the point, it shows how one man deals with his army wife dying and having to tell his two young daughters, and in that sense, this is John Cusack's movie to give the most emotionally rounded and moving performances of his career, breaking away from the normal cocky charm that's done him so well in recent years. Still, he's almost overshadowed by newcomer Shelan O'Keefe as his pre-teen daughter who's extremely intuitive about what is going on, and her character seems to go through an equally important journey of discovery. The only time the film gets into the politics of war is when Alessandro Nivola shows up in a small role as Stanley's brother, an ultra-liberal unemployed slacker who brings some much-needed humor to the situation. Otherwise, the film is generally dour and down, not helped by Clint Eastwood's maudlin soundtrack that tries to jerk a few more tears out of the viewer using his usual musical manipulations. Even so, Strouse delivers a dramatic road movie that doesn't quite match "Transamerica" or "Little Miss Sunshine" in terms of depth, but does a worthy job getting one thinking about those who have been the most affected by the war. (And no, I'm not talking about documentary filmmakers either!) Rating: 7.5/10

Looking for Cheyenne (Regent Releasing) - Valérie Minetto's French drama about a journalist who leaves Paris to settle down in the middle of nowhere leaving her girlfriend Sonia behind to try to find love in the arms of men and women alike. The bisexual love story opens at the Regent Showcase Theatre in Hollywood.

Man in the Chair (Outsider Pictures) - Michael Schroeder's dramedy stars Michael Angarano as a rebellious teen film buff who pursues his dream of being a filmmaker by entering a student film competition, seeking the aid of an aging gaffer (Christopher Plummer) who worked on "Citizen Kane" and who enlists his aging friends to help with the project. It opens in select cities.

Revolver (Samuel Goldwyn) - Filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) returns with an intricate crime drama starring Jason Statham as Jake Green, a man just out of prison who gets roped in with two con men (Andre Benjamin, Vincent Pastore of "The Sopranos"), as he tries to get revenge on the casino owner who got him sent to jail (Ray Liotta). (That's the easy readers plot.) It will open in select cities on Friday.

Interview with Guy Ritchie

Review (Coming Soon!)

'Tis Autumn - The Search for Jackie Paris (Outsider Pictures) - Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks) directs this examination into the mysterious life of legendary jazz vocalist Jackie Paris using footage, photos and historical recordings to conduct interviews with Paris and the musicians who knew him. It opens in New York and L.A. on Friday.

The Walker (THINKFilm) - Filmmaker Paul Schrader (American Gigolo, Affliction) returns with a crime-drama starring Woody Harrelson as Carter Page, confidante and social partner of many of the wealthy wives of local politicians in Washington DC, which puts him into the middle of a murder mystery involving one of his friends (Kristin Scott Thomas). Also starring Lili Tomlin, Willem Dafoe and Lauren Bacall, it opens in New York and L.A. after its Toronto Film Festival debut.

Mini-Review (Coming Soon!)

Next week, things start to pick up again as Will Smith declares I Am Legend!!! (Take that, Beowulf), while Jason Lee will probably be yelling "Alvin!!!!!!!" in Alvin and the Chipmunks (20th Century Fox). Not sure if there will be any yelling in The Perfect Holiday (The Yari Group), but it won't be one for its producers if it bombs.

Copyright 2007 Edward Douglas