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

Anyone got any suggestions for a movie this month? I was so thrilled to get a chance to see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon last time.

Donnie Darko? If it hasn't already been done....

I might have to buy it and watch it on my own as it isn't H's sort of film.

Had to IMDB it. I'll look for it, though I don't know offhand if any rental place near me carries it (but I've got four to choose from, so the odds are good).

Donnie Darko looks....um,....dark. Probably the reason for the name.

The description makes me think that it'll be like a negative Harvey, if any of you are familiar with that movie/stage play.

Donnie Darko is an excellent suggestion. It's got that time travel theme, and all. Anyone want to fix the thread topic?

And don't mind me, I'm ordering all these films from Netflix and then not watching them. I just returned Dr. Zhivago, and I've got Metropolis by the TV. On the other hand, I already own a copy of Donnie Darko, so for once I can actually join the conversation.

Do try and watch Metropolis before you send it back! It's a great film. I'm glad people are continuing with the film club when I don't have time to join in. I will try and watch this months though... honestly..

Z

::notes down: Donnie Darko::

I'm gonna try to get this one, but I've not been able to make the rounds at the video places yet. That, plus I've got to do serious haggling to watch movies most summers.

Okay, pencils down. It's July!

I've been a bit busy for h2g2 lately, hence my lack of response. But I've seen the movie now, and I can comment on it.

First observation: the movie is pretty heavy with symbolism and forshadowing. I didn't care for a lot of the more coarse language in it, but that's forgiveable to an extent.

SPOILERS
I'm not entirely sure how the movie ended the way that it did. I mean, I get the resolution, but I don't get how the resolution was arrived at. Did Donnie build a time machine, or did he just send his spirit back in time, or what? Similarly, I didn't really get how Frank managed to fit into the whole picture. Ignoring the fact that his mask might've been a tad macabre for being a children's entertainer, I don't see how he was able to "warn" Donnie.

Aside from that, I don't think there's anything else that I don't understand. I think that I liked this movie. It certainly had that "late eighties/early nineties" feel to it that lots of fantasy films of the time did (such as "Labyrinth" for the cult movie fans out there, or "Soultaker" for the MST3K fans out there).

That's all I got. What're your thoughts?

And while we're at it....who shall select the July movie? It's that time again, after all.

Maybe we should start a July thread....

I actually thought the coarse language was amusing "What's a fuckass?"

Er...sorry.

SPOILERS:
There are some good web sites and message boards around that should be able to answer your questions about the film. Also, if you saw it on DVD, the commentaries are quite helpful. As far as I could figure out, he didn't build a time machine, but he could have "sent his spirit back in time", I think he either went back in the same wormhole-type-thing as the engine, or was just in that universe anyway (there are two parallel universes, which makes it more confusing). I don't quite know how to answer that question, but I think I understand myself what happened to Donnie.

Frank was Donnie's sister's boyfriend, and he was able to warn Donnie because he had been shot and killed by Donnie and therefore went back in time/to the other universe to warn Donnie.

That probably doesn't make any sense.

Nah, coarse language has never really worked for me....well, truth be told there is this one joke that goes....never mind. I can certainly see how it could be seen as funny, but I've just never appreciated that type of humor. Chaplin never swore, and his movies are a riot.

MORE FUN WITH SPOILERS
But seriously, I missed that there were two different universes (I watched it on VHS). I don't see how the movie conveyed that other than the mirror in the bathroom, but it would explain a lot.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. I love "Dirk Gentley", and even Douglas Adams admitted that the story wasn't always clear. Come to think of it, if this movie had been a comedy, then it wouldn't have felt too differently than a "Dirk Gentley" mystery.

I'll check for some of those message boards later, because this movie strikes me as the type that you can't really digest in one sitting. I got the feeling that at least one person other than Donny and Frank was (were?) time travelling, but I couldn't really find any evidence to prove it to myself.

SPOILED APPLES:

It definitely takes a while to work it out, and watching the film another time (or two...or three ) helps.

At the very beginning, when Donnie goes to bed, do you remember how it shows a chandelier and then a clock, at midnight? According to the director's commentary, that's when the parallel universe is entered. And in one universe Donnie was safe, and in the other one...he got smooshed.

When Donnie lived, Frank died and Gretchen died and everything got screwed up. Again according to the director's commentary (I'm only halfway through that though, so I might have missed something), Donnie was some sort of messenger/saviour/sacrifice thing. He died and...well...others didn't.

Yeah, I understood the effects of the time travel just fine. I was just baffled as to how the travelling actually occured.

All of that appears in "The Philosophy of Time Travel" by Roberta Sparrow.

Nah, I don't buy it. Since when can books contain knowledge?