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dan0311
Reviews
Paramount Victory Short No. T2-4: The Aldrich Family Gets in the Scrap (1943)
Genius. Pure Genius
I have seen many movies but have never been so moved as when watching Paramount Victory Short No. T2-4: The Aldrich Family Gets in the Scrap (1943). The plot swept me along and the characterizations were perfect. The anger and disdain you feel for the Aldrich family as they thoughtlessly discard their scrap metal is almost palpable. And when the helpful , godlike narrator, speaking from some high, ethereal unknown plane, finally gets them to start collecting their scrap and turning it into government collection centers to be used in the war effort, I won't lie to you...I wept. Like a little freaking poopy bottom baby. I'm tearing up again right now just thinking of how much I wept back then.
Two thumbs up, and I am so overwhelmed that I am thinking of going to the morgue, collecting more thumbs, and pointing them up in a little diorama....a little garden of dismembered thumbs all pointing heavenward saluting the glorious fourteen minutes and twelve seconds that is...Paramount Victory Short No. T2-4: The Aldrich Family Gets in the Scrap (1943)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
For die hard fans of the books, you gotta wonder why...
Okay...memo to Hollywood...when confronted with a series of books that have a ravenous cult following, read my lips: FILM THE DANG BOOKS!!! You don't need to invent characters, change plot lines, etc. Just film the dang book! Lord of the Rings...successful because they filmed the dang book. Hitchhikers Guide, great until about 30 minutes in when the plot starts to diverge from the book and I start to get mad. Even if Doug Adams wrote the new stuff, then here is a message to authors tasked with writing screenplays for their own material: Just film your dang book. If you want to write new stuff, MAKE A DIFFERENT MOVIE. Yeesh.
Started out very happy because they seemed to be honoring the spirit of the book, radio show, and TV series which were all genius, but with lousy production values. The plot then proceeds to bounce around everywhere, new (and unwelcome) emphasis is placed on some newly concocted romance between Arthur and Trillian, and a hundred other useless new things are inserted where a hundred old great things have been ripped out...kinda like having your Bree replaced with cheddar.
I can't really comment on whether it was good on its own because obviously I am close to the source material. But this great chance to finally do justice to one of the greatest and most beloved works of fiction in the modern era has been squandered. Doug, if you helped in this process, I'm sorry you had so little confidence in your great original material. Hollywood, if you did this, then shame on you for ruining this great opportunity.
Worried, initially relieved, then mad. Walked out seething. If they do the Restaurant at the End of the Universe, I hope they redeem themselves.