I am sooo looking forward to moving to Plano now.

I believe Alamo Drafthouse here in Austin opened at about the same time:

http://www.infocusmag.com/04january/drafthouse.htm

More locations than the Dallas-based SMG and planning to open some to compete there as well.

(confession: I despise Dallas and *most* Dallasites. They give me hives and think they are oh-so-city-chic. My sister-in-law agrees with me and she grew up there. They are the rudest music fans I come across and I travel to many a gig. I went to a Blue Jays-Rangers game in Arlington (the Metroplex, ya know) and some redneck tried to kick my ass for being a Blue Jays supporter though I have lived in Toronto and never in ****** Dallas Fort Worth or Arlington. There ya have it, my opinion as a native Texan.)

My post from the Movie Reviews thread:

April 29th:

Went out to see The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy today and wasn't very impressed.

It was basically a remake of the BBC version condensed into two hours.

The only thing that saved it for me was Sam Rockwell (Green Mile, Galaxy Quest) playing Zaphod Beeblebrox. He made the movie funny.

Keep a look out for the original BBC Marvin android and Simon Jones from the original BBC show.

Steve Pemberton from The League of Gentlemen has a role including a couple of voices (one of the Vogon women sounds just like Tubbs).

6 out of 10. Could have been better.

Our cinema has a film slot called "Mugs and Movies." You get table and all the beer you can drink (you have to pay though). The movie is which ever one is popular in that week.

And here's mine:

Saw The Hitchhiker's guide over the w/e and liked it. I was fully prepared for Hollywood to have ruined it, but I thought it was a pretty good result and true to the spirit of the original. It's mostly well cast and the visuals are excellent - in particular the scene where Arthur and Slartibartfast enter the planet forges of Magrathea was spectacularly effective. My only complaint would be that much of Adams's original witty dialogue has been chopped in favour of zipping the plot along, and the plot gets a little too frantic at times.

Well there you go then. It was Austin who came up with the idea, and Studio Movie Grill is just a pale imitation. Thanks so much for pointing out that important point SnowBunny. I stand corrected.

(confession: I despise native Texans. My sister's brother-in-law's godfather agrees with me too.)

You'll have to look me up when you get here, and we'll go and get drunk at the movies together

Didn't say Austin came up with the idea -- in fact, the article link I gave credits someone in Atlanta for opening the first cinema/restaurant combination -- in 1990.

I said I dislike Dallas and *most* Dallasites, because when visiting there, or meeting someone from there, I have found a very high level of snobbiness and just plain old rudeness. I mentioned that I was a native Texan simply because I've had to put up with Dallasites for a very, very long time. Having the Cowboys and the television show be so popular in the 1970s only boosted the egos of those from the Metroplex.

Lord knows Austinites have been slagged off for being liberal tree-hugging hippies with a communist government.

Sounds like a plan, although I'll probably turn up in my VFP.

Looking forward to meeting ya!

Oops. Don't you love it when past comments come back to haunt you?

Now THAT sounds like my kinda place !!

and burgers at the cinema? Yes please!

We saw this last Friday and I'm very much an Adams purist. What saves this is when you already know that Adams wrote the screenplay and wrote the new parts for it, so it's still all his work. He approved the whole thing, so for me, that makes it good.

I think the trick is to not go into it expecting a re-make, or a clone of the book. The opening sequence will have you cracking up and humming the song as you leave. Stay for the credits for an extra piece and note that Neil Hannon (from The Divine Comedy) does the song in the closing credits.

The original Marvin is in it, so is Douglas Adams' face, and so is the original Arthur Dent. Rockwell is great as Beeblebrox and Freeman gives a very convincing performance as the new Dent. Deschanel is incredibly different as Trillian, I really wondered how they were going to do that one, and Mos Def is nicely odd as Ford Prefect.

All in all, I thought it was great! And I'm as much an Adams snob as I am a Star Trek (Next Gen) snob... which is scary! LOL

Thanks for that Maz! It was bugging me for ages. We stayed to the end of the credits and I missed Neil's listing, but I KNEW I recognised that voice.

I agree fully with all your views, except perhaps re Ford Prefect, who I felt might have been better cast.

Wanna see my spaceship???

Did anyone else notice the missing scene??

In all the TV previews I saw, it had a clip of Zaphod with Ford and Zaphod says "is this a great Galaxy or what?"

Wasn't in the bloody film. Livid!!!

Now you come to mention it.....yes! We argued about whether that particular line was in the book. Was it? My old memory is failing