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Today I saw the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” movie. It was always clear to me that it would be difficult to turn this story into a motion picture, something that Douglas Adams unsuccessfully attempted several times before his untimely death in 2001. I didn’t expect all books to be reflected in the movie, and I also didn’t expect all the pieces that did make it into the movie to be completely consistent with the books. Even Douglas Adams considerably changed the story when transforming it from one media to another (radio series, books, and TV series). I therefore tried to go into the movie with an open mind and reasonably low expectations. Unfortunately, I still managed to be disappointed.

The story mainly covered the first two books. However, while large parts of the books were (understandably) not part of the movie, a substantial part of the movie’s story was made up just for the movie and did not come from any of the previous incarnations of the story, which I found very odd, given the huge amount of suitable and arguably much more relevant story elements that were already available. This includes the rescue of Trillian from the Vogons, the much more emphasized (in true Hollywood style) love story between her and Arthur, etc. The vogons were done very well, but their role seemed exaggerated in an attempt to show off the nice work of the Jim Henson puppets. There were also many inconsistencies between the movie and the books (for example Deep Thought wasn’t actually on the planet Magratea), although I’m more willing to forgive these in the name of artistic license.

On the positive side, I liked the way the guide was presented. Most of the actors were good fits for their roles. Martin Freeman was a very good choice for Arthur Dent, and even though I initially had some concerns, Mos Def was a pretty good Ford Prefect. Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox was quite good as well, even though he always strikes me as a Mike Myers wannabe…

Overall, good enough for an entertaining evening, but definitely not the movie that I expected (and that I had been waiting for since I first read the books close to 20 years ago…)

Speaking of the original BBC series The Office: In case you haven’t done so yet, you really should check out BBC’s definitive online guide. The website has a wealth of background information such as an episode guide, interviews, wallpaper, a screensaver, video clips (such as David’s infamous dance), the lyrics and chords to Freelove Freeway, a fake and hilarious homepage of Gareth Keenan, and much more.

Two days ago, the first episode of NBC’s remake of the popular BBC series ‘The Office” was broadcast. As a fan of the original BBC series, I had a bad feeling about this remake. Yesterday evening, I watched the NBC pilot on my Tivo, and it turns out I was right…

Disappointingly, the story was a direct rip-off of several original The Office episodes, the main difference being that a couple of the more British jokes were translated into their US equivalents. The characters were not necessarily terrible, but nothing like their British counterparts. In particular, Steve Carell’s performance as the boss Michael is unconvincing. I always thought that the original series’ boss character David Brent (played by Ricky Gervais) was absolutely brilliant and the unreplaceable centerpiece of the entire show, and watching someone else attempt to play that role definitely proves this. Gervais character came across as eerily realistic, while of course being completely over the top. Michael’s character is over the top as well, but seems more like a typical sitcom character than an actual person, destroying the the whole appeal of the documentary-themed show.

I might watch a couple more episodes as I’ve heard that the later episodes will have some original content, but I’m not holding my breath… If you haven’t watched the original series, do yourself a favor (maybe I should say “favour” ) and buy the DVD collection. I did a The Office marathon myself about a week ago and am almost ready for another one.

The first teaser for the upcoming “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” movie has been released. Frankly, there’s not much to see, as it does not contain any actual footage from the movie. Regardless, at least it is another sign that the work is proceeding. There is also a nice history of the movie. I still find it hard to believe that it is actually happening…

Thanks to Boing Boing for alerting me to the upcoming Combover: The Movie. This looks hilarious!

I did a little more research on the upcoming Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie. Apparently, they have started shooting last month, things are going well so far, and the movie is scheduled to be released mid-2005. The cast looks interesting as well. Martin Freeman, who is known from his role as Tim in The Office, plays the part of Arthur Dent, which I think is a brilliant casting. Sam Rockwell as Zaphod should be good as well. I am somewhat unsure about Mos Def as Ford Prefect, mostly because I, probably like many other fans of HHGG, have certain preconceived notions about how Ford Prefect should look, based on the books as well as the BBC series. But while a black Ford Prefect may initially seem odd, Mos Def may very well pull it off. Another nice touch is that apparently Marvin’s voice will come from Stephen Moore, who already lent Marvin his voice in the original BBC series.

On a related note, a few days ago was Towel Day. Maybe I’ll remember it next year…

Last not least, always remember:

When Douglas Adams was still alive, he made several attempts to turn the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series into a movie, and he had a hard time doing this. Mostly, this is because the series just doesn’t resemble the structure that movies require, such as a distinguished beginning, middle, and end. Therefore, any such attempt would probably require fairly significant changes to the story. While I obviously trusted Douglas to get this right, I was initially very concerned when I heard that they were going to proceed with the movie after his passing away.

The official movie website just posted a self-interview of the screenwriter, Karey Kirkpatrick. After reading this, I am pretty optimistic about the outcome of the movie again. Karey worked on Chicken Run before, although I am not sure if this qualifies him for writing the screenplay for HHGG. He was however a big Monty Python fan growing up, and one of his quotes about Life of Brian (my favorite movie!!!) is pretty much exactly what I always say about it:

‘So it was important to me that that intelligence remains at the epicenter of the piece. It’s what I love about Python’s “Life of Brian.” That movie is just a hair’s breadth away from being viable theology.’

I’m a little more concerned about the directors, Hammer and Tong. While they sound like they are on the same page and overall a good fit, they appear to have only directed commercials and music videos so far, and this will be their first feature film.

And of course, here’s the obligatory Slashdot discussion about this topic.

Whatever the outcome, I can’t wait to see this film!