Friday, April 15, 2011

Simon Pegg is brilliant!

Okay, folks it's time for another pop culture post, so strap on your special hats and pour a bowl of milk. Remember, pop culture always stays crunchy!
[Just as a note: my oldest son's pop culture hat looks like this:
Really, it does, but that has nothing to do with this post. And that's not my son in the picture, just his hat, but Adam, there, is already all over the web, so I'm sure he won't mind being in my little blog any more than he minds being in anyone else's. Not to say that he doesn't mind. He might. But I won't add to it, I'm sure, one way or the other.]

There hasn't been much time for movies in the last year or so. Or money. My kids will tell you about it if you mention the fact that they missed Rango and a whole slew of other movies they wanted to see. However, my wife and I did manage to make it to Paul, last weekend. We went with some sci-fi buddies of ours; otherwise, we might have gone to see something more "respectable." Actually, if we hadn't run into this other couple, we wouldn't have gone to see anything, as it was one of those "wow, we haven't seen each other in ages, let's go to a movie and sit in the dark and not talk!" kind of things. heh
But, hey, we did get invited to a party out of it.

Anyway...

So we went to see Paul. It's hilarious. Frequently, I laughed first and loudest. I think the movie was made just for me. However, the people sitting in front of us, what looked like a grandmother and her teenage grandson, didn't find the movie anywhere near as funny. I almost felt bad. Almost. If you like science fiction, especially Star Wars, you want to see this movie.

I'm not going to say anything about the plot, though. That's how I went into it. I knew it was Simon Pegg and it had something to do with a CG alien. But that was enough for me. It's pretty much enough for me to just see Pegg's name on something. It's like he (and Nick Frost, his writing partner and co-star) is pop culture. But, please, don't pour milk on him. I'm not thinking he'd appreciate it. Look, here's an example:
You MUST watch this if you like Star Wars
I will say one thing about the movie, it starts off at the San Diego Comic Con; alas, I've never been. >sob<

But it's not just Paul. It's also Shaun of the Dead. And Hot Fuzz. And it's Spaced. That was British television series he did. Yeah, I know; you've never heard of it, but that's kind of where it all starts. The beginnings of his pop culture brilliance. Go watch it. Right now. I'll wait. Okay, not really, but you can come back later. The blog will still be here. Probably.

Seriously, Simon Pegg makes movies out of the things that my friends and I used to joke about, and he's brilliant at it. Paul is under performing a bit at the box office, but don't let that stop you from going to see it. If you're a sci-fi fan, that is. If you're not, you're not going to get the movie at all. I think the lack of performance has more to do with the title than anything else. It doesn't scream what it's about like Shaun of the Dead. But the title is part of the joke. Paul. E. T. Simple. It fails to grab the imagination, though, so, unless you're actually looking for Simon Pegg vehicles, you're likely to miss it.

Which brings us to the writing section of our post: titles. The all important title. I one bought a horrible book because of the brilliance of its title. I'll even tell you which book: Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. That is an incredible title. I wish I'd thought of it. I bought the book. One of the very few books I haven't finished. But a brilliant title. Last time I bought a book based on its title, too. Yep, learned my lesson. Both of them. Don't judge a book by its cover (title). And have a good cover (title).

Okay, yeah, maybe I didn't learn that lesson well enough, because the cover of my book sucks, but that's more to do with the fact that I haven't been able to afford any cool artwork for it, yet, than that I'm satisfied with it. One piece at a time...

Anyway, go see Paul. It's not deep, but it is a good time!

10 comments:

  1. I worship at the altar of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (also Joss Whedon. Huge Kudos for the pic of Adam and the Jayne hat). Paul was hysterical as was Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I've even seen Spaced.

    And I've sadly never been to Comic Con either.

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  2. Omigosh, Andrew! I love, love, loooove--with oodles of whipped cream and cherries on top--Simon Pegg. The Hubby and I can watch Hot Fuzz over and over, and laugh 'til we cry. Every. Single. Time. Truly, I think he did a fabulous job as Scotty on the newer Star Trek--he even improvised quite a few of his lines, which is no surprise, because he's freaking brilliant.

    So, thank you for the scoop on Paul. If it's not playing around here, mayhap The Hubby and I can take a road trip to Dallas this weekend. Cheers!

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  3. I never saw Shaun of the Dead, but I remember wanting to. I think I'll keep in mind the next time my husband and I are having a lazy night and need a movie rec!

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  4. Simon Pegg is fantastic. His movies usually get better with repeat viewings too. I saw Paul a few weeks ago and didn't enjoy it near as much as I did Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, but we'll see how much it grows on me over time.

    Thanks for the gift in your previous post. You're too kind.

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  5. M.J.: That's awesome that you've seen Spaced! I've never met anyone else that's even heard of it. Of course, I'm new to the whole blogging world, so I'm sure I'll come across others eventually.

    Alyssia: I hope you make it to Paul. You'll have to tell me what you think of it once you see it. And, yes, he was great as Scotty.

    Gina: I'm not into the whole zombie craze, but Shaun was brilliant. It's definitely worth seeing.

    Rusty: I'm probably due to see all of them again. I need to just buy them. I told my wife, already, that I was definitely buying Paul when it comes out on dvd or bluray or whatever I buy it for.
    And no problem on the award. I like your blog. :)

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  6. I'm going to argue with you...a bit. Pegg/Frost are funny and SOTD and HF are great movies, but with SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD and ATTACK THE BLOCK (which you haven't seen yet, but you should when it hits wide release) it is clear to me that the core talent is director Edgar Wright.

    Paul was funny enough, but it was all inside baseball. SOTD and HF were universally appealing. Also, I'm so over Seth Rogen that even his voice bugs me.

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  7. Yes, I do agree that Paul is aimed at the sci-fi audience. I mean, if you don't -know- sci-fi, you'll miss a lot of it, although there are plenty of broader ranged jokes that should carry the average viewer through it and have the movie still be enjoyable. I think it's main flaw is that, at the end of the movie, there's nothing to take away from it beyond it being a fun romp. Which I think is fine.

    I don't know if I can agree about Wright. I think the writing, Pegg and Frost, is pretty important, and... but, darn! I didn't realize Wright went back with Pegg so far that he actually also directed Spaced. Okay, you may have a point with that. I'm not sure and will have to do more research.

    I do own Scott Pilgrim.
    And I can understand about Rogen, although I did think his voice was perfect for the alien.

    Okay, now, I'm off to look up Attack the Block.
    Hey, John, did you happen to see Red State?

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  8. Paul is DEFINITELY a movie I know I will "get". HUGE Star Wars Fans, here. Heck my twin girls' 4th bday party was Star Wars Themed. They have 5 lightsabers and just about every character imaginable (including some awesome ones we got from the original movies off of ebay). I'm also a HUGE, HUGE fan of Shaun of the Dead. Totally my kind of humor so I'm guessing I will like the Paul film. I remember seeing it at a preview and my husband and I both said, "We have to see that one." Unfortunately, we don't get to the movies these days not only because of money, but no one to watch our kids. But we will be moving in the next few months and be closer to a whole lot of family and so I'm certain our movie going days will return in full force. Great post! Thanks for the review.

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  9. My Sci Fi initiation has been incomplete. There are some I really liked, but usually they are character dependent. That said, the Jayne hat rocks... (I adore Firefly--though it should be said I'd adore Nathan Fillion in ANYTHING and especially in nothing *shifty*)

    We are also on a few movies because of no money trek... *sigh* then again hubby and I can't agree on anything anyway.

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  10. Melanie: Both of my sons have had Star Wars themed birthday parties. We have some pics somewhere of a great cake a buddy of mine and I made for my oldest when he was turning 4 or so. We did this big pod racing thing... It was really cool.

    Hart: Well, I hope you're watching Castle, then. Fillion is a lot of fun in that. Although he doesn't take his clothes off. And please tell me you've seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog.

    I'm trying to think of any good sci-fi I've seen of late, but nothing's really coming to mind. Possibly Inception, but it ended up being too predictable for me.

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