Caught an advance screening with
fosteronfilm of The Golden Compass over the weekend. I'm not sure if it's because I read the book so recently or whether it's a reflection of the movie, but it felt cursory, full of narrative intrusion and lacking the depth of worldbuilding that the story has. Still, it was a beautiful film, and I enjoyed it, especially the daemons—also my favorite part of the books*—which were fabulously executed. The filmmakers managed to convey a rich expressiveness of the CGI critters through facial expressions and body language, doing total justice to the visual medium. The acting was solid, too. I was especially impressed by the lead, Dakota Blue Richards. Shiny.
(
fosteronfilm wrote a more complete review for anyone interested in his take—also, he hasn't read the book.)
*I haven't read the third book yet, so please no spoilers!

Writing Stuff
Received:
• Payment from Cricket for "The Tanuki Kettle."
• Note from
basletum inviting me to contribute a nonfiction article to the book on writing he's putting together for Double-Edged Publishing, Perspectives on Writing. Of course, I said I would.
New Words:
• 1300 words on WiP, "Morozko" (2335/3500). It's chugging along nicely, although my day job folks keep wanting me to do work . . . sheesh, the nerve
. So I haven't had as much writing time as I expected.