The Golden Compass

I'm excited! I've just discovered the website for "The Golden Compass", and I can't wait to see this film.

To further underline my part-time geek status, I am a lover of science-fiction and fantasy books and movies from waaayyyy back. I mean, I cut my reading teeth on the "The Magic Faraway Tree" by Enid Blyton and Charles Kingsley's "The Water Babies", and rapidly moved on to Tolkien's "Lord Of the Rings" cycle and Heinlein's "Stranger in Strange Land" (I read all of those before I was 10 - I was an early and precocious reader. Figures, huh!?). I continue to love fantasy, sci fi and spec fiction, though I read many different genre.

Same goes for movies - there are many I love (I'm hopeless at filling out Favourite Movies sections in profiles and forms...there are so many, and they change...), but stand-outs through my life include "Star Wars" (at 10, it was conceptually stunning!), "Total Recall", "The Fifth Element", "Gattaca", the "Lord of the Rings" films (of course), and I'm a sucker for the Harry Potter films, though the quality does vary.

So a movie that describes itself as "...an exciting fantasy adventure film, set in a parallel world where people's souls manifest themselves as small animals, talking bears fight wars, and children are mysteriously disappearing... " is bound to get my attention. Add Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig as the headline acts on a pretty fine cast, and a visually spectacular production, and you've got me!

I'm intrigued by the idea that in the parallel universe described in the film, people's souls manifest themselves externally as spirit animals called Daemons. On the website, you can answer a short questionaire and have your daemon revealed.

I love my tiger! I have had recurring dreams about tigers at significant points in my life, and have long considered them a personal totem animal. (I'm not ascribing any mystical significance or power to the selection tool or the website - just marvelling at the appropriateness for me.)

Now, off to my local movie guide, to see how long I have to wait before the movie gets to my part of the world...