The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Olga and I went to the cinema today to see a long awaited “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“.

Directed by: Garth Jennings
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
Cast: Bill Bailey, Anna Chancellor, Warwick Davis, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Su Elliot, Martin Freeman, Stephen Fry, Richard Griffiths, Dominique Jackson, Simon Jones, Thomas Lennon, Mark Longhurst, Kelly Macdonald, John Malkovich
IMDB raintg: 6.8
My rating: 8.0 [rate 8.0]

I really liked the film. It was much better than I expected. Actually, it was kind of difficult to expect anything, because the book seemed to me very unscreenable, so to speak. The book is one of those that I consider very hard to base a movie on. So, I was rather suspecious. But the film turned out to be great.

I don’t know though how difficult it was to find any sense for those who didn’t read the book.

First of all the Vogons. They were absolutely fantastic. They were even more disgusting than described in the book. Both Olga and I exclaimed a loud “Ewww, yuck!” when we saw the first one. That’s a compliment, by the way.

Secondly, I thought that the solution to the “second head” of Zaphod was great. It’d be kind of tough following a two headed guy with all the articulation and random stuff that he was supposed to do, but not having a second head would be unbooky. The way they went about it was creative, original and entertaining.

Thirdly, the whole planet building factory was unbelievable. It rocked. It was my favourite scene by far.

Fourthly, Marvin was something. Using the voice of Alan Rickman was the absolute genious thought.

Overall – the film was great. It is one of those film that keeps the audience glued to the screen. Mostly because the said audience has no slightest idea of what’s going to happen next. Even those few who read the original book. Not many movies do it these days. Eh, Hollywood…

Strongly recommended.

War of the Worlds

One of the good things about having a grandma around is that Olga and I can go to the movies again. We wanted to see “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in the K-Cineplex, but they had some power problems (coincidence? I think not), so we made our way back to Rio and watched “War of the Worlds“.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Genres: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Cast: Tom Cruise, Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Tim Robbins, Rick Gonzalez, Yul Vazquez, Lenny Venito, Lisa Ann Walter, Gene Barry, David Alan Basche, Michael Brownlee, Camillia Sanes, Marlon Young, John Eddins, Peter Gerety
IMDB raintg: 6.9
My rating: 5.5 [rate 5.5]

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Mr. & Mrs. Smith

One of the films that I was waiting to come out, but never managed to go to the cinema, was “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” Finally I saw it and can now participate in all those discussions…

Directed by: Doug Liman
Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Romance, Thriller
Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Kerry Washington, Keith David, Chris Weitz, Rachael Huntley, Michelle Monaghan, Stephanie March, Jennifer Morrison, Theresa Barrera, Perrey Reeves, Jerry T. Adams, Melanie Tolbert
IMDB raintg: 6.7
My rating: 7.5 [rate 7.5]

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Sin City

As some of you may remember, I had some really high expectations for “Sin City“. I went as far as forecasting it to be a movie of the year. Today I finally got a chance to see it. I spent close to one tenth of a second considering if I should wait for the local cinemas to catch up with the world or to watch a mild quality cinema screener that was in front of me.

Directed by: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Cast: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Nick Stahl, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Jaime King, Devon Aoki, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino
IMDB raintg: 8.3
My rating: 10.0 [rate 10.0]

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The Interpreter

While Maxim and Olga were sleeping exhausted with the trip to Cyprus Rally 2005 Finish ceremony, I decided to watch a movie. The only thing I had around was”The Interpreter“.

Directed by: Sydney Pollack
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron, George Harris, Michael Wright, Clyde Kusatsu, Eric Keenleyside, Hugo Speer, Maz Jobrani, Yusuf Gatewood, Curtiss Cook, Byron Utley
IMDB raintg: 6.6
My rating: 7.0 [rate 7.0]

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