January 13, 2005
Forty-Two
Emily gives us the head's up that the new movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is on its way. (Here is the movie's official site, btw.) I know nothing about this flick (except it's nice to see that Simon Jones gets a bit part), but given Hollywood's recent track record in destroying-favorite-books-of-mine, I'm refusing to get too excited. The one thing the writers have going for them is the fact that HHGTG started off as a radio series and only took book form later. Also, there are so many different versions of the story flying around that it would be almost impossible for me to get too grumpy about particular details.
Meanwhile, Emily also posts a couple of stills from the old BBC tee-vee version of the 'Guide (which came after the radio series and was significantly altered from it). For the most part, I didn't think the tee-vee show was very good - the Milliway's scene Emily puts up was rather lame, for example. But it also had its high points (I always liked the title sequence and theme music, for example) and that certain indefinable air of BBC sci-fi efforts (think Dr. Who) that I've always liked. I still enjoy renting it from time to time.
Posted by Robert at January 13, 2005 10:41 AMThat Milliways picture was pretty lame. It's the only one that they had at the BBC site, though. I'm not a big enough geek to run DVD-ROMS and get stills and stuff like that.
I've read one review of the original script written by Douglas Adams that was not very good (but these are movie critics we're talking about. They miss the mark in my book at least 90% of the time). It's been tinkered with a little since he died, and I've got good faith in actors like Martin Freeman and Sam Rockwell. We'll see. Fingers crossed.
Posted by: Emily at January 13, 2005 10:56 AMArgh! I've known about this since before Christmas, as the exploding-Earth teaser is on The Princess Diaries DVDs (which my little girl watched over and over and over again over the Holidays), but everyone else is posting it as "new" news! A blogging opportunity missed...
I'll be following this closely.
Posted by: JohnL at January 13, 2005 11:18 AM
I never read it. A ex-hippy college professor of mine assigned us that and a bunch of children's books to read in my Freshman literature class. I'm not sure why. I think he did it to amuse himself.
I was an idealistic young conservative and I guess I was expecting Tolstoy. I refused to read anything he assigned and relied on notes and seconhand verbal interpetations from friends to get through the class. The professor called me a fascist in class pretty regularly. I think I got a C.
In retrospect, I was probably pretty snotty to him, and it was pretty fairminded of him to give me the C.
Maybe I'll give the book a chance after these many years.
Posted by: The Colossus at January 13, 2005 11:19 AMC-man. Do read it. I don't think you'll be sorry.
Posted by: Robert the LB at January 13, 2005 11:35 AMJohn - that trailer's been on the web since it first debuted at Comi-con last October. I want more! More, I say!
Colossus - read the books. If you don't like them, I promise to eat my own head.
Posted by: Emily at January 13, 2005 12:09 PMEmily - LOL, as they say. (If you want to know, apple doesn't taste as good coming out your nose as it does going into your mouth.)
Posted by: Robert the LB at January 13, 2005 01:10 PMThose movies were books?
Posted by: Joe R. the Unabrewer at January 13, 2005 03:55 PMI watched the trailer. It showed no sign that the makers of the movie have the faintest clue what they are doing.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 14, 2005 08:11 AMCall me a weevil, but what was so wrong with Master and Commander movie?
Posted by: lemuel at January 16, 2005 04:10 PM
