Movie News
Uncle Monty Gets Some HOT FUZZ!!
Merrick here...
...with a look at HOT FUZZ.
Believe it or not, I've recently encountered a number of folks who've yet to hear about this film - even though they were fans of the fabulous SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
So, just in case...
HOT FUZZ a new police comedy from the SHAUN OF THE DEAD gang. You can get a look at the film's trailer (and more) HERE. Frankly, the trailers underwhelmed me when I first saw them...but I'm hearing great things about the movie itself, so I'm holding out a lot of hope.
Here's Uncle Monty's review. PLEASE NOTE : Monty references an incomplete sound mix and so forth, which means he saw a version that may be adjusted by the time the project hits UK theaters in mid February. HOT FUZZ opens in the U.S. early March.
I thought you may be interested in my stream of consciousness on a preview
of a film I saw last Thursday.
The film was 'Hot Fuzz', from the same people that brought you 'Shaun of the Dead', a film I know that is dear to your heart and many of your readers. I loved SOTD and was pretty stoked to see the film, to say the least. The packed preview was held about thirty miles to the west of London, and (writer/director) Edgar Wright sat up back (it must be nice to sit back, sip a coke and hear belly laughs from your own film!) After the usual speil about not using recording devices and unfinished sound/sync (gunshots and explosions turned out to be incredibly loud) we were straight in.
The basic synopsis is simple - Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a 'supercop' who is kicked out of the London police for showing up the rest of the force (a 400% better record than all the others) so is then drafted out to spend the rest of his days in a sleepy crime-free village in the West of England, with hilarious consequences. The fast cutting that gets you to this point is a bit eye-boggling but does the job, and we then ease into the slower life of the rural village of Sandford, and Nicholas introduces himself to the lazy bumbling police officers in the station. Some great characterisations, and Paddy Considine is great as one of a pair of moustached inept detectives.
It's difficult to write about this film without giving away key spoilers, as a lot of the plot revolves around who will get murdered next, how they meet their (very satisfying in most cases) ends, and eventually 'whodunnit'. So, there be a few spoilers ahead. Suffice to say that the film is a lot more bloody and gory than I expected (even more than SOTD, believe it or not), and there's decapitation, bombs, some superb gun fights, and one murder that owes a lot to a scene in the Omen, which took me and the rest of the audience aback. The real comedy is in many cases a lot more subtle than SOTD, and the belly laughs come from the interesting twists on the stable sit-com English village characterisations - think Vicar of Dibley with uzis and you wouldn't be too far away.
We left the cinema feeling that the film was a very enjoyable two hour gun-fest, (you get a lot of film for your money if they don't trim it too much) with a very satisfying shoot-out pay-off and believable character arcs.
However, many of the jokes were parochial and relied to a certain extent on an inate knowledge of English small town mentalities, 'hoodie' yobs, prejudices and impeneterable accents which may not translate easily to an international audience. Simon is very believable in his role as Nicholas the starched collared officer, and Nick Frost as Simon Pegg's foil is pretty much Nick Frost with a yokel accent (which isn't a bad thing). There are British character actors aplenty; Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy are only on screen for a few minutes, in virtual cameo appearances. Jim Broadbent plays Nicholas's new station boss and stole every scene he was in. The most surprising find for me was Timothy Dalton, who chews up the scenery as the sinister local supermarket manager. Edward Woodward plays the controller of the village CCTVs and has a final explosve scene that is very
funny indeed.
You can tell that all involved in this film were having a 'bloody' good time, and although it has a slow middle act and the plot gets a little convoluted at the end, in my opinion it easily matches SOTD for laughs. I'm sure there were many many cop/buddy film in-jokes that I didn't spot on first viewing, (Simon and Nick actually crack open beers, and sit and watch scenes from Bad Boys 2 and Point Break half way through the film) but I would give certainly this film a solid two thumbs up and look forward to watching it again.
If you use this, can you call me 'Uncle Monty' - thanks.
Readers Talkback
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Yay. Film looks awsome.
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"I'm too old for this shit!"
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Fried gold!
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This is my "can't wait to see it" movie for 2007. I just hope it doesn't run afoul of the MPAA and Universal can get its R rating without trimming the violence.
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NOW!!!
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But then I didn't send in my application. So if I'm right, it won't count.
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This film had me from the first still I saw of Nick Frost. That alone had me in stitches. This is going to rock big time. Can't wait.
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"Reference" is not a verb. "Reference" is not a verb. I know you want it to be a verb. It is not. Why is it that during my lifetime assholes of all persuesions have agreed never, ever to refer to anything!?!?!? I hate.
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Americans can be funny too.
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Tim "We dont have a lot of experience of this execpt Mike, who we all know stole a tank and tried to invade Paris" <p> Mike *waves* "Hello"
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This has been a long time coming. I mean, when was the last time you saw an action packed british "Lethal Weapon"? And yes it will be funny, but I don't know...their taking the American action cop genre and turning it British! I like that, and I hate that at the same time. Unless they give credit where credit is due, then I'd have no problem with it. But I mean, we're at war, and they're steeling our sh@%! It's like, what the hell man? Unless they give credit! And they probably will! Which is cool, "ain't it"? I just feel like rambling.
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LOl Shaun of the Dead was great. I love the fact that they are rehashing the fence joke again but putting a new twist on it. Arg! Why didn't I make it into Octo-butt-numb-a-thon!? Lucky bastards. :) http://www.myspace.com/moviebattleroyale
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As played by Timothy Dalton. Hells yes. Finally, a supermarket guy with a licence to kill.
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Ima see this movie...Ima see it good.
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Missed him since The Equalizer.
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"Phillip"
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if you have any doubt watch the following Spaced episodes "Battles", "Gone" or "Choas"
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The accents and humour are going to be like day-to-day living for me. The main influence is Lethal Weapon according to the Pegg, so i'm not surprised if it's bloody. Please be an 18, please. The only thing that worries me is the fact that Edgar Wright has said that he became obsessed with Domino's editing style whilst making this movie, but i'm sure he's too smart to go OTT with it.
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No mention of any of these 'daring' camera moves i've heard about?? Uncle Monty please give us a little more info!!!
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...didn't give away TOO many spoilers, as there's some great stuff in it! ;)
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...together at last!
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Edgar & Simon...?
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no, we're not Simon & Edgar, but we were involved with the movie, making us part of the "Hot Fuzz family"
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If you're involved in the movie, please tell me a little smidge about the visuals. I've loved all of Edgar Wright's work since Mash & Peas/Asylum days. Who shot this? was it David Dunlap again? or has Andy Hollis finally gone and shot a movie? (coz he bloody well should). Any Spaced alumni cameos? I cannot belienve this isn't a bigger talkback!
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No such thing my friends, no such thing. Bored chavs ensure that.
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