Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Apr. 28th, 2005 11:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
celticdragonflyThanks to the ORAC mailing list, we'd signed up on a website for passes to a preview screening to HHGG, and gotten them - which was wonderful, since it happened last night, while Karl's mother is still here to babysit for us. We had to get there early, as they'd warned that they give out more passes than there are seats, and it's first-come first-served. There was a line ahead of us, but lots less than a theaterful, so we weren't worried, much more of the line formed behind us. I folded my towel, sat down and knit while waiting.
Of *COURSE* I had my towel, we both did. I was amazed how FEW other towels I saw. We saw one guy with a towel when we were in line, after we were seated (in pretty good seats) a couple guys with towels were in front of us in the KERA volunteer seats (also had "Don't Panic" button and a couple handmade con-badge style buttons with slogans from it), and I saw one guy with a towel and bathrobe, carrying a baby. But it mostly was NOT a crowd of fen. Felt odd.
Overall opinion - it was good, I had fun. I'm sure plot purists are going to have fits. But really, it had the right sort of FEEL. I picked up a paperback copy afterwards at the bookstore (I hadn't reread it lately, not wanting to have reread it just before seeing it, and IIRC Karl's copies are big heavy hardbacks anyway) with a section at the end about making it, and Douglas Adams had been working for a long time trying to make this into a movie, and several of the things that weren't in the original book were things he wrote for the movie. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you.
I liked how Ford was played, I enjoyed that very much. And his towel, oh MY the towel bits. I *loved* that as the Guide itself was introduced, they used the music from the radio show - which I spent years wanting, back in high school, I'd have loved to use it when I was running a radio show of my own. I finally found out in the 90s that it's Journey of the Sorceror, by the Eagles. I have it now. Hm, I think I will play it. Stephen Fry as the voice of the book was very good.
Arthur was what Arthur needed to be. Trillian was awfully cardboard at first, but it did improve some. Zaphod... well, Zaphod was annoying, which is I guess what he needed to be. I liked the repeated line "Zaphod! Buttons are not toys." I liked the Magratheans/mice, I thought the visual images of them early on were very mice-ward. Alan Rickman for the voice of Marvin, excellent, yes. The physical Marvin, as everyone's seen by now, was appropriately a bit silly. Yes, I loved the point-of-view gun, which was written for the movie by Douglas Adams.
Oh, Karl, I placed where I'd seen John Malkovitch before - as Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. Yes, I know he's apparently been tons of stuff, but I live under a rock, don't you know, and hadn't seen anything else he'd been in. The delivery in the two was rather similar, actually, I wonder if he's like that all the time. Eerie. Heh. "Bless you". Heh.
Okay, important bit here. Trevor Collins and the knitted set. I stayed to watch the credits - and so should you, there's amusing Guide stuff - and caught his name. Trevor Collins is seriously cool, I want to meet him, I want to take him out to dinner, ply him with fine foods and wines, and talk pattern exchange. The knitted set on the Heart of Gold was SOOO cool. The Heart of Gold overall was pretty cool, I thoroughly enjoyed the visual images of the Improbability Drive.
Someday when the DVD is out, Karl will be screen-by-screeing through the images of Magrathea's factory floor, and drooling. *I* will be screen-by-screening through the images of the knitted part! It's not often I get to fiber-artist-geek-out in a SF movie! I've set in motion some attempts to find his contact info. (No, IMDB didn't show him in the listing for HHGG, grr)
Sigh, I know I had more commentary to make on this, but then we got home late last night and I was tired, and I couldn't get the opportunity earlier than this. Perhaps I will edit this if I think of more.
Afterwards we went to a bookstore, then to get a late dinner. First place was closed, 2nd place was smoky and loud, finally ended up at a Dennys, but it was okay. I like going out on a date with Karl. We don't get to do that much. I was bouncy and chattering at him about anything.
Hopefully sometime soon I'll get to post about the trip to the Botanical Gardens with the kids, but I want to get the pics off my mother-in-law's camera first. Not soon. I'm almost 100 messages behind in my mail gmail box, and haven't even checked the other one in more than a week. Eeek.
Of *COURSE* I had my towel, we both did. I was amazed how FEW other towels I saw. We saw one guy with a towel when we were in line, after we were seated (in pretty good seats) a couple guys with towels were in front of us in the KERA volunteer seats (also had "Don't Panic" button and a couple handmade con-badge style buttons with slogans from it), and I saw one guy with a towel and bathrobe, carrying a baby. But it mostly was NOT a crowd of fen. Felt odd.
Overall opinion - it was good, I had fun. I'm sure plot purists are going to have fits. But really, it had the right sort of FEEL. I picked up a paperback copy afterwards at the bookstore (I hadn't reread it lately, not wanting to have reread it just before seeing it, and IIRC Karl's copies are big heavy hardbacks anyway) with a section at the end about making it, and Douglas Adams had been working for a long time trying to make this into a movie, and several of the things that weren't in the original book were things he wrote for the movie. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and neither should you.
I liked how Ford was played, I enjoyed that very much. And his towel, oh MY the towel bits. I *loved* that as the Guide itself was introduced, they used the music from the radio show - which I spent years wanting, back in high school, I'd have loved to use it when I was running a radio show of my own. I finally found out in the 90s that it's Journey of the Sorceror, by the Eagles. I have it now. Hm, I think I will play it. Stephen Fry as the voice of the book was very good.
Arthur was what Arthur needed to be. Trillian was awfully cardboard at first, but it did improve some. Zaphod... well, Zaphod was annoying, which is I guess what he needed to be. I liked the repeated line "Zaphod! Buttons are not toys." I liked the Magratheans/mice, I thought the visual images of them early on were very mice-ward. Alan Rickman for the voice of Marvin, excellent, yes. The physical Marvin, as everyone's seen by now, was appropriately a bit silly. Yes, I loved the point-of-view gun, which was written for the movie by Douglas Adams.
Oh, Karl, I placed where I'd seen John Malkovitch before - as Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. Yes, I know he's apparently been tons of stuff, but I live under a rock, don't you know, and hadn't seen anything else he'd been in. The delivery in the two was rather similar, actually, I wonder if he's like that all the time. Eerie. Heh. "Bless you". Heh.
Okay, important bit here. Trevor Collins and the knitted set. I stayed to watch the credits - and so should you, there's amusing Guide stuff - and caught his name. Trevor Collins is seriously cool, I want to meet him, I want to take him out to dinner, ply him with fine foods and wines, and talk pattern exchange. The knitted set on the Heart of Gold was SOOO cool. The Heart of Gold overall was pretty cool, I thoroughly enjoyed the visual images of the Improbability Drive.
Someday when the DVD is out, Karl will be screen-by-screeing through the images of Magrathea's factory floor, and drooling. *I* will be screen-by-screening through the images of the knitted part! It's not often I get to fiber-artist-geek-out in a SF movie! I've set in motion some attempts to find his contact info. (No, IMDB didn't show him in the listing for HHGG, grr)
Sigh, I know I had more commentary to make on this, but then we got home late last night and I was tired, and I couldn't get the opportunity earlier than this. Perhaps I will edit this if I think of more.
Afterwards we went to a bookstore, then to get a late dinner. First place was closed, 2nd place was smoky and loud, finally ended up at a Dennys, but it was okay. I like going out on a date with Karl. We don't get to do that much. I was bouncy and chattering at him about anything.
Hopefully sometime soon I'll get to post about the trip to the Botanical Gardens with the kids, but I want to get the pics off my mother-in-law's camera first. Not soon. I'm almost 100 messages behind in my mail gmail box, and haven't even checked the other one in more than a week. Eeek.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-28 05:37 pm (UTC)I just don't get HHGttG purists. The thing changed between every single form of media it was in - radio, book, record, ill-fated stage show - and that's part of its charm. I'd be seriously disappointed if it were exactly like the book/radio/whatever.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-28 05:37 pm (UTC)"Journey of the Sourcerer is the name of the theme song for the Radio show, HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. It is preformed by THE EAGLES and is one of the most addictive songs ever."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A499430
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-29 07:50 pm (UTC)http://www.forbiddenplanetstore.com/acatalog/Hitchhiker_s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy.html
(scroll down)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-29 08:08 pm (UTC)They Must Be Mine!!!!!!