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

since you love movies, i should tell you about the new movie i saw. it was a sneak preview of the coen brothers' movie "the man who wasn't there." it swept the cannes film festival in the film noir divisions. it's in black and white, and it's an excellent movie. i highly recommend seeing it when it comes out. i'll probably go see it again. i used to love the star wars movies. but i was about five when the empire stikes back came out. i loved it, but then i had a dream about luke skywalker getting decapitated and that wierded out my little five-year-old mind and i don't think i've sat through an entire star wars movie since. but i am excited about the fellowship of the rings.

Yes, I'm a big Coen brothers fan. I especially like Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, and The Hudsucker Proxy. Knowing their track record, I'm sure The Man Who Wasn't There will be great. Doesn't it star Frances McDormand, and isn't she married to one of the Coens? They were brave to make it in black and white, since studios favor color heavily. But black and white is perfect for noir films. I am also looking foward to the Harry Potter movie, and to Lord of the Rings. It's about time we had some really good movies come out. JE

Frances McDormond is in it (she's awesome!), and she's married to Billy Bob Thornton, who does an excellent job as the straight man in the middle of a circus. I never read the Happy Potter books, but i might see the movie. do you know, are they trying to fit the whole tolkein trilogy in one movie?

Ah, I meant that Frances McDormand is married to one of the Coens in real life. I think she is anyway.

I just saw Billy Bob Thornton in A Simple Plan. He was really good in it, it was a good film, but so harrowing. Reminded me of Fargo in that respect.

The Lord of the Rings is made up of three movies that were all filmed at once in New Zealand, but that will only be released one per year, in December. I wish they wouldn't stretch them out over a three year period like that, I'm going to get very impatient. Of course, if the first one bombs, they're going to be in trouble, aren't they? I don't think it will bomb. Cate Blanchett is in it, she's my favorite actress.

My brother said that Harry Potter is getting rave reviews in London, where they had a preview. I'm looking foward to it because Alan Rickman is in it. He was great in Truly, Madly, Deeply.

Later then! JE

Are they going to incorporate the hobbit into the trilogy? i would think they'd have to because that's where it starts, but i don't think it's part of the actual trilogy. do you like kung fu movies? it's a far cry from sci fi, but not that far, considering that they sometimes use the same amount and kind of special effects. i'm sure you've seen crouching tiger, i'm a huge fan of michelle yeoh. she was the older chick. if you like kung fu movies, you should check out wing chun. it's kind of hard to find, but it's really good.

MaGaRoux

I'm not sure if they are going to include any of The Hobbit in Rings or not. They may have to have a flashback or something, to show Bilbo finding the Ring and to introduce Gollum. Maybe they can just do it with a conversation between Gandalf and Bilbo, or a voiceover,or something. Because you're right, it's not part of the Trilogy proper.

I did see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and I liked it, but I didn't like the ending. Haven't really seen any other martial arts flicks. I'll have to look for Wing Chun, although I don't have much faith in our local Blockbuster. I tried to find four Alec Guiness movies last week, and they didn't have a single one. It was pathetic. Speaking of China, we had Chinese food last night. The place was called Tasty China Buffet, which cracks me up for some reason. "Tasty." Like they picked it out of the dictionary. It was good though.

There's a place near my house calles "Chinese's Chinese food." that always gets a chuckle out of me. you just made me even more anxious to see the tolkien movies because i really want to see what they make gollum look like. but i saw a trailer for the movie recently and they had a part where you could see the inside of a dark cave and hear gollum's voice saying, "my pretty..." and i've been trying to find wing chun here to no avail also, so your chances are pretty dim. my video store didn't even have the last dragon (you know, with bruce leroy. tell me you've seen it!), which is almost as big a tragedy as my boyfriend going his whole life without ever seeing that movie. have you ever seen cemetary man? i just watched it again last night. it's a good movie and, though i forget his name, the lead actor is quite a hottie. i think it's rupert everett. he's got that creepy style going for him. oh, have you seen from hell? i wonder if i should shell out the 8 bucks or just wait for it to come out on video. later.

MaGaRoux

* Heads home from video store in disgust, seeing as how they do not have Wing Chun, Last Dragon, Cemetary Man, or Bound.* I gave up and rented Die Hard, a strange choice right now perhaps, but I want to see Alan Rickman in it, I've never seen it before. I also rented the Fugitive, which I've rented a bunch of times, but which I really like. Harrison Ford was so cheated out of an Oscar on that. Which just proves how the very best actors never get it, because people are too jealous. I'm going to brave the lines (or really my sister is) to see Harry Potter on opening day. She's going to try to get advance tickets tomorrow.

P.S. I can be very Gollum-like with my possessions. I sit in the corner and gloat over my favorite Leo magazines, muttering, "My precious, my precious..."

Don't miss the party post I put on your page. JE (My that's alliterative!)

I saw The Man Who Wasn't There, and enjoyed it. That film noir lighting was awesome.

By the way, I haven't seen From Hell. It looks too scary for me.

You know, i haven't seen it either, but i heard it's really good. would you believe i've never seen the exorcist because it always looked too scary. i'm one of the few people in my family who's not catholic, and overly catholic stuff (such as possession and exorcism. and nuns, for some reason) really wierd me out. maybe someday i'll see it. so, what did you think about the end of the man who wasn't there?

MaGaRoux

It was the music to the Exorcist that scared me silly; I heard it before I saw the movie, and it really got to me. Funny, I can't remember it right now, instead I'm hearing Halloween in my head, which was also a d*mn scary movie.

The ending to The Man Who Wasn't There was wild. (SPOILER: If you haven't seen the movie, don't read this!) Scroll.







Can't believe he died for the wrong murder. And you could say the murder he did commit was in self defense. It reminded me very much of Fargo, the whole idea of things spiralling out of control. The black and white film noir lighting and cinematography was very cool.

Did I tell you how much I liked Amelie? I did a journal entry on that.

I'm waiting for Affair of the Necklace to come out in Memphis. I read two reviews where the critics hated it, and one where he liked it. I will probably see it in any case, as I like period pieces. I have a thing for frilly costumes.

The fall leaves outside are beautiful. They look like a fire.

Another thing I forgot to mention about The Man Who Wasn't there - I thought the girl that played the piano was great. Have you seen her in anything before? I don't know her name. I bet we'll see more of her.

I tried to wait for the actress' name on the screen, but people were being in too much of a hurry, so i couldn't wait. but i loved her too. i wanted to see what her name was because she looked like she could have been related to juliette lewis (who's one of my favorite actresses.) i think a lot of people thought that the end of the man who wasn't there ruined the whole thing, just because it was so surreal. but i think the point was that life is even more surreal. i know i've had times where things just spiraled beyond all control and i was looking for bigfoot or a gang of aliens to wander by and confirm that everything indeed was going to heck. oh, i'm moving from new orleans to new york later this month. i'll probably be seeing some snow and stuff, which i've only heard about up to this point. i'm going to chronicle my big-easy-to-big-apple transition in my journal. i'm leaving the 18th, so i'll even have one of those magical new york christmases that i see in all the movies, where the homeless people are attractive and have incredible voices, singing christmas carols to warm-hearted passers by. i can't wait!

Good luck on trying to kick the cigarettes. I really hope you make a go of it.

My brother wore a real colorful tie to work to commemorate George's death, and he got some of the same reactions. Some people liked it, some were puzzled, and one girl didn't know who George Harrison was. Can you imagine? There had better not be a seperate heaven for the Beatles, because heaven wouldn't be heaven without them, right? Poor Paul has lost both a wife and a friend to cancer. I feel for him.

What a big move you're planning, from New Orleans to New York! Do you have a job lined up, or are you just striking out on your own? I could never move from a warm place to a cold place like that. I like warm weather. I visited New Orleans a few years ago, and I loved the architecture and the food. Muffelettas, jambalaya, shrimp poor boys, spicy fried chicken, beignets and iced coffee. Yummy, yummy. Of course New York is famous for its delis. And all the snow will be a treat if you've never really seen it before. I'll have to read all about your move in your journal. Good luck.

I looked up the name of the actress that played Birdy, and it's Scarlett Johansson. I scarcely recognized her with all the makeup on, she was so fresh scrubbed in Man Who Wasn't There. Apparently she was in Horse Whisperer too. Now I'll have to rent that. This is a great time of year for movies. I've seen previews for The Majestic with Jim Carrey, and Vanilla Sky with Tom Cruise. They both look REALLY good.

yeah, i want to see vanilla sky too. i loooooove penelope cruz.
so i know i'm going to miss so much about new orleans. at least i come from the most orleanian of families, so i can take my recipes with me. but new york has the best bagels, and the best pizza, and you can really get anything you want there. i think i'm going to learn ninjitsu up there. i did taekwondo for a while and almost got a black belt, but taekwondo is more sport fighting than most other martial arts. i wanna be a ninja.
i don't have a job lined up. but i have a psychology degree, and the mental health profession is really overburdened up there right now, so i'm sure i can help in some way.
oh, and we cooked the turkey yesterday. we didn't start cooking it till i got home from work at about six, so it waas close to midnight before we actually got to eat. not surprisingly, i woke up sick this morning. a bunch of people ended up showing up (it's amazing how far away a poor college kid can smell a turkey baking), and so my boyfriend and i each took a drumstick. when ryan (my boyfriend) cut off my drumstick, i noticed a little bit of blood seeping out. i told him i had doubts about its safety, but he assured me that, "don't worry, turkeys are like that." i didn't care at that point. i had been waiting for this friggin turkey for six hours, and i was going to eat it. we stuffed ourselves and then passed out happily. we left all the cleaning for today, which means that the cat had a nice night of gourmet kitty fare, since all the bones and scraps and stuff were still on the table when we went to sleep, but were strewn across the floor when i woke up this morning. the night was kind of harrowing (not to mention this morning!), but at least nothing blew up.

A night of turkey decadence! I'll write more when I'm not so sleepy.

Ah, so you have a psychology degree. I myself am manic depressive. The term "bipolar" always cracks me up, as it sounds like a program about the North and South poles. [Insert National Geographic music here. ] I also hate the term "mental health consumer." In my opinion, consumers are people that belong in a shopping mall. No one would call a heart patient a heart "consumer." [I'll get off my soapbox now. I always rant about that.]

It sounds like you had your hands full with that turkey. My, my. Did the cat get sick too?

Did you happen to see Primetime on Thursday? There was a great segment about Jack the Ripper. Writer Patricia Cornwall claims to have finally solved the riddle of his identity. She thinks he was a painter named Sickert. And she has spent $4 million of her own money to prove it. She seemed downright obsessed, but very convincing. The program left me with the chills, you can be sure.