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H2G2 Film Website
tplayford writes "On the third anniversary of Douglas Adams death, the makers of the 'Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy' film have released their website, with a photo of the whole crew and a blog. I'm trying not to panic, but I just can't wait for the film to come out."
The new movie starts with "Click here to download the Flash Plug-In". I've seen that a lot, is that a new film studio?
I like playing spot the black guy in the photo. It keeps me occupied for hours.
To skip the rather unnecessary Flash intro, go here
Deep Thought.
Not a very interesting site...
Just a button you can't push!?!?!
I watched the Guide several years ago, and was really kinda disappointed. It's cool that it's finally .. being remade? What exactly is going on?
Read; Write; Execute
That's never a good sign.
Check out that scary photo! lol
-Imidazole2
While this story has adapted well to radio, book, and even a campy TV mini-series, what is the probability of hollywood trashing this?
Id say higher then turning a nuclear missle into a confused sperm whale.
I hope that this doesnt wind up sucking. But, unfortunatly, I think it will.
Oh well.
no
I am not aware of the connection with the Jodrell Bank observatory [http://www.jb.man.ac.uk], however I heard they are actually filming part of the film there, as one of my tutors works there.
you may find the Higgs in this signature.
...After what I've heard about Disney having the script re-written after Adams' death, I'm not exactly looking forward to this _travesty_ with his name on it.
I wonder what the three guys in the front of the photo do that allow them to wear blue fuzzy slippers?!
Douglas Adams!??!?! taking stabs in the dark(!) at writing!
Of course his characters are huge jokes, that's why they're great! Have you even read the books? No? Go, now, and purify thyself -- I promise, you'll enjoy it.
How does "H2G2" translate to "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy"??
Rumor has it... that Catholic School Girls Rule
COOL!!!
But with DNA dead, they could just do this really badly. Which would be unforgivable.
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
Is it the accent?
...But you know, it's an easy situation to remedy!
The opening page acts in different ways when you press the button - although I had to restart the browser for it to change (refresh didn't seem to cut it).
That, and the fact that you don't see too many people outside of the isles named Noel Markham.
It's a pretty safe guess.
The photo of the crew looks like they are at Elstree Studios in North London (http://www.elstreefilmtv.com/), the same place where they shoot Big Brother. May they will use Jade as the Triple Breasted Hore from Erecton Six!!
Hate to break it to you all, but there isn't anyone in that staff pic with 2 heads. There's no way they can make this flick w/out the coolest guy in the universe!
-- In Soviet Russia, radio listens to YOU!
Better buy a bunch of copies now, before all you can buy are the one's with the picture of the cast on the cover saying "Now a major motion picture."
This post cannot be rebroadcast without the express written constent of Major League Baseball.
Radio series, in which Adams was involved: great.
Books, in which Adams was involved: variable, from okay to great.
TV series, in which Adams was involved: pretty cool, all things considered.
Film, with no input from Adams but lots from clueless Hollywood types: worse than Vogon poetry, I betcha. Prepare to gnaw your own legs off.
Stick to the first three (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Restaurant at the End of the Universe, and Life, The Universe and Everything) though. The series kind of goes downhill in the last two books in the trilogy (Mostly Harmless, and So Long and Thanks for All The Fish).
Zagreus sits inside your head, Zagreus lives among the dead, Zagreus sees you in your bed and eats you in your sleep.
...the first one-and-a-half books, wasn't it? It had some of Restaurant in it.
What will this movie cover?
On the site there's a picture of the cast and crew dated 14th May...perhaps there's more science in this film than most :)
Nay, it is the fact that you seem to have never been exposed to American cartoons as a youth.
By law, according to the Uniform Cartoon Code (UCC), Chapter 4398274, section 12.432432 as publish by the ACME Corporation. "All persons, animals or other self aware beings (terrestrial or otherwise) who encounter a large red button are required to press it under penalty of anvil" it goes on to say "Should the before mentioned red button carry a notice asking all who see it not to press it, the required pusher of said button is here by required to press it as often and as many times as possible until it's final result is known."
Note: the actual notice of the button in this case is from the Hitchhikers Guide no less, something to the effect of:
Dent: "I wonder what would happen if I pressed this button."
Prefect: "I wouldn't..."
*beep*
Dent: "That's odd... a sign lit up telling me not to press this button again."
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Original book? Have they published the scripts for the radio show?
**TODO** Steal someone elses sig.
I bought the book (collective hitchhiker's guide) several years ago, but haven't read it yet. I keep meaning to start it, but in all honesty the thing that is keeping me from it is the hype and the fans. All I hear about is how awesome it is, and see references to it that people around here seem to think are hilarious. If you question anything about it you are lambasted and marked a troll. It almost makes me not want to read it, because who would want to read a book with followers like that? I hate to say it, but the LOTR fans do the same thing. I never read the books, but anything that wasn't a glowing comment about the movies was met with scorn from fans. I just don't get that kind of devotion. Maybe if I read the books I would get it, but I am not sure I even want to.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
The name "Slartibartfast" was chosen because the person who typed out the copies of the script for the recording of the radio show objected to having to type out long silly names. So he deliberately chose a very long and very silly name for a fairly major character.
a traveshammockery!
..........FULL STOP.
This character doesn't appear in the books. I was wondering if anyone knows how Humma Kavula works into the story.
Ah, well.
This sig no verb.
Well, according to , it looks like they've chosen an interesting cast. I think Martin Freeman is an excellent choice for Arthur. I suspect Warwick Davis is being cast as Marvin simply because he seemed so pessimistic for most of Willow.
One of the screenplay writers, Karey Kirkpatrick, also was credited with working on the screenplay for Chicken Run, which was pretty good and original. So I think we can all continue to hold out hope for a while longer.
Things to do today: See list of things to do yesterday
Yeah, Mos Def appears to be the only black guy on the cast and crew. That's irony for you.
It is?
ironic
... is one of the standard library items that ship with MM Flash.
Still, can't wait for the movie.
- A standard explosion, with chunks of planet flying by
- A burst of light which vaporizes the planet
- Getting hit by the cue-ball in a game of galactic billiards
Using IE 6, refreshing did work to see differing intros, but the randomizer does often go on runs of the same intro.Yes, at least twice - I have the original version somewhere at home, and it's pretty easy to find the current version.
"The planet beneath them was almost perfectly oblivious of their presence, which was just how they wanted it for the moment. The huge yellow somethings went unnoticed at Goonhilly, they passed over Cape Canaveral without a blip, Woomera and Jodrell Bank looked straight through them - which was a pity because it was exactly the sort of thing they'd been looking for all these years."
Yes it's a crappy website, which is a bad start for what could be the biggest movie in the coming years. Nevertheless, click here to skip the Flash intro and read the blog.
Is that the one where Harry and Hermione invite Ron to join them for... No, nope, that's just wrong, must get image out of my head.
Well, given that it was a radio series when he wrote most of the character names it would be "listeners".
And Slartibartfast came about because he wanted the character to have something that constantly depressed him and made him secretive, and he decided it would be a really terrible name. It started off as "Phartiphuckborlz" or similar, and they switched the syllables around until it was almost, but not quite, entirely safe to broadcast.
You should read about his writing technique; it usually involved taking three pages of dialogue and rewriting them mercilessly into about four sentences over the course of a day. Part of his problem with deadlines was because he was never ever totally happy with his work.
Towel Day is coming! May 25th!
towelday.com
Comment removed based on user account deletion
As an avid fan of HHG2G, I'm looking forward to the movie a lot.
It seems to be a very good cast, from what I've seen, nobody really huge, so the past movie baggage isn't there (which like it or not, matters a LOT for a movie like this).
As well, for arguments that Hollywood is going to screw it up..well..from everything I heard, the HHG2G story is already going to be screwed up from the first draft written by DNA. It's the same thing as the book was screwed up from the radio script.
It's part of the mythos of the story. Deal with it.
Part of his problem with deadlines was because he was never ever totally happy with his work.
And the other part was that the man was a raving alcoholic. Let's not over-gloss his life, it wasn't all pretty. He wrote some damn fine comedy, true. Leave it at that.
Who the fuck is Zloat?
-Peter
Let's not over-gloss his life, it wasn't all pretty. He wrote some damn fine comedy, true. Leave it at that.
Uhhh...make up your mind!
Might as well visit the site.
I am a believer of momentum and curves.
Thanks. I really hope it does not turn into a dog of a movie. I saw the BBS series on PBS and enjoyed them very much. I then found a hard bound copy and liked those even more.
My karma is not a Chameleon.
You won't have to wait much longer. According to The Salmon of Doubt the movie will be released any decade now.
And so probably will the website.
(Douglas Adams described the filmmaking as twenty years of constipation.)
Part of his problem with deadlines was because he was never ever totally happy with his work.
Part of it was because he was writing as it was being recorded so it has a very random, stream of concious feel to it. The third and later books were much more cohesive.
but the reason a lot of films suck is the dialogue and characterisation doesn't work. You can't just swap people in and out of roles to fit an audience demographic *without rewriting all their lines and possibly changing everything* Mos Def as Arthur Dent? where did that come from? Is he going to play it straight as the original character (i.e. not flash, just a jobbing journalist), or as I would imagine - he's going to be a little cool and swarve/charming? If so why would he be friends with Dent in the first place, they'd run in different social circles! If you change almost all his lines to reflect his new character then everybody elses lines have to change to reflect their relationship with him. Maybe some things wouldn't happen. Funnily enough MosDef was in The Italian Job another travesty of a remake of a great british film. And yesterday I read that the Coen Brothers and Tom Hanks have remade 'the ladykillers'. How anybody believe that could be bettered in its original form? Ok it's black & white but then so is Dr Strangelove which is still a total classic. I must say I'm not looking forward to it, I'll wait to rent it on DVD if the reviews are generally favorable.
"Having characters called things like Slartibartfast and Zloat kind of makes me think he was taking stabs in the dark at writing a having a huge joke over on his readers/consumers. "
I thought the joke was that aliens always have silly names.
"Derp de derp."
See Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
This movie is dedicated to every ancestor who has contributed DNA to my family tree
And Disney wants to own copyright on them.
Any movie whose official web site is part of go.com is a Disney movie. I won't be seeing it until long after its DVD release because I don't want my dollars to go toward Disney's sequel kick: lobbying for DMCA II and Bono Act II.
HHGTTG might be a Hollywood producer's dream book: something that can be adapted and reinterpreted liberally without worrying about staying true to the source material.
After all, IIRC, the plots of the radio series, TV series, books, and text adventure game all differ from each other, starting sometime after Ford and Arthur arrive on the Heart of Gold.
You are better off getting the CD's of the radio series (since this is how it all started out) - Audio book of the book of the radio series seems far to circular for me. Though I guess DNA would get a kick out of it. The problem here is finding it....... I picked up a copy from a bargain bin a while back. I have a feeling BitTorrent or eBay might be a contender. The box CD of the radio series comes with a nice "Don't Panic" logo and very cheesy 1980s style dayglo covers to each disk.
Hang on - I'm supposed to be designing the fjords...
I thought the joke was that aliens always have silly names.
Of course aliens' names will seem silly to English speakers because alien cultures' naming traditions aren't the same as those of English-speaking cultures. Take the example of Shigeru Miyamoto. He's an alien (Japanese citizen in the United States for E3) with a suitably Japanese name.
The code of adventure-games: Do what you are not supposed to do, if it doesn't kill you try again. Example titles include: Monkey Island series, Sam & Max etc.
Sub-groups here are 3-digit, 4-5 digit, low 6 digit IDs
Low 6-digit IDs? Are you referring to an actual conversation that took place in the real world, or are you revealing a personal insecurity?
Does anyone use the "New User Modifier"? If so, do you find it useful?
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
like what Lucas did to the Death Star in Star Wars 1.1 (the enhanced VHS stuff)
Wasn't "Star Wars: A New Hope (Special Edition)" numbered 4.1? I thought 1.1 was "The Phantom Edit".
DONT FALL FOR IT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/075407571 0/ref=br_lf_b_13/026-6297324-1090865
All five parts of the trilogy, complete and unabridged, read by the author. 25 CDs, yours for GBP140 (around $250), by BBC Word for Word. Not sure about US availability (although Amazon will ship it abroad, AFAIK), or if any abridged versions exist, those are the only ones I've seen. They are availible in seperate volumes for each book though.
You can also get a complete version of the original Radio series[1] (the collectors edition), or as two volumes (Primary and Secondary Phases, split between the two radio series) released by the BBC Radio Collection.
[1] Remember, it can first.
10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
20 GOTO 10
That was only true of the second radio series (Fit the 7th to Fit the 12th, IIRC) - the first series was written before recording (although there were numerous rewrites, and at that time he was also the Doctor Who script editor and under a lot of time pressure). The second series was both written and recorded in a huge hurry, with writing happening while the actors were waiting and - once - the episode almost being transmitted before the end of it was ready.
The writing in the second series shows to a large extent why Adams was so fond of continously rewriting - he couldn't do it on that schedule, and it shows. An epsiode and a half worth of the "shoe event horizon" was covered by half a page when it made it into book form.
It also shows why it was a failing, too. The first two books were written in a hurry (to the extent that the first book ends at the point where the dispatch rider from the publishers turned up to collect what he'd written, regardless) and that seemed to make them funnier, along with the fact that the plot & dialogue had already been honed for the radio series. The third book onwards weren't written under such enourmous time pressure, and weren't so closely based on the second series, and I think he had a tendency to rewrite some of that excitement and humour out.
Adams was always best when he was converting something he'd done for another medium - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, for example, was based on at least two episodes he'd written for Doctor Who and so the plotting was already done. Long Dark Teatime of the Soul was less satisfying to my mind because he got lost in the plot.
Who visualizes like this? And how obvious is it, once stated, that that's exactly the right visual simile? Douglas Adams had a command of the English language both forwards and backwards. It's a shame we won't be getting any new material in this lifetime.
The cure for cancer is coming: Reovirus
Just make sure not to carry the towel on your head so that you don't get shot at by people confusing you with a terrorist.
I prefer E2 though.
Now just what, exactly, is so monumentally wrong about living it? What if we want to be hoopy froods? I know where my towel is, do you?
You can have it fast, accurate, or pretty. Pick any 2.
The UCC was amended in 1993.
4398274 UCC 12.432432 (West 1995) now reads in relevant part:
"(b) In the event that the aforementioned red button bears a notice requesting the public not to press it, the observer, required to push said button under subsection (a) of this section, is hereby required to press it repeatedly until the result of said presses is known; but
(c) the presser may for a reasonable period delay pressing said button as required under subsection (a) of this section, if said delay would effect a comedic purpose, including, but not limited to, chattering teeth, protruding eyes, bulging veins, or shaking limbs, caused by the stress of resisting temptation or the anticipation resulting from such delay."
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
Yet another wasted effort on a website. Flash is so aggrevating I simply do without and don't visit sites which require it. Poor choice not to offer a non-Flash website.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Was it about OpenBSD?
Oh sorry, the improbability of having a hole in the base system wasn't so high after all.
Hallowed be Thy
>I mean, when hollywood can fuck up making a movie of Starsky and Hutch for flipsake, what chance have they got with this?
What, exactly, constitutes fucking up Starsky and Hutch? The teevee show sucked on virtually every level... bad acting, bad writing. If the movie sucks, it's just being faithful to the original. Some movies appear to be successful if being a great fit for MST3K is the goal.Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Adams created all the character names for HG2G from adding bits of real company names that line the railway line between London and Bristol.
I know this 'cuss my dad used to make he very same comute to work.
They mention screwing 4k lightbulbs into the Heart of Gold. Anybody else flash on another sci-fi franchise when they read that?
And they say Yanks don't understand irony....
I think the intent was Hitch-Hiker's Guide Galaxy = HHGG = H2G2
This was Douglas' creation, so he's to blame.
--- Corporations Are A Fad.
Anybody have any thoughts on Mos Def as Ford Prefect? I think this is really cool -- Mos Def is incredibly charming and a good actor, and I think having him as Ford Prefect is a cool twist for sci-fi, which tends to just sort of assume people are white or Asian. In my experience, there are quite a few African American sci-fi fans, so I think having Mos in a more-or-less mainstream sci-fi film could really tweak people's heads in a good way.
Online citizen journalism from the inner city: The View From The Ground
Here's a very insightful interview with the script writers. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A2257599
Does anyone have MP3s / Oggs of the Finnish radio series (i.e. the radio series from Finland, not the last episode or anything).
I suspect it would be a fabulous way to learn the language.
...to play Zaphod.
Maybe Alec Baldwin?
No, wait. Sorry. He's two-faced.
Proverbs 21:19
...HG2G instead of H2G2?
No, look at it this way:
Hitch
Hikers
Guide to the
Galaxy
See the first letters of each phrase: 2 H's, 2 G's. H2G2, see it's geeky. Write it with the numbers in subscript, like in chemistry, to make it look even geekier.
..the site hasn't suffered a sudden total existance failure yet.
-Lucas
Yeah, reading it in that order can do that to you ;)
The acronym is emphasized as...
the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy
...not...
the Hitchhiker's Guide 2 the Galaxy
There is already a BBC website called H2G2 that competes with Wikipedia and Everything2 as an online, community-edited reference work.
Those who complain about affect & effect on
Dawn, we can mod up bbc news!
Its the system broken?
-Woof woof woof!
will be off topic: .... .png, .gif, .jpeg(??copyright) or whatever standard ? ... ..
:your browser is outdated and does not support encrtyption - download IE 6.0)- all that with a full install of mozilla for linux .... I do not have explorer and I do not want to have one, nor windows, nor any stupid rich-media-content bandwidth-hog crap ....
... I love hitchhiker's guide, and that flashcrap made me really mad ...
... DAMN
it really pisses me off, that everywhere I go I am forced to download a new falsh plugin, java vm, whatever player, new version of explorer (since mozilla seems to be outdated for some lameass websites), MS media player, realone player
HEY !
really, can we just see the content of websites, with
i am willing to use javascript when available, but I tend to simply ignore sites with that kind of crap
If i can build and maintain sites with lots of content in a way that they are 100% functional even with links or lynx, or my pda browser (before ppc2000 IE, lately konqueror/opie) then why cannot professional designers keep their sites at least usable for people with thin (or just different) clients
I am going to issue chargebacks against several sites where I paid for services and where I can see
uhh sorry for my rage
ps: I love when they have 5 different flash ads, and they all open up a new browser for each on my pda (href target=new)
can I choose to ignore all that ?
Nay, I vaguely remember reading (all?) of them and found only the first one (THHGTTG) to be the best one.
Absurdist fun with a SF slant!
Too bad Mr. Adams's not around to see the big screen version of his famous work....
Could be true - there really is an estate agent in London called Hotblack Desiato, as any fule kno.
All employees must wash hands before seeking equitable relief.
This totally fails to capture the essense of the original, which was as dull as Salt Lake City after hours.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Can one of our fine moderators kindly tell me why the parent post, with exactly 1 vague statement of opinion and two questions, was modded "Informative"?
------ "Darn floor. Big bite." (Koko the gorilla's best attempt at explaining the experience of an earthquake.)
You forget, that in Soviet Russia dead horses beat your beowulf clusters of GNAA members while profiting from you.
503 Sig Unavailable
The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
last time *I* went to the cinema 'proper' was for LOR pt1 as well. Which I walked out of after 1/2 hour. the print was scratched to buggery (white lines down the screen).
But the *neg* it was printed from as well was scratched to buggery as well (black lines down the screen).
i did go a year ago to see 'Lilya 4 Ever' at a 'directors chair' showing at Basildon UCI last year. there were 4 other people in the audience. Basildon is full of people who can't read and war shell suits so playing a subtitled film which didn't even contain special effects there was no good.
if they want getting onto 10 a ticket:
#1: get a good print
#2: have some damn legroom.
#3: stop annoying yapping chair kicking assholes from entering
#4: don't sell stupid noisy food like crisps (chips for you US guys) and boiled sweets in noisy wrappers
#5: have a decent sound system, not just one with an enormous sub woofer (hint... the rear speakers should be BEHIND the audience)
#6: show some decent films
#7: serve beer
#8: have comfortable seats
#9: clean the bogs at least once a month
hey I can achieve all 9 at home. I just rent DVDs from screenselect over the net. Now tell me again why I need to go to the cinema?
My expiration date is coming up (cancer fuckwad), but I made it long enough to see the LOTR trilogy, and now I'll even see Troy! I'm wondering if it's worth hanging on 'til this bitch hits the screens... I'm just finishing up the last of Doug's works (having infinite time to do crazy shit like read all day), so now that I've purused everything he's written, I'd love to see an updated version. Anyone have a firm date?
... HHGTTG, aka the increasingly inaccurately named TLA that usually denotes it.
(aMule client for Linux is available)
Audible has them, too, by the way, for downloading online. Not sure how the cost compares.
...if you're excited and happy about something?
Adams claimed that the name was supposed to sound like a really rude word (when Slartibartfast first appears he keeps saying that his name is unimportant but he eventually tells Arthur what it is).
Apparently the first version of the name was Phartiphukborlz and Adams just played around with it until he came up with something that sounded rude, but wasn't.
"E pur si muove!" - attributed to Galileo Galilei, 1564-1642
To bring your towel!
And the other part was that the man was a raving alcoholic.
No he wasn't.