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boofany and paperthinwalls! Awesome ladies both.
Tonight, in defiance of the fact that he has to be at work at 7:30 AM and only because it's almost my birthday, T. took me to see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Early reviews had been mixed, at best, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Some of you may have read the multiple-page, in-depth hatchet job by a serious fan that was written a month or so ago. My hope was based on the fact that the ads looked good and also on the fact that the Hammer & Tongs production team made one of my all time favorite music videos, Blur's "Coffee and TV." I am happy to say that, while some of the criticisms were valid (a lot of the book's jokes HAVE, in fact, been taken out of the script, leaving people who talk more like people and less like a glibly funny book), the movie was pleasantly watchable and a lot of fun. Tom even liked it.
We showed up early and were first in what turned out to be a fairly long line, although the showing itself didn't sell out. One of the first indications that things might be all right was that people leaving the prior showing kept stumbling up to me, wide smiles on their faces. "Are you in line for Hitchhiker's? It's totally worth it!" and "You won't be disappointed!" were some of the things they were saying. This happened at least three or four times. We took it as a favorable sign. I've never had this happen to me in a movie line before: I suspect it's because these people had also read the middling-to-negative reviews and wanted to reassure us.
If you can access my last post, which was friends-only, you should go read whatmy_moleskine wrote about the movie and Douglas Adams.
Anyway... the movie itself. It seems like some changes were made from the cut that the Horrified Superfan saw in... er... March, I think. Some complaints resolved. I haven't read the book in 15 years, so I couldn't tell you exactly how closely the movie follows it, except in saying that many elements have been altered or added for the movie. I don't think the structure is enviably tight, but it does have a reasonable plot and it is fairly consistently funny. I don't think complaints about the resolution of the Humma Kavula plot are necessarily valid. Most of the parts are very well-cast. Martin Freeman (who looks like a hybrid of our friends Steve Black and Sean McKeever!) is a perfect Arthur Dent, and Mos Def is wonderful as Ford Prefect. Zooey Deschanel is good as Trillian. I would never have thought of casting Sam Rockwell, who I ordinarily dislike, as Zaphod Beeblebrox, nor of having him play the character quite that way, but it works really well. There have been a lot of comments about how he's an arrogant, irresponsible, dunderheaded "rock star", but I haven't run across one yet that points up that his manner of speaking is clearly and obviously and intentionally a parody of President Bush... as seen through the SNL Will Farrell lens. (I also haven't read a ton of reviews.) Bill Nighy (one of Tom's favorites) is great as Slartibartfast, and the movie had its only true moment of wonder, in my opinion, after they go through the "sort of a gateway thingie." The yarn portion is pure play, a joy to watch. And there is a wonderful tribute to Douglas Adams right at the end of the movie, just before the dedication to him.
Things I didn't like: the movie looks great, but it doesn't look anything like what I had in my head, and that is always jarring in a film translation. Something about Marvin fell flat... I normally like Alan Rickman, but the timing of his voice lines were off with both the other actors AND with Warwick Davis's physical portrayal (which was good). I think a more digitized-sounding voice, like the computer in the Console song "14 Zero Zero" would have been better. The pace is frenetic, which doesn't always help the story. I didn't feel much emotional investment in the characters, except in a nostalgic, affectionate way (IE, it was an emotional investment in the idea of the characters, rather than necessarily the people being portrayed onscreen). Elements of it reminded me of Time Bandits and Erik the Viking, especially in pacing and editing.
Not every choice made was a good one, not every risk taken panned out, but it's still a nice little movie that a lot of people will like. I don't know if it's The Movie We Waited 25 Years For. But it's not a waste of two hours.
Finally, at this point in my life, there are two comparisons for British sci-fi comedies about the last living human in the universe, and H2G2 is only one. The other is Red Dwarf. This movie made me yearn to watch some episodes. It's not the same as H2G2, but there are some similarities: Dave Lister, the last man alive, has more in common with Ford Prefect than Arthur Dent. He's a slightly punk character who likes to have a good time. But he's also the moral center of the Red Dwarf universe, by default, and his party-boy demeanor belies a more serious side. He's a low-level technician on a mining ship not only because he's never been terribly ambitious, but also because he is a mixed-race orphan who's never really gotten a break. He only survived the accident that killed all of his shipmates because he had been put in suspended animation for adopting a pet cat and refusing to surrender it to its certain doom. Meanwhile, the character more like Arthur Dent (at least in terms of being a dorky white boy) is Arnold Rimmer, Lister's irritating, boring, and officious former bunkmate, brought back by the ship's superintelligent computer as a hologram to keep Lister company. The wild-card weirdo Zaphod function is filled by Cat, a humanoid creature that descended and evolved from Lister's aforementioned pet cat. Anyone who likes H2G2 in any form should give Red Dwarf a try if they haven't already... not every episode is good, but if you enjoy one series you will probably like the other, and vice-versa.
boofany and paperthinwalls! Awesome ladies both.Tonight, in defiance of the fact that he has to be at work at 7:30 AM and only because it's almost my birthday, T. took me to see Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Early reviews had been mixed, at best, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Some of you may have read the multiple-page, in-depth hatchet job by a serious fan that was written a month or so ago. My hope was based on the fact that the ads looked good and also on the fact that the Hammer & Tongs production team made one of my all time favorite music videos, Blur's "Coffee and TV." I am happy to say that, while some of the criticisms were valid (a lot of the book's jokes HAVE, in fact, been taken out of the script, leaving people who talk more like people and less like a glibly funny book), the movie was pleasantly watchable and a lot of fun. Tom even liked it.
We showed up early and were first in what turned out to be a fairly long line, although the showing itself didn't sell out. One of the first indications that things might be all right was that people leaving the prior showing kept stumbling up to me, wide smiles on their faces. "Are you in line for Hitchhiker's? It's totally worth it!" and "You won't be disappointed!" were some of the things they were saying. This happened at least three or four times. We took it as a favorable sign. I've never had this happen to me in a movie line before: I suspect it's because these people had also read the middling-to-negative reviews and wanted to reassure us.
If you can access my last post, which was friends-only, you should go read what
my_moleskine wrote about the movie and Douglas Adams.Anyway... the movie itself. It seems like some changes were made from the cut that the Horrified Superfan saw in... er... March, I think. Some complaints resolved. I haven't read the book in 15 years, so I couldn't tell you exactly how closely the movie follows it, except in saying that many elements have been altered or added for the movie. I don't think the structure is enviably tight, but it does have a reasonable plot and it is fairly consistently funny. I don't think complaints about the resolution of the Humma Kavula plot are necessarily valid. Most of the parts are very well-cast. Martin Freeman (who looks like a hybrid of our friends Steve Black and Sean McKeever!) is a perfect Arthur Dent, and Mos Def is wonderful as Ford Prefect. Zooey Deschanel is good as Trillian. I would never have thought of casting Sam Rockwell, who I ordinarily dislike, as Zaphod Beeblebrox, nor of having him play the character quite that way, but it works really well. There have been a lot of comments about how he's an arrogant, irresponsible, dunderheaded "rock star", but I haven't run across one yet that points up that his manner of speaking is clearly and obviously and intentionally a parody of President Bush... as seen through the SNL Will Farrell lens. (I also haven't read a ton of reviews.) Bill Nighy (one of Tom's favorites) is great as Slartibartfast, and the movie had its only true moment of wonder, in my opinion, after they go through the "sort of a gateway thingie." The yarn portion is pure play, a joy to watch. And there is a wonderful tribute to Douglas Adams right at the end of the movie, just before the dedication to him.
Things I didn't like: the movie looks great, but it doesn't look anything like what I had in my head, and that is always jarring in a film translation. Something about Marvin fell flat... I normally like Alan Rickman, but the timing of his voice lines were off with both the other actors AND with Warwick Davis's physical portrayal (which was good). I think a more digitized-sounding voice, like the computer in the Console song "14 Zero Zero" would have been better. The pace is frenetic, which doesn't always help the story. I didn't feel much emotional investment in the characters, except in a nostalgic, affectionate way (IE, it was an emotional investment in the idea of the characters, rather than necessarily the people being portrayed onscreen). Elements of it reminded me of Time Bandits and Erik the Viking, especially in pacing and editing.
Not every choice made was a good one, not every risk taken panned out, but it's still a nice little movie that a lot of people will like. I don't know if it's The Movie We Waited 25 Years For. But it's not a waste of two hours.
Finally, at this point in my life, there are two comparisons for British sci-fi comedies about the last living human in the universe, and H2G2 is only one. The other is Red Dwarf. This movie made me yearn to watch some episodes. It's not the same as H2G2, but there are some similarities: Dave Lister, the last man alive, has more in common with Ford Prefect than Arthur Dent. He's a slightly punk character who likes to have a good time. But he's also the moral center of the Red Dwarf universe, by default, and his party-boy demeanor belies a more serious side. He's a low-level technician on a mining ship not only because he's never been terribly ambitious, but also because he is a mixed-race orphan who's never really gotten a break. He only survived the accident that killed all of his shipmates because he had been put in suspended animation for adopting a pet cat and refusing to surrender it to its certain doom. Meanwhile, the character more like Arthur Dent (at least in terms of being a dorky white boy) is Arnold Rimmer, Lister's irritating, boring, and officious former bunkmate, brought back by the ship's superintelligent computer as a hologram to keep Lister company. The wild-card weirdo Zaphod function is filled by Cat, a humanoid creature that descended and evolved from Lister's aforementioned pet cat. Anyone who likes H2G2 in any form should give Red Dwarf a try if they haven't already... not every episode is good, but if you enjoy one series you will probably like the other, and vice-versa.
