lazyotter

Today didn’t get off to a great start. I’d left a large piece of paper on the kitchen table with “LUNCH IN FRIDGE” written on it so I’d see it at breakfast and remember to take the spaghetti with me… Somehow I failed to notice this and instead managed to pick up a tin of soup. At least dinner was ready when I got home, but a shame it was the same as yesterday.

This evening I watched “The Golden Compass” having held off for a number of weeks until I’d finished the book upon which it is based - “Northern Lights”, part of a Philip Pullman trilogy named “His Dark Materials“. With the last pages of the book so recently in my head I was at first somewhat disappointed with the movie. As with LOTR, at times it felt very fast moving indeed, where one brief scene had been translated from a few chapters in the book. This was frustrating for me as I’d taken my time over the book and a lot of the best bits seemed to be missed out. Another gripe I have was that they swapped some of the chapters around (very confusing having just read the book) and even missed out the very last part (not saying any more). And where the book seemed to be a darker almost adult-like affair, the movie seemed to be in lighter spirits.

But hold on! This was still a good film. It did manage to encapsulate the ambiance of the parallel world in which the book is set. And the acting was very good too. But the best thing about this movie is that it looks great - excellent computer generated characters, fabulous sets and costumes. I kept wishing they’d slow the thing down so we could appreciate and savour all of this, but it just kept rushing along at 100mph.

Overall, I’d definitely recommend this movie if you’ve not (or not recently) read the book.

Did the rather comically named “Three peaks of Runcorn” run today, which is basically a 6.23 mile route with three hills in it.