Thursday, December 30, 2004

Pack of small news before the new year

The first and biggest news is yet to come. A key Hitchhiker's cast will be made soon (probably the narrator or Marvin's voice, both still uncasted). So I recommend listening to: Steve Lemacq’s radio 1 show, 'The Tomorrow People' on Monday 3rd Jan at 8pm (GMT)... listen online at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1.

The teaser, which first appeared in the US theaters with the release of National Treasure (a big hit starring Nicolas Cage which provided a big exposure for the teaser engrossing $141,064,753 in 6 weeks) seems now to be played before several other movies : "The Aviator" (the last Martin Scorcese's movie with Leonardo DiCaprio), "The life aquatic" (with Bill Murray) and "Phantom of the opera" (a romantic musical epic horror movie based on Gaston Leroux famous novel and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical). This are all very different movies and it should ensure that the teaser has been seen by a very broad public.

Regarding the movie tie-in editions of the Hitchhiker's novels, you can now see the US cover . There is a sticker on it that anounces a 64 pages long bonus section on the making of the movie. Robbie Stamp, executive producer of the movie, is the author of the introduction as anounced on this temporary (?) uk cover.
Oh, and a little goodies I missed on Duke's website. The 20th december, Nick Loven, aka Darthbastard on douglasadams.se forums, revealed that he was the guy who won a competition runed by Simon Mayo's show on BBC Five Live with a great winning prize : a role as an extra in the h2g2 movie. He tells us about his experience here. That's great. And Nick will write a full report for the international fan club fanzine ZZ9's Mostly Harmless.

Oh, and we're still waiting for the answers to your questions by Nick and Garth in mid-January. So stay tuned. I've got the feeling that 2005 will be a great year ;)

At last. As you know the movie will be released the 6th May in the US and England. But in other countries, this might be a little different. The movie release date in France will probably be the 13th July. This will let time for Disney France to introduce Douglas and Hitchhikers to the french public. Indeed in France, and in other countries like Italy, Douglas and Hitchhikers are not very well known. Of course this should change quickly once the movie will be released !

OH AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY ! Thanks once again for your support.

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

First movie screening review (updated) ! + the truth about Zaphod's second head

This is incredible but it seems we've got here the first review from someone who have seen an early copy of the movie. It seems that some guys from the production staff were allowed to see the movie (of course not the final cut with the special effects) with some other selected people. Ain't it cool news has posted an anonymous review that doesn't sound like a hoax but with not too much details anyway. Interesting fact, this review has been written by a guy who didn't know much about Hitchhikers before the screening:

"First, I need to preface this review by leaving my nerd credentials at the door. I have not read Douglas Adams’ series of books, nor have I heard the HITCHHIKER GUIDE TO THE GALAXY radio show. The only knowledge I had of Adams’ works is what I had read on-line prior to the screening, so that maybe I would be able to get some of the inside jokes.

Having said that, I loved this movie. For those of you who don’t know this is your basic boy meets girl, boy loses girl to president of the galaxy, boy’s planet is destroyed, boy finds girl and travels through the galaxy in search of the ultimate question. You know, the usual.

It must be said that if you’re expecting another epic classic in the same vein of LORD OF THE RINGS, then this is not that movie. What you have here is great British humor, amazing characters played superbly by an outstanding cast, and Sci-Fi that reminds me of DR. WHO and SPACE BALLS. So, if you’re not going to enjoy a movie that opens with a song about Dolphin’s leaving the planet with the message, “So long and thanks for all the fish.” Then you might want to stay home.

My biggest fear going into this film was Mos Def playing Ford Perfect. While his first few lines fall flat, once Arthur (Martin Freeman) and he go into the bar where Ford tells Arthur about the impending doom of planet Earth he fits comfortably into the character. Although there are a couple more spots where he falls a little flat, that's nothing a little over dubbing won’t fix.

Warwick Davis’ Marvin the depressed android steals the show. His perfect monotone cadence and pitiful attitude make for a great contrast for the rest of the Heart of Gold’s upbeat mood.

For a first screening the only elements of the film that were missing where some of the effects. Often times in a screening like this you can notice moments that need to be cut or lengthened, but with this the pacing is spot on. The fact that a lot of the F/X are practical definitely gave the film a more realistic look if that’s even possible.

My suggestion was this: Finish the F/X and you’re gold.
-Cracker Thompson"

UPDATE

Cracker Thomson posted that on Ain't it cool news to answer some of the questions that were being asked. He also revealed the truth about Zaphod's head !

"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. 4) The only way the film is Spaceballsesque is in the cheeseball sci-fi. 5) Anything else?”

Monday, December 13, 2004

Behind the scenes pics and vid online

It's HERE ! And we owe a lot of thanks to Chris Bainbridge who taped the BBC little vid which was broadcasted monday evening. It features a short behind the scene video with quite unvaluable pieces : Arthur, Ford, Zaphod (without a second head) and Trillian are all here. We can clearly see the Heart Of Gold set under construction.`

You can download the vid from my website. Just click here Oh, and you need windows media player to watch it (avalaible for free for mac and pc)

Sunday, December 12, 2004

slideshow in Austin (updated) the 13th) + making of book for april(?) + send your questions to Nick and Garth before 15th december

Saturday evening, it seems that a slideshow with concept art and behind the scenes pictures of the h2g2movie has been shown for the annual Butt-Numb-a-Thon in Austin, Texas. BNaT is an annual non stop 24 hours movie event organised by Harry Knowles from Ain't it cool news. This is the 6th edition, and he often got some cool exclusive stuff to show.

FIRST UPDATE = Here is the reactions of the organizing staff regarding the Hitchhiker's slideshow : "This next exclusive presentation proved the incredible graciousness of the studio and filmmakers involved. We were treated to a slide show (a BNAT first) of production artwork and stills from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. We saw some beautiful shots of the Heart of Gold, Marvin, Deep Thought (imagine an enormous Buddha-like computer with it's monitor shaped head in it's hands resting in the middle of the jungle). We also saw the first look at the Vogons which looked, remarkably, exactly like Vogons, all the while without appearing at all how I pictured them. But I dig it. I dig it deep. This movie is going to own all of our puny non-planet sized brains soon enough". And another comment : "The HITCHHIKER'S slide show. My excitement for that one went up tenfold. I think Douglas Adams is in heaven right now grinning and nodding."

SECOND UPDATE = I got this fascinating email from Jay Knowles : "About an hour-long, the full theater screen show was narrated in person by the producer-friend of the creator. (Sorry his name escapes me - NB : IT'S ROBBIE STAMP!!) Extremely informatitive, entertaining, and surprisingly emotional... with outstanding shots of art, props, sets and some scenes (great close-up creature shots, too).

The BNAT crowd went crazy with a reception as big as any of the premiere films got. There was a Q&A of about 20 minutes also. Once again the visuals were stunningly beautiful. Everyone I talked to afterward is now a "foaming-at-the-mouth-can-t -wait-to-see-it-geek" concerning this flick. (not necessarily the case pre-show)."

Interesting new fact too, but not linked at all with the Austin event (!), the making of book of The Hitchhiker's movie should be published in april by Boxtree according to amazon.co.uk - It seems a bit early but I hope to give you more informations about that soon too.

Please remember that you can send me your questions for the Q&A with Nick and Garth (hammer & Tongs, you know the guys who make the movie) before the 15th december... So you haven't got much time left.

Oh, and sorry for the problems with the gallery page and the forum this week end. Now the problem seems to be solved.

Monday, December 6, 2004

Q&A with Hammer & Tongs + surprise on wednesday 8th

That's great news... and a big event. Hammer & Tongs (director Garth Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith) have done just an interview before and they will now answer by email to the best questions of submited by the fans. I will provide about 10-15 questions to the big guys. And I would really love if you submited me the best questions you can think of. I can't guarantee of course that all your questions will be answered, but I'll try to select the better ones.

Let me have your questions by end of Wednesday 15th December. The idea is to give them to Nick and Garth before christmas, and to get answers in the New Year.

You can post your questions on the forum, or if you're too shy you can send them to me by email.
Oh, and there will be a little surprise on Wednesday 8th at 5.30 PM (GMT time). So keep in touch.