HHGG
I saw the new Hitchhikers movie recently. Overall, not a bad film. Not as bad as I was expecting, but not as good as I hoped.
Stuff I liked:
The Heart of Gold imagery threw me at first, but grew on me rapidly. The Improbability Drive was inspired. The vogons were beautifully done. Stephen Fry was right. Simon Jones cropped up, as did M:TOR. Bill Nighy's Slartibartfast was good, as was Magrathea generally. And the Vogsphere paddles had me chortling.
Stuff that they kept:
Whales, petunias, The Flight of the Sorcerer, the fish.
Stuff that didn't work for me:
The general introduction, the guide itself. I didn't like Sam Rockwell's Zaphod, the vogon chase, or the introduction of additional peril for Trillian just so that Arthur could insist on saving her (especially given that Trillian is possibly the only competent core character in the entire series). In fact, there shouldn't have been a romance there at all. This is probably the most blatant piece of Hollywood influence.
It does make you think, though: the BBC did pretty damn well with their TV series, in comparison.
(oh, and M:TOR = "Marvin: The Original Robot")
Stuff I liked:
The Heart of Gold imagery threw me at first, but grew on me rapidly. The Improbability Drive was inspired. The vogons were beautifully done. Stephen Fry was right. Simon Jones cropped up, as did M:TOR. Bill Nighy's Slartibartfast was good, as was Magrathea generally. And the Vogsphere paddles had me chortling.
Stuff that they kept:
Whales, petunias, The Flight of the Sorcerer, the fish.
Stuff that didn't work for me:
The general introduction, the guide itself. I didn't like Sam Rockwell's Zaphod, the vogon chase, or the introduction of additional peril for Trillian just so that Arthur could insist on saving her (especially given that Trillian is possibly the only competent core character in the entire series). In fact, there shouldn't have been a romance there at all. This is probably the most blatant piece of Hollywood influence.
It does make you think, though: the BBC did pretty damn well with their TV series, in comparison.
(oh, and M:TOR = "Marvin: The Original Robot")