From the Big Screen to the Small Screen...

For those interested in the full gamut of opinions out there about the recently-released Golden Compass movie, check out the links on Chicken Spaghetti as well as the detailed review (with a full list of pluses and minuses) from Alison over at ShelfTalker. Of course, if you REALLY want a feel for the controversy surrounding this movie, take a gander at the comments underneath her review. All in all, I think I'm still going to go see it--I know it won't ever be the book, but I'm sure I will enjoy it much more than most other movies currently in the theaters. And, if nothing else, the special effects will be pretty, even if there are moments of cheese--such as (according to Alison) the alethiometer scenes, or even the voices: "I love Ian McKellen's voice but found it distracting to hear it coming from the mouth of a polar bear, almost as if Sir Ian (or perhaps Gandalf) had been swallowed and was calling out from the bear's stomach."

And, from the small screen (via your computer screen) comes further evidence of the dumbening of America. I would never, ever watch Are You Smarter Than a 5th-Grader? and now I'm convinced of the rectitude of that decision. As Ordovicius put it in his blog post (albeit in Welsh--sorry), this is even worse than Miss Teen USA's embarrassing moment from earlier this year. It makes you wonder what environmental factors are causing Americans to lose vital brain cells between 5th grade and adulthood. Of course, Miss Kellie may not have had them in the first place.