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

Oh, flakey-lady "to you"

Yup, Magwitch, this summers big SF blockbuster is the long awaited Transformers movie, directed by Michael (Armageddon) Bay and Executively Produced by Steven Spielberg. The trailer looked very jolly and most amusing.

Although it has to said that the trailer for Danny (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) Boyle's slighhtly smaller budgeted SF movie, 'Sunshine', looks a little more intelligent...

Letters From Iwo Jima.

Absolutely brilliant. I haven't enjoyed a war film this much in years.

Fabulous photography and the fact that they filmed it in Japanese really gave it a sense of authenticity. I thought it gave a balanced view (though I admit I know nothing about this battle or really the war in the Pacific) being neither pro-Japanese nor pro-American. Loved it.

Now I think I might have to try to see if anywhere is still showing Flags of our Fathers...

Saw the trailer for "Blades of Glory" the other day and I must say I am *really* looking forward to that bad boy. Will Ferrell is overdue for a stonkey I think....

It seems for the Transformers movie they got some deal with General Motors about using just their cars. Which means Bumblebee is not a volkswagen.

Watched Notes on a Scandal last night. Putting Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Bill Nighy on a screen together was just inspired.

It had been billed as very serious but despite being very dark, it was also very funny at times. Not a bad actor or a wasted scene in it, I was very impressed.

CHARLOTTES WEB for the kids mostly but wonderful magical and damn bloody sad.. but i do at the drop of a hat

on dvd VOLVER so impressed with p cruz, seems as though her real talent shines more in her native films...

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA i didn't enjoy this as much as i thought i would.. great role for meryl streep though, and i love her hair colour.. thats the silver i want to be in a few years time..

see theres a new magician film coming out called the illusionist set in the same period as the prestige...mmmnnn?? suspicious!!!

I think I'm right in saying that 'The Illusionist' is also based on a book by Christopher Priest, so I think it's more likely that somebody finally woke up to the appeal of his novels.

Xan - and you say I'm a geek... To be honest 've never even seen a single episode of the original Transformers, so I could care less about what car they are supposed to be.

I'm waiting to get to see flags of our fathers and letters from Iwo Jima and watching them back to back. probably have to wait for dvd for that.

Also after watching most of the Oscars last night (I lost consciousness somewhere around Clint Eastwood translating for Ennio Morricone ) I really want to see Pan's Labyrinth. Roll on March....

Well, I read the Transformers comics as a kid but not since I was ten or so. I have a figure or two as well. Another way the new movie won´t live up, is that the earlier one had Orson Welles, Eric Idle and Leonard Nimoy as autobot voices!

oh Transformers! I was addicted to the TV show when I was small. I relaise now it was a barely disguised merchandising appeal for an endless supply of different robots each week. Constructacons, Dinobots? Triplechangers? - it never stops!

All my old figures are still in the loft I had quite a few. I kept a lot of the boxes as well but they're not in mint condition. having beign played with.

I think Transformers The Movie is peerless.

"Orbalis! Look - it's Unicron!" What a great opening line. "Spare me this mockery of justice!" Devastator, Soundwave with Ravage, Rumble and Laserbeak as cassette tapes! 'Bah weep granah weep beep ninibong'. It'd s pity they killed Prime and Megatron. I think my childhood ended that day.

No, Transformers The Movie is a classic. The new one I shall treat with caution, I doubt it will surpass the cartoon in my memory or my imagination.

Now Gobots The Movie: War of The Rock Lords, on the other hand.....
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091123/

Inane personal trivia; I spent a while at boarding school with some very rich kids, one of whom was Jonathan, son of Frank Williams (owner of the Formula 1 team). I was intensely proud to have a Porsche 928S Transformer; Jonathan, on the other hand, had an F1 car with full Williams livery specially made. Little shit.

Looking on the website, 'The Illusionist' is based on the short story 'Eisenheim The Illusionist' by Steven Millhauser. So, not Chris Priest, then.


Geggs

I'm on my way to see "Hot Fuzz" with a policeman and his wife, who is an ex-policewoman. Should be fun.

this observation made purely due to the close proximity of the other magician film recently..not doubting it won't be film worthy.. just reminds me of other times when similar films all come out at same time [ish] eg bugs/ants life...

to anyone whos seen VOLVER were you like me expecting agustina to suddenly admit to being a man??? she was so much like kevin spacey, probably the severe haircut didn't help and mindful the character was very ill.. i just thought it was another twist.. that errr wasn't!!!

Ideas in cinema go round like that. Two films about Troy came out within months of each other, as did films about Robin Hood back in the day. Happens in the book world as well - it's quite spooky how often biographies of the same person will appear within months of each other, having taken people years to write.

My guess would be that the victorian magic thing actually has it's seeds in Carter the Great, by David Gold which is the sort of book that gets people thinking in 'film' terms but which is utterly unfilmable.

Children of Men - Fantastic but scary film set in the future where all the children and babies were killed off by a flu pandemic (2008) for some reason every woman on the planet is unable to carry a baby to full term or even get pregnant. People carry guns and the government is killing or segregating all non English nationals. One Fujian woman is pregnant and this is a story about getting her to safety (2027). Marks 9/10

Hot Fuzz.

Life on Mars meets The Wicker Man.

Haven't laughed so much this year. With the added gore, and the various plot twists even I didn't see coming, I give this 10/10.

Life on Mars meets The Wicker Man.

yes i'd agree with you GB a really class comedy..makes you proud to be british..

>> Ideas in cinema go round like that. Two films about Troy came out within months of each other, as did films about Robin Hood back in the day. <<

It's probably largely to do with the way that the Hollywood system works...ideas get "pitched" before a script is written, to several studios...some of the ones that reject the original pitch then go on to develop a similar idea themselves. It's happened with volcanoes, meteors, you name it.

RF