Shaun Of The Dead

[hathycol]

Stranger than fiction: Disraeli, Hitler and the Cold War

Real people that some believe never existed
Ethelred the Unready King of England 978 to 1016 - 63 percent (Why? Why think he didn't exist?)
William Wallace 13th-century Scottish hero - 42 percent (Been to where he was held trial. Right next to Charlie, actually.)
Benjamin Disraeli Prime minister and founder of the modern Tory party - 40 percent (not if you live in Ormskirk! We have a pub and pointless statue for the bloke.)
Genghis Khan, Mongol conqueror - 38 percent (I... how?)
Benito Mussolini, Fascist dictator, 33 percent (And again.)
Adolf Hitler - 11 percent (Oh god, it hurts.)
Winston Churchill - 9 percent (And again.)

Real events some people believe never took place
Battle of the Bulge 52 percent (Just because it has a silly name doesn't mean that it wasn't historical.)
Battle of Little Big Horn Scene of Custer's last stand - 48 percent (*whimper*)
Hundred Years' War 44 percent (If people remember they hate the French, they should bloody well know WHY.)
Cold War - 32 percent (Oh, come on, this didn't end until recently.)
Battle of Hastings, 15 percent (!)

Fictional characters who we believe were real
King Arthur, mythical monarch of the Round Table - 57 percent (I suspect that Orlando Bloom will not help this situation.)
Robin Hood - 27 percent (Oh Dear.)
Conan the Barbarian - 5 percent (Arnie?)
Richard Sharpe, fictional cad and warrior - 3 percent (Beaneh!)
Edmund Blackadder - 1 percent (How I wish it were so.)
Xena Warrior Princess - 1 percent (I'm disinclined to believe this.)

Fictional events that we believe did take place
War of the Worlds, Martian invasion - 6 percent (What, and no one noticed?)
Battle of Helms Deep, Rings Trilogy - The Two Towers - 3 percent (Ah. Uruk-hai, those quintessentially British fellows.)
Battle of Endor, The Return of the Jedi - 2 percent
Planet of the Apes, the apes rule Earth - 1 percent
Battlestar Galactica, the defeat of humanity by cyborgs - 1 percent (There are no words for the above three

And people wonder why I bitch about stuff being historically inaccurate?

The article was nabbed from emmysuze who nabbed it from here.


Woke up. Swore at alarm. Fought zombies.

Yes, today promised to be a day that would, maybe, end the zombie phase. After months... well, weeks on a growing zombie phase and SFX rave reviews, I went to see Shaun Of The Dead. We were the first people in the cinema for the first showing of it EVER in the local cinema. I am such a geek. But it was worth it!



It started off promisingly, with a very Romero-esque look at suburban London. Zombies all around, I say! It was also extremely... British. It had a pub called the Winchester, they ate peanuts and drank bitter, and that just made it funnier and more familiar. They used all the British swearwords I love to death.

"You called Di a failed actress and David a tw**!"
"I did NOT call Di a failed actress!"

(I can't WAIT until I can write that without asterisks.)

Anyway, the film got into action quickly, with one thing and another. It was at this point me and Andrew were probably the only ones laughing in the cinema as Shaun wanders down to the shop, complete ignores the zombies wandering around because the whole place is the same - you only had to look at the eyes to know they were dead. It was the bloody handprints that he ignores that made me laugh. Very Romero-esque, or at least a subtle dig at what Romero is meant to be. (See? Told you I'd be a pretentious film nerd.)

And then the film got into it in fine style. Plenty of the whip-pans you see in Spaced (same director, apparently) and it was just.. stonking.

"Plan! Get in car, drive to Mum, kill Philip, get Liz, go back home and have a cup of tea while we wait for this to blow over."

Hee!

All the so-hip-it-hurts British comedy types were in at some point. Pretty much all of Black Books - Bill Bailey had a cameo as a zombie, I'm convinced. Obviously, The Other Bloke From Black Books (I'm so crap at names) was in the lead cast too. Andrew and I simultaeneously shrieked "DAISY!" at one point. Even though she's not technically a lead, I was delighted to see her. I really, really was. The stand-out moment for me was when all the lead cast are going to try and get to the pub for safety, so there's Shaun, Liz (girlfriend), her housemate and her boyfriend (Black Books!) plus Tim (Shaun's housemate) are walking along. Suddenly, they see something in front of them - is it a zombie? No, it's the greatest cameo set of all time - it's all perfectly mirrored, Daisy with some dude from The Office (the one playing Arthur Dent!), his male housemate, plus the woman from Black Books (opposite the other dude - hee!) and then finally whatshisface from Little Britain in the same outfit as Tim.

Oh. And some bloke called Bill Nighy is in it...? *grins*

I laughed my arse off. So did everyone else in the cinema. That, unfortunately, is probably why the film will bomb in other countries - no one except the Really Cool But Few People who watch them in other countries will get the jokes. But there we are - it's thoroughly enjoyable anyway.

Anyway. The other stand-out moment is when they're in the pub, finally reaching salvation, when zombies start clawing at the door. For various reasons, the jukebox suddenly starts blasting out Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' whilst they're beating a zombie (in time) with snooker cues.

I mean, the whole thing is just funny. There's one very dark moment when a character who we've not been particularly emotionally attached to basically dies, but that was it. Or so I thought. The last half hour had me tilting the other way - thought I might cry. It's so dark it's unbelieveable, and yet still thoroughly engaging.

Whilst the whole film is undoubtably funny, the ending is the best though. I like 28 Days Later. I really do. But I remember reading in an interview that Pegg really resented Boyle for just basically denying that it was a zombie film. As such, the flicked past part on the news of "Theories that the infection was caused by rage filled monkeys has been proved to be a load of bull-" meant I was the only one is the cinema laughing. Again, though, it was so BRITISH. There was Trisha ("My husband's a flesh-eating monster!") and Vernon Kay and newscasters that we know. The ending too was a happy one, to an extent... but not in a cheesy way.

In conclusion, I loved this film. I thought it was bloody BRILLIANT and I urge you all to go and see it. Possibly even twice. And then read my review, because it's incomprehensible if you haven't seen the film.

Anyway. Megan-sized people have gone home, finally, and I'm going to go and watch Red Dwarf. It's the one with the Rimmer song. *grins*

~Hathy_Col~

Comments

[emmysuze.livejournal.com]

I saw Shaun of the Dead! It was hilarious! Simon Pegg is a genius. And I love Bill Nighy too. It was great.

I'm also deeply shocked by that article. It's just not right!

Hugs,

Em

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Yay! Someone else watched Shaun Of The Dead on the first night! It's not just me!

How can people think Robin Hood is real but NOT believe in William Wallace? *shakes head*

[emmysuze.livejournal.com]

I only goes to inflate my ego because I feel intelligent!

[nerd-king.livejournal.com]

"Theories that the infection was caused by rage filled monkeys has been proved to be a load of bull-"
I think I was the only person in the St.Helens UCI cinema laughing at that like a madman.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank god. I feel your pain. It was me, and me alone, laughing like a hyena in the middle of an audience of Scousers.

Best line of the whole film, though!

[cucharita.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, but the ending, just made me think of you in a Homebase uniform. :p
I loved the 'don't stop me now' bit. I was so amused & laughing.

It's definately a film to see again.

[hathy-col.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, but the ending, just made me think of you in a Homebase uniform.

*cackles* So, so true.