Film of the
Week:
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Here’s a question for you. Can you name one person who hasn’t
heard of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Whether it’s in film form, radio
form or book form or even on the stage, the story of Arthur Dent travelling
through space, exploring many worlds has always been captivating. Did you know
that the radio version of the story came before the books did? The original radio
series was broadcast in 1978, with the first book of five being published the next
year in 1979. In 1981, the Television adaptation of the story was first
broadcast, but after several years and many setbacks, with the story being
revised a few times, in 2004, filming began for the film, and in 2005, April 20th
it was premiered in London, only to then be released on April 28th in
the UK and Australia.
Bringing the story to the big screen meant that it would be able
to show off some of its visuals like never before, and that is exactly what it
did. By the power of special effects, the story of Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman)
was never going to be the same again. President Zaphod Beeblebrox (Sam Rockwell)
gives permission to a race of aliens called Vogons to destroy planet Earth to
build an interstellar highway as well as looking for the question, the one
question to life, the universe and everything, which the super computer, Deep
Thought (Helen Mirren) famously answered the question as 42. Along the way,
President Beeblebrox finds himself in the company of Tricia McMillan/Trillian
(Zooey Dashanel), whom Arthur Dent met a few years back at a Halloween party.
Ford Perfect (Mos Def) Arthur’s best friend, outs himself as an alien
and tells Arthur that the world is about to be destroyed, but he struggles to
get his attention because he’s fighting against a group of builders to stop
them from knocking down his house, which they eventually successfully do. But
none of that matters now, because Ford Perfect whisks him away just before the
world is destroyed, and Arthur’s adventure through space begins. The four of
them, along with their robot companion Marvin the Paranoid Android (voiced by
Alan Rickman), try and find the one question. All Arthur wants to do though is
get back home so that he can have a cup of tea, which I don’t blame him for
wanting as having your planet blown up can really take it out of you.
To help you understand what is going on, Stephan Fry narrates the
entire film, explaining who the Vogons are, what the improbability drive is,
and what the Hitchhiker’s Guide actually is.
And then Arthur finds himself stranded on an icy planet and
freezing. He is found by Slartibartfast (Bill Nighy) who he tells Arthur that he
builds planets and takes him on a tour through the factory floor, where my
favourite scene starts. Seeing the planets being built as if the sky slots together
like a jigsaw puzzle, the oceans are filled up with hoses, and Table Top
Mountain being painted the colour we see it today by a painter with an ordinary
paintbrush, absolutely blows Arthur’s mind, and when I saw it for the first
time, my mind as well. The visual effects are stunning.
Over all, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy will continue to live on,
never becoming outdated. If they ever greenlit a reboot to the film in the near
future, as long as they do a good job, I wouldn’t actually mind, because it is
a story that always needs to be refreshed and shown to a new generation.
TV Episode of the Week:
The Amazing Race – Series 28 – Episode 1
I will admit that I didn’t have that much interest in the amazing
race before now. When I heard that Rooster Teeth’s stars Burnie Burns and
Ashley Jenkins were to be a part of the race, I thought I would sit down and
watch the first episode as I am a big fan of theirs. Little did I know what I
was getting myself into, and for all the good reasons as well, especially when
I found out that they weren’t the only people whose job focuses on making content
online. YouTube stars and Instagram stars alike battle it out each week to be
the first to the finish line. If they win, they will be rewarded with a million
dollars.
It’s a very busy show. A lot happens in a single minute, but it’s
edited in such a way that you will always be on top of everything that is going
on, without missing a beat. Everyone who competes gets a decent enough screen time
to give them a chance to show what they are made of.
The first episode showed them going from the United States to
Mexico. It wasn’t an elimination round so all teams were allowed to continue, but
the next episode will see a team go home. I am, of course, rooting for Ashley
and Burnie.
Game of the
Week:
Thomas Was Alone
What can I say about Thomas Was Alone? It’s a small indie game
that has a nice, calm but extremely powerful storyline. All the characters are,
uniquely, different sized rectangles, each with their own unique abilities that
directly contribute to their size. There are no complex backstories to any of
the characters, the graphics are simple and justified, and the levels are easy
enough to let you continue on with the story without constantly getting
frustrated.
But, the one thing that stands out the most about the game, is
because of the story, you will start to feel sorry for the characters. Thomas
Was Alone singlehandedly makes you feel sorry for rectangles, and quite right
so, because this games proves that you don’t have to have a fancy looking game with
millions of pounds being chucked its way, but if you have a good story, then it
doesn’t matter what the game looks like.
If you have played the game right the way through from beginning
to end, then you would know that it isn’t that long of a story, and once you
are fully immersed, you’ll reach the end in no time at all, but that doesn’t
matter, because you will have a good time doing so. In fact, if it is possible
for you to do so at your place of work, then this would be a great game to play
during your lunch breaks; you may even complete it there and then, and you will
leave that game behind wondering what just happened, because before you didn’t
care less about shapes, especially rectangles, but now, you can’t stop thinking
about them.
If you haven’t played the game before, then I highly recommend that
you do for all the reasons that I’ve stated above.
Video of the
Week:
UNCHARTED 4: A Thief’s End (4/26/2016) – Story Trailer | PS4
(By PlayStation)
I’ve stated before in the article about my story of gaming, that
Naughty Dog is without a doubt by number one favourite game developers, and
they have created the hugely popular Uncharted series, which caught my
attention and never let go.
The fourth and sadly the final instalment in the series, has had
numerous setbacks due to the development taking longer than anyone first
expected to technical problems with the console itself, but yet unlike most
games that have been pushed back once or twice, Naughty Dog has been receiving any
hate mail because their reputation of making a fantastic game each and every
time proceeds them, and upon seeing the story trailer, they were quite right in
trusting them.
This game will be the first in the series to be released exclusively
on the PS4. When I saw the graphics for the first time, my jaw hit the floor
and my eyes popped out of my head. I know I may be a little contradictive here
when I’ve only just said that you don’t need good graphics to tell a good
story, but this game has both. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End has yet to be
released, but when it does, there won’t be a shelf that is full of them.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
My book, Sector 22: Zoey, is now available on Amazon, eBay, and SkyCat Publications' website:
Amazon:
eBay:
SkyCat Publications:
Ask me anything at:
ahudsonpresents@live.co.uk
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