(2007)
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Those two guys from Shaun of the Dead, and, notably James Bond from Licence to Kill.
Cale:
Omigod! Funniest movie of the year! And that’s saying a lot with Knocked Up, Superbad and two male figure skaters out this year. Okay, I haven’t seen Superbad or Blades of Glory yet, but I’m sure Hot Fuzz is funnier. Well…40 year old Virgin was pretty hilarious, and those ARE the same guys who did Knocked Up (and THAT was freakin hilarious!), AND Superbad, so Superbad might be a close contender after all. Anyway!…Hot Fuzz! Rule of thumb for this one is; if you liked Shaun of the Dead, you’ll love Hot Fuzz. These guys have a way of doing genre parodies that are even funnier because of how WELL they are made! It’s like two normal guys, that even George Bush could empathize with (Kay, maybe not Bush), are thrust into a formulaic plotline, and a bug budget to boot. So what makes this better than other BuddyCop/Comedy/Thriller/Action movies? Everything! State of the art filming, editing, music, special effects, AND…The two funniest friends who will probably never stop finding ways to be buddies in a movie together! Like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, without the music careers, alcohol, and gay sex (WAS Jerry Lewis gay?). It’s not something I can explain, these guys are incredibly funny! The star Simon Pegg, also co-wrote with the Director (as on Shaun), so I think these guys are going to continue to make some of the funniest (and strangely touching) movies in the years to come. Thank God! SOMEBODY needs to cut through the monotony of disappointment, walking out of the theatre thinking, “What was that?! Hey, I got leftover popcorn!!!” You know?
Emily:
I just about stopped breathing at one point. Yes. I was laughing that hard.
I’m a big fan of this strange breed of humor that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have hit on the head.
The quick paced opening features Simon Pegg, super efficient cop, showing off various tough cop skills. His dedication to the force put him in a bad situation, his CSI girlfriend leaves him, and his excellence on the job makes everyone else look bad. So, he is shipped off to small town England to join the locals in their humdrum existence.
This film is a wonderful romp, English humor steeped in All-American action movie madness.
The special effects don’t suffer, there are some real ‘shockers’ here. Great explosions, lovely stabbings… ever seen a church steeple decapitate the star reporter of a small country newspaper? (I guess decapitate isn’t the right word… perhaps squishify… yes.) There’s also something satisfying about seeing the local parish priest whip automatic handguns out of his robes. Warms the cockles of my little heart.
And then there’s the ever timeless action movie cliché: the good cop resolves to go loco on evil’s ass. At that moment in time, your leading man’s voice MUST go down in pitch by at least a fifth. If not, well…. it’s just not a real action movie then, is it?
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Hot Fuzz
Notes on a Scandal
Director: Richard Eyre
Starring: Dame Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett
Emily:
A whimsical high school teacher crosses the line and has an affair with one of her students.
Judi Dench is Barbara the hard headed school mistress who can command a room of students with the raising of an eyebrow, while Cate Blanchett portrays Sheba, a whimsical art teacher. Early on in the movie, Barbara is the sole voice as she reads from her meticulous journal. She is fascinated with Sheba from the beginning, and when the two begin a friendship, Barbara latches on to the new teacher in the hopes that their relationship will grow into something unbreakable.
When Barbara sees Sheba in an act of passion with one of the students, she decides to hold it over her head. “Now we are closer than ever,” she writes. She fantasizes that one day I will leave her husband and children and they will live together in a world of utter oneness.
What a skillfully crafted movie. Both women are driven to drastic actions by their loneliness and the longing for something wonderful to happen. There are so many facets of the human condition are portrayed. Love, lust, loyalty, temptation, loneliness, disappointment; all strikingly and honestly portrayed by a stellar cast.
Cale:
Psychological suspense is the genre, I’m told. Filmed in cool colors, quiet, introspective score, narration by Judi Dench’s character in excerpts from her obsessive journals.
Speaking of obsessive, Judi’s character is almost like a One Hour Photo type head case, and I don’t want to be afraid of Judi Dench like I am of Robin Williams since I watched that movie. Oddly enough, this film plays a lot like a female version of Endearing Love (starring Rhys Ifans and Daniel Craig), and that movie went from intriguing to obsessive real fast.
Thankfully, the psychosis part of the plot is kept to a minimum as to keep the ball rolling to its inevitable conclusion.
Incredible performances by all, Cate Blanchett is luminous and emotionally bare as ever, and I what I wouldn’t give to have had a teacher like that in high school. Wrong, so wrong.
Yeah, this one’s a squirmer too. A very human coldness to it that I could understand without having the experiences to identify with.Hitchcock would’ve had a blast with this one.
Starring: Dame Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett
Emily:
A whimsical high school teacher crosses the line and has an affair with one of her students.
Judi Dench is Barbara the hard headed school mistress who can command a room of students with the raising of an eyebrow, while Cate Blanchett portrays Sheba, a whimsical art teacher. Early on in the movie, Barbara is the sole voice as she reads from her meticulous journal. She is fascinated with Sheba from the beginning, and when the two begin a friendship, Barbara latches on to the new teacher in the hopes that their relationship will grow into something unbreakable.
When Barbara sees Sheba in an act of passion with one of the students, she decides to hold it over her head. “Now we are closer than ever,” she writes. She fantasizes that one day I will leave her husband and children and they will live together in a world of utter oneness.
What a skillfully crafted movie. Both women are driven to drastic actions by their loneliness and the longing for something wonderful to happen. There are so many facets of the human condition are portrayed. Love, lust, loyalty, temptation, loneliness, disappointment; all strikingly and honestly portrayed by a stellar cast.
Cale:
Psychological suspense is the genre, I’m told. Filmed in cool colors, quiet, introspective score, narration by Judi Dench’s character in excerpts from her obsessive journals.
Speaking of obsessive, Judi’s character is almost like a One Hour Photo type head case, and I don’t want to be afraid of Judi Dench like I am of Robin Williams since I watched that movie. Oddly enough, this film plays a lot like a female version of Endearing Love (starring Rhys Ifans and Daniel Craig), and that movie went from intriguing to obsessive real fast.
Thankfully, the psychosis part of the plot is kept to a minimum as to keep the ball rolling to its inevitable conclusion.
Incredible performances by all, Cate Blanchett is luminous and emotionally bare as ever, and I what I wouldn’t give to have had a teacher like that in high school. Wrong, so wrong.
Yeah, this one’s a squirmer too. A very human coldness to it that I could understand without having the experiences to identify with.Hitchcock would’ve had a blast with this one.
Blades of Glory
Directors: Will Speck & Josh Gordon
Starring: Will Ferrell and that guy from Napoleon Dynamite
Emily:
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, Will Ferrell shows you a little bit more. Perhaps a little bit too much more…… PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON!
ahem
Two of the country’s top male skaters tie for first place. While sharing the podium a verbal disagreement becomes physical, and the two are forced too leave the world of figure skating “forever”! (Dun dun dun!) But, there’s a loophole, they can compete in pairs….. hmm.. but who would pair up with two of the sports most notoriously scandalous celebrities? Oh, oh, here’s a twist… wait for it… they have to work to together! Aw, that’s real original. Two rivals, now partners. I’m gonna love this one!
Seriously now, it wasn’t that horrible. I kept my dinner down. I laughed a few times (mostly at that guy from Napoleon Dynamite, with his blond locks and his perky fashion sense…) Another notable performance was found in that girl from The Office. She plays the dowdy third child of a brother-sister skating pair (who have a questionable passion for one another). She is set to spy on the world’s first male-male pairs skaters, and (oh, here’s another twist… wait… wait…) FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE CUTE ONE!! Aw…. So unexpected. Give me a moment, I’m reliving that wonderful moment when they first kiss after she tells him that her brother and sister treat her like a slave and blame her for their parents’ deaths. Classic.
Ok, I’m being a little mean. But it’s a lot more fun than saying. “Yup, this movie was ok, but it didn’t really rock my world. I guess it was kinda funny..”
This is Meany McMeanerson, signing out.
Cale:
I guess the members of this movie were expecting me to be much more eneasu with the sight of two men figure skating together, buit it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Sure it was funny at first, but I got over it. Maybe if it was a skit on SNL I might have squirt a Hershey.
I put it somehere between Anchorman and Taladega Nights. Will Farrell was slightle more tolerable than he was in Anchorman, and not nearly as “I’m burning! Oh, baby Jesus!” funny as in Taladega Nights. Maybe I’m just not a huge Farrell fan.
But holy handbags is the receptionist from the office suddenly smoking sexy or what? Will Farrell’s real life love interest, the director if “Slither”, his wife. Yeah. Hot. Bam!
EDITORIAL NOTE!
Ok people, are you too lazy to find out the names of the actors in this movie?
Let it be known that the guy from Napoleon Dynamite is named Jon Heder and that girl from The Office is named Jenna Fischer
Seriously, do your research!
Starring: Will Ferrell and that guy from Napoleon Dynamite
Emily:
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, Will Ferrell shows you a little bit more. Perhaps a little bit too much more…… PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON!
ahem
Two of the country’s top male skaters tie for first place. While sharing the podium a verbal disagreement becomes physical, and the two are forced too leave the world of figure skating “forever”! (Dun dun dun!) But, there’s a loophole, they can compete in pairs….. hmm.. but who would pair up with two of the sports most notoriously scandalous celebrities? Oh, oh, here’s a twist… wait for it… they have to work to together! Aw, that’s real original. Two rivals, now partners. I’m gonna love this one!
Seriously now, it wasn’t that horrible. I kept my dinner down. I laughed a few times (mostly at that guy from Napoleon Dynamite, with his blond locks and his perky fashion sense…) Another notable performance was found in that girl from The Office. She plays the dowdy third child of a brother-sister skating pair (who have a questionable passion for one another). She is set to spy on the world’s first male-male pairs skaters, and (oh, here’s another twist… wait… wait…) FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE CUTE ONE!! Aw…. So unexpected. Give me a moment, I’m reliving that wonderful moment when they first kiss after she tells him that her brother and sister treat her like a slave and blame her for their parents’ deaths. Classic.
Ok, I’m being a little mean. But it’s a lot more fun than saying. “Yup, this movie was ok, but it didn’t really rock my world. I guess it was kinda funny..”
This is Meany McMeanerson, signing out.
Cale:
I guess the members of this movie were expecting me to be much more eneasu with the sight of two men figure skating together, buit it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would. Sure it was funny at first, but I got over it. Maybe if it was a skit on SNL I might have squirt a Hershey.
I put it somehere between Anchorman and Taladega Nights. Will Farrell was slightle more tolerable than he was in Anchorman, and not nearly as “I’m burning! Oh, baby Jesus!” funny as in Taladega Nights. Maybe I’m just not a huge Farrell fan.
But holy handbags is the receptionist from the office suddenly smoking sexy or what? Will Farrell’s real life love interest, the director if “Slither”, his wife. Yeah. Hot. Bam!
EDITORIAL NOTE!
Ok people, are you too lazy to find out the names of the actors in this movie?
Let it be known that the guy from Napoleon Dynamite is named Jon Heder and that girl from The Office is named Jenna Fischer
Seriously, do your research!
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