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

How was the filmic education? Not thinking of taking up hunting or games of chance invovling firearms, I hope?

It's quite an evocative and powerful film, don't you think? I couldn't help thinking about it when my wife and I drove through Pennsylvania this summer.

JTG

No, no Russian Roulette for me.

I really liked the film though, it took a while to get going and seemed really bitty, and then suddenly I ws loving it. And then ending is so powerful - and sad.

... And what a cast! It was very impressive how well they portrayed ordinary people, who remained recognizable even after going through such surreal experiences.

JTG

It was actually quite surreal to see Christopher Walken playing someone who wasn't a complete pyscho from start to finish How did he manage to get so typecast afterwards?
And I even managed to like Meryl Streep in a movie............. something of a record for me

I'm not a Streep fan either, but I did like her in 'Silkwood'. Christopher Walken is one of the best baddies in the business, he was good in the film adaptaion of Stephen Kings's 'The Dead Zone', which was otherwise pretty dull stuff.

JTG

I don't think I've ever seen a movie adaptation of a King novel...
I had 'Shawshank Redemption' on tape for ages to watch, but when I finally got around to it some nice parent had wiped it.
And then I was away when 'The Green Mile' came out

In general, most film adaptations of King stories have been pretty awful. 'The Green Mile' looks good, but it is such a sad story... 'Shawshank Redemption' is a beautiful film; Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman are both marvelous in it. I've not seen much with tim Robbins that I haven't liked... until 'Mission to Mars', which was just plain silly. Have you seen 'Jacob's Ladder'?

JTG

I don't think I've seen Tim Robbins n anything, though there's some of the things he's directed that I keep thinking I should get round to watching, like 'The Player' and 'Dead Man Walking', and the new one about Orson Welles.

And no I haven't seen 'Jacob's Ladder' what's it about?

'Dead Man Walking' is good. Susan Sarandon is a very convincing nun, and Sean Penn plays his part with more sensitivity than I would have given him credit for. There's an interesting moral twist to the plot too. I haven't seen the other one.

'Jacob's Ladder' is about a Vietnam Vet (Robbins) who begins to encounter old comrades, long believed to be dead. Naturally, he is convinced that there has been a sinister government plot of some kind. Gradually the supernatural element becomes dominant; and without giving the ending away (coz that would spoil it), the story is resolved in a satisfactory and heartwarming way.

He did a film with Robbin Williams called 'Cadillac Man' that is worth a look too. It's about the relationship that develops, during the course of a police seige, between a salesman at a Cadillac dealership (Williams) and a would-be robber (Robbins).

'The Hudsucker Proxy' is a surreal comedy that plays like a comic strip. Paul Newman is good as the tyrannical and ineffectual boss, and Jennifer Jason Leigh is great as the tough talking cub reporter. Tim Robbins plays a wide-eyed innocent who is plucked from the gloom of the corporate cellar, and set up as a bewildered figurehead.

JTG

I lied - I have seen Tim Robbins in 'Top Gun' (for all of 5 minutes - ultimate cheese).

I really like Sean Penn - I think he's great in 'The Thin Red Line'
and I have a need to see some of the Coen brothers' movies, seeing as I liked 'Fargo' (possibly cos it's got more snow than I ever see )

'Fargo' is brilliant! I've seen it I don't know how many times, and I never get tired of it. It's one of those films, a precious few, which you can stumble into at any point, watch for a few minutes, and really enjoy. The sound track is wonderful... I feel like watching it again right now!

As for the snow... brrr... we don't get quite that much; but if I could interest you in taking some off our hands, generous terms could be arranged.

JTG

I'll take lots of snow

And I know what you mean about those kind of movies, I can just sit and watch 'The Usual Suspects' at any time........
And I don't have it up here with me

If you get the opportunity, have a look at 'The Cup'. It's a beautiful film set in a Tibetan buddhist monastery in India. The story is a very simple, straight forward one, but it is very charming... Not least, because most of the cast essentially play themselves. The official Web Site will give you a better idea of what it is about.

http://www.thecup.co.uk/

JTG

My Dad has a yen to watch 'Kundun', so I think if he ever gets round to hiring it (which he won't soon as I think I brought the video shop card up here with me) I might have to watch it as well.

Grab 'Seven Years in Tibet' as well, make some momos and buttered tea, and have a Tibet night.

There's another Tibet film that I haven't seen, and would really like to, called 'Windhorse'...

http://www.windhorsefilm.com/

It's supposed to be a very powerful film.

JTG

My parents when hiking in Nepal earlier this year - though they didn't quite make it into Tibet.
Mum had always wanted to go - but I don't think she enjoyed it too much

Was the elevation a problem for her? I've never been anywhere near the Himalayas, but I understand that some people react quite badly, and can get very ill quickly.

JTG

I think it was a little, but it was more that the walking was harder than she expected, also the weather was not as good as it should have been for the time of year.

But primarily, since she's a strong christian, she didn't like all the temples and buddism and things. I don't really understand it, but she did spend a couple of weeks in Kathmandu with some missionary friends and enjoyed that - she got to go and see all the leper hospitals and stuff (she's a doctor)

Give me a yak and a lonely hillside, thank you.

Kathmandu seems a very strange place, with all the backpackers from all over the place and the hawkers trying to cater to them; I can't help mentally associating it with the famous alien bar in 'Star Wars'. My wife and I sponsor a Tibetan nun in India, and I was reading this afternoon about a convention that took place this year of buddhist women in Lumbini, Nepal. According to the account, the Nepalese government issued strict orders that the words 'Tibet' and 'Taiwan' were not to be used. They must be terrified of the PRC.

JTG

I think I might be if I were them.

And now don't shout, but I've never seen Star Wars - any of them