I''ll have something for you on Tuesday night / Wednesday morning.

I believe it was this Friday that just passed.

I''ve heard nothing but bad things about it, and that''s saddening. Nonetheless, I''m going to see it. Possibly twice, just to make sure.

Here''s the BBC review of the film... Seems pretty mixed. I don''t really trust the biographer, and I certainly don''t trust Harry ""I haven''t met a movie I didn''t rave over to get invited to the press junket"" Knowles or the other gomers at AICN.

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Review: Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy
By Darren Waters
BBC News entertainment reporter

Verdict on the new big-screen version of Douglas Adams'' much-loved science-fiction novel.

Don''t panic - The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy is not as bad as I had feared. Then again, it is not as good as I had hoped.

Stuck in development hell for the best part of 26 years, Douglas Adams'' book has finally reached the big screen - four years after the author''s death.

Adams'' deceptively complex novels are crammed full of witty erudition, great gags and lengthy digressions, so it was always going to be a struggle to turn it into a neatly packaged two-hour movie.

Understandably perhaps, huge swathes of the novel have been cut in order to make a consistent, story-led film.

At the same time, director Garth Jennings tries hard to retain the comedic essence that so defined Adams'' originals.

Beguiling

The Hitchhiker''s Guide to the Galaxy centres on the hapless Arthur Dent, who awakes one morning to find his best friend is an alien, his planet is about to be destroyed and that he is somehow central to a galactic scientific experiment to determine the meaning of life itself.

What marked the book out as more than a mere comedic romp was the density of ideas that Adams managed to distil in the text - everything from handheld computing to existentialism to musings on cricket and maths.

The key characters are all present in the film, with Dent played note perfect by The Office''s Martin Freeman.

Sam Rockwell does a great turn as Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed president of the galaxy; Mos Def is passable as Ford Prefect; while Zooey Deschanel is beguiling as Trillian.

As the voice of Marvin the Paranoid Android, Alan Rickman perfectly conveys the character''s world-weary disdain, despite being woefully underused.

A lot of effort has gone in to keeping the film as faithful to Adams'' vision as possible. But somewhere in the production process the crew has lost sight of the fundamental aspect of the books - they were immensely funny.

Truncated

The film burbles along at an amusing canter, occasionally rising to levels worthy of a chuckle. But unlike the books and radio series, it rarely makes you laugh out loud.

Some of the original gags find their way into the film version, but they feel neutered or truncated.

Screenwriter Karey Kirkpatrick, who continued the adaptation work started by Adams, has had to make a number of sacrifices to get the text into cinematic form.

Unfortunately, one of the elements sacrificed is sense.

Hitchhiker fans will know what is happening, but newcomers will be left scratching their heads at a story that flits from one unpronounceable planet to another - each one populated by equally exotic-sounding characters.

Did I say characters? Hmmm. While Dent is a familiar cipher, audiences will be left clueless by Ford Prefect, bemused by Zaphod Beeblebrox and indifferent to Trillian.

Despite outstanding production design and some fantastic visual effects, overall the film is a bit of a mess. A charming mess, maybe, but a mess all the same.

Did the script veer too far away from the source material or tie itself in knots trying to keep faith with it?

Bizarrely, I think the answer is both.

(Thinking; writing; thinking some more, etc. More to come, but to the front page.)

Tried it. It didn''t work.

I just saw the trailer on TV and couldn''t figure out who the longhaired scruffy guy was. Then the Deva said ""I can''t believe they got rid of Zaphod''s second head.""

Whatwhatwhat?!?!?!
Er, correct me if I''m wrong, because it''s been a while since I read the novels, but doesn''t the fact that he has 2 heads figure prominently in the storyline resolution? I''m trying not to spoil the books for any cavedweller that hasn''t had the pleasure yet. But, isn''t his two-headedness _important_?

Review is being posted tonight. Hold on tight; it''s a doozy!

The movie does incorporate Zaphod''s second head. His normal head flips backward, and his second head then protrudes from his neck. However, don''t let this fact fool you into thinking that any of your concerns have been addressed in the film. They have not.

I only make the above comment because I don''t intend to mention it in my review. Other than that, mum''s the word!

I saw it tonight. Okay movie, not as great as it could have been. I thought they changed to much. Apart from the opening song, I didn''t like the music. I didn''t really like Trillian and I feel they borked Zaphod. I did enjoy my time but I don''t think it lived up to what it could have been.

I think they took the book, the movie Brazil, a random BBC TV production, and some Monty Python, and tossed it all in a blender. Voila. I liked it overall even if it did have its ups and downs.

Did Trillian remind anyone else of Margot Kidder? I''d take her to Madagascar any day.

I enjoyed it alot, I thought it was a pretty good adaptation, the only problem being that it moved at such a fast pace.

Here''s the review/commentary I posted in the comments of that VERY negative review on the front page.

[Spoilers Abound]

Man, guys... I really liked it.

I''d just read the books over the past couple months, and managed to go into the movie with a pretty open mind.

Maybe it''s because I didn''t grow up with these books or anything (2005 being the first year in which I read them) but I thought the movie was pretty muchthe best you could expect when you''re dealing with such a disjointed source that relies heavily on the written word to be funny (most of the time, it''s not the situation that''s humorous, it''s the reaction to the situation, or the dialogue leading up to the situation, that''s the funny part - not something that translates well to the screen without being overly wordy or overly voice-overy.)

Martin Freeman was theperfect Arthur. He was completely clumsy, yet not in a way that made him any less endearing.

Mos Def played Ford like I would expect anyone to - Zaphod he''s not. Ford walks into a room, and really doesn''t do anything over the top - he''s just Ford, and that''s good enough.

I lovedSam Rockwell as Zaphod. He was obviously taking a bit of a liberty with the character (hell, he was basically George W. Bush) but he was hilarious, and things like the lemon juicer only made him funnier. As far as the two heads, I would have been hard pressed to make a different decision than what they did... one of the big things with Zaphod was the idea that he''s doing things, and he''s not exactly sure why, and having the second head pop out and literally take control (couldn''t really do that with a second head just sitting there the whole time) helped get that idea, without a long discussion of the surgery he had done on his brain, etc.

I have to say, before I talk about Trillian, that I think Zooey Deschanel is one of the most beautiful and most talented women in movies right now... just a heads up.

So, Trillian was awesome. She was physically of the caliber where I could actually seeZooey and Martin dating, and I think that helped sell the romance. I mean, honestly, why did we see a Trillian/Arthur romance in book 5? Probably because people were complaining that something was there that was never resolved. I, for one, was glad that the romance was there (it''s a Hollywood movie, after all) and felt that the scene with the POV gun was AWESOME... seeing Zooey there just sort of starting to cry, with Zaphod saying the things she wished she could be saying... it was really well done.

Martin was classicand I thought Slartibartfast was particularly cool in the short scenes he was in (not to mention how cool their trip through the factory floor was).

I thought all of the scenes with the guide animations were hilarious, and come on... there was a musical numberat the beginning! What more do you want?!

Other favorite moments:
All the bar patrons on the ground with bags on their heads
The LONG pan up from Earth to the Vogon ship, along with the violins/cymbals... I literally laughed through the entire next scene at that one.
Ford and Arthur looking at the Cargo Bay door expectantly, and then falling through the floor instead.
""Ford, I think I''m a couch."" ""I know how you feel.""
The big... oh, what do you want to call them... Idea Swatters, on the Vogon planet.
""I''m British... I know how to queue.""
The old Martin from the original TV show, in line when Arthur''s filling out the release forms.
The POV gun.
Martin''s last line.

That''s all. Like I said, maybe it''s because I don''t hold the books up as these gospel works, and could look on the franchise as something I''ve read and thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated as great works of sci-fi humor, but that''s really the extent of my opinion on the books themselves.

Just saw it. I walked out... kind of stunned. There were definitely moments.
I liked the loooong zoom out
I liked the falling whale
I liked the cargo-bay fall,
I liked Ford and Zaphod''s reaction to the gargle blaster,
I liked Zaphod''s ''I.... have.... an IDEA *SMACK*''
I liked ''I know how to queue''
I liked Arthur jumping through the portal and sliding through the snow on his face (a very X-Men shot)
I liked Zaphod''s delivery of his cocky-ness
I liked Slartibartfast (someone explain to me why that name is funny? I''ve never understood it, in the movie or the book; some British slang I don''t know?)

I didn''t feel that Zaphod''s head being moved made any difference, really, though I still don''t know why. Effect budget?

Anyway... I don''t know. Looking at that list, I''m beginning to think I should be more enthusiastic than I am. But when I think back on watching, I remember a WHOLE lot of just sitting there, not laughing. I remember things that I found funny in the book, not being funny in the movie. I very much didn''t like the completely rediculous love story. Arthur knows the chick for like, an HOUR, and he feels like she betrayed him somehow, and starts going on (to gag-worthy music,) that she makes him happy, when every moment OUTSIDE of that one hour at a party, she''s been nothing but a pain in his ass. BAH.
I have a feeling I''ll enjoy the movie more on a second viewing. I really have no idea what I thought of it. For once in my life, I''m incapable of shooting my mouth off about something. If you tried, you could probably convince me I loved it, or that I hated it...

I liked it and I really liked the end with Ford running around with the towel, that made the flick for me. They better keep the Whale in the sequel!

Another happy customer. No, it wasn''t the books, but I really enjoyed it.