Flim Flestival

Galaxy Quest is a sweeet film. That's sweet with three a's. This film stars Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman. But they aren't my favourite part of the show. What I like best about the movie is Tony Shalhoub. I will tell you why in a minute. The movie, if you don't know already, is basically a spoof of the Star Trek phenomenon. Allen's character was the star of a fictional TV show called Galaxy Quest; which makes him for all intents and purposes William Shatner. The show has gone off the air and they are now doing the convention circuit. The rest of the characters are tired of it, but he still loves it. Then one day he is picked up by some real aliens who think that Galaxy Quest was a series of documentaries, and that the actors really were members of a spaceship, and he is recruited to help save their entire civilisation. The rest of the cast thinks that he has lost his mind, that he's drunk, and then that he's talking about a job that they want in on. When they find out that they are actually in space, they Lose Their Minds. All except for Tony Shalhoub. He seems to have taken the view that what's going to happen is going to happen regardless, so he may as well have some fun with it. For instance, the transporters in the movie are little discs that you stand on, and then you are covered with a clear gel and shot through space and through wormholes at a million miles an hour. Everyone else basically loses their lunch and their sanity, screaming and shivering. Tony smiles and says "That was a hell of a thing," continues eating his chicken, and calmly goes on a tour of the spaceship. And the group hug scene with the alien engineers is just awesome. I laugh out loud many times every time I watch this movie. Interestingly, there is a character (crewman number six - he dies before the first commercial) played by Sam Rockwell. Why interesting? Because he plays Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Speaking of, THHGTHG is a much better movie than many people gave it credit for. I watched it on video a couple days ago, and was quite amused. Actually, I'd say I was tickled pink. I have to be honest and say that I was a little disappointed with it when I first saw it, but that was mostly because I had just read the books recently and the movie differed quite significantly. However, two things happened that helped change my mind in that regard. First was the fact that Douglas Adams wrote most of the screenplay, so it was still his work entirely. And second, I realised that every incarnation of this particular story had been quite different from the last. The radio series was different than the books which was different than the play, which was different than the television series, which was different than the record album, which was different than the computer show, which was different than the comic book, which was different than the towel. Each presentation was tailored for the medium it was in, and so I was satisfied that it hadn't been butchered. All that being said, I realised as I watched it that it was a very funny movie. Very tongue-in-cheek, and full of Douglas Adams' brand of British Humour. Mos Def was the perfect person to play Arthur's friend Ford Prefect. There are so many things that I could talk about in regards to this movie, but I will just tell you to watch it and to appreciate it.
"If you can dodge a wrench, then you can dodge a ball". And then the kid gets hit in the head with a wrench. Frankly, he got hit in the head with a lot of things. Must have been tough to film that movie. But I'm glad he did. Dodgeball was a funny movie. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller are both good at what they do. And Vince Vaughn is TALL. He just towers over people sometimes. I say sometimes because often it is not noticeable because of how they film things and frame them and that sort of thing. I bet some of his co-stars stood on things to make him not look quite so tall. But he's 6'5" tall. And there is a character who thinks he's a pirate. I LOVE the pirate. He makes me happy. Arr.
Finally, we have Perfect Score. Six kids conspire to steal the SAT scores. This is less of a concern for most Canadian kids, but I still find it to be a good movie. The funny parts are funny, the serious parts are serious, and the tender/sweet/sad parts aren't too cliched and pathetic. They are more small glimpses rather than slap you in the face moments. And the stoner guy, well he is just hilarious. I giggled every time he did something funny. Another character asks him what he'd like to do if money were no object. He goes into a spiel about remember as a kid how he would play Street Fighter 2 for hours, and there was on character, Blanka, who would bite you or zap you with electricity. When he lapses into remeniscent silence, she makes the assumption that he would like to design video games. He looks at her like she's the idiot and says "no. I want to be Blanka". Also, the basketball player's mom. She is funny. And when stoner meets mom, well, that's just a sight to see. Interestingly enough, I was watching a TV show today that had an Asian man who was British, so he spoke with a British accent. I noted that it was slightly odd, simply because it was not often seen, for an Asian man to have a British accent, and as such, it was very interesting. And then I watch the a documentary on the making of The Perfect Score, and it turns out that the stoner guy, who is also Asian, happened to have been raised in Australia, so he had a bit of an Australian accent. That was just as weird, and maybe a bit weirder, cuz he doesn't have that accent in the movie. At no time today do I hear an Asian with an Asian accent, i.e. someone from China for whom English is a second language. I thought that was interesting, but you don't have to. It's okay.
So, apparently I've had a good week at the movies. I hope you do to.
Byee