It’s stupid jokes about smart people.
Most of what I’ve seen, it’s the smart/geeky thing that’s the punchline, not the context.
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It took me a bit to get into Spaced but by the end I adored it. I think it helps that Pegg is an unabashed nerd and the writing was from the inside out, not the outside looking in.
Then again, I also love The Cornetto Trilogy and think that both Hot Fuzz and The World’s End should be forever used as examples in writing class as how to do things right (there is almost nothing set up in the first half of HF that isn’t knocked down in the second and there are some deep themes throughout The World’s End). Most people I know think I am weird for having these opinions. *
*and other reasons too.
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I’ve wanted to watch them since Spaced, but haven’t yet. All the comedies on film that I’ve watched so far*, or recall from one of Mark Kermode’s reviews, usually aren’t that great, with Frank being my personal favorite and best so far.
I have no doubt though, from how Spaced turned out, that I will enjoy them in general, if not immensely.
*Most of them were family-friendly Rom-Coms that I viewed with a social group while I was in high school. The only other noteworthy, not-Frank exception being The Men Who Stared at Goats.
Spaced is pretty great, and the subsequent movies they went on to make were excellent. Though I’m not entirely keen on The World’s End, it’s got some good bits but it doesn’t entirely work for me.
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Ricky Tomlinson is an absolute mensch.
The biggest complaints I have heard about Hot Fuzz are that it seems over the top (but it’s Pegg, Wright and Frost…) and that it seems like two different movies, because each half is modelled on a different type of cop drama – Midsomer-style British Countryside procedural (hit dead on, IMO) and US cop buddy-action flick.
On the surface The World’s End isn’t as slapstick, but like I said, there are themes that run deep, some of those roots running right back to Spaced.
Shaun is Spaced + zombies. It is the zombie movie only these guys could make.
Don’t think of ‘trilogy’ as in ‘ongoing storyline’ or you will be disappointed (which, I think is what threw a lot of people with World’s End because it’s so different in tone from the others). Think of it in terms of a triptych – three different musings on the same thing.
How can you tell I love these movies?
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FilmCritHULK did a great in depth look at The World’s End.
http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2013/10/03/film-crit-hulk-smash-alcohol-withnail-and-gary-king
It remains a source of disappointment with me that I just can’t get on with Scott Pilgrim.
The World’s End just doesn’t quite do much for me. I enjoy the humor but find it somewhat unsatisfying by the end and i think it’s mostly the story and relationship between the main characters.
Read part of the article you linked to, and i think it’s a good dissection of the movie but even knowing some of the finer points of the characters and themes it still doesn’t do much for me.
For Scott Pilgrim that movie i have a love/hate relationship with. I think the movie is almost great, there is a lot that works for me and that i love. And i do love Michael Cera as an actor, despite him repeatedly playing the same character in everything he’s in… but he was obviously miscast as he shares virtually zero qualities that the comic character has. He did his best but i can’t help but think how much better it would’ve been having someone with the proper charisma.
I have read (and deeply appreciate that review), but I think there are even more things with the themes.
SPOILERS AHOY!
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Adding space because not sure how and/or can’t spoiler text.
IT GETS DARK AFTER THIS. You have been warned.
When looking at it through the frame of alcoholism / addiction: addiction is inherently destructive. Remember how Gary causes the Armageddon? That hostile wasteland is also the world unfiltered by alcohol in the wake of all the damage he’s done. One of the common problems for addicts sobering up is actually having to live in a world that has turned hostile because they broke it.
The other (something I recognised instantly, but most people are lucky not to) is Gary’s reason for needing to FINISH the crawl. I disagree about it being an AA meeting. Look closer – this is a hospital crowd. At the end we even see Gary’s wrists (remember how he refused to show them?). The reason he needs to finish is tied up in the name of that last pub (and the movie title). He failed his first attempt (both the crawl as a youth and his suicide that put him in hospital) but he needs to succeed, have this one last thing to finish off right. That’s why he can’t explain why he needs to do this: it’s his goodbye but if his friends find that out they’ll try to stop him and that is the last thing he wants at that moment. He wants the world to just stop. He’s tired. He wants it to end. And where do we see the most self-inflicted damage? The King’s Head. It’s where the paranoia really starts setting in. Where he would literally rather bash his head in than face his real issues.
And yes, when you hurt that much, normal people often do seem fake and superficial. But when faced with the choice that the Network gives him… Well, the side effects are worse than the benefits of the medication.
Hulk is right in saying that none of the coincidences are accidental. That’s why I count it as one of the best written movies ever. In a way, it’s it’s OWN blank. Gary is not a hero. He is our own weaknesses and hurts writ large: the more aware we are of them, the more we can see it.
Yes, I like this movie a lot.
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Assuming you’re on the website the spoiler option should be under the gear icon in the top right of the comment box. If you’re replying by email or the option isn’t showing including [spoiler] at the start and [/spoiler] at the end will do the trick.
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Thank you!
Quite welcome.
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