Hot Fuzz
March 28th, 2007
More amusing silliness from the guys who made Shaun of the Dead. After demolishing the zombie film, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost are taking aim at the Jerry Bruckheimer action flick, and they’ve set it in the picture-postcard English countryside. Bobbies with firearms–what’s not to like?
Simon Pegg plays Sgt. Nicholas Angel, a London supercop who is sent off to the provinces because he’s making everybody else on his team look bad. In sleepy Sandford, the only available heroics consist of chasing underage kids out of the pub and catching runaway swans. Angel’s new partner PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) is an action-movie fanatic whose dearest wish is to fire a gun while jumping through the air in slow motion. But ah, evil lurks in Sandford, and Danny might get his wish after all….
It takes a while for Hot Fuzz to ramp up the action, but in the meantime, the spectacular supporting cast keeps things very entertaining: Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Paddy Considine, Bill Nighy, and a slew of other familiar faces populate the town with characters that range from oddly endearing to cheerfully creepy. My patented scientific method for objectively judging comedy reveals a favorable chuckle-to-groan ratio, one dozen solid out-and-out laughs, four roll-out-of-your-seat moments of uncontrollable hilarity, and a steady state of hearty bemusement. For a 120 minute film, that’s not bad at all. Hot Fuzz opens on April 20th.
Hot Fuzz. Edgar Wright, 2007. ***
Alien vs. Predator
March 26th, 2007
Two faltering eighties franchises are being remaindered for the price of one, but the H.R. Giger-designed Alien will always have a place in my heart as the greatest movie monster ever. AVP is shameless B movie fare without any of the polish and auteurist pretensions of the other installments, but at least it moves fast and has enough awareness of the history of the series to get a number of clever visual quotes in. I won’t bore you with the plot; as far as titles-as-pitches go, this is up there with Snakes on a Plane. The fanboys must’ve enjoyed it: there’s a sequel in the works. I’m tempted to give it three stars just because I remember the original Dark Horse comic book.
AVP: Alien vs. Predator. Paul W.S. Anderson, 2004. **
Outlandish Republic
February 21st, 2007
As much as I’d like to blame it on the rum, it was a clear, sober morning when I hatched the idea for a Caribbean homage to David Lynch.
What’s it about? A puppy in trouble.
Much thanks to my patient and inventive cast: Kay Aleksić, Stéphan Goldsmith, Roxie, Marcy Dermansky, Karl Supierz, Fedir Nikolayev, and Mike Bastin.
OUTLANDISH REPUBLIC (I insist on the capitalization) was shot on the run in various locations around the Dominican Republic, including Santo Domingo, Santiago, Sosua, and the Hotel Atlantis in Las Terrenas. Beware of the giraffe!
More muckfilms:
- Playa Bonita
- Alternadad
- The Flatbroke Stringband
- Glory Days
- Alien Stingers
- The Diggs Live at Sin-e
- In the Flesh: Marcy Reads from Twins
[tags]muckfilm, dominican republic, david lynch, youtube, dominican republic[/tags]
