LOL SBW. Gary. From I hear of the movie you'd be better off watching it without contamination of the books. I suspect that the movie moguls' determination to KISS it to death was what resulted in Doug Adams' early death .... I'm waiting for the DVD
I like to read the book first, then I can comment on how stupidly (or not) they have done a movie interpretation. I thought Lord of the Rings was done relatively well, given the scope, and I've got the feeling that H2G2 will not translate well to the big screen. I'm not really a TV fan myself, to the point where my Sims don't even HAVE tv's.
Wow. A kindred soul. I hate television. Some of my lazier sims have them, but only if they ask nicely ... I didn't watch it for three years except for rented videos and children's shows with my child. Now, however, I find myself channel flipping while waiting for the Sims to load ... and then promptly turning it off again. Other than the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and South Park, there's nothing on TV I really care to watch. Most of it is just garbage, especially now that every other show is "reality." What a stupid trend. Some people would sell their grandmothers for their 15 minutes in the spotlight. Pathetic.
Going utterly off-topic, can I just say hoo-hoo! I just shoe-horned 256MB of RAM into my notebook and I can now surf with multi-tabbed Firefox windows and have my email running at the same time and have a living room that hasn't got a noisy flipping tower case humming in the background of everything I do. I won't be getting my simming machine up and running until I have had a few slight building alterations done so that there's a brick wall between me and the tower case ... it can then hum away to its silicon-stony heart's content Note to semi-geeks. I had 128MB before the upgrade and limped along with 10-15MB free after start up (including cable connection and Norton firewall & anti-virus) but before starting a browser. I could have Firefox or Outlook but not both. The machine ran slow slow slow. After plugging in 256MB extra RAM (trebling it) I found I had 189MB free after start up ... though my page file memory is less cluttered. It now runs like the rocket a 900Mhz Mobile Duron is expected to
I waited for Mirelly's review of the movie. I thought you'd be the first in line for a ticket! When you never said anything I assumed it was dreadful. The only critic I like said you had to be a hard-core Adams fan to enjoy it. Like Gary, I thought I'd re-read them first. SBW...you must have been a kid when you played Hitchhiker. It was one of the first computer games I played. I remember it vividly because I got stuck on a particular portion. I was ready to do real damage to my computer. There weren't hint books and so I drove two hours to the nearest hole-in-the-wall gaming store. I accosted everyone that walked through the door. I had no shame. My sanity was at stake. After hours of humiliating myself, an amazingly geeky young man stammered out the solution. I'll love him till I die. (I needed Ford's suitcase AND the bablefish...whew.) I, too, prefer books to movies. I finally found one movie that is much better than the book though. I hated Winston Groom's novel Forrest Gump. I loved the movie. SBW...The Daily Show is the main reason to own a television! I don't understand how they can pull this off night after night so brilliantly.
I know! Plus, even with tongue firmly planted in cheek it's a lot more informative than the "standard" news shows, and it's just so funny. If you can't laugh at the world, well, you'd be crying and that could get messy. Yes, I was still living with the parental units. I vividly remember that room with the babel fish vending machine. Took me for-bleeping-ever to figure that out. I kept having to start over! Oh *%!& forgot the junk mail ... The hardest part for me was that stupid cleaning robot. I wanted to kill it with my bare hands. I also remember playing Leather Goddesses of Phobos. Very funny stuff. And my mom and brother were sequestered for weeks trying to solve Amnesia (I think that's what it was called). I never did finish that one. It was so frustrating I gave up. I think they did a little dance of celebration when they finally solved it. R
I decided I had a lot better things to do after seeing how Marvin was being portrayed in the trailers. Adamsesque irony doesn't work like that. It was obvious that the stupid oversize-toy robot was some kind of Hollywood metaphor for "this isn't supposed to be serious guys so it's OK to laugh" kinda dumbing-down for the make-out majority who put most of the bucks in a movies' first weekend's box-office ... But I guess that sounds a bit contrivedly cynical.
Contrivedly cynical is rare for me. I usually don't have to contrive to be cynical. I take a straightforward path and there cynical is.
Nope. I think 99% of all movies made now fall into this category. The movie industry seems to rehash the same themes over and over for the bucks. They are not only inane, they aren't even entertaining. I'm not a snob. I have very eclectic tastes. It would just be nice if they could have a story, or plot, or something remotely entertaining. But to have the powers that be imply I need help with the joke or that I'm too stupid to follow an intricate plot line, irritates me to no end. The news has been filled with the movie industry's angst over their plummeting ticket sales. I have no pity. Remember when you could see a movie for 1.50 and sit through it over and over? (And it was worth watching over and over...) It costs a family of four 50.00 bucks to have a night out at the movies. You bet I'm going to wait until it's on dvd and I can watch it in my jammies, pause it, turn up the volume, and rewind if I zone out. I can have all this for 3.50. Has anyone seen anything entertaining lately? I'm open for some recommendations.
At the risk of incurring ridicule, I must say I really enjoyed Mr. & Mrs. Smith. The Onion called it an old-fashioned screwball romantic comedy with updated hardware, and that about sums it up. It's funny, sexy and quite a ride. I love old movies, and I wish they'd make more like that. I agree that most movies made today are just so incredibly stupid, or like you said, seem to think you need help with the joke. I prefer movies that make you keep up with them ... I had to see the Big Sleep three times before I figured out what was going on ... much more entertaining than say, the remake of Flight of the Phoenix or the second Lara Croft movie. What a couple of unwatchable stinkers those were. I almost never shell out for movies in the theater anymore. The only time I go is when my husband and I have an unexpected free summer afternoon. It's a great way to escape the heat. I also enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though it got mixed reviews from others on this site. And on video, again at the risk of getting laughed at by movie snobs, I actually enjoyed National Treasure. Yes, it was far fetched, yes it was silly but it made fun of itself enough that you forgave it that. It held together, it was fun and exciting, kind of like Raiders of the Lost Ark light. And it was no more far-fetched than the average episode of Alias, which I've been catching on DVD. Let's see ... I also enjoyed Big Eden (a gay romance, very sweet) and Supersize Me. If you like suspense, the Village was OK, but Secret Window was scarier. Yes, I know, not that recent. I've been simming, OK? For those of you who don't watch TV or have cable, series you can rent that are fun include Buffy (of course) Firefly, Alias, and Six Feet Under. You probably know about all of those, but just in case ...
I’m looking forward to Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I’ve just been waiting for the dvd. It appeals to me on many levels. I love the old Thin Man movies. I love old Clark Gable and Carole Lombard comedies. Now if Hollywood could find another Gregory Peck and Hitchcock I would shell out my cash for a day at the movies. The last time I went to the movies was for opening night of the first Lord of the Rings. We were the oldest people there and the only ones without costumes. All the young adults sitting around us were curious why we stood in line to see it. We couldn’t decide if they were more shocked that the books were that old or that we were once their age. I didn’t discover Dahl until I had children. I love most of his books but I absolutely hate the original movie. I might sit through the new one just because Johnny Depp is in it. I did like Neverland. I forgot about Secret Window! That one is probably available to rent now. I’m not laughing. I think it’s the most entertaining movie I’ve seen this year. I saw the Village, too. I was not very enthusiastic for most of the movie but the last portion saved it. Don’t worry about the movie, book, or music snobs. If you believed posters on most forums, everyone is reading esoteric books, listening to music no one has heard of, or watching movies that are shown in only 5 theatres in the country. Four people post. Start a thread on guilty pleasures and people come out of the woodwork to admit they still love disco, singing to country, reading trash, and have weekend marathons of B grade martial art flicks. Everyone has a comfort food, a tv show that lets them wind down, or music genre that takes them back to a special time. Anyone that doesn’t isn’t interesting.
Movies...hmmmm. I seem to watch alot of them, but few have actually left an impression, the most recent thing that I saw at the cinemas was Madagasga with my kids, they loved it, and I must admit that I found it quite enjoyable. I'm a reader like most of everyone else it seems in here, I wonder if there is a connection between the Sims and readers? Seems to be a trend happening. Most recent DVD was the Pacifier, my husband loved it because of the connection with The Sound of Music, don't ask ok? At the moment I'm reading Harry Potter, Order of the Pheonix so I know what's going on when I start the latest book. A good movie that I have seen, if you all like a soppy romance is The Notebook, loved that movie, boy, did I cry, but then, I'm a sook. Looking forward to seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I'm not sure how I will cope with Jonny Depps make-up though, it looked kinda disturbing in the previews....
I have to admit I avoid movies that are designed to make me cry. They annoy me on a fundamental level, though having said that I admit I enjoyed the Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, artificial as it was. It had some good acting and a few really great moments in it. I refuse to see the Notebook, however, and I have yet to see Steel Magnolias, and hope I never will. As for entertainment, it's supposed to be, well, entertaining. And there's nothing entertaining about a movie that's designed to impress you with how cool the filmmaker is. I'm not saying there aren't some good "arty" films out there. Some of my favorite movies have been from this genre. But there's a lot of pretentious garbage masquerading as "art." Still, to each their own, which is why this is such an interesting world. BTW, as for sims and readers, I think this site has some very intelligent, thoughtful people on it, something that not every site can say. The fact that we all enjoy many of the same things is just icing on the cake.
Isn’t that why we watch movies? I’ve seen some pretty stupid movies and great movies as well (I too enjoyed Mr. & Mrs. Smith). After they’re over, I don’t really dwell on how well they were or the story or plotline. I figure if the movie entertained me and/or kept me interested for that period of time, it did what it was supposed to do. I’m not much of a “movie goer.” I love to rent movies through the winter months. During the summer, the only way I’ll go to the movies is to the drive in, $12 for 2 people for 2 movies . . . Music to my ears!! Hubby and I have 4 drive-ins that are within ½ hour of our place. I agree. I thought when I bought Sims that I was too old, my husband rolls his eyes at me when I play saying someday I’ll grow up, and that noone would understand. THEN I found this site. I now have proof that I’m NOT the only one!!
LOL Duzzy but suggest hubby that there's a world of difference between growing up and going stale ....
Ahh!!! The off-topic thread is going on-topic and LINKING!!! Oh, the humanity!! Anyway, I love anime and stuff, but my fave movie would probably Big Fish. I love surreal movies!
... so anyway ... what's your fave movie snack? Mine is butterscotch flavour popcorn cos british hotdogs taste like they are made from dog doo doo
my all time favorite musical has got to be Audrey Hepburns My Fair Lady. I was trying to remember the words to loverly and Get me to the church and I have often walked down this street before........... Scariest movie was a double feature with rosmary's baby, I think it was called the cradle will fall... I really do see newer shows than these but we're talking classics here.
Good choice Michelle. Can't beat the classic musicals for singalongability! I like Oliver best. But MFL is a classic. The lyrics??? See: http://www.stlyrics.com/m/myfairlady.htm
