I wonder if he feels that way about the religion of Global Warming (tm)?

"God-hating lunatics"? Actually, in a way, I think that's who he's criticizing. Morford has always come across as a sharp, thoughtful, spiritually inquisitive guy...the antithesis of a "god-hating lunatic."

I found the opinion piece pretty amateurish, and a poor understanding of the folks (and maybe just religion in general) who have come out against the film.

You mean the folks against a film they've never seen and probably never will?

Yes, who else did you think I was talking about? His views about actual real people are pretty warped imo... I do think any "controversy" about a fantasy film is probably misguided, but far less so than the article.

And really, does circulating emails really amount to controversy? Just making a story out of nothing imo...

I attended a "sneak preview" of this film last night. I'm a Christian and didn't see a thing wrong with this movie. I don't over-analyze the movies I watch or music I listen to. I'm in it for the entertainment value and could care less about stupid boycotts by religious organizations or people in general with too much time on their hands; Some people need to get a life and quit trying to look for a deeper meaning in everything they see or hear.

I saw this last night, as well, and I liked it quite a bit. I haven't read the books, so I'm not sure how it compares, but I do want to read them now.

The film, like just about every fantasy/fairytale, is subversive. It's anti-authority, but not strictly anti-religion, there's no references to religion exactly, it's a bit subtle. The Magisterium is a controlling power that just wants to do what's right for the people, of course the question is about how right and beneficial they are, and how moral their methods. Any adult should catch on to the religious institution as the magisterium. Still, there ain't much to get all up in arms about because every children fantasy film has children rebelling against authority.

Now whether or not it will lead children to the books and corrupt them there is something else, but if you're a smart parent you'll have a discussion with your children about the issues, or just not let them read the books.

I've been reading the books over the past couple months, and they really aren't much more pointed than the movie sounds to be.
The first book, you really wouldn't notice unless someone told you. And even in the second, though there are more pointed comments, no one says, 'christianity is evil,' or anything.

As many people have said, the enemy in the books is not religion, as the boycotters have said, but rather, it's dogmatic authorities controlling people's lives (ironically, exactly what the boycotters are trying to do).

Enjoyed the movie but wasn't blown away. Feels like a very minor piece of a much more substantial puzzle, I'm sure the sequels will improve on this. The effects were top notch though and the Daemon's and Polar Bears stole the show. Worth seeing for sure, but not as 'amazing' as I'd hoped for... I'd say 4/5 stars.

Just to clarify for the peanut gallery, Morford's target is the lunatic machines run out of Colorado Springs and the like. Not God. Not Jesus.
For those of you eager to wage Christian jihad, you're going to be disappointed.

I felt the same way. Impressed and really wanted to love it but the lack of completeness was unsatisfying (even though I knew going in that it was only part of the story).

I'm not sure why so many reviews and posters seem to be assuming that there will be sequels to this film. The movie cost 250 million and has supposedly not been tracking all that well. Remember all the people harping about King Kong underperforming when it made over 500 million internationally? With the big marketing push, this movie will have to make a massive amount in the U.S. and overseas to justify a sequel.

Where'd you get the 250 number? I've read nothing but $180.

Box Office Mojo says $150 million

That's probably just the production budget. Figure in marketing and $250 million is probably not out of the question.

$100 million in marketing? I haven't seen it advertised much more than any other film. I saw way more ads for "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" earlier this year, and no way did they have 100 million advertising budgets.

The original budget was $150 million but according to the L.A. Times and Philadelphia Enquirer, the actual budget went way past $180 million to over $200 million. The marketing budget was $59 million.

How much of that marketing budget was used for starting the "omfg boycott this evil film" email campaign?

Probably the cost of sending one anonymous e-mail to the right easily-offended religious activist.

Hmm... I guess I should go see it several times to do my part to boost the box office...

I am just hoping that they did a creditable job of adapting the wonderful book to the screen. I figured a sequel would be a longshot. His Dark Materials doesn't have the half century fan base of such fantasy classics as LotR, nor did the books sell tens of millions of copies like Rowling's Harry Potter series.

Caught an advanced screening the other night. It seemed they tried to cram too much into a short amount of run time. I think it would have benifited from an additional 30 minutes to flesh out the characters and backstory a little more. The parallels to Catholic dogma are obvious and acurate from my experiences with the Catholic Church but that's just my opinion. No need to get into a religious debate.

Roger Ebert's 4 Star Review - http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...712060302/1023

Did they remove the review? That's just a coming soon blurb that says "4 stars" at the bottom.

I saw a review of this on Rotten Tomatoes where the quote was "Tickle Me Elmo is more subversive than this movie."

Golden Compass: Please increase it's Rotten Tomatoes ranking by not making a crappy movie!