HisDarkMaterials.org

Moviefone.com adds a new short sequence from The Golden Compass film, featuring Lyra telling Iorek the location of his armour.

The second new clip comes from MSN videos and features a scene between Lyra and Lee Scoresby at Trollesund.

See the video here

There are 3 main obstacles facing The Golden Compass's success. First of all, do the (lack of?) religious elements damage the viewing experience? Secondly, does the rewritten ending have a negative impact? Finally, are the special effects going to be 'too much'?

The Telegraph published a review of The Golden Compass movie, which they attended at a screening in Los Angeles. This review mainly addresses the final issue, as expressed by the article's title: The Golden Compass: Special effects shine more than the stars.

[Dakote] does her best to carry the human portion of the film, despite an unconvincing "cor blimey" accent, but it is the computer-generated animals and rodents which are the real stars - rarely has so much human talent been so overshadowed by digital effects.

Funnily enough, despite all the attention that Kidman and Craig have been drawing, the reviewer remarks:

[..] but it is Sam Elliot who shines as the gun-toting Texan aeronaut who joins forces with Lyra and a whisky-drinking polar bear [..] on their quest to save Roger and the other kidnapped children.

Overall though, the reviewer does note that investors who backed this film can rest easy, partially due to the success that this movie will have with younger viewers:

[..] while adults may wince at the jumpy editing and stilted dialogue ("We'll set it right - just let them try to stop us," declares Lyra), younger audiences are likely to be enthralled at the wonders Lyra encounters on her epic journey through a metaphysical universe.

So what should we think of this review? For the time being, not too much; we'll be seeing the film next Saturday so only then will we be able to give our informed opinion. However, this review basically echoes some of the other opinions that we've heard from people who've seen the movie: "It looks beautiful, but it could have been a bit grittier and less CGI-ey. On the other hand, the storyline is very well executed and the acting is great."

The question that remains is if this film will be able to appeal as greatly to the older audiences as it does to the younger viewers.

MTV draws our attention to the following: Just as New Line has stepped up its marketing campaign for its upcoming movie "The Golden Compass," the film studio finds itself with a little competition — from a DVD that Koch Entertainment plans to put out called "Beyond the Golden Compass." New Line filed a copyright-infringement suit Thursday (November 15) in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, claiming the Koch version was a "cynical and transparent effort to unfairly compete with and capitalize on the massive publicity and promotional effort" aimed at the $180 million version, starring Nicole Kidman, by insinuating the two releases were related. New Line wants to prevent the knockoff from coming out and $10 million in damages.

Ladies and gentlemen, HisDarkMaterials.org is proud to present you with all the soundtrack information you could possibly need.

First of all, we've just published an in-depth essay based upon our interview with Alexandre Desplat.

IGN.com posts a new clip from The Golden Compass. Titled 'A Bear's Armor,' it features the longest piece of continuous acting  from both Ian McKellan voicing Iorek Byrnison, and actress Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra.

The second clip from MySpace.com shows the beginning of the fight between Iorek Byrnison and Ragnar Sturlusson.

Catholic.org recently interviewed Pete Vere and Sandra Miesel, co-authors of the book Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy, regarding exactly why parents should be wary of the coming release of Golden Compass in theaters, and how to protect their kids from potentially reading the books and being exposed to the intense sexual content therein.

Miesel explains that the His Dark Materials books contain "deliberate murder, sadism, mutilation, suicide, euthanasia and even cannibalism", and warns all parents that the movie will promote a curiosity in the books, which will in turn, induce atheism and reduce a healthy sense of morals. The article concludes that "for the Christian parent, the movie cannot be anything but spiritual poison to their children -- for the movie is the fruit of the book."

Read the full interview here.

In another article on YourHub.com, seventeen year-old high school journalist Kelley Robinson describes the His Dark Materials trilogy as inappropriately sexual for the age group the books are aimed at. He explains that the trilogy teaches that sex is the only way to become a true adult and says one of the main themes is "God is only killed when the young girl engages in an act of physical pleasure". Robinson goes on to say that the movies will be just as dangerous as the books are to a young mind and should be avoided to the best of one's ability.

Read his full article here.

Yahoo! Taiwan reports that Ella in Taiwan Pop music group S.H.E was selected through an internet survey as the Chinese Lyra, the heroine in the upcoming movie The Golden Compass.

Marc T. Newman, reviewer/critic of ExileStreet.com has taken yet another religious approach to the upcoming Golden Compass film. He suggests that instead of boycotting and only creating more publicity for the movie, that Christians should try to form a more interactive response, where he states movies are not monologues, they can be dialogues. He also explains that his article was not intended to attack the film or its meanings, but instead bring awareness to Christian parents who may be unwittingly introducing their children to a story that would challenge their current beliefs.

In the series of articles, Newman likens The Golden Compass to The Da Vinci Code in its controversial nature, and compares the reactions generated by both films. He also says that because films like The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe were so popular with children, the books sold phenomenally well around the release of the movie, and Golden Compass will likely be no different; the only real concern is that, though the film will likely have most of its religious affiliations muted or removed, the books will remain the same and children will be more inclined to read them after seeing the movie, therefore more likely to be exposed to the undesirable content.

MTV reports today on the changes made to the Golden Compass movie ending, and how that will determine the fate of any future sequels in the His Dark Materials line.

Many fans disagree with this choice, but director Chris Weitz and even Sam Elliot, the actor who plays Lee Scoresby, agree that this will make the film both more enjoyable and easier to understand for those who have not yet read the books. Weitz himself stated that this new ending would provide a firmer base for the second movie, because there likely will be a second movie, thus inevitably a third.

There were a few other notable last-minute changes to the Golden Compass; Two characters changed voice actors in an act that production believed to prove more passionate for the character and would therefore add more to the script. Ian McKellan is now set to play the Ice Bear Iorek Byrnison, and Kathy Bates is set to voice Hester, Lee Scoresby's Daemon.

Chris Weitz has agreed to answer questions from fans on MTV.com's Movie Blog and addresses concerns such as the controversy over religious references in the films and in producing a more faithful adaptation of the sequels to The Golden Compass. Chris also addresses the reasons behind shifting the ending of the first book to the second movie and the status of the sequels. There is still opportunity for fans to ask more questions as a second round of questions will be addressed next week.

TheMovieBox.net has made available seven of the TV spots currently airing on US television. The short advertisements, which have been running for the past week, contain small snippets of never-before-seen scenes and some confirm that the film has been rated PG-13 by MPAA.

The official blog reports that acclaimed English singer Kate Bush will pen an original song entitled "Lyra" for the end credits of The Golden Compass. The song which was produced in Kate's studio and features the Magdalen College Choir from Oxford will be available as part of the official The Golden Compass soundtrack to be released December 11th.

The Christian lobby which was set in motion by the Catholic League's boycott has now been joined by various other parties each trying to warn for The Golden Compass, and its author Philip Pullman. In this article we look at four recent publications.

Update: Also read about the Pied Piper of Atheism publication.

IGN.com has posted some concept art from The Golden Compass. Be sure to check out the image gallery with newly-added storyboards including the development of Lyra at Mrs. Coulter's flat and Lyra speaking with Serafina Pekkala on board the Nooderlicht.

Variety magazine reports on the extensive marketing campaign being undertaken by New Line in promotion of The Golden Compass. The total value of brand-backed marketing is estimated to be $120 million and includes brand partners Coca-Cola Co., Burger King, Wal-Mart, Target, Sega, the World Wildlife Fund, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Best Buy, Emusic, FAO Schwarz, Corgi Intl., Toys R Us, Trans World Entertainment, Circuit City, Marie Claire and Scholastic.