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

She knows how to come up with a bit of excitement, though. Plenty of people would envy her that.

'101 Dalmatians' (1996 live action remake). This is quite a fun film written and produced by John Hughes, best known for films such as 'Home Alone' and 'Weird Science'. As you might expect the goons, played by Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams, get put through painful situation after painful situation and steal the show from everyone else, including Glenn Close.
Yet John Hughes seems to have set the film in an England inexplicably populated with raccoons and skunks, and where people strongly stereotypical English accents but the words they say are Americanisms…? Why? Okay, there's no real British substitute for a skunk but the gags featuring raccoons (who, for example, sabotage the baddies by putting nuts in the 'truck tailpipe' rather than in the van's exhaust) would have equally worked with squirrels, badgers, foxes, deer – any animal actually found in the UK.

It really doesn't matter to me if the story is set in either England or in America, pick one and be consistent. Don't set it in an Americanised England, that's just wrong.

(Sadly whenever Disney make a film about animals, they end up being on people who can't cope's Christmas lists. So this film led to abandoned Dalmatians, just as 'Finding Nemo' led to a huge demand for clownfish, many of which ended up dead as their new owners couldn't look after them.)

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Dalmatians tend not to be good indoor dogs. They're coach dogs, basically. They have to run around a lot, or the're unhappy. It's even hard to get them to sit still long enough to be photographed.

I once complained on here about a film set in Glasgow where everyone had Cockney accents and the 'best shop in Glasgow' was a Spar, run by Bob Hoskins.

I got shouted down. XD

You wonder why Minnie Mouse isn’t pronounced ‘Min’.

Tell us all about that film here, that's what this conversation is here for.

I saw '102 Dalmatians' recently, which ends with the first end credit a giant notice saying something like 'If you are thinking of getting a dog, research it first carefully', presumably to address the issue of abandoned Dalmatians following the first film.

Anyway, in the film they cast Gerard Depardieu, a very talented, multi award winning French actor who is often considered to be among France's best, as a furrier. When he was in 'Jean de Florette' I admit I at the end. I can imagine the discussion at Disney:

Exec 1: Great news! We've got Gerard Depardieu to appear in '102 Dalmatians'.
Exec 2: That is great news, he's one of the best European actors alive today. What role is he playing?
Exec 1: He's foreign, so he pronounces the word 'puppy' as 'poo-pee'.
Exec 2: Just that?
Exec 1: Oh no – he then pronounces 'puppy' as 'poo-pee' again. And again. And again. And again, again, again, again and again.
Exec 2: That does not get old!

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Orcus, was this an American made film? It sounds like an American made film.

I don't know, if I lived in Glasgow I'd be quite chuffed if Bob Hoskins ran a Spar shop.

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Actually no, it was French made. It was called - in English at least - Danny the Dog or something. Apart from that it was actually OK, for a kung-fu.-kick box fest- Jet Li was the main man as I recall.

I think it incensed me because all my family are Glaswegian - it's always most annoying when it's somewhere you're familiar with.

I would like to go to Paris and make a film where everyone in it it, has a Marseille accent or something, just to get revenge

On imdb it is called Unleashed (though I saw It as a film called Danny the Dog).

The user reviews are excellent for it - they must not realise the difference between Scotland and England. Luc Besson written, also starring Morgan Freeman.

If you can ignore the accent thing and the hilarity of a Spar being an amazing shop then as I said - not too bad. Apparently it was Jet Li's 'breakout' film into proper acting... think that might be a little overblown personally.

At leashed it has some interesting moments?

Snow White and the Huntsman.

A dreadful film all in, but the most annoying thing for me is the dwarfs. 8 of them anyway, although that's explained, but full sized, well known, actors with their faces then CGI'd onto the bodies of smaller actors.

It's a great mercy that I can remember almost nothing about that movie.

Cautionary tale about being annoyed by things - be annoyed, but don't let it get out of hand.

I read a story recently about the guy who played Jar Jar Binks - that role basically destroyed his life as he was trolled on the internet relentlessly, had death threats etc.... for *years* due to 'superfans' pouring hatred on the character and passing that onto him, himself.

Similar has happened to other actors who've played parts that didn't go down so well.

Wowser, some people really *do* take films a bit too seriously and I was, actually after reading this, rather ashamed of myself for having also posted on t'net about how much I hated that Jar Jar Binks character.

Can't say I ever stalked the actor over it though.

Another was the kid who played Anikin Skywalker in Ep. 1 as well. Yeah, Phantom Menace was pretty rough on actors.

As much as I disliked the film, I'd never even consider blaming the actors or trolling them on teh interwebs. Trolls are barely human. Something is seriously wrong with them.

Agreed

The actor's job is just to play the role that's on the page in accordance with the director's wishes. If those actors had questioned the roles they'd been given all that would have happened is that other actors would have been hired to do pretty much exactly the same thing.

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I must be in a small minority, then. Jar Jar Binks is fine with me. The actor who played him has 61 credits in IMDB, and has several shows in development. This has been trying for him, but it hasn't ruined his chances of having a career.

Susan Sarandon has had death threats, too. Then there's Candace Bergen, who was the original target for the Mansons .

There are deeply disturbed people who will not listen to reason.

Yeah, I never really understood why everyone has so much vitriol for Jar Jar and Anakin either.