That’s your lot. That’s the movie we’ve been waiting 26 years for. And let me tell you, it was not worth the wait, not for this. The whole film is true to neither the letter nor the spirit of Douglas Adams’ books and scripts. And it really seems that many of the changes have been introduced for no reason at all. For example, the novel leads us into the story by saying that the tale ‘begins very simply. It begins with a house’ whereas in the film Stephen Fry’s narration tells us that it ‘begins very simply. It begins with a man.’ Even though, when Fry says this, we are looking at a house! —Hitchhiker’s Guide Movie Review, Long Version (Planet Magrathea)
The quotation is from the conclusion to a depressing review of what might have been a good movie. From the review: “This is a terrible, terrible film and it makes me want to weep.”
Sad. It was a great series of books, at any rate.
I first started teaching with this handout in 1999 and posted it on my blog…
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. @thepublicpgh
[A] popular type of generative AI model can provide turn-by-turn driving directions in New York City…
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there is sooo much missing in the movie: http://www.planetmagrathea.com/notinthefilm.html
My impression from the preview is that they've used all of the whizbang CGI magic they could get their hands on. The problem is, Douglas Adams portrayed the universe as a dirty and dull place, not a glitzy and glamorous one. His characters aren't the beautiful people. Slartibartfast's ship is supposed to look like a small Italian Bistro. (Bistromatic drive....numbers dance on a waiters pad...)
In the preview, it looks like an import car tricked out by a 16 year old with an unlimited budget and very poor taste. Also, the dryness of some of Adams's humor is completely lost on the ciniplex crowd. It's nice to see the books get some recognition, but its' too bad DA isn't around to spend the fat royalty check from Hollywood.
I just saw the preview for this last night (before watching Woody Allen's "Melinda & Melinda"). I've only read some of the book, which I found hilarious, but the preview just looked stupid. Honestly, I think that they're trying too hard to grasp multiple generations in one minute and a half preview. Maybe they're trying too hard altogether? Could be. Hollywood disappoints me more and more now that I'm of an age that I can see past the lights and makeup.