The Pop Pirate

Good time for silly

I'm not one who normally watches 60 Minutes, but this past Wednesday, they had a segment entitled "A Good Time For Silly." As it turns out, the segment was about Spamalot, the new Monty Python and the Holy Grail-inspired, Eric Idle-penned, all-singing, all-dancing, Broadway silly-fest. The title makes reference to the serious times we live in, and the importance of silly, absurdist humor.

This idea is reinforced by the triumph of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at the box office this week. It is a smart, silly, quirky adaptation of the classic Douglas Adams book that left me wanting more. And that was a bit of a problem. The movie gave me just enough of the brilliant dialogue and Guide interlude segments to whet my appetite, but there was too much action, effects, and let's face it- plot mixed in to remain completely true to the source material.

Sure, I know (as I knew with A Series of Unfortunate Events) that a faithful adaptation would tank at the b.o., not to mention would never get greenlit in the first place. But the charm of the original BBC series, the radio series, and even the books was that they were charmingly low-fi. It was as if Douglas and his friends cobbled it together in the garage (which according "Don't Panic" by Neil Gaiman isn't so far from the truth).

I shouldn't bitch. I loved the movie. It was alot of fun, and it did have quite alot of Douglas's sensibility. Margarathea was amazingly conceived, the Heart of Gold (and it's traveling mechanism) were right on, and Sam Rockwell was electric as Zaphod. So, while I secretly pined for the garage version- I clung to the edge of my seat and enjoyed this one.

Oh yeah- and don't forget to stick around during the credits for my very favorite Guide entry.

posted by Jeff @ 7:11 PM