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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
‘Stardust,’ ‘Golden Compass’ a fantasy overload?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Like a lot of moviegoers, my all-time best list can get crowded with fantasy films — “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Pan’s Labyrinth,” “The Wizard of Oz.”
But it’s also starting to seem like there’s a few too many lions, witches and wardrobes running around.
At the movies, we’re being inundated with previews for “The Golden Compass” (coming in December) and in the last week my desk has been invaded by promotional materials for “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” (arriving in November) and “The Spiderwick Chronicles” (which isn’t due in theaters until half a year has passed).
On Friday, the latest fantasy film — “Stardust” — arrives. It’s got Claire Danes falling from the sky as a living star, Michelle Pfeiffer as a witch driving a cart pulled by goats and Robert De Niro as a pirate strutting around his boat in drag.
At least the title is short. There seems to often be a requirement that fantasy films contain upwards of a dozen or so words stitched together with special punctuation.
“In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale” (based on the “Dungeon Siege” video game series) is coming in January with Jason Statham. He usually drives fast cars and wields a gun, but this time he’s settling for a big sword.
It all seems to me to be too much. But then again, I’m planning on being at the Plaza Theatre on Aug. 25 for a special big-screen showing of the 1963 classic “Jason and the Argonauts” with its incredible sword-wielding skeletons (details: www.plazaatlanta.com; click on special events).
What are some of your favorite fantasy films? Are you looking forward to “The Golden Compass”?
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