Wednesday night, after a fairly productive day

I'd like to clarify something about asking y'all to boycott The Seeker : I have no problem with changing things from books to movies in general. Y'all know how I championed Stardust this summer; I actually thought that the changes, of which there were many, worked really well in the context of a film, and that everything that needed to be there was still there. I've actually gone to the mat defending various Harry Potter omissions and alterations (you may remember how much I loved Prisoner of Azkaban); I actually liked the Arwen additions in Lord of the Rings; and I'm more than willing to give the His Dark Materials adaptations the benefit of the doubt until we see how they handle the religious themes. I'd even be okay with them soft-pedaling or even omitting that element if they did it in a way that (somehow. I know, I know, I don't know how either) made sense. I know saying that will probably cause bedlam in the comments, but you certainly get my point: filmmakers who seem to respect the books as books, which are not movies, but try to adapt them as gently as possible to film anyway are okay with me. I know that the anti-religion element is so key to His Dark Materials, but I also can't imagine an American movie aimed at kids where characters set out to "kill God." I mean, I'm sorry: I don't see that happening. So the the level of respect and fidelity with which the HDM filmmakers try to get around that sociopolitical impossibility, that's what I care about.

And then... there's The Dark Is Rising. There's just a level of contempt for the entire undertaking that floors me. To wit: ( Oh, god. That means I might have to do a sequel )

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