The Chronicles of McNernia?

(Someone spewed out the above title the other night, and it occurred to me that it would be an interesting title if someone were ever to write a biography of me, or if I ever started a second blog for some reason.)

I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this afternoon, and it definitely lives up to its billing. I haven't read the books yet, (more on that in a moment), but they'll definitely be my next "reading project" after I finish the new Harry Potter book over Christmas (because of my schedule, book-reading for me tends to be limited to Christmas and summer). The four featured kids did a great job (especially Georgie Henley as Lucy and Skandar Keynes as Edmund), and the CG characters were magnificently done, especially Aslan. I'm aware of the Christian overtones in the story, which I can appreciate on a personal level, but I don't think it's beating anybody over the head with it or anything, so when it comes down to it, the movie is a great piece of fantasy and, in all likelihood, "just what the doctor ordered" for a cinematic season that's been sagging since the Star Wars series ended in May.

The people I was with were surprised that I had never read the books. My explanation was that, when I was in middle school, there were probably two really good choices for a fantasy to assign to schoolkids: Narnia and Lord of the Rings. My class read The Hobbit, which led me to the LOTR trilogy; one of the guys I was with was assigned LWW and read the rest of the series after that.

At any rate, this is a really good flick that I'll almost definitely see again and eventually add to my DVD collection. Check it out if you haven't gone yet.