Hot Fuzz

Started by modage, March 08, 2005, 12:52:12 PM

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pete

must you be ashamed of everything that comes out of your hood?
"Tragedy is a close-up; comedy, a long shot."
- Buster Keaton

ASmith

Certainly hints at a more promising film than Broken Lizard's sophomore effort.  I think if I had read the script rather than seen those trailers I may have had a similar reaction as Garan.  From an American perspective, some times all I need is a British accent to push something over the hump of hacky or cheesy.  Brits receive a positive credibility prejudice.

modage

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

modage

Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

gob

Best bit of that trailer is clearly the Timothy Dalton appearance!

grand theft sparrow

Quote from: gob on December 01, 2006, 01:51:46 PM
Best bit of that trailer is clearly everything before, after and including the Timothy Dalton appearance!

modage

Hot Fuzz will be released on February 16, 2007 in the UK and April 13, 2007 in the US.  Stay tuned for more details!
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

'Shaun Of The Dead' Director Turns To Buddy-Cop Man-Love With 'Hot Fuzz'
Edgar Wright's latest, due April 13, features 'Shaun' stars Simon Pegg, Nick Frost.
Source: MTV

When "Shaun of the Dead" seemingly came out of nowhere three years ago to delight horror and comedy fans alike, many asked the same question: Who is this Edgar Wright? OK, perhaps if you were an Anglophile and die-hard fan of the cult BBC comedy "Spaced," you knew, but for the rest of us, Wright's frenzied blend of action and humor, not to mention his mastery behind the camera, took us aback.

Now Wright is returning with "Hot Fuzz," starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and again he's tweaking a beloved genre. Last time it was horror, and this time it's the buddy-cop film and the bombastic works of Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay. Wright recently gave MTV a sneak peek at his new film, due April 13, calling us with pals Pegg and Frost nearby.

MTV: I walked out of "Hot Fuzz" laughing over my favorite new phrase: "crusty juggler."

Edgar Wright: Nice. Do you have that phrase in the States, "crusties"? Remember what the Spin Doctors looked like? They were crusties. The white dreadlocks and matted hair — that's the crusty look.

MTV: Speaking of interesting phrases, tell me about the title. Why "Hot Fuzz"?

Wright: In the '80s and '90s the action films always had two-word titles. Sometimes they made sense, like "Lethal Weapon" and "Executive Decision," and then they started to get weirder, like "Cold Heat" and "Maximum Risk" — things that didn't make any sense. We liked the idea of this cool-sounding police film. There's no actual hotness in the film from Simon and Nick.

MTV: When did you come up with the idea for the film?

Wright: I started thinking about it after we released "Shaun." It was partly inspired out of a teenage love of cop films, and of course the film is set where me and Simon grew up. It's very much what people think of as picture-postcard England. The idea of ruining that chocolate-box image with lots of Jerry Bruckheimer violence appealed to us enormously. It was also the fact that there aren't any British cop films.

MTV: Why is that?

Wright: Because up until now international audiences would laugh at British cops. They look cute with their helmets and jumpers. They haven't got any guns. Compared to your Texas Ranger badasses, they don't quite match up. We aim to address the imbalance.

MTV: The film is filled with references to famous buddy-cop movies and action movies in general. What are your favorites in the genre?

Wright: I'm a big sucker for "The Last Boy Scout." I think that's an underrated gem. It's truly funny, and the action is over-the-top. The greatest action film of all time is probably "Hard Boiled." And "Die Hard" is the best English-language action film.

MTV: You lovingly pay tribute to the "Bad Boys" movies in particular. Have you met Michael Bay?

Wright: I have — I met him at the World Stunt Awards a couple years ago. I commended him on the "Bad Boys II" car chase even then. Whether he'll put two and two together when he sees this, I don't know.

MTV: I enjoyed the way the film essentially becomes one of these over-the-top action movies in the last third.

Wright: That was totally the point. When Simon and Nick watch "Point Break" and "Bad Boys II" on DVD, it's like from that point on, those films have entered their subconscious and they've become badass cops. Even the idea of the title only appearing at the end is that they haven't become hot fuzz until the last seconds.

MTV: It's the origin story.

Wright: Exactly. This is just the pre-credit sequence. There's a whole other two hours coming later in the year. [He laughs.]

MTV: Have you talked about what the further adventures of this duo might be?

Wright: Simon just said today that we should do the "Crocodile Dundee II" thing with them going back to the city and call it "Hot Fuzz II: Pigs in the City." Uh oh, Simon's making a face at me! [To Simon] It's OK, it's an American journalist. The British police won't know. Oh no, they're called pigs in the States, too! What do we do? [To MTV] It's OK. You can print that. There are worse things to call police.

MTV: This is a much different Simon than we saw in "Shaun of the Dead." Did you ask him to pattern his performance after anyone?

Wright: At the start of the film he's almost like Mr. Spock or Edward Woodward in "The Wicker Man." He's got this humorless, emotionless level to him. The other performance we were modeling him after was Robert Patrick in "Terminator 2," especially the way he runs. If you look at the foot chases, there's a bit of the T-1000 in there. [He laughs.]

MTV: There's no love interest in the story for Simon this time — except for Nick, I guess.

Wright: In the first draft of the script there was a girlfriend character named Victoria, who worked in the hotel. Then we did a read-through, and someone suggested we cut the character out and concentrate on Simon and Nick. That's exactly what we did. And not only did we cut her out but we gave a lot of her dialogue to Nick. So he has a lot of the girlfriend's lines, which is where we take our homoerotic subtext to the max. It's platonic man-love. It's "Brokeback Precinct."

MTV: With "Shaun" and now this, you, Simon and Nick are forming almost the comedic equivalent of the Scorsese/ De Niro /Pesci collaboration.

Wright: [He laughs.] I don't know. [To Nick] Nick, would you like to be described as Joe Pesci to Simon's De Niro?

Nick Frost: Absolutely not!

Wright: You can just call him the Sammo Hung. That's easy.

MTV: Beyond Nick and Simon, you assembled an amazing cast for this, from Bill Nighy and Martin Freeman to Timothy Dalton.

Wright: I really like the way the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson work, where you get this sense of a repertory of actors. I like the idea of sometimes having Bill Nighy in a big role in one film and in a small role in another.

MTV: So Simon is going to be relegated to a supporting role in the next one?

Wright: He's standing right next to me, so I won't say that. [Simon says something.] I haven't said anything bad!

MTV: The word is that you are directing one of the trailers featured in "Grindhouse" [the double feature by Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez that will include fake trailers in between]. What can you tell us about it?

Wright: At the moment I'm trying to keep the title of mine quiet because essentially it's the punch line. But I'm shooting some of it next week and the rest in two weeks.

MTV: Are Simon and Nick in it?

Wright: They may be. If they are, they will be very unrecognizable. It's going to be scary and weird.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

modage

INTERNET EXCLUSIVE TEASER: http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/hotfuzz/empire/InternetSpotV3large.php

edited by Edgar Wright
scored by Robert Rodriguez
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Pubrick

or download for safekeeping:

(14.4MB)
under the paving stones.

MacGuffin

What are you laughing at?
It's the oldest jibe in the book: 'Americans just don't get irony.' But they do, argues comedian Simon Pegg - our national senses of humour have more in common than we like to think
Source: The Guardian
 
You could spend a lot of time exploring the differences between British and American comedy only to reach the conclusion that, ironically, they're pretty much the same. Back when director Edgar Wright and myself were writing our debut feature, Shaun Of The Dead, we were certainly banking on a comic universality in the story of a suburban waster battling the living dead. We had every confidence that the humour would translate. Indeed, we made only one subtle dialogue adjustment during the writing process, changing the word "pissed" to "drunk", so as to avoid any confusion between the conditions of being munted and mardy. The film went on to enjoy surprising success in the US, suggesting that surmounting the supposed gulf between our respective senses of humour requires nothing more than a light skip.

When it comes to humour, however, there is one cultural myth that just won't die. You hear it all the time from self-appointed social commentators sat astride high horses, dressed as knights who say, "Ni". They don't get it. They never had it. They don't know what it is and, ironically, they don't want it anyway. That's right: "Americans don't do irony." This isn't strictly true. Although it is true that we British do use irony a little more often than our special friends in the US. It's like the kettle to us: it's always on, whistling slyly in the corner of our daily interactions. To Americans, however, it's more like a nice teapot, something to be used when the occasion demands it. This is why an ironic comment will sometimes be met with a perplexed smile by an unwary American. Take this exchange that took place between two friends of mine, one British (B), the other American (A):

B: "I had to go to my grandad's funeral last week."

A: "Sorry to hear that."

B: "Don't be. It was the first time he ever paid for the drinks."

A: "I see."

Now, my American friend was being neither thick nor obtuse here; he simply didn't immediately register the need to bury emotion under humour. This tendency is also apparent in our differing use of disclaimers. When Americans use irony, they will often immediately qualify it as being so, with a jovial "just kidding", even if the statement is outrageous and plainly ironic. For instance...

A: "If you don't come out tonight, I'm going to have you shot... just kidding."

Of course, being America, this might be true, because they do all own guns and use them on a regular basis (just kidding). Americans can fully appreciate irony. They just don't feel entirely comfortable using it on each other, in case it causes damage. A bit like how we feel about guns.

It's not so much about having a different sense of humour as a different approach to life. More demonstrative than we are, Americans are not embarrassed by their emotions. They clap louder, cheer harder and empathise more unconditionally. It's an openness that always leaves me feeling slightly guilty and apologetic when American personalities appear on British chat shows and find their jokes and stories met with titters, not guffaws, or their achievements met with silent appreciation, rather than claps and yelps. We don't like them any less, we just aren't inclined to give that much of ourselves away. Meanwhile, as a Brit on an American chat show, it's difficult to endure prolonged whooping without intense, red-faced smirking.

Of course, it's the mainstream output of our respective entertainment industries that tends to shape our general opinion of each other. Ask the average American what they perceive British comedy to be and you will most likely be quoted shows such as Benny Hill and Are You Being Served? (although, thanks to BBC America, this is beginning to change). The fan demographic for both shows is markedly more diverse than in their country of origin. This is probably due to their parochial peculiarity, rather than the quality of the comedy (although both shows had their moments) and perhaps explains why the American audience took to Shaun Of The Dead with such affection. A refusal to occupy that transatlantic middle ground that sometimes scuppers British films intent on appealing in America means that the film plays as resolutely British. That approach does risk certain social and cultural references being lost in translation. But not many. The only joke in Shaun Of The Dead that never got a laugh in the States was Ed's request for a Cornetto ice cream at 8am on a Sunday morning. Overall, the cast's understated reserve in the face of flesh-eating zombies just added another layer of amusement for American viewers.

When it comes to their mainstream, America's emotional openness has often given way to a sentimentality that jars with our more guarded and cynical outlook. This is why the initially enjoyable Happy Days became blighted by saccharine lessons in family values, as Henry Winkler's originally subversive Fonzie was mercilessly appropriated by the middle-class American family, castrated by Marion Ross's Mrs Cunningham and forced to sit on it (although it's interesting to note that in outtakes from the series, Winkler and Ross would often play out an irresistible sexual tension between them with stolen gropes and kisses, solely for the enjoyment of the live studio audience, hinting at darker, more interesting themes than the show itself ever tackled). Generally speaking, sentimentality isn't easy for us. It makes us nervous and uncomfortable. We become edgy and dismissive of these brazen displays of emotion.

As the global village conurbates, however, our emotional habits are shifting. We are easing towards a slight liberation from our national inhibitions - although hopefully not losing them completely. Our uptightness is, after all, a huge part of our charm. The sitcom Friends, for instance, a show often dismissed by the cynical as "cheesy" or "schmaltzy" - and certainly capable of being both - was wholeheartedly adopted by the British public. So much so that two years after its final episode, a day barely passes without its inclusion in the schedules. Could it be any more ubiquitous?

I hated Friends when it first aired. The very title was anathema to me. It immediately evoked the embarrassing, droopy-eyed longings of the sickeningly hug-happy new American youth. The thought of all that togetherness, untempered by ironic undermining, made my skin crawl. Yet it drew me in. Due to a fine ensemble cast and some genuinely funny scriptwriting ("You're over me? When were you under me?"), Friends was readily accessible, even to us closed-off Brits. In fact, it arguably even opened us up a little. I certainly went from sneery to teary at Ross and Rachel's passionate, reconciliatory smooch. This moment might actually hold the key to a middle ground between British and American humour, specifically when it comes to heartfelt, emotional expression. The British aren't against it; we just believe it comes at a price. The success of the emotional climax in that particular scene is due entirely to the comedy preceding it. Ross's perm, Monica's fat suit, Rachel's nose all go toward setting the tone for the payoff, which the audience wholeheartedly accept. The sentiment is a reward, rather than a device to engender a sympathy laugh or, worse, a big, soppy, "Awww".

This device works in the best situation comedy on both sides of the Atlantic. The difference is perhaps simply that the average American is prepared to accept it sooner. Still, who could deny Del Boy a tearful pat of Grandad's chair, after his Keaton-worthy tumble through the wine bar? Or scoff at the field of poppies that fills the screen at the close of Blackadder Goes Forth? Similarly, Hawkeye's breakdown in the final M*A*S*H or Sam's switching off the lights of the Cheers bar for the last time both suggest we are prepared to take our comedy with a side of emotional drama. So perhaps we're not so dissimilar, after all.

One of the best exponents of worthy sentiment is a show that could easily be argued to be the greatest sitcom the US has ever produced. A razor-sharp, joyously dumb and potentially endless treatise on the American family and its suburban environment, The Simpsons is a remarkable show in that, in what is essentially a children's medium, it has established itself as a constant and often highly critical reflection of America itself. Hiding its subversiveness in bright colours and absurd situations, it has made satirical comment on virtually every aspect of America, rehearsing ideas that are at times positively "un-American". Yet at the same time the show exudes an enormous warmth and sentimentality, and holds at its heart great positivity about the linchpin of the American dream: the family. George Bush Snr once declared that Americans should be more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons. Simpsons' creator Matt Groening responded, saying, "Hey, the Simpsons are just like the Waltons. Both families are praying for the end of the Depression."

Scratch the surface of US comedic output and you will find many more such gems. Shows such as Arrested Development, Family Guy, Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Larry Sanders Show all display a highly sophisticated sense of irony. But it's not just the more subversive end of comedy that disproves the myth: Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Futurama, Seinfeld, M*A*S*H (despite being wounded by canned laughter), Roseanne, Frasier, My Name Is Earl, to name a few, have all made an impact on America's popular consciousness. The Office is a perfect example of how edgier comedy can work on a grand scale on both sides of the Atlantic. The British and American versions have their own cultural and emotional specificities, but both work as painful satires on a lifestyle familiar to millions of Britons and Americans alike.

With the whole "Americans don't do irony" thing cleared up and consigned to the dustbin/garbage pail of passive/aggressive international preconception, we come to mine and Edgar Wright's latest filmic effort, Hot Fuzz. A film that we hope surfs the wave of subtle difference between our two countries, until it crashes red and frothy on to both shores. As if Tony Scott were to guest-helm an episode of Heartbeat, Hot Fuzz takes the most shamelessly histrionic excesses of American cinema and smashes them into that conservative and profoundly territorial enclave of Britishness, the country village, never once faltering in the assumption that everyone out there will understand. After all, we may all be different, but we're all capable of getting the same joke. In a world beset by prejudice and difference, how ironic is that?
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

gob

Cheers for that MacGuffin.
I saw the film last night and whilst it may not be perfect I love it. I'm not sure if it's a better film than Shaun but it's probably funnier. All the performances are really great, special nod to Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton and Paddy Considine but no one here is slacking. There's a really wonderful mixture of humour, for some reason it reminded me of the best Simpsons episodes in its rapid fire delivery of a mixture of visual and verbal; broad and intelligent comedy. There's a "Point Break" running gag that has had me making a fool of myself by cracking up today in front of people when thinking about it. As soon as it finished I wanted them to stick the first reel on and start all over again. The action is pretty competent with some very good moments, the Tony Scott influence is very evident and although wandering a bit close to overdoing Edgar Wright manages to keep everything on the rails. Also there was a Q+A with him and Simon Pegg afterwards and unsurprisingly they were very cool and funny.
I eagerly await seeing it again later in the week.

modage

SO JEALOUS right now.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

Quote from: modage on February 13, 2007, 02:58:45 PM
SO JEALOUS right now.

Source: CHUD

You're not going to be happy about this, but Hot Fuzz has been moved back a week to April 20. This might really be good news, though, as Focus/Rogue says "This new date gives us a prime position to aggressively launch the film here in the US." Could this mean that the movie will be opening wide after all? It defintely takes the film out of the tailwind of Grindhouse, which can't hurt. The studio says the reason for the delay is how well-received the movie has been at screenings in the UK and the US.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

Pubrick

Quote from: MacGuffin on February 13, 2007, 04:05:20 PM
The studio says the reason for the delay is how well-received the movie has been at screenings in the UK and the US.

if it was any better they might never release it at all!
under the paving stones.