Hello and welcome back to DOOM!’s exploration of the Comic Book film genre hosted by Aaron Poole and JJ Hawkins. This month we We take a look at Edgar Wright’s film Scott Pilgrim a film that both hosts believe to be a perfect film. If you want Edger Wright hate, this is not your place to look this month. Nope. So, if nothing else, this episode should serve as a great excuse to watch this one again…and again.

Seven different shades of evil. Looks like one hell of a party to me, no?

Just this one still image shows how dynamic this film looks. In fact, I am not going to fill this post with pictures, just watch the film already!

Download this episode (right click and save)

View the RSS feed!

In 2005, Edgar Wright made his feature film debut with Shaun of the Dead, a self-proclaimed “Zombie-Rom-Com” penned by himself and Simon Pegg, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. It simultaneously parodied and paid tribute to the Zombie genre while being a pretty kick-ass Zombie flick in itself. It became an instant classic.

Hey look, they’re fighting Zombies in a pub!

Two years later, Wright, Pegg, and Frost took on the buddy cop genre in Hot Fuzz. It also became a cult classic. This is my personal favorite of the two.

Hey, they’re fighting baddies in another pub! What are the odds?

Their next film, The World’s End, was teased as the final entry in what has been dubbed by Wright as the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, otherwise known as the Cornetto Trilogy, due to the use of different flavor Cornetto ice cream cones in both films (Drum Sticks are the American equivalent).

Shaun of the Dead had Strawberry,

Red label for Zombie blood

Hot Fuzz had Classic,

Blue label for Cop uniforms

And presumably The World’s End will have Mint.

Green label for… Minty fresh Alien breath?

And now, 6 years after Fuzz, we have our first peek!

Five friends (Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Eddie Marsan), at Pegg’s insistence, reluctantly attempt to recreate a pub crawl they failed to complete in their youth, which ends at the ominously named “The World’s End” pub.

Yes, one is called “The Famous Cock”

As the night goes on, they start to realize there’s something amiss with the people of the town. Namely that they are all NIGHTMARE FUEL.

“Sir, can I borrow a ligh-HOLY SHIT, AHHHHHH!!!”

First off, I love the casting. Simon Pegg looks quite different from his usual role; he pulls off a punk look, and gets to play the fool.

I tried to find a straight-faced Pegg in this trailer, but I honestly couldn’t.

Pegg’s character seems to be stuck in the past while his old buddies have moved on to more mature, professional lives. It will be interesting to see how his character arc will contrast with the sci-fi nature of the rest of the movie.

We also get Nick Frost, who looks good as ever.

Every time I see Frost in a new part, he inhabits it in a way that is different from his previous roles. Yes, he is almost always the clumsy oaf in some respect, but his characters seem to have range. From a soldier in the Territorial Army, to a down-and-out loser, to a somewhat reluctant cop, he always brings his A game. I cannot wait to see what he does in this film.

Pegg in the back, not giving a single shit.

Oh by the way, in the shot following the above pick, Frost STARTS PUNCHING A BUNCH OF PEOPLE USING BAR STOOLS AS FISTS.

HELL. YES.

After a cameo in Shaun, and speaking role at the beginning and end of Hot Fuzz, it’s great to see Martin Freeman as a full character in this film.

You rock that BlueTooth, Martin!

Paddy Considine is also in this film, whom you may recognize as one of the Andys from Hot Fuzz. Glad to see he makes a return!

DAMN, he cleans up good!

I have to admit, I don’t know much about Eddie Marsan, but I do know I have seen him in other movies. At any rate, I’m sure he’ll be hilarious.

“No, I do not want to get ‘shit faced’.”

And all have good flashback doubles. They manage to resemble their mature adult counterparts whilst looking like they’re out to get stone drunk.

Of course the last of the trilogy wouldn’t be complete without a fence jump!

So without further ado, here’s the complete Blood and Ice Cream Fence Jump compilation!

We aren’t explicitly told what’s going on in this teaser (okay, we kind of are), but I’m going to call it: it’s aliens. Need proof? Here’s a still for ya:

E. T. phone home ON YOUR ASS!

There’s also multiple electric explosions.

What happens when you mix Mentos and Jager bombs.

And what looks like extra terrestrial blood on Simon Pegg’s face.

I’m perfectly okay with aliens! Zombie, Buddy Cop, and Sci-fi make for a really good action flick triple feature! I would pay money to see these three films shown back-to-back-to-back in a theater in an afternoon. I’m really hoping AMC, Alamo Draft House, and/or others will do just that for this film’s release. If not, I’m going to watch Shaun and Fuzz of my own accord right before seeing The World’s End, and I encourage you to do the same! Come on, let’s get annihilated!

I leave you with this awesome pic of Simon Pegg flipping a double bird.

JJ and his amazing friends Aaron and Jason sit down for a Christmas-y good time. One small problem. We never get there. My friends, I have been doing this podcast for quite a while now, and I know that you have to let a conversation derail. Some of the best conversations on this show have been because the whole show derailed. However, this is the first time I can remember it derailing on the introductions. The resulting show, has very little to do with Christmas, that is true. It does, however, have lots to do with music, movies, and much about the divinity of Edgar Wright. (and in all fairness, it seems that Blur was used in beer ads, not conditioner. That will make sense after you hear the episode) Merry Christmas everyone!

Click here to download!

View the RSS feed!

I have never read the Tintin comics. The adventures of a young boy and his dog don’t really appeal to me all that much. Call me crazy. However, despite my scepticism it is a beloved comic and has run for decades. Even with that haircut.

Motion capture animated films are not the most popular in the entertainment industry. Films like The Polar Express haven’t done terribly but have yielded a mixed reaction from critics and the movie going public. I can understand the feeling. It’s not quite live action, not quite animation and completely strange to watch sometimes.

So when it was announced that they were making a Tintin motion capture animated film you can imagine my apathy. But when I found out who “they” were, it piqued my interest. Written by Steven Moffat (Dr. Who), Edgar Wright (Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) and Joe Cornish (Attach the Block) and starring Daniel Craig, Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis and a long list of other cool actors. It got my attention.

While it may be a movie made by cool film makers will it still be a good movie? A feature length trailer had arrived to give us a clue so lets take a look.

Watched it? Good, here are my thoughts:

– lol cat

While the “fall over a cat” joke isn’t high on my list of rib-ticklers, the cat itself and it’s face gave me a chuckle.

That’s a face.

– A Face For Comics

Speaking of faces, Tintin ain’t a looker. For our main protagonist, it’s going to be rough staring at this thing for 2 hours. Animated or not, he’s ugly.

And I always thought he was blonde. Was he a ginger in the books?*

– Captain Haddock

First of all, great name. Secondly, look at that nose! Finally, Andy Serkis… yay!

… that is all.

– Spalsh!

Going back to a problem I have with motion capture animation. While it can be great to have realistic movements and such, when you add it to rubbery faces like Capt Haddock’s above it becomes a strange and uncomfortable viewing experience. My brain doesn’t accept it. However there are some great looking effects like the water splashes here.

Very realistic, but it’s a cartoon… but it’s real… but it’s a cartoon…

————————————————————————————————

Overall, I have to say I’m not exactly blown away by this. While there seems to be plenty of high action pieces and some slapstick comedy thrown in, the trailer is such a mishmash of information that I have no clue what’s going on other than “adventure… and boats!”.

I’d like to keep faith in the people involved with making the film, but whoever made the trailer did a bad job of selling the movie to me. With the sequel already in the works, however, they may not care.

* Turns out it depended on who coloured him. Plenty of images of TIntin as both a ginge and blonde when I google it.