I finally got round to watching Hot Fuzz while I was away this time – on the MBP in the hotel room, which was pretty cool. The MBP was certainly a good enough way to watch the movie.
I enjoyed the movie, but not as much as I had thought I would and I think the only real reason why is that the violence was just not necessary. I know it was all sort of ‘black humour’ style but it just left me wondering what it was all about.
Apart from that it was good – not the classic that I think people younger than may may thiink it was though!!!
I watched it about six weeks ago and enjoyed it a lot. I don’t remember much detail about it now though… π
> I enjoyed the movie, but not as much as I had thought I would and I think the only real reason why
> is that the violence was just not necessary.
As the movie was partly an homage to the US cop movie genre, I think the violence was very much necessary.
> I know it was all sort of Γ’β¬Λblack humourΓ’β¬β’ style but it just left me wondering what it was all about.
Satire maybe?
An important question must be asked here… Are you watching this having seen the team’s previous movie, the classic “Shaun of the Dead”?
Nope, never watched Shaun of the Dead.
I just don’t really get the point of the overgraphical deaths really – not a big issue, but reduced my enjoyment overall.
> Nope, never watched Shaun of the Dead.
It is an homage to the Zombie genre. You don’t have to be a zombie movie aficionado to appreciate this one. The only reason not to watch it would be if you actually dislike that style of movie. There are quite a few extremely funny moments in it. It’s a long time back I saw that one. You’ve kinda got me considering digging them both back out again. Especially Shaun.
> I just don’t really get the point of the overgraphical deaths really –
> not a big issue, but reduced my enjoyment overall.
I can see how that would happen if you don’t “get it”. Did you not find yourself thinking “that reminds me of …” more than once? (Maybe I watch too many (mainly) American cop shows and movies! π )
Sure I saw the US aspect and it was funny. Enjoyed the movie over all, just could have done without the violence in an ideal world …… but this from someone that has never watched a horrow film in his life!!!
I’ve never seen a horrow movie either, but I did see Sling Blade. That’s kinda close to a Horrow isn’t it? π
Seriously, never? Not even Saw or The Ring? Wow, it can be an engaging genre if well done, if not than it’s usually nothing but a box-office snuff flick. I don’t think that either of these movies fit into this genre at all.
Now, Shaun of the Dead was sheer genius, IMHO. Fits into it’s own genre of Comedy. Not Dark Comedy, but very British. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Hot Fuzz, but it is with the same two actors. It does take a lot from the inane and moronic American copper films, but in it’s own comedic way.
Not going into too much spoilage, but really, there aren’t many Americans who would empathize with someone “taking out” someone else for what they did in this film. For a lousy $20? Absolutely. Happens all the time, unfortunately. But for a garden? British! π That’s why I really like British movies and TV, I just have that type of sense of humor.
In this movie, the very fact that they are doing violence to protect their way of life I believe is integral to the story line, and really makes the movie to the point that it wouldn’t had been very funny without it.
Of course, it has been many months since I have seen it, so I may be remembering it wrong. π
@Wayne – nice analysis π
I’ve not seen either of the Ring or Saw movies, nor their offspring, either. Nor the Hostel series. I just don’t fancy them. Probably the nearest I’ve come to that style was Severance. (True, it did have a few funny moments, but too much of it felt gratuitous.)
@Gary – I really liked Saw. (The first.) Without being too over-grotesque, it was really engaging. You truly wanted to find out what and why. How everything comes together in the end really blows your mind. (I really tried to think of something a little more civilized than “blows your mind”, but just couldn’t.)
The Ring and The Grudge, meh. Both being in that whole Japanese horror/just plain creepy genre. Hostel series, to me, sucked. It was strictly gore and violence with absolutely no point but to see how much they can show without getting an NC-17 rating. (R18 in U.K.)
Have not seen Severance. Worth looking for?
@Wayne – Okay, given your praise, I’ll keep an eye out for Saw v1.0… π―
Severance? If you can pick the DVD up cheap, then sure – give it a whirl. Not a classic (IMO) but not too shabby. As noted, there are a few sly funny moments. π
I agree with Wayne, Saw 1.0 was the best of the series. It’s a typical thing though to milk the cow as much as possible and screw everything up. Typical example was Highlander with it’s many versions, and pointless sequels.
Another good film was “The Descent”. Quite entertaining, with a very interesting twist at the end.
Personally my definition of horror is something that scares the pants of of me. Typical examples would be The Grudge or The Ring or the Exorcist. A bit pointless in the story line, but never the less very creepy and I will not be revisiting them any time soon. The other ones, like Hostel, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I put into slasher category. They are mostly pointless, gratuitous, blood soaked movies, where the characters are complete morons.
On the last I would highly recommend Mr. Brooks, with Kevin Costner. I thought it was very well done, smart, with good acting through out.
The Descent and Mr. Brooks. Those with The Severance, looks like I have a bit of movie watching this weekend! (I don’t care what the critics say, I rather like most Costner movies. (The best is still Bull Durham, I think!)
Severance watched. Interesting, and a bit humorous at times. It was like watching a teen-age slasher movie like Jason or Halloween, but without the teens! (though it did make up for that by including Laura Harris.) I wasn’t quite sure who the intended audience was supposed to be. They used the classic loud noises to make you jump, though I did get a little jumpy at the scene with the bear trap.
Almost at the end when she walked into that camp I thought, alright, we finally have a plot line. Something is going to happen here that will explain everything. Arrgh! Nothing but the same. Well, worth a shot, anyway.
Sounds like we need to have a movie forum. That would be interesting.
@Wayne – Laura Harris… Mmmm… π
You summed it up well – it’s okay. (Talk about damning with faint praise?)
If you watched it on DVD (as opposed to, say, an iTunes download), did you watch the extras? There was one section with the two local girls from the pit being interviewed afterwards. It filled in some of the back-story and I seem to recall it was quite amusing. I’ll not say any more to avoid giving away too much, but it referred back to one or two points of the story.
There’s one slasher movie I would like to commend to you in case you’ve not seen it, which is way above average. Identity didn’t seem to make much of an impact when it came out in the cinema, but I’d highly recommend it. While I’ve described it as a slasher movie, it’s much more than that – it crosses several genres and would be perfectly safe for someone who seems averse to horrow movies, like Chris. π You might equally well call it a murder-mystery movie. It’s definitely not your traditional teen gore-fest.
@Chris – so, have you got the movie forum set up yet? π
You guys put Mark Kemode to shame, and he did his Phd in Horror movies π
Will happily leave forums to you guys. Have been following this thread with interest, has been like a foreign language to me!!!
> You guys put Mark Kemode to shame, and he did his Phd in Horror movies π
Mark who? π
Seriously, I didn’t know that Horror was his speciality. Well, well, well…
> Will happily leave forums to you guys.
Awww…
> Have been following this thread with interest, has been like a foreign language to me!!!
π
Yep you can study all kind of stuff these days, although his is our generation. His banter with Simon Mayo on their weekly show is nearly as good as mine with Tim π
If you like the humour of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, try Spaced. It’s the sitcom that the same team worked on together. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. With Jessica Stevenson (the other writer of Spaced who cameos in Shaun of the Dead).
[quote comment=””]If you like the humour of both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, try Spaced. It’s the sitcom that the same team worked on together. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright. With Jessica Stevenson (the other writer of Spaced who cameos in Shaun of the Dead).[/quote]
Too cool! Thanks. I’ll look it up. Always in for something new. My favorite sitcom from England has to be The IT Crowd.
It only ran for 2 seasons but they are pure comedy gold.
Fox are working on a US version, which more than likely will be rubbish as it’s completely about the british black humour.