Slashdot Mirror
More on H2G2, Including an Early Review
mwilli writes "Ain't It Cool has an early review of the upcoming Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie. Along with the review is a short video showing Arthur, Ford, Zaphod, and Trillian and some pictures. Also, 'I understand that in the movie, Zaphod's second head is inside his nostril. And this all ties in with the increased prominence of the Church Of Arkleseizure in the movie (a race with fifty noses, and the first to develop the aerosol deodorant before the wheel) and their leader John Malkovich, who also has a second head, and Zaphod's unwillingness to sneeze.'"
Okay...I know he has a "brain the size of a planet", but I dont think dna meant that literally, so....what's up with the size of that guys head? Also, how is he
supposed to look depressed if he doesnt have a face!!
42nd post
(Sorry, couldn't resist, gotta read that book though)
This is the sig that says NI (again)
Exciting to see that finally we will get progress on that
thanks for all the fish
Just a couple of points before anyone says "X isn't like the book".
a) The book and radio shows were quite different in a number of ways.
b) Douglas Adams actually wrote quite a bit of the script to this film. He said that it would be different to the books and the radio show.
Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
I, for one, welcome our new snot-nosed gods.
Whenever Mrs. Fitch breaks wind, we beat the dog.
Isn't an early review a preview? Last I checked it was.
Bad karma for correcting people I always say.
That's funny, since the news page on Douglas Adams Continuum where the picture link goes to, has this to say:
THE NATURE OF ZAPHODS SECOND HEAD REVEALED?
"In an additon to his test screen review on Ainitcool.com news earlier this week, "Cracker Thompson" makes an effort to set the reckord straight within the confusion his report caused, and to which a spoof news site added with stating that Zaphods head was located in his nostril:
"1) I was worried about Mos Def because the only thing I had ever see him do was General Cornrow Wallace on the Chappelle Show. Not because I didn't think he would screw up the character seeing as I haven't read the books.
2) Mos Def DOES NOT do a British accent in the movie.
3) Zaphod does have his third arm, and his second head DOES NOT come out of his nose, rather it comes from underneath his already existing head."
If this person has really seen the test screening, then this is the shit. Further speculation would in that case be rendered obsolete."
That's yesterday news, posted 21 dec.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
understand that in the movie, Zaphod's second head is inside his nostril
And let me guess, his 3rd arm is actually on his foot. And he wears his sunglasses on his knees.
There's artistic license and then there's just taking the piss.
I understand that in the movie, Zaphod's second head is inside his nostril.
Uh, WHAT?
***
... how long before Ursula LeGuin starts complaining about film companies changing Ford's skin colour...
I would be very disappointed if the movie failed to achieve the level of inconsistancy that we have all come to expect.
;)
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
Well it was very quick this time... the video page is not reachable http://www.kingstreetmedia.tv/hhg/hhgvlarg.wmv cuz all us geeks are watching.
Or its a windows media server or something.
Whenever Mrs. Fitch breaks wind, we beat the dog.
I think there is some confusion here.
The great green Arkelseizure was the creature who's nose the universe was sneezed out of. It is worshipped by the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI, which lives in fear of the time of the coming of the great white hankerchief.
It is in fact the Jatravartids that developed deodorant before the wheel, but it's because they had more than 50 ARMS each, not noses.
do your worst...
I, for one, thought it looks even more promising than before. That first shot of Arthur walking outside his newly destroyed home is exactly how I envisioned it. I didn't think Mos Def would fit his part either but in those shots it looks like he fits right in. I can't wait for this one.
a race with fifty noses, and the first to develop the aerosol deodorant before the wheel
Wouldn't that be fifty arms? Seems like a much more logical solution... (and the correct one, if I correctly remember the book...
I don't need a signature.
It is quite clearly this kind of senseless mucking about in the space time continuim that has caused so many problems in the universe today (and yesterday and tomorrow). We at the Campaign for Real Time will not stand for this blatant disregard for historical preservation, by which we mean actually preserving history itself and not only its relics.
You sir may expect a call for our lawyers. I certainly hope you had the foresight during your forrays into the past to deposit a few cents in a high interest bank account because you will need that money.
Have a nice diurnal anomoly.
And don't panic.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
It's so random it's funny. Laugh, or we'll turn the full force of our social isolation on you, and believe me, *WE* *KNOW* a little something about exclusion....
I really hope they don't screw up my movie. THHG has been my bible for 12 years. As a basis for my religion, it would be disappointing if the movie tanked. ;)
Uh oh. Anytime anyone associated with AICN posts thumbs-up pre-blather about an upcoming flick, said work turns out to be crap. Especially seeing as in this case the "reviewer" isn't familiar with the series. If I had my way, they'd simply clean up the BBC television series and release it in theaters. The effects were cheesy as heck, but the characters were spot on to what I thought they should be - and that's the selling point of HHGTTG - the characters.
Everyone read the books. NOW.
Before the film comes out.
It might get popular after the film or something and not be so geeky...
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
.. is destined to be the next great sex symbol for nerdy sci-fi fan adolescents and straight-men-preteding-to-like-indie-art-movies alike. Comic Book Guy and The Critic both agree that she's hot. Look out Natalie Portman and Liv Tyler. Move over Daria and that chick from "Ghost World". And she can sing, too.
where there's fish, there's cats
I'm so happy, I can hardly contain myself! I've been wonderful how well Hitchhiker's Guide would translate to the big screen. Sounds like it's just pippin!
"I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer."
However - I've never heard any of the radio series. Is there a place where I can download them? Or do they have to be bought somewhere? Thanks..
Berto
That last one at least isn't entirely true, I really hope that this movie is as great as the book(s). Even the BBC Radio and television series were all well done, and entertaining, and I remember fondly comparing (heatedly) the differences in all of them with my friends like bible scholars compare the different gospels
But with DA gone, I wonder if the spark went with him. I hope not.
I saw a trailer for this at the beginning of "National Treasure" this last weekend. It showed the earth in space, while Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" played in the background. Then the earth blows up... and they say the tagline "The greatest adventure in the unverse begins when the world ends." Enter H2G2 logo, cut, print.
...But I digress. TREMBLE PUNY HUMANS!ONE DAY MY SPECIES WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
the voice on the video is jonathan ross - he presents the bbc's film review programme 'film' and did the voice of the barmaid in the british release of shrek 2
just some trivia
Nice to see you, Mr. Wallace. How's that wheelchair treating you?
You ever think that maybe they cast him because they felt he'd do a good job in the role? And calling Mos Def a thug is pretty entertaining, considering he's consistently put out some of the more literate, intelligent hip-hop out there.
I am sure that your $8 will be missed, as will those of your fellow American Independent Party members.
---
Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
Let's see.... Aliens from other galaxies, folks with random numbers of body parts growing from who knows where. Rich characters that have been killed innumerable times by the same other character. A depressed robot. A cow suggesting what portion of him is the best to eat....
All this, and I would have to agree with you; Douglas Adams would never have had the imagination to include anyone but whites....
The voice in the video is that of Jonathan Ross an english TV presenter. He presents the BBC show Film 2004 and this is where the video is taken from.
That's the Heart of Gold??!
It's a little smaller than I imagined it...
Voon! This is so cool that I'm flolloping in a sympathetic way for any of you that havn't read these books yet! Apparently Ive been on another planet (without a Sub-Etha "Thumb", or the Guide) and I didn't know this was being remade! When I heard this i willomied with excitement! "He listened, but there was no sound on the wind beyond the now familiar sound of half-crazed etymologists calling distantly to each other across the sullen mire."
The official website for the film (http://hitchhikers.movies.go.com/) makes heavy use of Flash, and the Flash-free pages failed to load for me in Mozilla.
The world has changed and we all have become metal men.
he SOUNDS white in book and BBC, not like ghetto voice Mos Def thug.
Mos Def the hip hop thug RUINS it for me !!!
The reason Titanic, Elf, and other surprise hits made a lot of money is because they downplayed black actors.
The matrix 3 had so many black actors that even the New York Times remarked on it being a little odd.
I and many others REFUSED to watch matrix 3, and i will also REFUSE to pay to watch this movie even though i am a large adams collector (books, tapes, cds, lps, tv interviews, infocom games, etc etc etc)
I am truly sickened by producers inserting black hip artists into movies as principal actors.
COUNT ME OUT!!!
This is not a troll, because i do not care for any dialog or responses. This is just my HONEST and open and honorably brave opinion. If you cannot handle the truth, and that some people prefer TV shows such as "Friends" "Everybody Loves Raymond" or movies such as Titanic and Elf because black actors are downplayed, then instead of modding this down, why not be "open minded" as you anti-"racists" often claim to be and leave this post alone.
I will NOT be paying any money to see a rap artist with ghetto voice ruin a classic piece of comedic literature by ruining a principal role.
Why does the BBC radio series get "even" tacked on the front? That was the original format, the books were just knockoffs! (Of course, they were still great. The TV series was great too, and the new radio series.)
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
I know that Douglas Adams changed elements of the plot himself - inconsistency is fine (welcome, in fact). It's just that I can't quite see a chronically depressed robot as cute and adorable. We're talking about a robot who who caused a computer to commit suicide by telling it his view on life, and all the while I can't help comparing the costume design to a mechanized teletubby. It just doesn't seem to fit somehow.
The only reservations I have (from what I know so far) are issues of production design rather than plot. As far as I know (and I may well be wrong) Douglas Adams wasn't involved in costume or set design for the production.
Mos Def the hip hop thug RUINS it for me !!!
Hmmm... I really didn't know Mos Def... In this version, maybe Ford Prefect doesn't sound like he's from Guildford...
I don't need a signature.
grow up....
had you thought that he could actually be a good actor ? of course not - dumbass.
Black Man (Mos Def) the hip hop thug RUINS it for me !!!
Fucking racist.
There's so many ways this movie can be ruined, starting with the 'Warwick Davis' voice of Marvin (whereas the One True Voice belongs to Stephen Moore) and going to reinterpreting throwaway jokes as plot points. The whole Zaphod thing gives me fucking tremors, though Arthur is perfectly cast.
However, if Mos Def can pull off a Lennie James or Robbie Gee (instead of Don Cheadle who should have been replaced by one of those two in the Oceans 1[12] flix) he'll be BRILLIANT as Ford.
Fucking shite racists like you need to be murdered slowly and painfully, preferably with spoons and vinegar-soaked broken lightbulbs...
Oh, come on, the Wallace/AIP thing will totally go over their head.
---
Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
(I read with sigs off.)
Hmmm... I really didn't know Mos Def... In this version, maybe Ford Prefect doesn't sound like he's from Guildford...
;-)
Well, it turns out I'm not from Guildford after all...
As for skin colour, I checked with your Earthly equivalent of the Guide (instead of, say, looking in a mirror) and I found a photo of a black Ford Prefect. Got a problem with that, monkey-man?
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
Putting hip hop street guys in modern movies seems to be the latest Disneyfication of culture.
Mos Def should not have been cast.
Because of it I will most defeinitely not be seing or promoting this abortion of a movie.
It has nothing to do with HHGG except a money grab.
Why not add Ashlee Simpson or Britney Spears while they are at it?
YUGH!!!
HHGG needs more ghetto english actors.... right, sure!
Sorry but I LIKED the TV series versions of arthur ford and zaphod. Mark wing Davey? IS zaphod as far as I am concerned. Doing HHGTTG without a two headed beeblebrox is just... WRONG!
DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
Or was the film so much of an issue that he just threw a SEP over himself. If you jump about and watch the clip, I'm sure there is something in the background.
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
So in otherwords your completely unqualified to review this for fans of Douglas Adams? This review might be useful for people who have no clue what H2G2 is but for me and other die hard fans out there its completely useless. Its like the movie reviews of LOTR I read by people who had never read the book, sadly this is becoming too commonplace, peeps need to get out and read.
Why do you condemn producers that cast black artists as pricipal actors in their films? Is that somehow morally wrong to you? Don't these producers have the artistic license and more improtantly the right to cast whoever they want without feeling repercussions from people like yourself that believe that skin color should be the major consideration in the casting process?
Perhaps a racist like yourself beleives that the film industry would be better off without great black actors like Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poiter, and the world renound voice of James Earl Jones.
And to clench this, you claim that posting your ignorant opinion is brave . . . it is brave, like not wearing your seatbelt is brave, like drinking and driving is brave, like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is brave. It may be brave, but it is also irrational, childish, unreflective of modern societal norms, and just plain stupid.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
While I have no real love for racists, all I can say is that you should be careful hating. It could end up making you just like them.
Since I have not seen the movies but loved the books I am going to wait and see. There where SO MANY ways they could have ruined LOTR but didn't. Maybe we will get lucky again.
The idea of Ford as not white is a new one on me. I guess since most of the people I see on British TV seem to be white and he was white on the BBC TV show I pictured him that way. However his color will not ruin it for me. Now the movie Wild Wild West where James West was black was STUPID!!!!! Okay 1800's America and a black man has his own private train and NO ONE NOTICES it.... Ummmmm..... Talk about your distorted view of history.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Mirror here
Man, do you even know who mos def is? Seriously? He performed in the Pulitzer prize winning Topdog/Underdog play on broadway. He is not "hip hop thug" as you describe him, which shows your absolute ignorance. He's been active in many benefit concerts and cd's. Your honorably brave opinion is terribly naive. How someone could sound white on paper is something to laugh at. Do you mean sounds intelligent? Maybe he sounded white on BBC because a white person played him? Is that a shocker?
Its funny seeing you say movies are successful because they don't put black people in them. Maybe the Campaign for real time should send you back to the 1940's south.
Any story that begins with the destruction of the Earth, almost has to be good.
"Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
TIM from "The Office" as Arthur Dent!
And now, for a movie that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the books...
*ducks*
I for one looking forward to it. It will be a welcome antidote to SW:ROTS.
Hey guys. Thought I'd pop by and offer some info. Douglas wrote the entire script. It was modified by Karey Kirkpatrick, director Garth Jennings and exec producer Robbie Stamp, who was friend and collegue of Douglas. Zaphod does not have a second head. It's a second face. It nests under his chin, and he brings it out by tilting his head back. The red flying bubble is the Heart of Gold rescue pod. The story will be losely, losely, based on the first novel. Every version of Hichhikers has been different, and the movie is no different. Ok, thanks. Dukey http://www.douglasadams.se
http://www.douglasadams.se - Douglas Adams Continuum
OK, I'll go see this one. John Malkovich could SAVE Star Trek.
Hitchhiker's to Guide to the Galaxy?
What abbreviation scheme are we running here?
Oddly enough there are a black men in Guildford and there are millions of black Englishman. Fords skin colour was never mentioned in the books to the best of my memory. Ford can be any race he wants to be.
To put it in SAT terms:
t hs eaTrilogy
H2G2TheMovie:H2G2::EarthseaTheMiniseries:TheEar
Take it up with him.
"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." - Tacitus
If you visit the site, he's credited as Marvin (Body) there is a ? with respect to who will play Marvin's voice ( I suspect the same voice-over artist who did the bbc series)...
Mos Def is actually a pretty good actor. Watch "Something the Lord Made"
I know that hypocrisy is chic on Slashdot, but it's unusual even here for one to contradict himself in a mere three words.
There's a Mercedes gap too. I want one and can't afford one, but it's not government's job to do anything about it.
wmv=playable (for me anyway....)
It's science geek humour:
HHO == H2O
HHGttG == H2G2
Why do some people assume that anything they don't understand is "dumb"??
I suspect (hope??) the racism is just a troll so I'm ignoring it.
The 'Warwick Davis' voice of Marvin comment seems wrong to me. I figured he was just the midget in the suit and someone more appropriate would do the voice.
I had no idea what movie it was until then.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
Here's a wild guess, Zaphod's second head does not come from his nose - it comes from his neck, from underneath a black and yellow pashmina which he wears around his neck to hide it when it is not talking.
Also, maybe the Jatravartids from Viltvodle 6 (The planet on which Humma Kavula leads the worshippers in the Temple of Arkelseizure have 50 arms not 50 noses, and maybe that is why they developed the aerosol deoderant before the wheel - because there are so many armpits....
Like I said, just a guess.
It's not rocket science.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?
Sorry, I meant the BBC radio series voice (which was (and still is I guess, with the 4th series coming along) played by Stephen Moore.
I am pretty sure it was 50 arms, not noses.
A cow suggesting what portion of him is the best to eat....
I think it was a pig, wasn't it?
".. Or would you like to meet the dish of the day?"
"Yeah, that's cool, we'll meet the meat."
The coming of the Great White Handkerchief.
While I have no real love for racists, all I can say is that you should be careful hating. It could end up making you just like them.
Oh, that's not hate. Hate involves power drills, skulls and whisks.. Can you say frappe lobotomy?
Now the movie Wild Wild West where James West was black was STUPID!!!!! Okay 1800's America and a black man has his own private train and NO ONE NOTICES it.... Ummmmm..... Talk about your distorted view of history.
True enough, but that's a somewhat different story, for the historical reason you mention as well as for the ridiculously anachronistic dialogue (and the ridiculous story, etc...)
IIRC there was nothing in the radio series or novels that mentioned anything about Ford's "race", except for that it was a race of beings from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. For all that was (or was not) exposed he could have been a V lizard under fake skin. The only relevant character trait IMHO is that you could store a side of beef in him for at least a fortnight, and quite probably a Beeblebroxian month. And yes, IMHO, Mos Def could do that. I could just about see him as Zaphod, or even Burma Jones (from Confederacy of Dunces)...
The movie clip shows Zaphod Beeblebrox with only one head and he has 2 (at least in the original series). I wonder how many other "liberties" they're taking with the story? :-(
-- DuckWing
Personally, I'd have preferred to see the character of Ford played by someone who could realistically come from Guildford. Now Zaphod - Danny John-Jules would have been an absolute shoe in.
let's not forget the horror that was "Yo Robot" poor Asimov...
niggers ruin movies.
I also thought it was supposed to have reflective even mirror-like surface, was it not ?
You ever think that maybe they cast him because they felt he'd do a good job in the role? And calling Mos Def
Don't kid yourself, he's the required Token Black Guy.
I don't really approve of having actors that look nothing like the character's past known appearance, but in the good ol' Land of the Free (tm), if you don't have a prominent black character, your movie is labelled racist and you get lots of angry people protesting it.
What I want to know is: Is this movie starting in england, or in the U.S.A.?
If it's the latter, the character's name should be Ford Escort. If it's in the states and he's named Prefect, I take this as the travesty, not the fact that he's black.
P.S. I don't know who Mos is, I looked at his website, nothing rings a bell. Maybe he's a good actor (I hope).
P.P.S. I hate the racist right, and I hate the racist left, but I hate unecessary changes to a story made by marketing people even more.
You can't take the sky from me...
What'd you think of the animated film Titan A.E.?
Thanks to the internet, we can now all die alone together! -SomeWoman
H2G2 is Hitchs to Guide to. Uhm.... personally, I'd rather see the Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
"A large dairy animal approached Zaphod Beeblebrox's table, a
large fat meaty quadruped of the bovine type with large watery
eyes, small horns and what might almost have been an ingratiating
smile on its lips. "
It was a cow
My question is: why is this considered "artistic license," when nothing in the book indicates Ford's race in the first place? If you cast an actor who had green eyes to play Ford, would that be artistic license? The term "artistic license" implies diverging from the book. Here there is no divergence.
Am I missing some kind of #include at the beginning of every novel that says, "if otherwise unspecified, everyone is a white male"? Does HHGG start on an alternate Earth where England doesn't have any black people?
I am reminded of Douglas Hofstadter's GEB:EGB. He made the Tortoise character male, explaining that GEB extended Lewis Carroll's version of the Achilles and the Tortoise tale. Then he discovered that the Tortoise's sex was completely unspecified in the original dialogue. He had just assumed the animal characters were male, and furthermore assumed that it was specified that way by the author.
X
Where the book was SUPERB and the movie sucked monkey balls!
-1 Smallminded
In order for these actors to not look like the characters, Douglas Adams would have had to actually DESCRIBE any of these characters as white, you ignorant sack of crap.
Why waste time not reading the article when you can not read the summary... That makes me sad.
Why do some people assume that anything they don't understand is "dumb"??
Because they are dumb.
Or - download it through Dijjer.
Personally, in some aspects I find the books about Dirk Gently (Dirk Gently's holistic detective agency and Lond dark tea time of the soul) even better than hitchhikers guide. At least the latter one (tea time) is for me one of the funniest books I ever read. Sure, it probably helps if you're a scandinavian, but just the first 5 pages in tea time makes you laugh on your floor.
:-)
The hitchhikers guide to the galazy is a masterpiece, but don't forget his other work
Albert
I'm a bit wary of Marvin's rather odd body.
./ editor's huge misstep with the "50 noses" thing... It's ARMS!
I'm raising an eyebrow about Zaphod's second head (Supposedly a second face under his chin, or something of the sort).
I'm a bit disgusted at the
Mos Def, however, CAN DO THIS. Go watch The Italian Job. He plays "Left Ear", a demolitions expert with a heavy British accent (Don't ask me about which part of the UK - I'm a New Yorker). He seems to be good with the quick dialog, and he doesn't talk like a thug, at least in that film.
So seriously, watch a few clips of him in The Italian Job, as I'm guessing that's the reason he was picked for H2G2.
"The amount of intelligence on this planet is a constant. The population is growing." -Cole's Axiom
There is tremendous artistic license in any film version of a book . . . there are just too many visuals that are assumed in the book that have to be specified in the film. And these include the look of the characters. One must use some level of artistic license to fill these gaps.
But since your argument seems to be based on semantics perhaps I should respond in kind. I quote a person that uses more artistic license than you in their definition of artistic license. They conclude that artistic license is:
In sum, artistic license is:
* A tool.
* Entirely at the the artist's discretion.
* To be tolerated by the viewer.
* Neither "good" nor "bad".
* Useful for filling in gaps, whether they be compositional or historical.
* Used consciously, unconsciously, or both, simultaneously.
* There for the taking, and not subject to yearly renewal, inspection, fees or a bad snapshot on an ID card.
I think that Billy Boyd would have been a good Ford Prefect. I think at the very least he'd have a better shot at pulling of a Guildford-like accent than Mos Def...
Loved it- though the ending was a bit cheesy.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
englishman = white
black brit = gollywog
you = git
Let me ask you this, if you The Architect, and you wanted to be sure you'd overrun zion every time the matrix went through a reboot, wouldn't you populate the place with a bunch of doo doo browns so as to insure that you'd have no trouble overruning zion?
Ergo, it's logical that the film is chocked full of lil' black sambos.
Perhaps a racist like yourself beleives (sic) that the film industry would be better off without great black actors like Morgan Freeman, Sidney Poiter, and the world renound (sic) voice of James Earl Jones.
Funny how Star Wars was criticized for not having any black characters despite Darth Vader being all black and with James Earl Jones' voice. Hence the addition of Billy D. Williams in Empire.
Someone back up the chain claimed that political correctness was to blame and they are probably right. Race is a much more sensitive issue in America than in the UK. I can see Ford as black with no problems. In fact, the only character who I see as white is Dent because he can be such an insecure wuss. Talk about a stereotype.
It's funny that you also mention Morgan Freeman. He was cast as one of the great racial re-writes in movie history. He played the red-headed Irish prisoner "Red" in Shawshank Redemption. Of course, it was a fantastic movie and most people never read the book (so they missed the joke when Tim Robbins asks why they call him Red and he replies "Because I'm Irish").
Finally, to Stateoftheunion, can't you make your argument without name-calling? The poster is well within his rights to say that he thinks it is a poor choice to cast a relatively unknown black actor into a role that has been played, drawn and represented as a white man. You and other members of the PC insurgents need to learn how to disagree with someone without calling them "racist", "ignorant" or "stupid".
Viv
Gmail invites for ip
No, he was talking about Mos Def. Flava was a part of Public Enemy.
It's Don Cheadle who does an outstanding job in "the italian job", not mos def.
Whoops, sorry, I was wrong. I was thinking of "oceans 11".
Um, he didn't have a British accent at all in The Italian Job.
Breakfast served all day!
Unfortunately, I feel the same way about the Red Dwarf movie, which was supposed to be released in 2002, and isn't even close to done at the end of 2004.
It's sad how British Sci-Fi comedies turned films get held up so much
Wil Smith as Arthur Dent?
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
P.S. I don't know who Mos is, I looked at his website, nothing rings a bell. Maybe he's a good actor (I hope).
I had the pleasure of accidentally catching this movie on HBO (which incidentally won an Emmy).
Your hopes are well founded. He can act quite well, and I for one was happy to see he got the role. It's a sad loss for anyone who can't see past the color of his skin.
Electronic Frontier Foundation for online civil rights information
As my brain has imploded trying to come up with not one, but two, words that begin with the number 3, I would like to know exactly what L33t is an acronym for.
Hmmm...where do I begin with this one? :)
Zaphod is the one who is "so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month." And, yes, possibly that would be a Betelgeusian month.
All Ford has to do is "...[not] blink often enough" so that "when you [talk] to him for any length of time your eyes began involuntarily to water on his behalf".
It's "Count the heads."
While in this case I agree with you, sice Fod was racially ambiguous, being that the books never stated he was black/white/indian/mexican/etc... Though in the first movie, he was white. I don't like the fact that he is a thug though, I'm sick of that idiotic ignorant aspect of black culture being played up in media. They're obnoxious. I don't want to see a movie with some ebonics talking, rapper (hip-hopster?), acting like he is in the galactic ghetto, when Ford was rather civilized, and clever. But I've never seemed anything with him, so it is just my reaction against hip-hop culture, and people who can't use a real name, but some stupid cutesy fake neoghettoism (Mos Def? Come on now, what the hell type of name is that?). Though, he might actually be good, its just the circumstancial evidence is pointing against that. By all means cast Freeman, or Poiter, though, since they've proven their merit as actors, and not some silly trendy image.
But I also agree with the the fact, unintended rant aside, that I'm getting sick of EVERY movie having the tolken black. No, I have nothing against movies with black characters, WHEN THEY FIT. I just sick of diversity for diversities sake. A whole white cast, then off in the side-lines (not as main character) is the one black guy, acting stereotypically black, basically screaming; "Look at me, I'm black!". Thats what annoys me.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
I liked the text adventure game (also written by Douglas Adams). I wonder how much of it made it into the movie?
In case all of y'all wondered yes I bought it many years ago. It was a pure text game with a WILD plot. Reading, watching and listening to everything gave hints - but most of the game required being in a bizzare headspace to get anywhere. Or read the help...
Anyhoo, it's still out there and playable thanks to text adventure proggies. I know I last played it by copying from the 5 1/4" disc to one my linux beasties *g*
Ta!
H2G2 is:
H2 = Hitch Hiker's (2 H's)
G2 = Guide (to the) Galaxy (2 G's)
When Adams put together the Internet version of the guide, he put it up at: http://h2g2.com/ It's still there, in fact...
If anything needed an abbreviation, it's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... Even just typing "Hitchhiker's" is somewhat cumbersome. I wouldn't blame this one on elitism.
-If
Run a pencil-and-paper RPG campaign with your far-off friends: Gametable!
Wow, this is the first time I have ever posted on slashdot(been reading for years, just never posted), and I do so just to say you are a fucking clown shoe for saying that. That is all.
Initially, I was a bit put off on the idea of Mos Def in the role -- mostly because David Dixon has always been my Ford Prefect. (I was turned on to the books as a kid after seeing the BBC tv series).
However, I enjoyed Mos Def in the Italian Job and am willing to give him a shot. As long as he can muster deranged detachment and an obvious desire for many drinks... I think he might be able to pull it off.
However, Zaphod must have two heads, Trillian must not be an idiot, Arthur must be bothersome, Marvin must bothersome (but not as much so as Arthur), and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri must be real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
Understanding that Disney is behind the wheel on this one, I'm not holding my breath for Adamsesque greatness, but I'm not jumping ship before it has sailed, either.
#SickNotWeak
More than fifty ARMS each.
The previews of the opening scene were the only thing that got me to pay for it in the theatre. The rest of the movie was all right, but I agree with the other poster, the ending was really cheesy, and it could have been so much better.
I did love the scene with them and the aliens whose wings looked like cloaks. Very "Heavy Metal" or "Wizards" like.
"Unheard of means only it's undreamed of yet,
Impossible means not yet done." ~~ Julia Ecklar
That's crazy.. according to the pictures, the same guy is doing Gag Halfrunt, Lunkwill, Fook, Eddie, Marvin's voice, and Vogon Jelz' voice!
'The Jatravartids, who live in perpetual fear of the time they call
The Coming of The Great White Handkerchief, are small blue creatures
with more than fifty ARMS each, who are therefore unique in being the
only race in history to have invented the aerosol deodorant before
the wheel. '
The GEEK shall inherit the earth...
Perhaps you could call THHG "The Agnostics Bible."
In his interview with American Atheist magazine, Adams said that he usually told people he was "a radical atheist" to make sure they understood that he was convinced that there are no gods. His "Is there an Artificial God" talk at Digital Biota 2 is a great read.
"Weapons should be hardy rather than decorative" - Miyamoto Musashi
I think that goes for OS's too
Adams was a science nerd. Hitch hiker's Guide to the Galaxy = H2G2 (as in 2 H's and 2 G's) and is like H2O (as in 2 H's and 1 O).
I agree, when I heard that Freeman was going to be Arthur Dent I was reassured: it seemed that the producers "got" Hitchhikers. To a lesser degree, same with Sam Rockwell as Zaphod, from what I've seen I think he can nail the role of a terminally hip spaced out ex-galactic president.
The real Captain Avatar is a fictional character, so I suppose he doesn't mind if I impersonate him.
Maybe they were distracted from the train by the big mechanical spiders? I mean, the rest of the movie is so completely historical and realistic...
~ Leilah
I think that they missed the most important cast member photo (at least to most slashdotters). They don't have anyhting for I think her name is Eccentrica Golumbuts the triple breasted whore from Eroticon 6. If that isn't there I'm sure there are going to be a lot of disappointed nerds.
Heroscape, it's like legos combined with anachronistic wargames.
Not to mention the original radio series (both phases) are by far the most hillarious and well realized version of 'The Guide' yet.
Nothing flabberghasts me more than Hitchhiker's fans that have never heard the original show. The other day I discovered one of the guys at work named his machine zaphod so I asked him if he'd heard the new radio show yet. "Radio show? What do you mean? Zaphod is a name from a book."
My guts almost spilled out in jealousy knowing he'd still get to listen to the original shows for the first time.
--
Location: Germany http://www.cryss.net/fun/hhg.wmvclick here.
Yeah, I confused them a bit too. Cheadle would have been equally good for the role of Ford Prefect.
"The amount of intelligence on this planet is a constant. The population is growing." -Cole's Axiom
But the movie is off. A lot. The Jartravartid people of Viltvodle IV have over 50 arms, not noses. And they aren't called the Arkleseizure. That is the name of their god, who apparently sneezed the entire universe out of his nose. And how hard is it to animate another head? Inside his nose? If they did it in the 80's they can do it now. "And this computer, which was called the Earth, was so large that it was frequently mistaken for a planet--especially by the strange apelike beings who roamed its surface, totally unaware that they were simply part of a gigantic computer program. And this is very odd, because without that fairly simple and obvious piece of knowledge, nothing that ever happened on the Earth could possibly make the slightest bit of sense." --Douglas Adams' "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"
That's great. Well all hope it will be a great succeess. I've been on the set, seen a lot of things and I can tell you I think Hammer & Tongs made some great work. I really can't wait to see the movie. I know too that Doulgas created a 90% new story which won't deceived us ! Nic http://www.h2g2movie.com (the first unofficial h2g2 movie website)
http://www.h2g2movie.com/ Tell me what you think about the website