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

The Horse's Mouth
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051739/

Well here's a turnup for the books - an Alec Guinness film that I've never seen, in fact never even heard of! And yet there it is in his portfolio, preceded by Barnacle Bill, Bridge on the River Kwai and The Ladykillers, and followed by Our Man in Havana - all films that I'm very familiar with.

This one is exceptionally good. A comedy, but with moments of real depth and pathos. And some wonderful shots of London streets and the River Thames in the late 50s. The very first scene of the film, in fact, I was looking at it and thinking, that looks like Du Cane Road. Is this going to be another shot of someone coming out of the front entrance of Wormwood Scrubs nick? And bugger me, it was

And then towards the end of the film there were some scenes that seemed very familiar, so I might have once caught that part of it and not known what it was. And there's at least one more film I know of which has several scenes set on a houseboat at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea. The Sandwich Man maybe?

And this line from the film:
"Ah, there is good news yet to hear, and fine things to be seen, before we go to paradise, by way of Kensal Green."

It sounds funny, but it's GK Chesterton and there's more to it than at first appears - Kensal Green is one of the Magnificent Seven http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificent_Seven,_London

I used to go collecting blackberries and elderberries in Abney Park - made delicious jam

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkerban

Just working my way through them until the new one comes out in a month or two. I think I have two more to go, right?

Star Trek

They're right about it not being your father's Star Trek... if your father is Gene Roddenberry. I don't think the Great Bird of the Galaxy would have put his seal of approval to this one.

All that aside, films like this fall down heavily on one aspect, namely that you can't make a prequel of something that's already 40 years old when technology and effects have changed out of all recognition in the meantime. For instance, the chronometer on the helm of the Enterprise was a rotary dial in the 1960s - quite novel for the time. But on the bridge of the new Enterprise there's touch-screen technology that's barely even in its infancy today. The mind just can't deal with that sort of disconnect. It was hard enough moving from the look and feel of the original series to the design of Next Generation, but it worked because it was still Gene's Star Trek, not Hollywood's. The villain in this one looked more like - and came across as - an extra from Escape From New York than a Romulan.

Mmmmyeahhh...

Doesn't really appeal to me at all.

I liked Star Trek, in its time (OK, in syndication for when I was a kid). And I liked TNG when it was on. After that I didn't bother much. I gave Voyager a season but that was it.

But the original series and films thru the Next Gen are what I think of when I hear "Star Trek".

The thought of a prequel with a bunch of kids playing roles I grew up knowing just has no appeal to me at all.

This is probably the same reaction I had to Tiny Toons and why I never cared to watch baby versions of Bugs and Daffy.

Probably the generation gap is showing here, but I very much enjoyed the new Star Trek. Of course, nothing could replicate the original, nor should it try to--but I think this was a loving homage to a great series.

But yeah, if I'd actually seen the original series in the 20th century, that would probably have caused me to feel differently.

Precisely - you don't have quite the same emotional attachment to and history with what came before, which is probably why so many younger HHGTTG fans enjoyed the film more than older fans.

Of all the Star Treks that came after the original series, DS9 is by far my favourite. It's got so much more depth than the others. It's much darker and deals more with politics and war in a continuing story, rather than just fighting aliens for the sake of it or because the ship happens to be passing through their space. I thought the end was a bit crap though.

Support Your Local Gunfighter
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067809/

The follow up to Support Your Local Sheriff, which also starred James Garner and Jack Elam. Joan Blondell was 65 when she made this film, and I gotta say she's pretty damn hot for a 65 year-old Mind you, she played a floozy, and I'm a sucker for floozies

That sounds great... Jim Garner and Jack Elam. May have to flix that one.

I took Frost/Nixon off my list after seeing the original interviews and reading about how Ron Howard's version isn't really that close to reality. Support Your Local Sheriff/Gunfighter sounds like a good replacement. (Less snooze worthy anyways).


I have been seeing the Pelham 123 ads everywhere lately and I'm with you... absolutely not interested. I thought I might be a bit interested in it when it got to disc, but after seeing the Star System casting (especially Travolta in Shaw's role)... Nope, no thank you.

I instantly thought of Travolta not as his Vinnie Vega/Face Off tough guy, but as Terl, completely clueless manic alien. (If you ever feel in the mood to laugh *AT*, not *with* John Travolta, watch Battlefield Earth... I'd absolutely love to see an MST3K of it. Abysmally bad.)

Nooooo, I think I'll give Battlefield Earth a miss.

I haven't seen any of the Pelham trailers yet, but there haven't been too many films I really want to see just lately. Hollywood has polarised into two camps - the superhero/comic film (Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, Hulk etc) and the puerile fratboy comedy (anything with Seth Rogen, Jack Black or directed by Judd Appatow). Apart from animated kid flicks, that's pretty much about it these days.

And they're telling us that cinema takings and attendances are better than ever

Hollywood has trained audiences to LIKE pablum.

I don't think it was Hollywood alone that did that - TV has to take some of the credit too. And probably the government

Oh, and 'Gunfighter' is worth it just for seeing Chuck Connors in a really bad bald wig

There are a few gems in the pile of that's coming up this summer. Harry Potter of course. As the films progress they get darker and more grown up. Don't know if that's the same with the books. Then there's Public Enemies. I really want to see that one. Pelham doesn't fall into either the fratboy, superhero or kids categories, which is good, but it's a remake of a perfectly good film, which is bad. And it has John Travolta, which is even worse.

Angels and Demons is looking... almost worth seeing.

School For Scoundrels
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054279/

The one that's actually based on the Stephen Potter books, which I've read several times, and suddenly feel like reading again The BBC made an adaptation of 'Upmanship' in... the 80s? Ah, no - 1970s http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/oneupmanship/ , and it starred Peter Jones, who also played a dodgy car dealer in the film, and is well known to all of us here as 'The Book'

Life of Brian

Need I say more?

Yes...

"Welease Wodewick!"

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This is the one where it all starts getting a bit scary. Like, Dr Who, look out it's the Cybermen*, hide behind the sofa kind of scary. And bugger me, it's got Dr Who in it

*The Cybermen were far more scary than the Daleks.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape

Thanks to CZ for 'locating' this one for me. I caught the second half of it on television once and was never sure what film I'd just seen. I remember the kid who wasn't quite all there, the mother going into town for the first time in years and the house burning down. And that was about it. Didn't even remember that Johnny Depp is the lead character. Nor that Mary Steenburgen is in it

So now I've seen it all the way through. It's a bit rambling and tortuous. It's also very 1990s. I really can't explain exactly what I mean by that, but I know what I mean by it.

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0419294/

I can't recommend this film highly enough. In fact I'm going to watch it again tomorrow night with the commentary, and I almost never do that.

Oh, yea... that one was great. Sad hardly anyone has even heard of it, especially in Texas. I think it should be required viewing here.

Good double feature, that and Lone Star. The Border Double. Make all those paranoid, xenophobic, fence building, "why should I press 1 fer English" types watch it and bring some humanity to the discussion.