I WANT TO EAT A NUT OF LAERMA!

THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY FILM... MY VERDICT?

Hey, this week I'm at the résumé-writing workshop, which I'm finding very helpful (hopefully a more relevant CV will result in more interviews), so I haven't had as much time to write.

After class today, I wandered up from the central employment assistance centre, which is on Catherine Street in the extreme southern part of central Ottawa, just above the 417, to the Cineplex Odeon theatre in the World Exchange Plaza centre on Albert Street, which is within walking distance but a fair stroll, something like 2 kilometres. Lovely day for a walk... sunny, but the temperature is mild, around 10 degrees Celsius (something like low 50s for you Fahrenheit people). It's May and I'm still wearing a jacket; can't honestly say I disapprove.

I got to the World Exchange Plaza just as the late-afternoon screening of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was commencing (though, before I went in the cinema, I bought and consumed a Pepsi from the newsagent's store on the ground floor, as it's like one-third the price of buying it in the cinema). I got to my seat to see the movie, though, from what I understand, I missed a Chicken Little trailer that was made specifically to be shown in front of Hitchhiker's Guide. :(

Both of my brothers saw the film: John, who works for the film industry in Vancouver, didn't much care for it as he thought too much was removed from the books, while my Toronto brother, Nick, quite enjoyed it. (Intrestingly enough, they were split the opposite way on Sin City; John adored it, but he's as much interested in visuals as acting, while Nick wasn't impressed. I never bothered seeing it.)

What did I think? Well, I'm not writing a full review tonight, and I'm not promising that I ever will write one, but my initial fears after reading MJ Simpson's spoiler-riffic long review showing what he thought was wrong with the film scene by scene were largely allayed. Not that I think MJ Simpson was wrong; it was his opinion, opinions being completely subjective, and I agree with him about many of the weaknesses of the film, especially Arthur Dent's romance with Trillian. And I didn't think Mos Def was a bad Ford Prefect, but he wasn't given enough to do in the second half of the film. But there was plenty about the film to like too, and I found it a lot more coherent than some critics were making it out to be.

Here's my comment from the RottenTomatoes.com forum:

A bit-above-marginal-but-not-overly-enthusiastic [fresh tomato]. It did suffer at the same time from too much taken out and too many suferflous elements added, and many non-essential-but-quotable elements of the dialogue from the other versions weren't completely absent but were truncated to the point where they may as well have been absent, but there was enough "fresh" about the film, especially the binary Earth scenes, for me to have enjoyed it on the whole.

It certainly hasn't supplanted the TV series as my own favourite version of the story, but, on its own merits, it's decent early "summer" movie season entertainment.

Speaking of the RottenTomatoes.com forum, and I started a Fandom Wank-like entry about this yesterday only to realize I wasn't that interested in the actual bitching, RT forum member Boba Sweat started this thread about Clerks director Kevin Smith's post in the CHUD.com forums in which he wrote a gushing review of Star Wars Episode Three: Revenge of the Sith, in which he states, more or less, that this is the Star Wars film he has been waiting for since The Empire Strikes Back 25 years ago. Why is this thread interesting? Because, and his identity has been confirmed on his own forum, Kevin Smith himself shows up in the thread in this post on page three, and, while some RT members are either very praiseworthy or are just interested in having a discussion about what he said and about the merits of his own films, like Chasing Amy and Jersey Girl, other RT forum members use the opportunity to insult him, and, even though he's a practicing Catholic, Kevin's not going to turn the other cheek. Unlike his onscreen alter-ego, Silent Bob, Kevin is more than happy to give the haters back what they dished out.

Sample post.

Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally Posted by Cult Icon
Uh, yeah. Here we are. Since you're so great and famous....and respected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Except by you. And it's your respect that I crave, Cult Icon.

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know how she can stand you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes, neither can I.

Oh, wait - I do know how she can stand me: because we don't relate to one another like you and I relate to one another. We're in love, so we communicate with warmth.

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's called a joke. I should think you've heard of that since, you write "comedy". I added the "Have fun and post often!" with a huge grin, so you'd know I was playing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yet, when I played back, you got weird on me, hon. This is one of those pot-calling-the-kettle-black kinda scenarios. I apologize, good lady: it would seem you're used to kidding and not being kidded back. In the future, we'll keep to a strictly one-sided relationship in which you can hurl vulgar jeremiads at me, and I'll politely respond with a "huge grin" post, then go back to answering questions for the other posters. That way, we'll avoid all these tears.

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But I guess your skull is as thick as your waistline.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the gal knows whereof she speaks, folks. Something tells me she shops at the female equivalent of the Casual Male Big & Tall stores I frequent.

Ah, nice to see Kevin Smith has a sense of humour about this. He did 66 posts and then made a gracious goodbye.

Of course, I didn't realize Kevin Smith was posting until after he left, so I didn't get a chance to ask him what I've always wanted to ask him:

Damn, I didn't realize until it was too late that all the buzz over Kevin Smith on this board the past couple of days was because he was actually (well, maybe actually) posting in this very thread.

I wanted to ask him if he'd ever considered writing, directing, and starring in the next great adaptation of a classic comic book character, a character screaming to be made into a live-action feature:



Kevin Smith IS Jonathan Brandstetter in

JOHNNY TURBO: THE MOVIE!

"This summer, in the battle between good and evil, evil DOESN'T EVEN COMPARE!"

Too bad that the main site telling the full sad tale of the Johnny Turbo advertising campaign for the TurboDuo seems to have become another victim of "too much bandwidth, too little money", but the text and some of the pictures live on over at the Internet Archive, and this page also has scans of the first Johnny Turbo story.



Finally, I actually did have a "Moment of Zen" yesterday. After class, I walked up to the McDonald's on Bank street to have fries, since McDonald's fries are like crack to me, and they had a sucky soft rock station playing in the background. And Huey Lewis and the News's minor hit "Perfect World" came on, and I realized that I don't honestly think I've heard that song since I was in grade eight, around when the song was briefly vaguely popular, and even then I only heard it because the bus driver would always play the French-languagemusic station CKAC, and that song, and Elton John's "I Don't Want to Go On With You Like That" seemed to be the only two English songs they ever played.

posted by Steve Brandon @ 2:54 AM