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

Movie update, and attempt to prove the "what reddyfreddy likes, psychocandy won't" hypothesis:

I watched Deathproof, and thought it was a pointless pile of poo. Tarantino should stop navel-gazing and go back to making proper films. Making reference to Japanese films is all very well (Kill Bill) but making reference to your *own* films is a masturbate too far. IMHO.

I watched The Orphanage last weekend - I thought it was very good, and very scary in places! Definitely one of the best films of the year, for me (along with No Country For Old Men).

RF

One of my favorite werewolf movies is "The Howling" (1981), I laugh all the way thru it:

Eddie Quist: I'm gonna give you a piece of my mind. I trusted you, Karen. (proceeds to pull a piece of his brain out a bullet hole in his head)

My favorite line is when the TV anchor, having been "infected" during her research, tries to prove to the world that werewolves exist by transforming into one on national TV. Two guys in a bar are watching as she becomes a werewolf and gets gunned down.

First Guy: It's true, she turned into a wolf and they shot her.
Second Guy: You're drunk.
First Guy: Doesn't mean its not true.

Is that the one where they're all in some weird island retreat or is that one of the sequels?

From IMDB:

"A retreat colony up in woods is their destination and the townsfolk (including the late, great John Carradine) are just normal everyday people who welcome them with open arms. As the days go by, strange things begin to happen and we realize that the colony is actually a colony of..."

Reddyfreddy- I'll be watching your future film-related posts closely for anti-recommendations!

I remember "The Howling"... it was a hoot when I watched it but likely hasn't aged well.

Okay, this could be a very poor party game. The one with the freak show was... The howling four?

Was there one with kangaroos?


Oh dear, I think I might be getting frightened, I do work on my own in a building that used to be a hospital. Not a kangaroo hospital.

"Step up"

and

"Step up 2 - The Streets"

Try to picture a compilation of all the most over worked cliches from "triumph over adversity", talent school based teen films you have ever seen interspersed with scenes that look like every derivitive and unimaginative R'n'B video from the last 20 years. If you can do that without triggering some auto self distrcuct sequence in your brain then you have managed to get a rough idea of what I went through when I was "forced" to watch these films.

Bad does not even begin to cover it. I hated every minute of it and sat in the front room of my girlfirends house hating the makers every second that my eyes were being assaulted and my intellgence insulted by the chuffing thing. For the second instalment I settled for hating myself and decided I actually possesed nothing approaching intelligence if I could so easily be persauded into watching the sequel.

Watching a pool of my own blood dry as my life slowly and painfully ebbed away would have been a more pleasurable experience than watching either of these films. If there is a third in the series and Sophie asks me to go Im taking a razor blade with me.

So that would 2/5 then?

My daughter loves 'em both!

I quite liked the first one.

Might give the second a miss going on the strength of that review though.

Film 1: Golden Compass.

It's no secret that I didn't really like the book, so it was a fiar bet I wasn't going to like the film either. But:

1. Quite liked the portrayal of Lyra (who I found too po-faced in the books)
2. It started with a brief introduction to what was happening viz-a-viz different worlds etc - I'd found the lack of explanation and "oh work it out for yourselves!" attitude of the books annoying, and whilst I'm sure this was done for the dumbed down America market, I think it was a positive step.
3. Nicely stylised thirties feel cinematography.


On the downside, I was exasperated by Kidman's whispery delivery as Mrs Coulter, and couldn't suspend disbelief enough not to wonder where all those daemons pooped.

Film 2: Blades of Glory

Sublime to the ridculous, but it is quite funny.

Iron Man. I´ve been looking forward to it for months and it didn´t disappoint. Great action scenes and some great performances from the actors. It´s not deep and dark, but not just popcorn pap like the Fantastic Four movies either. I´d certainly recommend it and remember to stay untill after the credits.

I quite liked the film of the Golden Compass - except for Nicole Kidman who I thought was totally wrong (and I spend most of the time when she's on wondering where her internal organs go)

Daniel Craig, I thought, was spot on as Lord Asriel - I could really see why Mrs Coulter would be in love with him despite everything.

We too watched Blades of Glory last night. Bubblegum stuff, highly entertaining. But why oh why do we have to have fat wobbly hairy male bodies inflicted on us? I know it was part of his character but ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Rewatched Matrix: Revolutions on ITV last night - not really any better than the first time around. They should have left it after the first one, I think.

Looking forward to Indy tonight!

I watched Them. There is a film called Them, which still looks and feels wrong... "Them"

It's okay. Not particularly scary and that's from me. I was scared by the care bears.

Spoilers follow. A35559570

There's a different "Them", about giant mutant killer insects. Watch that one, instead.

Friday night we watched an older film from the '80s, "Burst City". Japanese punk sci-fi. It was sweeeeeet!

The ants? Seen it. The special effects are the bomb. Better than Transformers anyway.

I described Save the Green Planet to someone the other day as a cross between the Silence of the Lambs and Coneheads...

I just love that movie.

Another one we just watched... after months trying unsuccessfully to find a copy available for rental, I bought a copy of "Perfect Blue". Fantastic!

Iron Man.

I'm not big into shooty shooty bang bang flicks, but this was very very watchable. Downey Jr perfect as the enviable playboy, complete with private jet staffed by pole dancing air hostesses. Bridges appears to have made the transition into the avuncular Rip Torn type roles. And Gwyneth Paltrow deserves a medal for walking in those heels!

Music mostly good, apart from one cheesy 70s style bit during the night time city flight.

I own Perfect Blue. Very odd film, one of a few that had me questioning the nature of reality while at an old school hip-hop night (manga double bill at a local independent followed by the, now legendary, 50p a pint hip-hop night) Them were the days.

I'm going to watch Infestation, a British "Zombie" film tonight. I always feel split loyalties with this type of thing: partly I think "Go on! They've made this film for 12p!" but my internal Romero purist starts foaming at the mouth and not saying "braaaaains" or "Zombies" or running. Definitely no running allowed. Like the swimming pool.