Category Archives: Comedies
Hot Fuzz
Note: This movie is rated MA 15+.
Seeing as I forgot to post yesterday, I have to post twice today, true to my once-a-week promise. I thought I’d do a double-whammy and, after being prompted by the near genius of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s recent film Paul, review the two Pegg/Frost/Edgar Wright classics, and the first two movies of the “Cornetto Trilogy”, Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. The “Cornetto Trilogy” is a series of three movies (SotD, Hot Fuzz, and another to be released) written by Pegg and Edgar Wright, so named for no other reason than they each have a flavour of Cornetto appear in them.
I started with Shaun of the Dead (my review for that is here) and I’m continuing with Hot Fuzz here.
Hot Fuzz is, I think, my favourite of the Pegg/Frost movies. It’s about Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), a successful London police officer who is reassigned to a small country town because he’s making the other big-city cops look bad. The first few weeks pass without incident and Nicholas is bored until a series of strange accidents start cropping up. Several people are killed and Nicholas takes it upon himself to investigate, together with his new friend and partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost).
It’s a bit of a piss take of a lot of classic cop movies. Simon Pegg seems to be into piss takes.
My Dad has pointed out to me a few times that their movies have the same style of humour with more or less the same characters, and I talked about that a little bit in my review of Paul. I think it’s true to an extent. The humour is similar, there’s gore and bum jokes, fart jokes and a hell of a lot of swearing (so much so that on the extras of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz there’s a brief clip of scenes that have been dubbed over so they say “funk” instead of a certain something else). I’d say Nick Frost’s characters in all three movies are incredibly similar, and Pegg’s characters in SotD and Paul are alike as well. It has to be said though, the slight repetition has no effect on the movies’ enjoyment factors, and Pegg’s character of Nicholas in Hot Fuzz is quite different to his other roles.
Nicholas is such a cool dude. I actually had a bit of a crush on him. Even though he’s a bit old for me, Simon Pegg’s kind of cute. No? Nobody else seeing it? Oh well. He’s determined to do the right thing and his constantly focused on his work, a little too much. I just loved him.
The humour in this is bottomless. Every second line is funny, and Pegg and Frost’s comic timing is perfect. The whole thing is topped off with brilliant casting, people capable of pulling off a funny line (Steve Coogan, for example. And Bill Nighy.)
Just as with SotD, there is an MA 15+ rating on this film for a reason. It’s not scary, exactly, but there’s a lot of splurty blood and guts, and like I said, a lot of cursing. Not a movie you want to show your kids. But for everybody else that’s not at least younger than about twelve there is endless joy in this. I can barely fault Hot Fuzz. It’s everything I look for in a movie, British accents, explosions and all. Full marks, 5/5 stars. Well done to Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost. Classic.
xx
Za.
P.S. My friend Rebecca was sitting next to me as I wrote this. I’ve been ordered to mention how smart and cute and hot she is. She’s an awesome friend and I wish I could be like her. Happy, Rebecca? 
Paul
Note: This movie is rated MA 15+.
I went to see Paul yesterday with my parents, and I found myself pleasantly amused. I’m glad I let them drag me along because it was a really great laugh.
Paul is the latest project from friends and funny buggers Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It begins with two innocently nerdy blokes from the UK heading off on a road trip across America, but their course is altered when a rude alien named Paul asks them for a lift as he runs from the FBI.
Now, it must be said, Pegg and Frost do have a definite style of comedy. It’s very British and very vulgar, but it does work for them. They are hilarious every time, and although Paul maybe isn’t quite as well executed as, say, Shaun of the Dead, it is a lot of fun and so, so, pants-wettingly funny. The comedy is just ruthless.
On top of that they have managed to also pull off a sweet storyline, with a couple of nice twists towards the end. They’ve managed to fit in romance, a road trip, superpowers, aliens, and explosions, all in a movie starring a couple of typical underdogs. The whole adventure package. It’s really thrilling watching something with everything satisfying you could ask for packed in. And anyway, you know me; I really have to enjoy something when there are explosions in it.
My favourite thing about Paul wasn’t the asplodes though. It was the nerds. So often I feel like us nerds aren’t celebrated. That people don’t like us because we’re interested in things that they aren’t interested in, and therefore they’re odd. Just today I had a friend of mine roll her eyes at me and call me a nerd because she overheard me and another friend raving about the new season of Doctor Who. She meant it in a derogatory way. Which wasn’t nice at all.
But Pegg and Frost are absolute geeks, playing absolute geeks, but they’re awesome geeks. They’re funny. It’s nice to see nerds being represented in a positive way in the media.
My main problem with Paul, I’m sad to say, is that it felt a bit American. I love these boys when they’re in their natural environment: cloudy England. Take them outside of that and put them in the States, with Americans, who have a very different sense of humour? It just didn’t seem to mesh well. There was something there that sat a little funny in my belly. And on top of that, the jokes are just a tad adult. And I’m fine with that, but as a kid you have to wrestle your way through them sometimes.
So I think my verdict for Paul is going to be 3.5/5. Certainly great for escapism and fun. Definitely worth a growed-up’s money, but maybe not for you little bubs out there.
xx
Za.
High Fidelity
High Fidelity is one of those classic indie movies. Kind of like Garden State. With peculiar but very cool characters and a ripping soundtrack. I don’t think I liked it quite as much as I liked Garden State, but maybe I was just in a better mood that day. Or something. But I still enjoyed it. Just not as much.
High Fidelity follows the story of a slightly self-loathing record store owner as he breaks up with his long-term girlfriend. Rob is a compulsive list maker, and throughout the movie he revisits his top 5 most memorable break ups and tries to find out why girls always break up with him, in a sort of self-discovery way.
The acting is fabulous and John and Joan Cusack are both hilarious in their roles. I cared about all the characters. In particular I liked Todd Louiso as Dick, Rob’s quietly opinionated employee. He was sweet and funny and just quiet. He was a real dork and I was rooting for him the whole film – when he got a girlfriend I was over the moon. Dick, representing nerds everywhere.
The thing I loved most about Rob was how cool he was. You know, when you see somebody cool in a movie, you just want to be like them, you know? And Rob was just, like, completely cool. He didn’t care about anything. He was so hipster it made my eyes burn. He was so laid-back I was worried about him falling over (Geddit? Laid-back?). The whole vibe of the thing was incredibly relaxed and just… cool.
The ending was great, too, a little reminiscent of 500 Days of Summer. It felt like the beginning of a relationship. The beginning of a new story. Like the movie had gone from start to start rather that start to finish. I liked that.
The best thing about it was EASILY the soundtrack. What an amazing soundtrack. Great music. Mmm.
My problem with High Fidelity is pretty shallow. It’s one of those things where I just don’t feel absolutely… right about it. There’s something that doesn’t sit right with me. I could never really get completely into it.
But, that being said, I did really like it, and I can’t fault it on many levels. So I have to give High Fidelity 4/5. Pretty good, huh? I can probably recommend it.
xx
Za.
Despicable Me
Herro!
Last night, I saw Despicable Me. It was just awesome, with the cuteness overload and the plot and OMG THE CUTENESS!!!!!!!
*WARNING! THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
Plot: Mr Gru wants to steal the moon. Using a shrinking gun/laser. Who some other bad guy has, called Vector. So he tries numerous ways to steal it, each ending in failure, until he notices three little orphan girls selling cookies. They get in.
CUE THE LIGHTBULB!
Anyway, he adopts them, and at first he hates them, but they grow closer, and become a happy family. SO CUTE.
But complications arise when Gru becomes a little …. too distracted by the girls, as well as the fact that the shrink effects are temporary. Which is discovered after the Moon is shrunk.
I can’t be stuffed to say anything else, so you should REALLY GO WATCH IT!!!!
Fave character: I’d have to say Agnes, or the minions.
Agnes:
Minions:
Fave scene: When Gru reads them a story book with puppets.
Also when Agnes wants/gets her unicorn toy.
Fave baddie: Gru counts. He’s a baddie.
Fave machine: The squid gun!!!!!!!
Fave explosion: At the end, when the Moon returns to its original size
Fave quote: “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna DIE!” – Agnes
And stay through the credits! 3D is really good there, but actually, no where else. Just the credits part.
And for the quote/scene :
I would add some more, but that would ruin the movie.
GO WATCH!
BE ASTOUNDED BY THE CUTENESS!!!!!!!!!
4.9/5
It would get a 5/5, just because IT’S SO CUTE, but when he gives them back, it’s just so… not very emotional. I think that they could play on Gru and the girl’s emotions a little more.
Rawr,
Jo
Despicable Me
Hello again.
Last Saturday, I went to see Despicable Me.
It’s a GOOD MOVIE, in CAPITALS, and you should all see it.
PLOTLINE:
In Egypt, it has just been discovered that the Great Pyramid has been stolen and replaced by a lifesize, inflatable replica. meanwhile, there’s this guy called Gru who’s really evil. (Well, not really, but hey, that’s what he thinks.) He discovers this, and starts trying to thing up a plot to out-evil this mysterious evil guy. He finishes up with:
STEAL THE MOON!
Unfortunately, this is going to be hard, unless the thing’s a whole lot smaller. So he starts trying to steal a shrink ray from a guy called Victor. Or Vector, as he calls himself.
There’s a fight over the shrink ray, involving cookie robots, a fart gun, a ticket to a dance recital,and some healthy head-freezing. Quite hilarious. Also playing a significant part in the story are Margo, Edith and Agnes, 3 girls from an orphanage, who are adopted by Gru when he sees that they can get into Vector’s lair by way of cookies. Now you see the need for cookie robots. Gru ends up treating the girls as real daughters at the end, and it’s quite happy-sad-nice.
4.9/5.
H.
Toy Story 2 & 3
In the holidays, I saw Toy Story 3 and 2, and I thought both of them were great. They’re both really funny, and captivating, and Toy Story 3 was heaps better than I expected.
Toy Story 2 is when Woody is stolen by the Chicken guy, and almost sent to Japan. Along the way we meet Jessie, and Bullseye, and another Buzz, and his dad, Zurg, and the bad guy, Stinky Pete. Woody doesn’t want to go to Japan, but Pete tries to stop him. Naturally, the day is saved by normal Buzz and the rest of the toys.
And in Toy Story 2, we meet the adorable little aliens, who take to Mr Potato Head after being rescued by him. They are the cutest.
Toy Story 3 is when Andy is off to college, and all the toys are left behind, and almost thrown out. They make their way to Sunnyside Daycare thingy, and it seems perfect, but Woody is loyal to Andy, so he leaves. Anyway, Sunnyside isn’t all it seems, as head bear Latso is more than just a friendly old toy. At the end, ignoring the journey, the toys are headed towards a big inferno, where rubbish is burned. It’s really touching here, because all the toys hold hands, but then the adorable little aliens rescue them, using “the claw”.
I’ll try not to spoil it anymore, so I’ll try and wrap it up. Like I said, I think all the Toy Story movies are really epic. They’re not just for little kids, they can be for anyone with a sense of humour (or not). Really funny, interesting and overall awesome.
I’m sorry it’s a bit short, but I’m giving it a 5/5 (gasp).
Jo.O
The Invention of Lying
Rented The Invention of Lying last night and watched it with the family and pizza.
The Invention of Lying revolves around the premise that the lie has not yet been invented. The whole world believes everything everybody says. Nobody even keeps their thoughts to themselves. Fiction does not exist. Advertising is very blatant. People know when they are good-looking, or smart, or strong, or a loser, because people tell them and they know it’s true. Then the main character, Mark, played by Ricky Gervais, finally figures out he can say things that aren’t.
Now, I don’t know that much about Ricky Gervais, but I’ve seen some of The Office and Extras – his stuff is a little too dry for me. It’s funny, but it doesn’t make me laugh out loud. It’s either a bit too dark or a bit too insulting. I loved it when he hosted the Golden Globes, but I wasn’t really expecting to love Lying, seeing as he writes, directs, and stars in it. I’m also not a huge fan of Jennifer Garner’s, who stars alongside Ricky in this, because I don’t think she’s very authentic as an actor. She also has big lips. See?
But unlike Ricky’s other stuff, I settled right into Lying. The first scene, where he goes and picks Jennifer’s character, Anna, up for a date, is absolutely hilarious. As the movie progressed I got more and more comfortable. A lot of the humour is on my level, very much so. Some of my favourite jokes were the atheist-aimed religious ones, but I have more to say on those and I’ll come back to them later. The blatant disregard for people’s feelings that always telling the truth induces is very funny.
It’s very fun that the movie is peppered with famous comedians. They mostly have side-parts. I liked that.
And amazingly Jennifer Garner’s lips didn’t bother me until about three quarters of the way through. She acted well and I enjoyed her performance. Ricky Gervais, too, was great. I have to say it, he’s not an actor. He’s good, but not really up to standard. He is a comedian. That being said, he was authentic and he did make me cry. Though you’re not to mention that to anybody.
I was going to say more before I touched on the downsides of the movie but unfortunately I’m having a bit of writer’s block and it’s hard for me to get my thoughts straight at the moment. So I’ll move on. Downsides.
As I said before, I loved the religious jokes. Ricky is an athiest and likes to hit religion pretty hard. Especially Christianism. A word I am not sure even exists, but there you go. That’s writer’s block for you. I am an agnostic, but as I was explaining to my friends the other day, I have a thing about most forms of Christianity. There, that’s the word I was looking for before!
I’m not going to go into this too deeply, but the sheer narrow-mindedness of a lot of orthodox Christians gets to me. Christianity is beautiful, with inspiring messages and wonderful stories to tell, but the Bible I feel sometimes is… too punishing and too cruel. A lot of the religion is harmed by bits in it, I feel.(Just read this paragraph back to myself – if you are offended, I am really sorry and I won’t mind if you stop reading the blog, but I try not to be too judgemental. If you want to complain or have any problems or questions, email me at kidsgomoo@gmail.com.)
So to me, the religious jokes and put-downs are funny.
But if the movie had been big in America,the Christian capital of the world, Ricky Gervais could have gone down the plughole. Some of the jokes are completely offensive to some religious people, and at the end Mark, the main character, reveals that the “Man in the Sky” does not exist. I’m betting that a lot of the bad reviews for Lying were because of these kinds of jokes.
The only other incriminating factor of the movie is the ending. I won’t ruin the ending, but the final scenes are such a huge anti-climax. Sure, there’s a happy ending, but it’s so… boring. The ending is a let-down. The script is poor. It’s just embarrassing.
But overall, The Invention of Lying is crazily fun. A huge laugh, and definitely worth seeing. 3.5/5.
And sorry about the writer’s block.
xx
Za.
Sex And The City 2
Note: This movie is rated MA 15+
I love going to see chick flicks with my mum, and Sex And The City 2 was no exception. Last night was a girly blast.
Sex And The City is, in case you don’t know (where HAVE you been living?), is a long-running American television series featuring Sarah-Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, a writer and columnist from New York. She and her 3 gal-pals, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda had many adventures over the show’s 6-year run, mostly sexual and mostly in the city.
The first movie, which I just realised I haven’t reviewed (quite sad) came 4 years after the TV series ended, and was basically leaving the girls’ story at a pretty finite end. Hell, by the end of the movie 3 of the 4 are married, which doesn’t leave much room for another installment, because there can’t be a lot of dramatic sex going on. And then it wouldn’t be Sex and the City, it would just be… The City. But then, 2 years after the first movie, this one came out. Basically, each of the girls are having problems in their lives, so they come up with a solution! Abu Dhabi! They trot halfway across the globe, hoping to put some space between them and their issues. So not only does there end up being little sex, there is little city. Still, they manage to hold together some sort of plot as the friends enjoy cocktails and basic SATC situations, including insulting and making fun of Middle-Easterns, and of course, ridiculous outfits.
This movie can be construed as silly and offensive, very American and too over-the-top. Lots of critics have dismissed it because of these things.
But in true Kids Go Moo spirit I am going to rebel against the conservative critics. My opinion is that this movie, because of its silliness, is fun. It is basically continuing our relationship with the girls we have come to know and love, and ending it on a happy note. If this is to be the last we hear of the SATC girls (incidentally there’s a rumour there may be a 3rd film), why not leave them with a bang? The story is not supposed to be sensible and of high quality, it’s there to give the viewer a laugh, and that is exactly what it does.
As for offensive, my mum put this pretty well – it’s only offensive if you go in to be offended. If you are expecting the movie to be awful and insulting and sexually extravagant then that is what you will get. If you go in expecting to be amused and have a good time, that is what you will get. It’s only easy to see the failings of the movie if you’re uptight about it.
Over-the-top? If the critics had any idea what SATC is about, there is no way you can call SATC2 over-the-top. Everything about the series is over-the-top. There is one scene where Carrie goes to a souq (Middle-Eastern market) dressed in a full purple evening skirt and a ripped old t-shirt. It’s all decadence. It’s pure gold. It’s SATC tradition.
However I can not save this movie from Americanism. An amendment to my previous point – sometimes the scenes in Abu Dhabi are too insulting. Samantha in particular appears to have no idea how to control herself in the Middle East. I have been to Egypt, and if you did half the things Samantha was doing, you would probably be killed. No joke. The characters seem to hold themselves above the people in Abu Dhabi in true upper-class-American style. Also my pet peeve about the movie is Miranda pronounces “shukran” (thank-you in Arabic) completely wrong.
So, final thoughts: Sex And The City 2 is fun. Silly, over-the-top, offensive, American, and fun. It’s a great night out with the girls, but only if you’re over 15 or you have a parent. 3/5.
Speaking of parents, here’s a NOTE TO PARENTS: There are 2 quite graphic sex scenes in SATC2, so think about it before letting your younger-than-15 daughter gallop off and see it. Maybe watch a few episodes of the TV show at home with her or something beforehand.
Adios!
xx
Za
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
My older brother went out to see Robin Hood last night (unfortunately he mostly thinks Kids Go Moo is lame so little chance of him posting a review) so my mum bought us the DVD copy of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and we stayed home and watched it.
Cloudy features a wannabe scientist named Flint Lockwood who is in desperate need of a big break and a girlfriend. Luckily, a perky weathergirl comes along and gives him both of those things. She televises his invention of turning water into food (thus making it rain food), even when the invention starts to go wrong. In the end, they all live pretty happily ever after.
Everyone in my family had the same favourite part, which was hilarious. Flint makes it rain burgers for the first time and everybody in the town is amazed. Then, somebody in the background yells, “This tastes significantly better than sardines!” which is what they’ve been made to eat for years.
I don’t know, it was funnier on screen. I’d post a video of it, but I couldn’t find one.
This actually has a really wide target audience. It’s very funny. Like, seriously funny. I wish I had more to say about this movie, but it doesn’t take much to reach this conclusion:
Cloudy is an excellent animation that is great for all ages and will give everybody in your family a laugh.
Great. Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray. 4/5.
xx
Za
