Nough Said, I got ma towel!

Tickets ordered for the 7:10 showing. I can't wait!

I am a huge huge Douglas Adams fan. Specially of the HHGTTG. I saw a preview showing Sunday. night and I really enjoyed it.

I've also read all the books, seen the bbc tv series that was made and have listened to the audio taps of the radio program. The radio program was first, then came the books and followed up with the tv series. None of them were the same.. This holds true for the movie also. So go into it with no pre-concieved notions on how it "should" be and you'll love it. Trillian is smokin!!

If like me you've read the foreword in the "Ultimate HHGTTG" Douglas Adams goes on for a bit about how the fact that they share the name means nothing; each and every media rendition has been different. When they all fit together mostly, he was as surprised as anyone. While a bit of that is humor, I think it remains he would say "42 is the answer lad, now sit back and watch the movie"

So enjoy yourself and don't get upset if it's not what you've read or seen before..

Whats your guys's view on Mos Def as Ford? I think he makes a good match but i've heard alot of people were upset to see him as Ford.

I am wondernig how they are going to put the Hitchhikers Guide's definitions into the movie like they do the books.

Hmmm a movie that neither my son nor my GF would understand or want to see.

/chuckle guess I'm soloing this one!!

Fandros

I never heard the radio program. In fact, I'm a slacker I didn't even know it existed :( I have however, read the books and own the BBC made movie.

I wasn't aware of the order of the books, radio, movie stuff. I had always been told that when D.Adams conceived HHGTTG he was 12 years old. Is that myth or truth?

hehe Fandros I'm dragging my gf along she has heard me go on and on about for so long she desires to see what it's all about. Hopefully she won't be disappointed like she was when she finally saw Monty Python and the search for the Holy Grail. Then again she probably will be :(

Ahhhh British humor, gotta love it.

Red Dwarf anyone?!!!

Benny Hill!!!

And of course Monty Python!

Fandros

Monty Python-Life of Brian

REd Dwarf ROCKS!

Going to see it tonight as well! :) Dinner with friends, then movie time. I loved the books though its been a very long time since I have read them.

Sonyy got me the complete series of Flying Circus on DVD for Christmas, it plays in the background most nights while we play EQ2 :)

Red Dwarf! haha, I forgot about that one.

Dr. Who had its' funny moments too, definitely an all time favorite show for me though.

Also like Mr. Bean and anything the Python troop has done.

Well I guess humor is one thing the Brits can do right :D

I would like to go see Spamalot for sure.. btw on topic! go go Adam!

Faervas and have a *very* dog-eared set of the Hitchhiker's Guide books and our tickets :) - and I'm personally curious about who is going to play the captain of the Vogon Destructor fleet... ;)

Regards,
Nydia

btw is this just the first book in the trilogy inaccuratly called the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy? or is all the books wrapped into one movie?

It's just the first book. I'm sure they're already considering sequels. I'm not sure if I've read any book so many times as I've read Hitchiker's. I loved the BBC production and have high hopes for this movie. Mos Def as Ford surprised me, but if he captures Ford's quirkiness, then he was the right choice. I think their placement of Zaphod's second head is innovative.

My one concern is how they seem to be over-playing the Arthur-Trillian non-relationship into this unrequited Don Quixote & Dulcinea affair. I may have to scratch eyes out if they go too far (not my own, the person's in front of me). Even so, I look forward to being entertained, probably tomorrow afternoon.

Ok, so, I saw this a couple days ago. Press screening. Front row, center.

MINOR SPOILERS HERE

There's two problems with the film.

First, for casual movie-goers, there's no bad-guy. There's no ticking bomb that must be defused by the end of the movie. The Vogons chasing you aren't exactly a threat. Because of that, the movie wanders, aimlessly, for about 90 minutes. [I'm not looking up the running time on IMDB, but it was short.] If you're a casual movie watcher, the best you can do is sort of watch them muddle through 90 minutes of moderately amusing sci-comedy. Imagine, if you will, Galaxy Quest without needing to save the universe.

Second, and what you'll all find to be the biggest problem, I think, is that if you're a HHGTTG fan, you're going to find (a) a lot of jokes cut, and (b) a lot of things put in, for your amusment, but left unexplained for the casual folk.

For example, the "Beware of the Leopard (http://www.kafejo.com/iq/mensa/picsinfo.htm)" joke is just cut to the notice being published in a basement. Ford takes Arthur to the bar, and shovels beer and peanuts down his gullet, but never explains WHY he needs them - except that they have to hurry. Vogon poetry is read, and explained by the guide, but the full effect is...missing. The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (http://www.hhgproject.org/entries/ravenousbugblatterbeast.html)exists, but no entymology is provided, and it remains in a box! Everyone seems to need a towel, but little reason is given why.

There are some minor issues with the movie - Zaphod is supposed to be over the top, but at time he plays like a Robin Williams who snorted a little too much coke. The love afair plays out well, and the cast is otherwise entertaining.

The general consensus of the reviewers around me is that it was "ok" and that they "enjoyed themselves" and they'd go see "Resturant" when it played, but that it wasn't a particularly great movie.

My one concern is how they seem to be over-playing the Arthur-Trillian non-relationship into this unrequited Don Quixote & Dulcinea affair.

MORE SPOILERS HERE

The relationship is pretty straight-forward. About as soon as they're reuinited post-earth-blow-up, it's pretty ovious that Arthur could have been the one; and as the movie plays out, he proves that he should have been the one. Eventually, of course....

SAY NO MORE PLEASE!

....else I will be forced to continue reading b/c I have NO self control and I really want to find out for myself.

DAMN IT, the Beware of the Leopard joke is key :(

SAY NO MORE PLEASE!I know what you mean. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.

I know what you mean. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.
Say no more, say no more

A nudge is as good as a wink to a blind man ;)

http://talid.declension.org/images/photography.JPG

woops

Negative Feedback 10



Once again if you read the books before the movies came out and before LOTR was a huge hype then my bandwagon comment has nothing to do with you! I'm talking about the burst of Popularity AFTER the movies came out. jeesh come on.

Way to post in the wrong thread! Bravo!


That said... the only experience I have with the HGTTG is through the old Infocom text adventure that was released long ago. The Infocom text adventures were always good about having additional gimmicks included in the packaging. The HHGTTG included pocket lint (I think), and your very own microscopic space fleet.

(Actually, I guess 1988-ish isn't so long ago as it seems to me...)

At my screening, which was a press+public one (I was press, damnit!), they asked this question before the movie, while throwing out T-shirts..

Which is a dumber name:

Zooey Deschanel (the actress playing Trillian)
or
Zaphod Beeblebrox

The ansewer, of course, was Zooey Deschanel. Because, she's from earth. Zaphod's name is probably pretty normal where he's from.

Which is a dumber name:

Zooey Deschanel (the actress playing Trillian)
or
Zaphod Beeblebrox

The ansewer, of course, was Zooey Deschanel. Because, she's from earth. Zaphod's name is probably pretty normal where he's from.


HAHAH That's pretty classic!

/sigh

free T-shirts

I'm guessing you didn't nab enough for all of us here did you? :( I have one that has "42" in large black numbers on the front...on the back it says...."any more questions?" I will be wearing this tonight, and if I can convince Sonyy I will wear a towel around my head.

The guy who plays Zaphod in the movie? Is that Guy from Galaxy Quest?

The guy who plays Zaphod in the movie? Is that Guy from Galaxy Quest?Sam Rockwell.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/fullcredits

haha yes its GUY! He's finaly the comic relief

Alan Rickman is in Galaxy Quest and HGttG as well.

oh sweet i didnt see him there..that makes me even more happy to see this movie even if its just his voice.. I've always though Alan Rickman was a great actor everything from Dogma to harry Potter :/

Fanny, there's a new Monty Python broadway show out! I'm getting tickets as soon as I find a weekend off from work.

No kidding Kel lol

Fandros

its called Spamalot right?

I saw Spamalot last week. Its better than you can believe. Plus, its half a block away from http://www.virgilsbbq.com which rules. Best Hush Puppies north of South Carolina.

Kad

oh sweet i didnt see him there..that makes me even more happy to see this movie even if its just his voice.. I've always though Alan Rickman was a great actor everything from Dogma to harry Potter :/

Alan Rickman in "The January Man" was classic.
(Movie was a "chase for the serial killer while renewing old relationships while starting new ones and redeeming one's name type" with Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth mastroinationanio (sp), Harvey Keitel, Rod Steiger, Danny Aiello(sp), and of course Alan Rickman.)

Worth watching if you can find it.

Loved the movie personally, just got back from the movie theatre, though I was depressed to see so many seats stillopen :(

I second the "January Man". Still have a VHS of it and watch it on occasion. Very good movie for its age.

/sigh

Well it was .... ok. They really should have made it longer and explain some jokes, like why the heck you need a towel. God that was dumb.

Alan Rickman was great as Marvin though he made me laugh, and the opening sequence with the dolphins had me laughing the rest was....... ok.

It was just too short.

Not explaining the towel was very annoying!! This was definitely not designed for people who had never read the books. =/ I had to explain a lot of it to my husband.

It was a cute movie, I enjoyed it. The yarn scene had me rolling lol.

yes the yarn scene was funny =)

I'm not saying it wasn't funny, I just wish they would have spent more time on the flick and explained some of the jokes. I found myself doing just what you mention....explaining the dern movie to people I went with.

But I still think Alan Rickman did a fantastic job as Marvin, he cracked me up. He was probably the funniest part of the movie for me...that and the dolphins at the beginning.

There was a lot of funny in it, but overall it wasn't. Maybe it's better if you've read the books (I haven't).

Where I saw it, several people left at different points during the movie. Seems like they could've done a better job editing it together overall. A lot of the individual scenes and jokes were good, but it was too disjointed to sit and watch for that long.

It was a million times better than the new XXX at least.

My largest quibble is the overblown and entirely tensionless romance between Dent and Trillian. It just screams "suit interference" and was wholly unnecessary, just as the movie's editing screams "music video director."

The Good
Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Alan Rickman as Marvin, Stephen Fry as the Guide, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast
Overall excellent use of the Guide (though I can see why the retro-look of the animation would grate on some)
Great looking Vogons (though, as one critic noted, "too much evil, and too little the 'banality of evil'")
The opening dolphin sequence and the Guide entry during the credits.

The Bad
Sloppy editing and pacing
Lack of Guide entry on towels or lack of making the many uses of the towel so apparent that no explication was necessary (but points for the the towel's ubiquitous presence)
The horrid romance angle.
Zaphod was well cast but too much a one-joke pony.
Ford Prefect had too little to say, being "Arthur's alien pal" rather than being "Arthur's slightly insane alien pal."

I'm forgetting things on both sides, but overall it was a pleasant movie that fell well short of the book, especially after the first half hour. Also, people who haven't read the book are in severe danger of "not getting it," which could hurt sales. I'm all for having the same cast show up at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, but they need a new director, and they need consistency (as in, consistently funny).

Just a couple points.
1. When has a movie ever done justice to the book? Most movies created from a book doesnt go in enough detail.. They are scared to make a movie longer then 2 hours because people these days have a attention span that can only be measured in nanoseconds. (For example) I just watched Lemony SNicket's case of Unfortunate events or whatever its called and people were arguing about how that movie put three books into one movie.. well I liked teh movie and had no problems with it just because i havent read the book so i dont know what i am missing.
2. Mos Def was good :(
3.It's never wise to go to people with this movie unless they can say yes to two questions.
Question 1: Have you read the books?
Question 2: Do you like British Humor?

btw you didnt think Malkovich was good in the movie Thor?

I'm not Thor but his part was extremely small but I thought he was good.

90min is a drop in the bucket for a movie, 30 more minutes would have done that flick justice that and a different director.

Malkovich and the entire subplot involving him just didn't resonate with me. It's not that he didn't play the part well, just that he -- like Mos Def -- were underused. The film's pace didn't allow their talents to emerge. It was interesting to get a look inside the cult of the Great Green Arklesiezure, but it ended up being the bad kind of silly.

Worst movie i have ever seen, worse than 6-string Samurai even. I love the books, and thought the movie was shite.

Overall, I was mildly disappointed with the movie, but I think it would have been difficult to translate into film period. My biggest disappointments were that: the bit about the construction chief having been a direct male line descendant of Ghenghis Khan (the blood, the thundering hooves, the prediliction for round furry hats ;) ) was left out; that the towel wasn't explained; and that Arthur *killed* the mice rather than the mice and him making a deal, with the mice tittering over 'How many roads must a man walk down? Forty-two!'

Faervas liked the Vogons but I thought they were a little too cartoony for my tastes (the scene where they're trying to get Trillian released from jail and the clerk coos: "But the Presidential prisoner release form is blue!' was well done however), and the whole ending with the 'vice president' and Zaphod hooking up and the whole romance angle irritated me. I think that Mos Def was fine as Ford, but not quite quirky enough; and that the whole scene with Malkovich and the Arkleseizure cult could have been truncated in favor of a bit more of the, erm, meat of the story.

We didn't get to see enough of Trillian in her hot pants and argyle socks ;) (although she was certainly perky enough), and the scene on Vogsphere where the crab comes scuttling up to the shuttle clicking and squeaking 'Yippee! I'm saved!" only to get crushed by the door opening was classic Adams style. So was them getting smacked in the face every time they came up with an idea while crossing the courtyard on Vogsphere, though I don't recall either of those bits being in the book (admittedly it's been some years since I've read them).

Overall, it was cute, but not quite absurd enough in that wonderfully cynical way that I had hoped for. Still, kudos to them for attempting it, and I'd probably go see Restaurant, if only to see how they handle that shipload of telephone sanitizers... ;)

Regards,
Nydia

From what I understand, Adams himself changed quite a bit of the book for the movie version (you'll note he's listed as both a screenwriter and producer), but I don't know just what was his and what came from the other writer. I wonder if the overblown romance was some subtle joke on his part, it being such a wretched movie cliche`. It wouldn't surprise me if it were, but it was painful to endure.

I was totally blown away to see Ricky C in another movie :)

All in all a good film, I enjoyed it more than the book personally .. the book was slow to read at some points and the film was the jist in 2 hours :)

Thormir Adams passed away before filming actually started on this movie. Granted he is listed as a screenwriter, he was dead before they even got the first reel in the can.

I'm quite aware of that. However, he'd been working on a screenplay for some time prior to his death. I've heard that the other listed writer mostly tidied up Adams' script, but I don't know the details. My point is that aspects of the film that I and others weren't happy with may have actually come from Adams himself, which would be rather ironic.

I found it entertaining. That was it. I went into it with no pre-conseption of how it should be. Knowing parts were going to be missing. Jokes and gags added.

I just found it entertaining. No film maker is ever going to be able to harness the vision of the writer.

ahhh come on Twinked they went the whole DAMN movie with a towel and not once was it explained. That was one of the bigger jokes they could have explained. It would truly be ironic if Adam's had intended it to be this way....sneaky.

I am wondering if Adam's worked on all books scripts or if when The Resturaunt at the end of the universe is going to be a script by someone alltogether. I for one am going to buy this movie just cause of the fact that I feel like I rather support people who try to create a work of art from a book instead of chic flick 1004.

Fildien, I believe it was scripted that way. I trully believe it was meant for the people in the know and to make the ones who couldn't understand what was going on say "duh"

I loved it, loved it more that my children pestered me to go see it and then they were like uhh mom this is dumb, let's go. Rare do I get to switch tables and enjoy the hell out of a movie that actually annoys them.

maybe everyone else needs to stop being so picky and enjoy it? /shrug

Well ok Shamzy let me put this into perspective for you so you might grasp it a little better. A few days ago you told everyone you didn't like Tolkien....it was your opinion. Not liking some of this stuff about this movie or thinking it could have been better is my opinion. There understand? I think the movie would have been better had the towel bit been explained....period that is my opinion.

You also have to realize that this movie was written for America.

You have to wonder if the education system sucks compared to Europe or what, it seems that there is something dreadfully wrong with what we as a nation find entertaining and how everything needs to be aimed. Look at House of Wax, the remake looks horrible and yet that will probably net more people on opening day because it stars that stupid whore Paris Hilton. Movies with sex and drugs will always outsell intelligence. *sigh*

I bet if this was written for Britain and sold there, it'd have been far better.

I missed that it was written for America, care to explain that with uhhh some proof?

You mean, besides that Touchstone is an American company?
Or besides that the market is so much larger in the US than the UK and those are the only 2 countries it was marketed at so far?

Its not really rocket science there ...

oh so I guess D. Adams was American? yep it was written for Americans, you're right.

It was *directed* for Americans, not written for them.

bingo Thor.

Your right it is your opinion and grats to you for sharing it.. I also agree that they should of gone into detail with the towel considering its importance, but i was just saying that even though they didnt go into detail like the should I am going to enjoy the movie for what it is. What is it you say? It's a movie with more meaning then most dribble that comes out these days.

What movie catches the spirit of the book? The LoTR series for one...

But then that's a hard act to follow.

If you haven't realized this thread was gonna get spoileriffic by now, you really aught to watch the movie...


















Sadly, I found the trouble was NOT the romance (it was kind of cute, though heavy handed at the mice/brain scene), but that one of the main subplots was unresolved (they got the gun, but the head was still a hostage).
Also, there was no reason for marvin to get hit. His comment about vogon accuracy should have remained unchallenged and would have been funnier. For timing, the gun could have just been further away. They didn't land in the middle of the whale crater...whats up with that?

Not explained: peanuts, the towel, the use of a towel to avoid being eaten by the ravenous bugblatter beast. (props for ford using the towel in hand to hand combat! The towel explanation could have easily been in the final credits as well, using the ford clips as the explanation of each use. Peanuts could have been as simple as "you didn't eat your peanuts, did you" when Arthur complains about a headache.).

And lastly, what nydia said, he killed the mice. Would have been much better to have them wander off. Heck, they didn't even offer him a robot brain!

No script will ever get a budget until the producers and network execs approve it. I promise you, it was directed the way it was written the way it was targeted -- for Americans.

For most movies of this nature, the director signs on while or before it gets written. They also have the screenwritters sitting behind them every day and the screenwritters and network execs watch the daily shots as well as the director.

Yeah...they left out some of the better comments that I missed...

"...It feels kind of like being drunk."

"What's so bad about being drunk?"

"Ask a glass of water!"

...

"What's this?"

"Whale meat."

"Eeewww!"