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.

Madagascar

Madagascar (2005)It’s good to watch an animation once in a while. “Madagascar” is one of those freshlhy released, so I decided to check it out.

Directed by: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family
Cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Tom McGrath, Christopher Knights, Chris Miller, Conrad Vernon, Eric Darnell, David Cowgill, Stephen Apostolina, Elisa Gabrielli
IMDB raintg: 6.3
My rating: 7.5 [rate 7.5]

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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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Kung Fu Hustle

Gong fu (2004)Kung Fu Hustle” is one of the best martial arts movies I’ve ever seen. Ever.

Directed by: Stephen Chow
Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime
Cast: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen, Kwok Kuen Chan, Hsiao Liang, Zhi Hua Dong, Chiu Chi Ling, Yu Xing, Chi Chung Lam, Kai Man Tin, Kang Xi Jia, Hak On Fung, Xiaogang Feng, Sheng Yi Huang, Cheung-Yan Yuen
IMDB raintg: 7.9
My rating: 9.0 [rate 9.0]

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Zhmurki

ZhmurkiThe spell is on me. The spell of watching terrible terrible Russian movies that I don’t even want to watch. I don’t know how it happens actually. Magic. Black magic. I watched “Zhmurki” today…

Directed by: Aleksei Balabanov
Genres: Comedy, Thriller
Cast: Aleksei Panin, Dmitri Dyuzhev, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergei Makovetsky, Viktor Sukhorukov, Dmitri Pevtsov, Kirill Pirogov, Aleksei Serebryakov, Andrei Merzlikin, Yuri Stepanov, Grigori Siyatvinda, Anatoli Zhuravlyov, Garik Sukachyov, Andrei Panin, Aleksandr Bashirov
IMDB raintg: 5.1
My rating: 2.0 [rate 2.0]

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