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

That's right. One needs a balanced diet... a little bit of something from all the major film groups. Sometimes nothing less than a plateful of spaghetti western is completely satisfying.

They ought to categorize films according to how well they aid digestion, as well as for how much naughty stuff ('Mature Content' or 'Adult Material' hardly ever seem to mean serious discussions about the nature of existence, somehow) they contain. I think that would be very useful information. Some films just don't sit well on a full stomach.

JTG

I know.
Twelfth Night goes down well (I can sit there and say, 'doesn't St Michael's Mount look pretty and then wail because I was out of the country when Nigel Hawthorne and Toby Stephens were filming 10 odd miles from my home!)
But you wouldn't want to watch Hamlet or Lear.
And Swallows and Amazons is a great Christmas day film, but plese no Pocahontis

... Or, at the risk of being sued by their army of lawyers, anything else produced by Disney since Snow White.

Alistair Simm's 'Christmas Carol' is pretty much unbeatable Christmas fare. Despite all the knock-offs and spoofs, it still says 'God bless us, every one' better than than anything else I can think of... even 'Magic Christian'

JTG

Is that the one with the guy dancing on the coffin singing "thank you very much" ?
'Cos I really like that version of 'A Christmas Carol'.
the Muppet one is pretty fun as well

I've not seen the Muppet version, but I imagine it must be more fun than a barrel of monkeys, as we used to say in the olden days.

'Magic Christian' is a 60's cult classic, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, with cameo appearances by almost everyone. It's a psychedelic comment on materialism. Guy Grand (Sellers) has more money than he knows what to with, so he adopts a charming young tramp (Starr), and they go off together to explore the effects of money on cultural icons like Shakespearean theatre, Sotheby's, and the cruise set. It's hilarious; and the soundtrack is brilliant... one of the films I'd definitely take with me on an interstellar flight.

JTG

The Muppet version is great Especially Kermit and Miss Piggy as the Cratchits, and the songs................
I don't think I have a cult classic to take with me into the sunset. Though I think the Adamms Family movies might keep me entertained for a long time

What!... no cult classic to call your own? Well, we'll have to fix that state of affairs. Have a look at Fenchurch's Cult Movie page; there ought to be something on the rack that fits.

http://www.h2g2.com/A144000

In the meantime, I'll see what I have in the cupboard...

JTG

Well, liking Ealing Comedies is 'cult' nowadays

and I doubt 'Reservoir Dogs' really counts
Is 'Swallows and Amazons' cultish?

'Reservoir Dogs' surely counts! Anything with Tarantino's name on it is guarenteed instant cult status. I don't know ''Swallows and Amazons', but the title definitely hints at it.

JTG

Yikes!... 'guarenteed'? This could be among the last postings I make before my brain collapses completely.

JTG

Your brain will be fine
Mine is under stress due to dire uni computer systems...

So 'Reservoir Dogs' is my cult film - I always thought it was a little too popular.
Can I therefore also lay claim to 'Shallow Grave' which I love better than 'Trainspotting' ?

And Swallows and Amazons was my favourite film when I was little, based on the Arthur Ransome books, and I still love it

Gosh, I'm no authority. When did Christianity stop being a cult?... Or has it?

Is the main criterion for being 'cult' that few people have heard of it? They usually call 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' a cult classic. I wonder if there is a danger that it will cease to belong to the cult domain when a certain number of people jump on the bandwagon, when it crosses a cult threshold. That will upset a lot of people.

What's up with the uniputers?

JTG

Well that's why I thought 'Reservoir Dogs' might not be cult, 'cos it is way too popular

And as for the uni computers (gerrrrrrrrrrr)

Well they are being intensely slow, and not loading up the whole page and things like that, and generally driving me round the bend. But fortunately my dad is sending me up bits and pieces of the incarnations of his computer to put together, so at least I will be able to use nicer email and web programmes (microsoft rather than netscape and telnet), although the network will probably still be very slow..........

Well that's why I thought 'Reservoir Dogs' might not be cult, 'cos it is way too popular

And as for the uni computers (gerrrrrrrrrrr)

Well they are being intensely slow, and not loading up the whole page and things like that, and generally driving me round the bend. But fortunately my dad is sending me up bits and pieces of the incarnations of his computer to put together, so at least I will be able to use nicer email and web programmes (microsoft rather than netscape and telnet), although the network will probably still be very slow..........

Still faster than waiting for the postman.

Isn't it funny how our expectations of this amazing resource change? I often sit drumming my fingers, waiting for my computer to deal with this, that, or the other thing; it's been overlooked by the grace of maturity and leapt straight into obsolescence, just like its owner. And yet, when I compare it to its predecessor, it seems like magic. I would turn my old one on, and go for lunch while it booted up; but, when it was new, it too was the miracle of its age... more or less. It's amusing to imagine how the next generation of kids will laugh at the technology that so impressed the ancients.

JTG

true, true.
But I have got used to really speedy internet connections in African Internet cafes (except in Vic Falls) that the slowness of Britains phone lines is highly depressing
And I still like getting post,...............
When it comes

Hi. Sorry for taking so long to respond. Have you travelled widely in Africa? It seems a strange thing to me that the UK is as disadvantaged as it is by its communications policies. Someone mentioned recently the horrendous phone bills. It's a real handicap, being charged so much for Internet access, when it is so cheap elsewhere.

JTG

Yeah, I was in Tanzania for 2 months, and then travelled around southern africa. you might have read little bits about it in the Post.

The main problem wth communications here is they are so unpredictable, sometimes a fast connection sometimes soooooo slow. And it's the same with snail mail, sometimes it arrives a day and a half after posting, sometimes a week

I think British postmen (and postladies) have better legs than ours. Snail mail here outrages the sensibilities of snails.

JTG

well I have been waiting a week for my computer to arrive Then I won't have to keep re-logging in every time I come to this site.

So tonight I am going to watch 'The Deer Hunter' to distract (and filmically educate) myself.