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

Ghostbusters meets X-Files, and produce horrific mutant offspring. Attempts to clone Bill Murray using Duchovny DNA prove equally catastrophic.

Fortunately this branch of the evolutionary tree should wither faster than most.

Er, so you didn't enjoy it?

In a singular monosyllabic negative...

no.

I didn't expect too much, but I thought it was all good fun, with a few reasonable wisecracks. Oh, and interesting choices for lead characters.

I'm not saying it was a good film, just ok to watch.

I just expected a lot more from "the makers of Ghostbusters". It certainly could be held up for breaching the Fair Trading Act. Very misleading marketing in regards the trailer.

The most remarkable performance is Orlando Jones who carries most of the movie.

It's a pity we didn't get to see the final stage of the Evolutionary process - homo ex coelis...

Ghostbusters was made quite some time ago. I'm always suspicious of such tentative recommendations.

Ah, I'm so glad someone else thinks we're being conned by trailers - and it's not just a case of slick editing.

Oh no, not just slick editing, complete misrepresentation. I was expecting a full-on X-Files parody but the actual jokes were few and far between.

Hope that's not the case with Spider-Man... loved the image of the trapped helicopter with the setting sun behind it.

Don't build up your hopes - this swinging around skyscrapers business doesn't wash with me!

You remember in one of the Evolution trailers when Julianne Moore fires off a gun, and DD turns to her and says "You're so hot!" Don't think that was in the cut I saw at the theater.

Web-swinging is Spidey's chief method of transportation, and has been for 30 to 40 years. It looks like how I imagined it to be...

It's also part of Spidey's character and part of his charm as a superhero. He can't fly like Superman, and he's pretty much broke so he can't afford a flash car like Batman.

At least his way beats public transport (although he has been known to hitch a ride on top of a bus to get to his aunt's place in the 'burbs).

I'm sorry, it just seems as silly as Tarzan and his fortuitously-placed vines. Let's wait to see if the film convinces me otherwise.

At the Spiderman movie website they've got various downloads, and some interviews with the guy who's supplying the real spiders for the film. I don't want to incur the wrath of the moderators, so you'll have to track down the url yourself - not too hard if you stroll over to the Apple trailer park.

Miss K, I'm shocked - you should know me well enough to know I'd already have the site bookmarked.

I've seen some interesting shots of the Daily Bugle set (where Spidey's alter-ego works as a photojournalist) - looks cool.

Here's something to consider: the big 3

Superman - alterego works as a reporter for the Daily Planet

Spider-Man - alterego works as a photojournalist for the Daily Bugle

Batman - not a journalist, but often referred to as "The Detective", which is something every journalist should aspire to be

So, do journalists sit in their offices dreaming about being superheroes?

Or perhaps you've got a great secret about what you do with your free time...

The thing about Spider-Man (ok, I've twigged the hyphen) is that unlike Tarzan, whose vines at least hang overhead, Spidy's web-vines have to shoot out sideways and attach themselves to the tops of buildings at unhelpful angles. Now, I don't know if you have many skyscraper-lined streets in your neck of the woods, but in the US walk down any such street, see how far apart the buildings really are, and just wonder how the laws of physics would allow even Spider-Man to swing about the way he does.

Not that I'm nit-picky, you understand!

Having superhuman strength helps quite a bit, not to mention speed, agility and reflexes. Spidey's uses his extra strength to pull himself along and gain extra momentum. Enough momentum to keep him flying forward as he leaves one web-line and use his superhuman agility to get himself in the right position to shoot the next.

Instead of swinging in a straight line down the street, it would probably be more of a zig-zag.

/
/
/
/

Also his strength would offer a few more options than a simple pendulum-like swing - how about swinging down, up and over (270 º). Or a lateral swing out to the side? Think about what an Olympic-level gymnast can do on the rings or the parallel bars - now, what if that gymnast had the physical strength to lift/press 10 tons?

Dammit, that wasn't a zig-zag.

Are you closely related to Spider-Man? I mean, it's just so noble how you're leaping to his defence!

Maybe it's just me, and I freely admit I know very little about this, but it always seemed to me that the writers were trying to make Spider-Man a more plausible superhero. And failing, of course!

BTW, the third Planet of the Apes trailer is now out.

(Must go back to US for a few days. Say a little prayer for me.)