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

Titanic is half chick-flick, half action-adventure (so I enjoyed the first half, DH enjoyed the second half) AND an exceptionally harrowing way to spend an evening. Mamma Mia is sunny, funny, packed to the rafters with excellent music, and leaves you feeling hugely uplifted. So I can believe it out-grossing Titanic, a film I am glad I saw *once* but have no intention of ever watching again because it's too upsetting. A Titanic party wouldn't really be a barrel of laughs - unless you did it with the French and Saunders version.

How can people *afford* to see films 8 times?

Mol

On a rare cinema outing, 'The Baader-Meinhof Complex'.

I rather enjoyed it. A German friend was highly critical because he doesn't like the politics of the writer of the book, Stefen Aust, and thought that it would reduce the RAF to a matter of lifestyle and deviant psychology - but actually it was quite good on the political basis for their campaign and for the escalation by both the RAF and the state. I'm abandoning my long-pending Guide Entry now. When I started, info was hard to come by - but now its not.

Spookily, the last film I saw in the cinema also featured Moritz Bleibtreu (Andreas Baader): 'Les Femmes d'Ombres'

Ooh - can you answer Clive James' question then? Does the driver get named? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7755255.stm

Pressumably your assuming/implying that I'm a sympathiser. As it happens, I'm pretty much in agreement with the first comment in that link. Which also provides you with Heinz Marcisz's name.

Quote from an RAF member:
"We'd half read a lot of Marxist-Leninist theory, which we understood completely."

There's an embarassing moment when Gudrun Ensslin says.
"I want to quote the words of Mao...you all know the text, but I'll remind you anyway."

I wasn't implying anything - honest. And the comments weren't on the link when I first read the story at the weekend.

Fair enough.

But can anyone name any of the injuns in cowboy films? I'm genuinely baffled by James's point.

>It's on track to out-gross Titanic. <

I find that rather hard to believe, according to imdb it's grossed only about a quarter of Titanic so far and I can't find it in the current top 10 either in the UK, USA or worldwide which kind of suggests it's slowing down markedly in its takings.

It has grossed big though.

Ooh sorry, post 20 syndrome there. I am referring to the comment that Mamma Mia might out gross Titanic.

My wife might be referring to takings within her own cinema chain right enough.

Your wife has her own cinema chain? Cool

I think the record is that Mamma Mia is the highest grossing *DVD*. 1.7m sold on tha first day.

If there was an Oscar for Film Most Seen Multiple Times by People in Wheelchairs it would definitely win that.

I watched Big Fish, which is a symbolism heavy Tim Burton fairy tale. Good though, and I don't normally like Burton or Ewan McGregor. Albert Finney is superb, as usual and there were a lot of good ideas. The performance by Billy Crudup was pleasantly severe and gave the film the balance it needed.

I also watched Scary movie 4 might have been 3. I was pleased to see the scary little kid from The Grudge being beaten up and sat on in a bathtub.

Big Fish isn't Burton's best (I like Burton, except for Batman and Planet of the Apes) but it's cute! I'm not a fan of McGregor, either, which might be one reason I liked it less than I had hoped.

Mamma Mia sounds like absolute garbage. I hope you haven't had to see that, a_a_e?

(Did you get my email? Two of the files need to be compressed a bit before I send them- after three or four hours, they weren't even halfway done...)

I thought the Planet of the Apes remake was hilarious. I mean making Helena B-C look sexy... fine. Making her look like a monkey? Okay. But not both at the same time surely?

McGregor: he does a good impression of Alec Guinness

No I haven't seen Mamma Mia. Or the sing-a-long version...

Taken

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/

If you like the Bond and Bourne flics, you'll probably enjoy this rapid-paced action/thriller.

Liam Neeson plays a former spy who calls on his skill set to rescue his estranged daughter...

Saw Black Snake Moan the other day. Christina Ricci is a dirty girl with a sickness, and it's up to washed-out bluesman Samuel L Jackson to bring her back to goodness (with chains). Good pic - Justin Trousersnake is her long-suffering squaddie boyfriend, and I'll court controversy to say he did a pretty decent turn, though his voice was a bit high for the role he was in... but that's Justin for you. Drums.

I watched some films recommended on here: Wall E and In Bruges. I thought they were both good, Wall E had some nice vocoder in it too.

I also watched Slither, the newer one, not as good as the old one by a long way but then it wasn't a remake as I'd thought, it just nicked a few bits. Very silly it was. I watched something else but I can't remember what it was so it can't have been any good or very bad for that matter.

I also also watched Constantine, due to incessant nagging from a friend. Now, I normally avoid Keanu Reeves like I avoid those street-charity people, and he was fairly dire, but not dire enough to spoil the film. It was pretty good.

Avoid Keanu?

I watched Alive again last night. Not sure why it is that I always feel compelled watch it right through when ever I stumbled upon it. Ave Maria during the closing titles is