h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*sulks at living hundreds of miles from the nearest researcher and always being left out of everything*

Well you'd be welcome as well Hypatia, we're only a 30 minute train journey away from Birmingham airport..

Hypatia, aren't you near B4?

Z, you are not moving too fast. It's the d**n clock and calendar that are.

I'm coming Z...probably a good thing as I just orfered the film from CD-Wow

FG, I'm about 240 miles from B4. But, yes, he is the closest.

*mumble grumble something about not getting around to watching January's film yet, considering moving to England*

See? And there were those who thought a whole month was way too long!

I wonder if it would be worth waiting longer than a month in future? What do you think.. I think I'll ask at the committee thread..

I'm hoping to lay my hands on a copy in the next day or two.

Metropolis huh? I'll see if I can watch it while FC is off for training down Nodnol way then

Ah, Metropolis! The ultimate in classic sci-fi/horror from the silent age that actually did well with its budget! Thanks, Witty!

I also forgot about the Anime version (I've got the original one with the machine noises soundtrack, I think). This may be a good excuse to go out and rent it to see if it's any good (or even if it's similar at all).

For those of you in Brum in the UK and fancy popping round to Z's - our copy's just arrived in the post! (I can't make 13th-14th Feb though)

Wish I could attend, but can't afford the plane ticket. Be sure to tell us how this all works out, 'kay?

Affy, where in the central time zone are you? I'm in Southwest Missouri.

Indiana, but that's all you're gettin' for a while.

I watched Metropolis this weekend (with the original score) and my first comment is a shallow one:

The movement of the workers marching across the city and into the elevators reminded me so much of the mannerisms of Max Schreck in Nosferatu that I wished I had rented them both. Was this a German cinema thing of the 1920s or just the way early film technology rendered actors?

It's been a while since I've seen Metropolis (and I've still yet to watch the original Nosferatu), so I can't really comment. Maybe that type of walking is just meant to imply a sense of hopelessness on the audience?

Once you see Nosferatu, you'll see that it is more like a sense of the sinister.

Just watched the DVD of Metropolis tonight - the "making of" programme was very interesting, amazing how they did some of the trick photography - now I know what they mean by the expression "it's all done with mirrors"!

I didn't think much of the plot or the ending, but I enjoyed the visuals immensely - wonderful use of light.

I didn't know before that it was written by a woman (Fritz Lang's wife)- the portrayal of Maria was very much saint/sinner. I wonder if that was typical at the time? I thought the actress (forgotten her name already) was brilliant, and apparently it was her first film.