Got Fuzz? Hot Fuzz Movie Review

Ah, the American action movie. Countless movies have parodied them, some successful, some downright awful. Now leave it to our friends across the pond to pay their homage this year with their own version of the buddy cop movie infused with the ever so esoteric British humor. You either are gonna love it or hate it. My friend totally hated it, thinking it was all out action movie, which I said "was gonna be like Bad Boys 2". So it wasn't totally all out action, but had its merits. Hot Fuzz, brought to you by the guys who made Shaun of the Dead, contains some laugh out loud moments and an exhilarating over the top action finale, but those action lovers wanting non stop action from start to finish will be disappointed.

I'm a fan of all movie genres. More so the action, of course, but am willing to watch just about every kind of movie from all countries. I appreciate foreign cinema and their distinctive idiosyncracies: fromHong Kong with their penchant for well choreographed action, South Korea for their well done melodramas, Japan for their samurai and period flicks and the like, you get the idea. Then there's Thailand, France, Spain, Mexico and much more - just so much more in cinematic offerings than just Hollywood; I pity the fool who is complacent at watching the same unoriginal plot re-tread, clichés re-done, re-makes of wonderful foreign movies, and of course the ever utilized sequel that the big moneymaker studios in Hollywood keep on cranking out year after year to no avail. It's a never ending cycle I tell you. Name me one original movie coming out this summer. Time's up. You lose Dr. Jones.

Back to the topic at hand: one genre out there unmatched is that of British humor. Those who grew up watching those funny British shows on TV, Are you Being Served, The Red Green Show, Benny Hill, Little Britain, even less funny shows like Doctor Who will know that the British have their own brand of comedy and that won't click with a lot of people. Same goes for one genre I love, that's Hong Kong cinema, and sometimes the humor is out there, that it's kinda well, you just to see it I guess. Anyways Nicholas Angel is getting promoted from his job because he's so good, he's embarrassing the force. So he is transferred to the country village where he must face a possibly conspiracy of a cover-up in what appears to be an oh so innocent village that hasn't had a single crime commited in 20 years. Then someone turns up dead and the race is on. Teamed up with a country bumpkin cop and son of the police chief, Angel must make do with the resources he has to solve the citie's first murders in 20 years. All this of course is done in a deadpan way, but is successful in mixing several different genres into an overtly obvious homage to the American action movie by the time the final act starts rolling.

Am I spoiling you too much? Not a bit. Hot Fuzz is a departure from the standard generic movie and if that's what you were expecting, you're rightly wrong. It takes its time to slowly build up characters and the story and that does take a bit for the impatient before any real action takes place. Besides the subtle comedy, there is tons of action in the finale for the action fans, bits of grotesque horror for the horror lovers, and an actual air of mystery/conspiracy as the protgaonist starts unraveling this mystery. The movie is actually rated R for the random acts of violence that ensues with each murder. So ridiculous it made me laugh out loud. Think Final Destination set in a quaint little English village. Heh. I'm glad I saw it, as it was a nice departure from the norm. I might need to see Point Break and Bad Boys II again to refresh my mind. Woo-sah! Get you some Hot Fuzz! (Whatever that means!)

Go Get 'em Tiger: Spiderman 3 Review

Beware the law of sequelitis, the unwritten manifesto dicdating that in order to be a sequel, one must be bigger, badder, with more explosions, more cgi, and more kitchen sinks to top the previous installment! The first movie to usher in the summer movie season, Spiderman 3 is a little overstuffed with some uneven parts, but overall another entertaining spectacle that is a summer movie sequel.

Peter Parker comes full circle this movie, embracing himself as the icon that the public has made Spiderman out to be, who he could become if he didn't take control of his life, while Mary Jane Watson is a struggling actor hoping to land that gig into stardom on Broadway. Harry Osborn is back, still with that asteroid size chip on his shoulder, mad that Spiderman killed his father, or so he believes. On top of that, a little venom goes a long way.

For most of the movie, the characters are in fact well acted. Tobey Macguire has got the nerdy Parker/Spidey act down to a tee, Kirsten Dunst is the sweet love interest who stands between 2 best friends. The story plays out like pages out of a comic book. There also is an unexpected amount of comic relief, some intentional, but doesn't detract too much from the movie, in fact had the theater cracking up pretty bad.

With a runtime of 2 hour 20 minutes, the movie is indeed long, with not one but three villain/pseudo-villains each trying to take their shot at our webslinging hero. It seems a bit bloated with different plot threads that eventually collide in the obligatory climactic grand finale of a third act where all heck breaks loose and things start getting destroyed and mayhem ensues requiring the requisite intervention of our protagonist.

There is a lot of action, and it is for the most part well done and exciting as the camera swoops in every kind of angle imaginable to capture the action. CGI is used a lot of course, though some shots do seem rushed and not as real as other movies. Perhaps this is intentional with the comic action, which is forgiveable.

All in all, Brothers Raimi have crafted another decent installment of the friendly neighborhood Spiderman. Hey, it was a lot better than X-Men 3 and it's guaranteed to make oodles of money in the box office.

Ugh. Pizza.

Wow, I never update this thing anymore. So I will now. I had a medium pizza today from Pizza Inn, New York style crust, half pepperoni and half Italian sausage. During lunch it's half price, so it's a little more than 7 Simolians for it. Saves me a trip home through this torrential rainstorm we're having right now. Eek. And there goes my 1300 calorie daily allotment. Just kiddin.