Hey folks, Harry here... SHAUN OF THE DEAD opened spectacularly in the UK yesterday - but it was being slightly beat out of first place by that corporate load of shit, SCOOBY DOO 2! Well, fuck that! You Brits aren't gonna let an American CG Dog kick shit out of the best fucking british film in years are ya? I mean, do y'all really have that much lack of pride? I mean, over here in America, folks are laughing and heralding Freddie Prinze Jr over your vaunted Simon Pegg - pointing at the British Box Office for proof! Well FUCK THE AMERICANS HARDCORE! SHAUN OF THE DEAD must rule! SHAUN is destined for #1! Hell, the Scooby gag in SPACED is better than the entire fucking over-produced series of live-action dreck, and SHAUN OF THE DEAD is brilliant... don't believe me, check out these reviews... and Fan art by Neil Cook!
Hi Harry and Mori,
I haven't written before and I know you've already put up a number of reviews but I thought you might like a more British perspective on 'Shaun on the Dead'.
The British film industry has been in something of a rut for decades now. This is a shame as there is creative talent over here by the bucketload, but there is a total lack of feature film funding. Instead we are too often the studio for American films looking for facilities, but with the rise of Australia and New Zealand in the wake of 'The Matrix' and 'Lord of The Rings' even that seems to be threatened. British directors get the hell out and decamp as soon as they can to foreign lands and financing - which is a real fucking shame because the remaining output has become stale.
There are three types of formulaic movie we turn out 1) The low budget gangster film 2) The kitchen sink drama 3) The feel good comedy. This isn't to say the occasional good film doesn't slip through but in general cliche holds sway, originality is dead and the British voice is confined to a few bumbling lines from Hugh Grant, generally playing second fiddle to a Hollywood star. No one in this country has made an equivalently daring project to rival Arnofsky's 'Pi' or Kelly's 'Donnie Darko' in a long, long time. Even the French piss on us, despite comparative systems they still manage to turn out gems like 'The City of Lost Children' and 'Irreversable', in France there is a greater willingness to take creative risks.
So I want to thank Edgar Wright, following on from Danny Boyle last year, in restoring my faith in what it is possible to produce in this country. 'Shaun of the Dead' may be a genre film but at least it is a daringly wonderful one, a love letter to US Zombie classics combined with an achingly British sensibility, and no fucking Hugh Grant! Every penny spent has been pushed as far as it can go, to make it as cinematic as it possibly could be. This film is so British it hurts, from pints and salted peanuts to shit electrical shops stuffed full of annoying, smart arse, spotty kids. Thanfully it also speaks the international language of geekdom so there's plenty for an American audience to enjoy, as well as some great dialogue and brilliant visual gags.
This isn't to say 'Shaun' is a perfect film. Jessica Stevenson's character feels underwritten in the scenes she appears in and seems to exist more as a nod to fans of Spaced than for any other real reason; though the moment she appears leading a who's who of British TV comedy is an unexpcted gem and left the cinema in hysterics. Also, though Simon Pegg ably carries the movie his comedy schtick is not a million miles away from Spaced's 'Tim', I did find myself wondering if he will be able to create significantly different characters in future films or whether this will stand as a career high point. I hope he and Edgar can prove that this isn't a one off and surprise us again and again in the future. For the most part though the film's comedy, pacing and great supporting performances carry it straight over any problems. It is also surprisingly affecting, with some great moments of horror akin to any of the c! lassic Zombie films you care to name.
There are some nices touches for fans of 'Spaced.' Keep your eyes peeled for a Zombie 'Tyres', and how Simon Pegg managed to keep a straight face whilst saying 'Fried gold' I will never know...
My only fear is how well this film will do. Without doubt it will make it's budget back in Britain alone, but I was at an opening night screening in Oxford and it wasn't sold out. I'm hoping that as it was a Bank Holiday that just meant all the die hard Spaced geeks had rushed out to watch the earlier screenings in the afternoon (If I hadn't been working I'd have been there too!), but I don't know if this will have the same legs as '28 Days Later' did. Hopefully word of mouth will turn it into the bonafide hit it deserves to be. So when this film opens in America, on however limited a run, get out there and see it!!!
Anyway, this is a film us Brit's can be really proud off, possibly the finest comedy we have produced since 'Withnail and I' and our best film since 'Trainspotting'.
If you use this call me 'Hitchcock's Hamster.'
PS. 'Batman Begins' is shooting all over the place at the moment, a lot of night filming took place around Canary Wharf the other week Before photography started in London the crew did a week in Iceland. This film will have such a unique look, I can't wait...
Here's still more proof...
Hi Harry,
Luv the website.............have never written in before but basically have never felt the need to............that is until now. I have just got back from a late night showing of Shaun Of The Dead, which has just opened up in the UK today. First of all, I'd just like to get a little something off my chest
OH MY GOD....THIS FILM KICKS MAJOR ASS.....BIG TIME!!!!!!!
AH - I feel better now!
Maybe its the fact that I'm a huge fan of the TV show 'Spaced'
Maybe its the fact that I'm a huge Zombie movie Fan
Maybe its the fact that I'm glad to finally see a decent picture come out of the UK
Or maybe, just maybe - its the fact that I have seen one of the most enjoyable films I have ever seen...EVER!!!
Now you probably all now the layout of the film by now, and I wont go into to much details to spoil it for those who won't have the chance to see it for a while (wow - for once its us Brits that don't have to wait for a change). The highlights for me from this film are as follows!!
The choice of weapons....-Cricket Bats, shovels, records, pool cue's, etc etc etc:
A dart to the head (trust me - its hilarious)
Down to earth witty one Liners (follow me, it's a running buffet...all you can eat)
Background action (you really need to watch it to catch it all)
But I think the best thing about the film is that its so simple but yet so effective, and I just cant believe that its never been done before..........the guys in the audience were cheering, laughing, yelling.
The women in the audience had tears in their eyes - I mean this film has it all.....violence, horror, comedy, romance.
Ok - now for the bad stuff!!!
NOPE - sorry, cant think of anything ,....................not one bad thing!!
I usually judge a movie on how good it is by the amount of time I look at my watch, or on how long it feels I've been sitting on my ass. Well all I can say is - I didn't look at my watch once....and it felt that no sooner had I entered the cinema, the credits were rolling and 2 hours of my life had just flown by.
So all I have to say is - THIS FILM ROCKS!!
I'm gonna go and get some sleep now so that I can get up bright and early to buy myself a cricket bat and wait for the end of the world to come.
If you use this then call me G-Man.
Laterz
and lastly here's Snuggleskunk!
Only contributing because I'm english and just saw shaun of the Dead on it's opening day so felt I could share my opinion
Bloody brilliant.
I don't know how well this film will translate but since you all seem to love Spaced it should go down well. Not going into a long review because there are enough up there already but wanted to point out it actually isn't a horrible spoof of a zombie films. rarely is the publicity true but it really is a romantic comedy thathappens to have Zombies in it. Yes it's funny and yes there are rip roaringly hilarious moment and yes there is gore (DYLAN MORAN WE LOVE YOU!) but it has a plot it has serious bits and there are some real heart felt moments where you could even cry. If you see one zombie movie this year it should be dawn of the dead but if you want to see one purely genius movie that covers the whole span of human experience see Shawn of The Dead
call me snuggleskunk!
and then The Bloodied Cricket Bat...
Hey Harry,
Firstly, I just wanna say a super big thanks for all the support you guys have been giving to 'Shaun of the Dead'. As a massive fan of 'Spaced' I couldn't believe the amount of coverage that you were giving to a relatively small scale British zombie comedy! So, yeah, cheers for that!
And thankfully, 'Shaun' more than lives up to the build up. It is stunning, and really does make me feel proud to be British, unlike some of the dross that we produce.
However, I can't but feel worried that the film will go unwatched by much of the public. I went to an afternoon screening yesterday, the day of release, and the screen was very far from full. My brother then went last night, and I was suprised to here that, again, the attendance was pretty low. It may just be that the town i live in is a cultural void, but I'm also concerned by the lack of publicity over this film. There are few posters about, and I've yet to see a TV spot. Also, whilst 'Spaced' die-hards will undoubtedly be seeing the film this weekend, the show is a bit too much of a 'cult' comedy to rely on it's reputation alone. In a recent BBC poll of the nation's favourite sitcoms, 'Spaced' didn't even get mentioned in the Top 50!!!
But anyway, fingers crossed that word-of-mouth can propel 'Shaun' to the position that it deserves.
And thanks once again!
The Bloodied Cricket Bat
