Review: Shaun of the Dead (2004)

The other night, me and my other half had a much needed film night in. Pizza was ordered, the freezer was stocked with ice-cream, and we just needed to decide what to watch. Then he just happened to casually mention that he'd never seen Shaun of the Dead before. What! Well, that was one dilemma solved! When will you pair learn to hide your shameful non-movie watchingness, you just get shouted at from all angles!!

Shaun of the Dead is the first of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, and also fits into the extremely niche zombie rom-com genre! A Zom-com if you will! Shaun (Simon Pegg) isn't having a great time. His girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield) has just dumped him; she's tired of spending every night at the Winchester pub with Shaun and his best friend Ed (Nick Frost). To drown his woes, Ed takes Shaun to the Winchester pub to cheer him up. Ed's speech is actually foreshadowing the rest of the film if you listen carefully!



So, Shaun and Ed get horrifically drunk, completely p*ss off their housemate Pete by playing electric music in the middle of the night, and wake up the next morning to find out that everyone around them has turned into a zombie. Despite the warnings of the news reporter on TV, Shaun and Ed set out to rescue his Mother (but not Philip, sorry) and Liz.  Just reminds me how much I love the scene when they are deciding on the plan:

"We take Pete's car, we drive over to Mum's, we go in, take care of Philip - "I'm so sorry, Philip" - then we grab Mum, we go over to Liz's place, hole up, have a cup of tea and wait for this whole thing to blow over. "

I don't watch horror films and the only other zombie film I've seen is Zombieland, so I can't really discuss the parody characteristics of Shaun of the Dead, but as a comedy, I absolutely love it. From terrible throwing skills to Ed's driving skills, this film makes me laugh just as much every time I watch it. I don't remember when I first saw it, but I know it was with my Dad, and we still talk about it and quote it all the time. We were on a caravan holiday and it just happened to be on TV one evening, and so we sat and watched it on a TV smaller than most tablet screens!

I too am not a horror fan but I am a zom-com fan (i'm not entirely sure if I came up with this or its a common thing to call them zom-com's but for the purpose of this post, I am staking claim!).  This was a great start to what turned out to be an awesome trilogy, I still love the scene where Shaun and Ed are throwing records at the zombie lady but don't want to throw the 'good ones'.  I laughed out loud nearly all the way through this film, its typical British humour paired with a zombie apocalypse - what more could you ask for?!

Don't be fooled though, because nestled in this loud-out-loud comedy are some serious moments that really grab you. I'm sure everyone must have seen this but spoiler alert anyway: the part where Shaun has to shoot his Mother brought a genuine tear to my eye.  I'm pretty sure the first time I saw this I cried, she was so lovely about it all as well!

I recently got a copy of Shaun of the Dead on DVD as I'm pretty sure the last copy is my Dad's, and there are a crazy amount of extras to go through. I've already watched the gag reel which is great, and there's a little section for the plot holes too. I'll make sure I get through all of it at some point! We need to have a movie night solely dedicated to the Cornetto Trilogy and its extras!!!

Now, I don't like giving out full scores because I tend to think that nothing can be perfect, but if any film deserves it from me, it's Shaun of the Dead.  Ooooh this is interesting, have you given a 10 before?  I don't remember seeing one!! I think Gone Girl is my only other 10 so far!

I did love this film, I can't give it a 10 because it's not up there with my other 10's but it's pretty close.

Review: Run Fatboy Run (2007)

I'm going through a little Simon Pegg phase at the moment (really?! you wouldn't guess from our draft list!! haha!) after getting my other half to watch Shaun of the Dead for the first time. I forgot how much I loved his films and I hadn't seen Run Fatboy Run since it came out in the cinema 7 years ago, so it was about time I re-visited it!

On his wedding day, Dennis (Simon Pegg) panicked and ran away from his future wife who was pregnant with their first child. Five years later, his ex-fiancée Libby (Thandie Newton) has moved on and leads a successful life with their son Jake and her boyfriend Whit (Hank Azaria). Dennis is determined to win her back and so enters a marathon to prove himself.

If you've ever seen one of my favourite Christmas films Jingle All the Way, the theme is familiar. Bad Dad must better himself and right the wrongs he did in the past. Admittedly, what Dennis did 5 years ago was truly awful and certainly can't be solved by running a marathon, but that's all I'll say without spoiling the ending for you.  That's what I could never get my head around when I watched this film, how does running a marathon fix anything?!

You can expect the same kind of humour as Simon Pegg's other films. Swear words dotted about, funny faces and the middle finger, and subtle moments where if you blink you might just miss them. Also, as an un-fit person trying to get fit, this film is hilarious. We've all looked like Simon Pegg above during our first spin class, right? I think I can do outdoor running just as well as he can too, although I'm slightly better dressed.  That is EXACTLY what I looked like in the ONE spin class I ever attended!

I love the Simon Pegg film humour, its typically British (see my At Worlds End vs This is the End post coming soon...) and I have to say although it made me want to vomit a little bit the blister scene had me in stitches.  I did kind of miss Nick Frost after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz but I suppose that can be forgiven!

Hank Azaria makes a great sort-of bad guy, but the supporting characters are fantastic too, mainly Dennis' best friend Gordon (Dylan Moran) who only spurs Dennis on because he has a huge bet on him completing the marathon, and Dennis' landlord Mr Goshdashtidar (yes, I checked my spelling) who declares himself Dennis' assistant coach and slaps him with a spatula every 5 minutes.

For me Mr Goshdashtidar (I copied and pastes Allie's from above ha!) was the highlight, which is surprising as a fan of Simon Pegg but he stole ever scene he was in.  It wasn't as funny as Shaun of the Dead, but then it was more predictable so you sort of saw the jokes coming, whereas in SotD you literally had no idea what was going to happen next!  They took the rom-com and turned it on it's head (albeit kept the predictable bits) and limited rom bit and focused on the com bit.

I really do love this film. I cried a little at the ending, but then it doesn't take much to set me off. Run Fatboy Run is my ideal film when it comes to comedy, and I love how it doesn't have to have a Hollywood hunk to be a great rom-com either. I have to mark it down for Dennis' actions at the very start of the film though, as I image to some it would make his character come across as very unlike-able. 

 

I will also recommend a Simon Pegg film (except How to lose friends and alienate people...) because I love his sense of humour and difference his films have to other comedies out there.  If you haven't seen it, see it, if you have, see it again.