Of all the problems one might cite with the last sections of The Golden Compass, Entertainment Weekly blogger Joy Piedmont zeroes in on one of the oddest: that cutaway shot of Daniel Craig shaving. As Washington, D.C.-based journalist Kelly Jane Torrance kibbutzed amongst ourselves yesterday afternoon, the fact that writer-director Chris Weitz lopped off several of the book’s later chapters to end the film on a sequel-promising cliffhanger might be a rather more significant structural flaw. “I thought that ending was the worst thing about the film,” Torrance opined. “Lyra lists about five things on her to-do list and the music swells and it’s over.” Personally, by the time that scene was over, I was half-expecting Dakota Blue Richards to look into the camera and say, “You’ll come too, won’t you, kids? Won’t that be an adventure!” (On the other hand, when The Subtle Knife gets made, moving the last section of The Golden Compass to the first reel of the sequel may make the transition to Will Perry’s story less abrupt.)
Perhaps more interestingly, Torrance informed me that a qualified endorsement of the film that had appeared on the website of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has been removed from the website, and “the requested object does not exist on this server.” Nor is the film included in the Conference’s extensive guide to current releases. The Conference’s endorsement (“Rather than banning the movie or books, parents might instead take the opportunity to talk through any thorny philosophical issues with their teens”) had surprised many, given Catholic League mouthpiece Bill Donahue‘s vocal resentment of what he saw as its insidious threat of atheist influence. No explanation for the removal of the review as of yet.