Yeah, I Know I'm Late Today
Hey.
I'm late today because I went to Asheville to visit my brother and sister and to take in Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy at the theater with bro' beside me. The verdict: Mostly Harmless. Was the "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" number written for the stage play? *shrug* I expect that even if this movie doesn't recoup at the box office, it'll still make loads at the DVD/home video market--which means that a Restaurant at the End of the Universe movie is a certainty.
So...how are they going to plot that one out? Since Zaphod and the Vogons had sort of reconciled at the end of this movie, who waylays the Heart of Gold at the start of RATEOTU? That religious leader who Zaphod ran against in the election? Somebody else? Do Arthur and Trillian get separated when they escape from the Disaster Area stuntship?
And Casting: who plays Roosta and Zarniwoop? Who plays Zarniwoop's receptionist? Who plays Hotblack and his bodyguard? How about Max Quordlepleen? The Dish of the Day? The Captain and crew of the Ark B? Zaphod's great-grandson/ancestor? Or my personal favorites from this book/segment of the radio show...Gargravarr and the Frogstar Class D robot?
The movie had a pile of promo trailers that prove that Hollywood is officially out of ideas. Remakes/new versions of Bad News Bears (two in that case, if you count Kicking & Screaming), Herbie the Love Bug, The Dukes of Hazzard, and so forth--what gives? (Three of the trailers had Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" song in their soundtracks!) There are billions of people on this planet and everybody has at least one story in them--and yet our culture looks like it's stuck in a freakin' feedback loop?! So the studios now have the effects toys and the budgets to kind of do justice to some of the good ol' films...but they aren't going after the GOOD ol' films.
Just because you may feel nostalgic for something yourself doesn't make it a universal proposition for the audience. I loved Dukes of Hazzard as a youth while it was first-run on CBS, but got over it and wince when I see it in reruns. And by the way, the TV series was a remake of a 1974 movie titled Moonrunners, which in and of itself was an updating of Thunder Road. Chew on that!
I want something original--or failing that, a great story.
* * *
Mom is having a really nice Mother's Day so far. Right now she's on her way to Lowe's to spend a $25 Gift Card from my sister. Dad has a sirloin roast in the slow cooker (my contribution, from Christmas) for our dinner.
* * *
So in closing, I was running around Asheville and when I wasn't running, I was subjected to loud music (at two places) and very good cream soda (Jones) and fairly good pizza (Asheville Pizza and Brewery) and by the time I got back to the house I was too tired to blog. I'll get better at this, I guess.
I'm late today because I went to Asheville to visit my brother and sister and to take in Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy at the theater with bro' beside me. The verdict: Mostly Harmless. Was the "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" number written for the stage play? *shrug* I expect that even if this movie doesn't recoup at the box office, it'll still make loads at the DVD/home video market--which means that a Restaurant at the End of the Universe movie is a certainty.
So...how are they going to plot that one out? Since Zaphod and the Vogons had sort of reconciled at the end of this movie, who waylays the Heart of Gold at the start of RATEOTU? That religious leader who Zaphod ran against in the election? Somebody else? Do Arthur and Trillian get separated when they escape from the Disaster Area stuntship?
And Casting: who plays Roosta and Zarniwoop? Who plays Zarniwoop's receptionist? Who plays Hotblack and his bodyguard? How about Max Quordlepleen? The Dish of the Day? The Captain and crew of the Ark B? Zaphod's great-grandson/ancestor? Or my personal favorites from this book/segment of the radio show...Gargravarr and the Frogstar Class D robot?
The movie had a pile of promo trailers that prove that Hollywood is officially out of ideas. Remakes/new versions of Bad News Bears (two in that case, if you count Kicking & Screaming), Herbie the Love Bug, The Dukes of Hazzard, and so forth--what gives? (Three of the trailers had Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" song in their soundtracks!) There are billions of people on this planet and everybody has at least one story in them--and yet our culture looks like it's stuck in a freakin' feedback loop?! So the studios now have the effects toys and the budgets to kind of do justice to some of the good ol' films...but they aren't going after the GOOD ol' films.
Just because you may feel nostalgic for something yourself doesn't make it a universal proposition for the audience. I loved Dukes of Hazzard as a youth while it was first-run on CBS, but got over it and wince when I see it in reruns. And by the way, the TV series was a remake of a 1974 movie titled Moonrunners, which in and of itself was an updating of Thunder Road. Chew on that!
I want something original--or failing that, a great story.
* * *
Mom is having a really nice Mother's Day so far. Right now she's on her way to Lowe's to spend a $25 Gift Card from my sister. Dad has a sirloin roast in the slow cooker (my contribution, from Christmas) for our dinner.
* * *
So in closing, I was running around Asheville and when I wasn't running, I was subjected to loud music (at two places) and very good cream soda (Jones) and fairly good pizza (Asheville Pizza and Brewery) and by the time I got back to the house I was too tired to blog. I'll get better at this, I guess.