Thanks to Jeff for inviting me to catch the opening of The Golden Compass at GSC 1U. Got to meet up with Immi, Meiz, Henry - all of which I only last met at paintball. Made some new friends - one of which turned out to be an ex-Apiitian too.. 
Did a bit of preparation beforehand, so I knew not to over-expect as I walked into the movie hall - which was a good thing because honestly, the movie FAILED. They tried to squeeze too much into 2 hours, the screenplay and script was butchered and horrendously condensed. The whole ’supernatural’ reading of the Alethiometer was really ridiculous considering that they actually bothered to explain how it works.. Continuity became a serious issue due to how they kept jumping from scene to scene and from place to place. Dumbed down, disjointed and an ultimately ’soulless’ movie.
I hope the next one gets a better script, and hopefully a better director. I couldn’t decide which one I hated more - this or Narnia (Narnia’s incredibly childish nature was a massive turn off for me). This wasn’t as childish, but it definitely wasn’t as polished either..
The only redeeming factors were the fact that the movie had some VERY impressive special effects. There was also above average acting (for me at least) from the new girl who played Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards). She played the part of a feisty, strong willed, stubborn, sneaky, independent little girl very well. Also, the whole concept of having an animal daemon was pretty cool. Pantalaimon was soo cute, I wished I had a daemon of my own.
Which of course led me to the Golden Compass’s movie website, where you could take a quiz that will reveal the name and the form of your daemon.
Mine turned out to be :
..a Tigress named Valthera. How cool is that? 
What’s your daemon?
