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

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so you haven't seen beowulf, the cgi one????

Wow, that one's so bad it's FORBIDDEN!

i saw it in 3D and quite enjoyed it

a rip roaring rollocking spectacle

well worth sitting in a cinema with free tickets to watch

In relation to Red Cliff: Do not watch the Western release full stop. It is rubbish a waste of two hours of your life and should have a warning at the beginning.
It has been bastardised by whatever baboons pass as film executives these days and who decided to cut and cut until they'd taken 140 minutes from the original film.
You do your self a big disservice if you do, as I'd imagine the film would be nigh on unwatchable.

But John Woo's two film epic Asian release is worth every 280 minutes of it's length, yes 280 minutes, count em!

The characterisation is well done and there is some simply superb scenes and the scenery is breathtaking as is the sets...my goodness, the sets are Cecil B DeMille scale and there are some very clever plot twists as well as some drop dead gorgeous women and I'm reliably informed that the sensitive portrayal of several characters by the Chinese (and Japanese)actors had certain females of my acquaintance gently smiling.

It is based on historical fact and it's a welcome reprieve from what Hollywood has dished out for the last few years...a welcome break and I hope you can find a copy at your local DVD store:
It is well worth the effort.

Oh dear god! When you've finished with the eye bleach, chuck it toward the sound of my voice RF.

Just watched Mamma Mia, it pass a couple of hour, but I doubt I'd bother watching it again. Maybe my dad loves it cuz it's more about his age group still having fun etc.

I watched Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel on DVD at the weekend.

One of the problems with time travel in films (and, indeed, books) is the possibilities of paradox. This is a FAQ about time travel, and the film deals with it quite intelligently, and manages to get around it. The plot is thought out, and seems to work.

The main problem with this film is that it's trying to do for time travel what Sean Of the Dead did for zombies. Unfortunately, the director/scriptwriter seems to have forgotten to put anything funny in the film. It's meant to be a *comedy* for bob's sake! Have the characters do something *funny*!

Good idea, regrettably poor in execution.

RF

Ponyo. Yes - it's a kid's film...but I like the art in Studio Gjibli productions. There were lots of reference to Ukiyo-e and early 19thC woodcuts. A lot more original than Disney or Pixar.

Ghibli, that is.

Some less recent stuff, streamed from Netflix via PS3. "Death Note", a live-action film based on a manga, which was pretty good, and "Popcorn", an early 90s horror homage to cheesy B-movies and late 70s/early 80s slasher flicks. I expected it to be a lot lower budget and less creepy than it actually was.

We're supposed to venture out to the theater this afternoon for the Percy Jackson film. I quite liked the books. Yes, they're more or less Harry Potter ripoffs, but they're fun and engaging. I've heard they've taken some pretty liberal liberties with this film, though, including making the primary character five years older than in the first book. If they decide to turn the other books into films as well, I wonder how they'll work around that?

I'm taking my son to see the Percy Jackson/Lightning Thief film tomorrow, so it'll be interesting to compare notes (I've not read the books so haven't a clue what the film is about other than the trailer I've seen)

Watched "Song for a raggy boy" last night.
Very very powerful film.

Galaxy Babe, if you haven't read the books, you won't notice the bits they left out or a couple of other details I noticed. I don't, however, think any of those things necessarily detracted from the film being quite entertaining in its own right. K hasn't read the books either, and he says he enjoyed it- I hope you son (and you) will, too!

Inglourious Basterds

Not one of Tarantino's best, but it met all expectations of violence

Also should win an award for creative use of a David Bowie song

Training Day

Denzel Washington won Best Actor. It was well-deserved.

Psychocandy, I loved Death Note - quite horrific & surreal at the same time, making it so much easier to laugh at, but there were moments of genuine pain in it at the same time. The sequel, Death Note 2, really didn't have the same impact, & was much less engaging.


Have you seen 'Dumplings'? That was a Korean film, I think (but not totally sure). Now that really did my head in

Have either of you seen the actual anime, Deathnote ?
It leaves the live action film for dead and as for L...what a creation he was and it deservedly resides in most anime fans top ten all time great animes.

I haven't seen the anime yet, no. Nor Dumplings, either. I'll be sure to check them both out!

My son changed his mind about going so I went to the Senior Screen alone this morning and saw George Clooney in "Up In The Air".

Billed as a comedy, there weren't many laughs, he was a professional "terminator" (proper title terminate engineer) who goes around firing people on behalf of their weak-willed bosses. There were some light moments and lots of (American) scenery (especially of the inside of airports) but I enjoyed it nonetheless. One for Clooney fans though, he's barely offscreen. Before the film they played a very gory trailer for "The Crazies" which almost had the old dears fainting in the aisles, I'll give that one a miss

Next week's choice is billed: Valentine's Day; The Lovely Bones and Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief so I may have to roll a dice.

Watched Adventureland on DVD at the weekend. Very much a 'disengage brain and just enjoy it' type. Not at all offensive. fairly adequately acted.

I've got the original "Crazies" on VHS and have enjoyed watching it several times over the years, so I'm not sure I want to see the remake. Though I do still have some free passes to use up.