no2self.net

The RIBA should employ Paul Arendt from the Guardian to write all their publicity material:

The architect is an archetype, marinated in cinema history: he is intelligent, scrupulously fair-minded (Henry Fonda’s juror No 8 in 12 Angry Men was an architect), wealthy and creative. He’s secretly romantic, like Tom Hanks. He’s hubristic but brilliant, like Paul Newman in The Towering Inferno. And he’s a fantastic lay: witness the scene in Jungle Fever when Wesley Snipes has sex with Anabella Sciorra on his own drafting table. Back to the drawing board indeed.

This isn’t entirely true. I’m not particularly wealthy.

Did a little more digging this morning and found more info about La Dolce Vita at culturevulture.net. I haven’t read it all yet, just quickly scanned it, as I haven’t finished watching the movie. However, I notice that they picked out the same section of the script as I did on Saturday night.

I’m spending the evening of my birthday watching a film.

Sometimes the dark silence of the night weighs upon me.
Peace makes me afraid; perhaps I distrust it above all.
I feel it’s only a facade concealing the abyss.
I think of the world my children will know.
It’s supposed to be marvellous but a phone call by a madman can mean the end of everything.
We must get beyond passions, like a great work of art.
In such miraculous harmony.
We should love each other outside of time…detached.

Steiner talking to his sleeping children in La Dolce Vita.

Much to my embarrassment, I almost missed this. The book that taught me how to read and helped me develop my sense of humour has finally started to take shape as a movie. Filming has started for the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie and you can follow the latest news on the production team’s web log.

A long standing project that nearly died along with it’s creator, the Hitch Hiker’s movie could, I suspect, go in one of two possible directions; a successful adaptation that Douglas would have been proud of or…no, I can’t bring myself to type it. However, I’m encouraged by the news that Martin Freeman, who plays Tim in that widely acknowledged work of genius: The Office, will be playing Arthur Dent.

When I say that the book taught me how to read, I mean in the sense that it was the first book that taught me reading could be enjoyable rather than a chore. I still remember reaching up and taking it off the shelf of my high school library for the first time. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve turned to it since.

Other useful links include: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha and Magrathea, who have an interview with the directors.