Hitchhiker's...
May. 8th, 2005 05:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWandered off to Hitchhiker's Guide at 1 pm with Wales. We caught the $5.50 show. Got there early enough - so I could see the previews - I wanted to see if I could catch Serenity and Revenge of the Sith. We got in line, behind a stupid woman arguing with the ticket booth person about the price of admission for children. The ticket booth lady kept saying $5.50, the woman kept saying, no should be $2.25. I see a sign printed in clear black letters - price of admission for first show: $5.50 Adult, $5.50 Child. Stare at the woman. Decide to move things along and tap the sign on the ticket booth window lightly with my finger. The woman looks at me as does the ticket teller. "The sign does say, 5.50 for child," I politely point out. "I'm a bit slow," says the woman, "I'm talking about a small child." "But it's pretty clear," say I, "Child - 5.50". Wales nudges me, "stop it, you're being rude, let them deal." Ugh. The woman finally stops arguing and gets her tickets. I get mine, feeling embarrassed, flustered and wishing I'd kept my mouth shut. Wales and I argue over it briefly then go in for the movie. Both of us embarrassed for different reasons.
Wales doesn't want to go in early - but I want to catch the previews. "Ah here they are," I tell her with anticipation, then up comes the music for Monster In Law, "and uh, these aren't them." Damn. We get two previews with the flick: Monster In Law ("well that looks highly annoying" - comments Wales), next up, Hot Mad Ballroom - Strictly Ballroom meets Spelling Bee. I sigh in quiet resignation. Should have known the ticket encounter was a bad omen.
Up comes the flick. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy and within the first ten minutes, I recall that wait, I have read parts of this and did see the TV show. I just forgot them. Moving about an hour in, I think, "oh now I remember why I never bought or finished reading this book (I scanned my college boyfriend's, yes he was a Hitchhiker geek) and why I didn't watch the whole series...wonder how long this thing is? Can't remember how it ended, did I read the ending? Hope it gets better? Oh that's a funny bit. But can we lose the Sam Rockwell character, please? "
Answers: 2 hours (felt like 3 - checked my watch once)
Didn't read the ending apparently or I did and it ended differently.
Doesn't get better - although the section where he goes with Bill Nighy through the planet building dept is worth at least the price of admission.
Nope don't lose the Sam Rockwell character - at least not completely, but do get rid of the most annoying portion, which did help things considerably. Apparently the characters agreed, since they never go back for it.
Afterwards, Wales and I commiserate over the ending. "This is not what was promised in the trailers," I tell her. "I was told this was not a silly romance. No romance. Nice funny sci-fi flick."
"Yeah," she responds, "they lied to us."
"Could have lived without the ultimate question in life being: is this girl the one? I mean honestly, I know I'm doomed because I'm single and not in love, do not need to be reminded of it. If I wanted a fucking romance - I'd have seen Monster-in-Law (well maybe not that one) or Crash."
"Actually I don't think Crash is supposed to be a romance."
"More than this."
"Yep," she agrees, "was not prepared for that. Could have gone without that." (Poor Wales, last night she'd rented Little Black Book and Never...something, the remake of an Affair to Remember with Catherine Denueve, outside of one sexy scene with William Hurt, she did not recommend.)
"Did like the bit about getting slapped whenever you came up with an original idea. Laughed at that."
"Oh yeah, talk about your psychological conditioning."
Wales didn't get the point of the whole thing though. It seemed to be, in her opinion, just an excuse to use a lot of neat special effects. I explained that it's basically a parody of a bunch of things - sort of like the Monty Python movies, except parodying modern self-help books, religious philosophy, and sci-fi in general.
It did have some great bits - the bits on the Guide, the beginning, the dolphins, the trip through the planet making department with Bill Nighly (who was my favorite character). But, like most parodies or snarky films, you don't really care about the characters all that much (at least I didn't) or the plot - it's mostly about the gags. Lots of gags, not a lot of substance.
Not worth more than $5 in my opinion, unless of course you get to see the Serenity and Revenge of the Sith trailers.
Wales doesn't want to go in early - but I want to catch the previews. "Ah here they are," I tell her with anticipation, then up comes the music for Monster In Law, "and uh, these aren't them." Damn. We get two previews with the flick: Monster In Law ("well that looks highly annoying" - comments Wales), next up, Hot Mad Ballroom - Strictly Ballroom meets Spelling Bee. I sigh in quiet resignation. Should have known the ticket encounter was a bad omen.
Up comes the flick. The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy and within the first ten minutes, I recall that wait, I have read parts of this and did see the TV show. I just forgot them. Moving about an hour in, I think, "oh now I remember why I never bought or finished reading this book (I scanned my college boyfriend's, yes he was a Hitchhiker geek) and why I didn't watch the whole series...wonder how long this thing is? Can't remember how it ended, did I read the ending? Hope it gets better? Oh that's a funny bit. But can we lose the Sam Rockwell character, please? "
Answers: 2 hours (felt like 3 - checked my watch once)
Didn't read the ending apparently or I did and it ended differently.
Doesn't get better - although the section where he goes with Bill Nighy through the planet building dept is worth at least the price of admission.
Nope don't lose the Sam Rockwell character - at least not completely, but do get rid of the most annoying portion, which did help things considerably. Apparently the characters agreed, since they never go back for it.
Afterwards, Wales and I commiserate over the ending. "This is not what was promised in the trailers," I tell her. "I was told this was not a silly romance. No romance. Nice funny sci-fi flick."
"Yeah," she responds, "they lied to us."
"Could have lived without the ultimate question in life being: is this girl the one? I mean honestly, I know I'm doomed because I'm single and not in love, do not need to be reminded of it. If I wanted a fucking romance - I'd have seen Monster-in-Law (well maybe not that one) or Crash."
"Actually I don't think Crash is supposed to be a romance."
"More than this."
"Yep," she agrees, "was not prepared for that. Could have gone without that." (Poor Wales, last night she'd rented Little Black Book and Never...something, the remake of an Affair to Remember with Catherine Denueve, outside of one sexy scene with William Hurt, she did not recommend.)
"Did like the bit about getting slapped whenever you came up with an original idea. Laughed at that."
"Oh yeah, talk about your psychological conditioning."
Wales didn't get the point of the whole thing though. It seemed to be, in her opinion, just an excuse to use a lot of neat special effects. I explained that it's basically a parody of a bunch of things - sort of like the Monty Python movies, except parodying modern self-help books, religious philosophy, and sci-fi in general.
It did have some great bits - the bits on the Guide, the beginning, the dolphins, the trip through the planet making department with Bill Nighly (who was my favorite character). But, like most parodies or snarky films, you don't really care about the characters all that much (at least I didn't) or the plot - it's mostly about the gags. Lots of gags, not a lot of substance.
Not worth more than $5 in my opinion, unless of course you get to see the Serenity and Revenge of the Sith trailers.