After the success of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, studios optioned fantasy novel series left and right for a while. Looking for a LOTR successor, they picked up Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass, part one of the His Dark Materials series.

While they are terrific books, the film The Golden Compass comes off as shallow, confusing, and at times, just plain weird. Worst of all, they took an amazing ending and truncated it, leaving you with a movie that stops short. At least it has an awesome cast.

We're joined by the delightful Paul4AllSeasons once again on this magical journey.