Xixax Film Forum

Film Discussion => The Vault => Topic started by: modage on March 08, 2005, 12:52:12 PM

Title: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 08, 2005, 12:52:12 PM
Edgar Wright Talks Shaun Follow-Up
Source: Empire Magazine

Exclusive: Empire gets the skinny on Pegg and Wright's next move

The Shaun of the Dead bandwagon may be rumbling on through its tour of America, gathering celebrity fans left, right and centre (George Romero, Sam Raimi, and Quentin Tarantino are all huge fans, and Peter Jackson has called it "the most entertaining film I have seen all year."), but Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg aren't just sitting back and letting all the adulation go to their heads.

Instead they've started work on their eagerly-awaited follow-up – and Empire can reveal that it's not a sequel to SOTD. In fact, the boys are tackling another much-loved genre.

"We want to tackle the action / cop genre. The idea would be to do a sequel in tone to Shaun but to tackle what we think of as the Great British Action Film, in the grand tradition of The Young Americans and Downtime," laughed Edgar, speaking exclusively to Empire from his hotel in Minneapolis.

"I've always found it amusing when I was at college and there was a spate of films out that tried to make out that London and Scotland and Manchester were as action-packed as LA or New York," explained Wright (seen here with Pegg and the original 'The Dead Walk' newspaper from Day of the Dead, donated to them by FX guru, Greg Nicotero).

"But I don't think there's really been a convincing UK action film. I don't count Get Carter or Long Good Friday because they're more crime films. So I'm not slagging off all the great British crime movies. We just thought it would be really fun to make the UK equivalent of Hard Boiled or Desperado - but very, very English!"

It had been reported recently that action was where Wright and Pegg were next headed, although with the involvement of the likes of Little Britain's Matt Lucas and David Walliams, and – bizarrely – Dustin Hoffman and Alfred Molina mooted for cameo roles. Well, let us shoot down the clay pigeon of rumour with the trusty bullets of fact.

"It's very early days but some of the story was *beep*," said Wright. "Not that we wouldn't want to work with them. We could find a part definitely for Alfred Molina. He's a great British actor and one of the best villains working at the moment."

The only cast members so far confirmed include Pegg (naturally) and Nick Frost, whose Ed went down such a storm in Shaun. But though there won't be any cross-over in characters between Shaun and the new movie, Wright did reveal that the two films might not be totally separate. "I love the idea of expanding and having a repertory company in a way. I like the idea on the next one, as well as involving some of the Spaced and Shaun crowd, to cast the net wider and keep bringing people into it," confirmed Wright.

"We'd like to continue over a couple of scenes or running jokes. There are a couple of synergy things in Spaced and we'd like to take them across, the same way Tarantino did with Red Apple cigarettes. So there's the idea that this is taking place in a universe."

Although Brits and action don't necessarily go hand-in-hand, Shaun was cool enough, dark enough and more than funny enough to revitalise the zombie genre. Only time will tell if this follow-up can do the same for action. "We've got some good stuff already and when we get back we just want to knuckle down and write it," said Wright. "It will have elements of comedy and action and some kind of horror elements as well."
Pegg and Wright are writing the script when they can on their tour (and when they're not maintaining their tour diary blog at www.shaunsquad.com) and hope to go into production next year.
And the working title for this Working Title production? "There's a couple of working titles. We're deciding between whether it's going to be Raging Fuzz or Hot Fuzz. It may be neither of these, but it could be fuzz-related. I've got to do a film that doesn't have a pun in the title," laughed Wright. Why so? Worked out pretty well for SOTD. "My CV reads A Fistful of Fingers and Shaun of the Dead. I can't do any more pun-based titles. I can't do it. My IMDB entry is going to look ridiculous!"

For more news on the frankly wondrously-titled Hot Fuzz (our personal preference), stay tuned to Empire.


Exclusive: Hot Fuzz Getting Hotter
Source: IGN Filmforce

Simon Pegg on Shaun crew's next.

January 20, 2005 - They've got a plan, now what remains is to execute it. Simon Pegg and his Shaun of the Dead crew – writer/director Edgar Wright and star Nick Frost – are presently gearing up for their next film: Hot Fuzz.

"We're trying to tell the story of a policeman from the metropolitan police who gets involved in some crazy stuff," says Pegg in an exclusive interview with IGN FilmForce. "It should be quite fun because we're dealing with a culture that doesn't really have guns and the police aren't really armed. So that should be fun trying make an action movie out of that. At the moment a lot is up in the air. I can't be really more specific than that."

The success of Shaun of the Dead both in England and America has led the involved production companies to open up their wallets a bit more. "With [Shaun of the Dead] in the States and the kind of interest in it there, it's been just so wonderful for us, so we were kind of surprised," says Pegg. "Working Title was very pleased with us this year, in fact this year we did them proud, and Universal as well. So the budget for [Hot Fuzz] is kind of more than double what Shaun was."

Production on the film is tentatively scheduled to begin in the spring in the UK. That's if Pegg and Wright can get the necessary elements together. They're working hard to do so, but merely getting their schedules to mesh can sometimes be an issue. Wright recently directed a music video for the band Ash.

"We've just been trying to find the time to sit down and get it together," says Pegg. "We've got lots of ideas. We've made a little bit of real progress already. Actually, we've been hingin' out with the police over here, just sort of researching. We've been going out on patrol and touring loads of police stations and talking to both the cops and criminals; between the altercations. That's all been very interesting. That's the research work we've done so far on the new film."

So how far along are things with the script? Pegg explains that almost all of the elements they want in the movie are there, but, "We haven't actually written it. I've got it next to me now on index cards, it's all written out, which is just the pre-flipcharts stage, so we're just about there. We've got the whole story. It's just the dialogue and the exact structure of it that we don't have yet."
 
The question comes to mind, why did they choose to follow up with this type of film? Is it the genre that's next worth lampooning? "I know that the action film is very much an American film, and also an Asian one perhaps," says Pegg, "but I think the Brits are very much into American cinema, but I don't think there's been a take on it where the conventions of an action movie have been put into a very parochial British context."

He adds with a laugh, "We want to make a British action film. And we kind of want to do a similar take as with Shaun. You know, the Zombie movie was very much an American tradition, and what we did was we took that and we put it somewhere else."

Many fans in America would have preferred Shaun of the Dead to be released a lot sooner than it was. With Hot Fuzz, from conception to its theatrical release in England and the States, Pegg says, "I think it's going to be out quicker than Shaun was."

Even this early in the process, Pegg has had to fend off the comments that his main police characters are going to slap each other around. "There's that great Robin Williams joke about the British police," he says. "Stop or I'll shout stuff again!"
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on December 14, 2005, 10:21:33 PM
Hot Fuzz Gets The Green Light! Exclusive: Pegg confirms Shaun follow-up
Source: Empire Online

Get ready for a dose of Hot Fuzz. Yes, at long, long, long last Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's British cop movie – their eagerly-awaited successor to Shaun Of The Dead - has been given the green light by Working Title. 

How do we know? Well, we spoke to Pegg about, ooh, five minutes ago and he happily confirmed the good news, which we'd been hearing on the grapevine for the past couple of weeks.

"We got the green light yesterday," said Pegg. "It sounds as if it's going to be March, which is exciting."

The movie, which will star Pegg and Shaun cohort/real-life best mate, Nick Frost as two mismatched cops who team up in a West Country backwater, has been mooted for over a year now, with the delay in official news causing some people to fear that it would ever get made. However, just to put to bed the pernicious rumour (in no way started by us) that Pegg and Wright may have been slacking in any way, Pegg revealed the real reason for the delay.

"We've actually been writing it for most of the year!" laughed Pegg. "We've been working so hard on it. It's such a complex script. I think the first draft was 235 pages long because we thought 'oh fuck it, let's just go for it, let's just vomit it onto the page and see what happens'. And we've shaved off a hundred-odd pages, but it's one of those things where if you remove one thing, there's a pay-off later on that needs to be addressed.

"It's been a far more intensive process than writing Shaun," he continued. "Shaun kinda wrote itself in a way, but this took some real brainpower. It's been brilliant fun and a real exercise in comedy and logic. Sometimes we'd sit there frowning at each other, thinking 'we're writing a comedy!' We'd be scratching our heads and crying, but I think that what we've come up with now is a better script than Shaun Of The Dead, so fingers crossed."

Pegg (and Wright) have been loathe to give away plot points, but both have confessed to us recently that Shane Black has been a big influence on the flick (along with Dirty Harry), so we might be getting something a little darker and rougher than we first thought.

"We watched a hell of a lot of movies before we started writing and his movies have that kind of sass," said Pegg. "It's a tribute to those movies, in a way, like a British Shane Black movie. I'm going to sound like whatsisname off Matrix Reloaded -'we've raised the bar!' - but I just hope we can live up to what we kind of inadvertently did with Shaun. We definitely can. We've eaten the bar!"

Sounds good to us. Needless to say, Empire will be all over this the beautifully-titled Hot Fuzz like Velcro. Stay tuned for further news.
 

:multi: "British Shane Black" !!!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on December 14, 2005, 10:34:02 PM
This makes up for Radiohead not doing the score for A Scanner Darkly!

Best movie of... whatever year it comes out.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on March 01, 2006, 09:29:06 PM
Martin Freeman Gets Hot Fuzz
Stars in Shaun of the Dead team's next.

Working Title Films today announced the cast for Hot Fuzz, the second feature from star Simon Pegg and director Edgar Wright, creators of the highly successful Shaun of the Dead. Joining Shaun of the Dead alums Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are Martin Freeman (BBC's The Office, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), Timothy Dalton (Licence to Kill), Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rouge) and Steve Coogan (Tristram Shandy).

The movie, which Working Title confirms will begin principal photography this month, follows the foibles of London's best police officer, Nicholas Angel (Pegg), as he's reassigned by his envying superiors to furthest suburbia. There, in the village of Sandford, the action-oriented officer partners with the laidback Constable Butterman (Frost), and sees little action. That is, until citizens of the quaint village begin turning up dead.

Produced by Nira Park (Shaun of the Dead), Tim Bevan (Fargo) and Eric Fellner (Love Actually), with associate producer Natascha Wharton (My Little Eye), Hot Fuzz will be released - next year in the US, we hope - by Working Title in association with Big Talk Productions.

"We're delighted to once again be joining creative forces with Working Title on this very exciting and very British film," says producer Nira Park. "Together, we're looking forward to giving the police action genre the same treatment we gave the living dead in 2004."
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 01, 2006, 11:05:13 PM
martin freeman in a bigger role and steve coogan joining their universe should be interesting.  i cant wait till next year.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on March 02, 2006, 07:43:37 AM
Quote from: hacksparrow on December 14, 2005, 10:34:02 PM
Best movie of... whatever year it comes out.

Quote from: modage on March 01, 2006, 11:05:13 PM
next year

Quote from: MacGuffin on March 01, 2006, 09:29:06 PM
we hope

Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 21, 2006, 01:26:31 PM
video diary pt. 1: http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/featureProductionDiary.php?featureID=97
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: eloquentpilgrim on April 21, 2006, 09:05:41 PM
Oh cheers for this link modage, sounds very exciting.
I love Simon Pegg, and I'm glad Martin Freeman's in it.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on April 24, 2006, 06:51:26 PM
interview with co-writer/director Edgar Wright at AICN: http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=23111
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on July 23, 2006, 09:50:13 PM
4 Hot Fuzz Teasers Debut at Comic-Con!
Source: Superhero Hype!

At one of the last and probably funniest panels on the last day of the Comic-Con, director Edgar Wright and Nick Frost, best known for their 2004 zombie comedy, Shaun of the Dead, returned to San Diego to appear before the audience of fans and give them a preview of their new police action comedy, Hot Fuzz.

Before they came onstage, a few bits from the Hot Fuzz podcast were shown for the audience to give them a taste of the behind-the-scenes, and then Edgar and Nick came out to rapturous applause, having obviously found many more fans since Edgar and Nick's co-star Simon Pegg brought Shaun of the Dead to the con two years prior.

After an brief introduction, Edgar said that he had a bit of unfinished footage to show, but was fairly emphatic about anyone videotaping or photographing it, even suggesting that those in the audience could "hit anyone in the nuts" if they were sitting someone videotaping it. After the lights went down, the footage rolled, beginning with a drawn-out shot of a hedgehog sitting on a police uniform, followed by a shot of a toilet flushing and similar shots, making it obvious that the footage was a joke, which got funnier the longer and more esoteric the footage got.

When the lights came up, Edgar said that he had a few teasers to show as well, and those really were worth seeing because they were hilarious and they all went over really well with the crowd. (Hopefully, they'll show up online soon...on the official site, of course.)

Possible movie spoilers follow...

The first teaser had Simon talking before a classroom about being a police officer, opening with "Police work is as much about preventing crime as about fighting crime..." and then asks if there are any questions, at which point Nick raises his hand and asks if it's true that there's a place in a man's head that would make it blow up if you shoot it. Then, it went into an impressive action montage of car chases and things blowing up, and Nick ends it saying, "That's what I'm talking about."

The second teaser involved Simon chasing after a shoplifter in a video store and as the chase leads outside, Simon gets to a series of wooden fences and asks Nick "You never have taken a shortcut before?", a direct homage to a similar scene in Shaun of the Dead. This time, Simon leaps over the fences quite effortlessly, but Nick has a bit more difficulty.

The third teaser had Simon and Nick sitting in a pub (big surprise) and Nick asks Simon why he wanted to be a policeman, then corrects himself, "Sorry, why did you want to be a policeman, officer?" Simon gives a very earnest answer, explaining how his father got him a police car with a siren when he was a boy, making him always want to become one. Nick responds that his father sounded like a good bloke, and Simon admits that he was busted for selling drugs to students, to which Nick responds, "What a c*nt." (Obviously, this is going to be Rated-R.)

After answering questions from their fans about Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and their various British TV shows, they showed a fourth teaser which poked fun at the moment in action movies where the heroes get armed by being shown to a room full of weapons—and the joke is visual so it can't really be described—then the caretaker shows them an old sea mine and he hits it and it starts ticking. Nick and Simon run out of the weapons shed and leap over a hedge waiting for it to explode...and waiting... and waiting. This was obviously poking fun of the scene in just about every single "Lethal Weapon" movie and even used the music from "Lethal Weapon 3." The teaser closed with the caretaker and Nick kicking and hitting the sea mine as Simon reports it in as a dud.

Hot Fuzz is scheduled to open on March 9, 2007.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on July 24, 2006, 02:11:19 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.flickr.com%2F58%2F196955949_acb9bb368b_o.jpg&hash=e54020909f7cef2a9b2d2f19787360eca984b8ee)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.flickr.com%2F67%2F196955922_c579ea7044_o.jpg&hash=76ef9fa2e2e130722902614d07041c8f3a110df2)
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on September 06, 2006, 08:38:39 PM
Hot Fuzz Interview
We chat with Edgar Wright and Nick Frost about their new film.

Hot Fuzz is the new film from the creative team behind Shaun of the Dead. IGN recently spoke with writer-director Edgar Wright and star Nick Frost about the forthcoming flick. You'll find that conversation below.

The film centers around top London cop, Police Constable Nicholas Angel, who finds himself reassigned to the sleepy West Country village of Sandford. With garden fetes and neighborhood watch meetings replacing the action of the city, Angel struggles to adapt to his situation and finds himself partnered with Danny Butterman, an oafish but well meaning young constable. Just as all seems lost, a series of grisly accidents motivates Angel into action. Convinced of foul play, Angel realizes that Sandford may not be as idyllic as it seems.

Wright wrote the flick along with Simon Pegg who stars alongside Frost, Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton.

Q: How is the movie coming?

Wright: It's good. We only finished filming a month ago. It feels a bit weird being here so early. I've only been in the edit for two weeks. So, we're here for 48 hours and going straight back into the edit... We got through the first half of the marathon, the physical filming, and now the sit-down marathon... All 1700 slates.

Frost: Edgar always comes out of the edit looking like Gollum... There's no pigmentation in his skin.

Wright: There's been a heat wave in the UK. For the last week it's been like 100 degrees.

Q: Which is nice given that it seems to have rained on you guys.

Wright: You know, it's miserable.

Frost: The worst thing was, once it stopped raining, it was really sunny and we couldn't shoot in that, either.

Wright: That's one of those tough things about trying to do a film in the UK and why there aren't that many films like that—no genre films or action—just because the weather is so changeable in the UK. It makes it really tough. I'm so jealous of Robert Rodriguez just by the fact that he lives in New Mexico. Sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, sun. It was difficult, and you kind of get four seasons in one day, of weather, so it makes it super tough. It was fun doing those [production] blogs because we thought we'd be quite honest about the process and stuff and cover the bad times as well as the good times.

Q: As you enter into the editing phase...

Wright: For me, it's sort of the fun part of the job. The actual shooting is just sort of—especially with new material and people you're working with—it's never as much fun for the director as the actors, because even if you're working with funny stuff or funny people, you're always thinking about the next thing that you've gotta get... There's never time to actually enjoy anything so in a way it's not until I sit down in the edit that I can actually start, really... You actually start making the film. It's weird. The editing is the fun part, really, for me.

Q: How much ad-libbing went on during the film?

Wright: Not a lot. The truth of it is, because I was writing for Simon and Nick, and obviously Simon is co-writing his own dialogue, and we both [are] writing for Nick... it's a different kind of thing when you know the people you're writing for. You can very much write it within their voice. And on top of that, we do rehearsals which—not all films do that or get a chance to do that—so it was really cool, even with a big cast to rehearse with pretty much everybody. And then based on that, you kind of think of other stuff in rehearsal and that gets written in.

Frost: It's like a week with the three of us of doing tiny bits...

Wright: I do a lot of coverage even though it's got hopefully a naturalistic feel, we have it all written down, all the "buts" and everything. We try to make it seem like it's kinda loose.

Q: Do you think it's going to be as successful as Shaun of the Dead?

Wright: No. [Laughs] I mean, let's hope so. Shaun was kinda crazy for us because we never really... First and foremost, when we were making it we kind of wanted it to do well in UK. First off, we just wanted it not to be sh*t. [Laughs] We didn't want to do a bad British comedy. There had been a quite long lineage of...

Frost: Spin-offs from sit-coms.

Wright: ... Bad TV spin-offs. We didn't want to be like one of those kind of films, where people said, "it's not as good as the TV show." Then everything else on top was completely unexpected and it was an amazing experience for us to come to things like this and travel the world and show it in other countries, in festivals and stuff.

Frost: It's weird to come here now, this time, after Shaun of the Dead's been out because it's quite odd to come 6,000 miles and someone recognizes you on the street. Do you know what I mean? An American recognizes you on the street...

Wright: The customs guy...

Q: What does it feel like?

Frost: Good, I guess. Slightly afraid.

Wright: I think he was holding you, sort of pretending that you had metal on you. He knew he recognized you from somewhere and [after] forty seconds of frisking, he's like, "Oh yeah." [Laughter] Obviously we hope it will be as successful if not more successful. We just want people to go and enjoy it. It's not ever really about grosses or anything for us. It's not about grosses, because we never make any money from them anyway. But that's not really what it's about; we just want people to enjoy it and things. Shaun was just kinda like getting to number six on the charts in the States with no famous actors in it at all...

Frost: ...Just on 500 screens?

Wright: That was just crazy. It was such a trip and we were so... It was great. It was amazing. It was funny. This was kind of like the first US press that we did at Comic-Con. It was the first sort of American appearance that we'd done. It's funny to come back this time.

Q: Last time, I'm sure there was a lot more anonymity walking around the halls...

Wright: Yeah, yeah. Yesterday we went around at like quarter to nine in the morning. And then at like one o'clock it achieves critical mass. It was bad! It was pretty crazy yesterday.

Q: What have been the highlights of the filming and was there anyone you really liked working with?

Wright: It's got such a crazy, amazing cast, there are too many people to... We were just saying this. It's a pretty a huge ensemble in the film and there are lots of big ensemble scenes with lots of amazing actors in them. It's weird when you get people you've admired for years and stuff, and suddenly you're working with them.

Frost: And you discover that they're lovely. You know, they're not precious or... they're just lovely.

Wright: It would be like a thing, especially with some of the people like Timothy Belton or Edward Woodward or like Jim Broadbent... you'd be doing a scene with them and just talking with them and then you think, "F*** me... I can't believe the Equalizer is standing over there." It was a running joke... Timothy Dalton was such a trip. We loved working with him. He's one of those people where I'm almost more impressed by the fact that he was Prince Baron than the fact that he was Bond. Me and Simon always had a running joke that whenever he would walk past, I'd say, "You know who that was? That's f***ing Prince Baron." [Laughter] The cast is just amazing. So many cool people.

Q: Were you successful in getting who you wanted for the cast?

Wright: I think because of Shaun, people... When we did Shaun, it was interesting that some actors completely bought it straight away and not everybody had seen Spaced, the show that we'd done... and it's interesting, because the way that we write the scripts and stuff, you can read the scripts and you didn't know how it was going to be performed, you would not necessarily have a handle on what the tone was gonna be at all. There were even some actors who were in Shaun, like Penelope Wilton, she passed on the script, because she kinda wasn't sure how it was gonna be played. You could take that exact same script and do it really big and broad, and like a Scary Movie-type film and let's play it all at really a high pitch and shouting all the way through. Some of the actors you kinda have to say, "This is how we want to do it, and this is what the tone of the film is gonna be." This time, though, because we'd done Shaun... in the last film, the casting we had a similar thing to Hot Fuzz in that we had younger actors and people like Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton who are really brilliant, established thespians. Not actors, thespians. So, this time 'round it was sort of a similar thing in terms of a really great kind of mix of younger comic actors and British icons sharing the same frame. It's amazing.

Q: And some in the middle there, like Paddy Considine, who's gonna be up there...

Wright: Totally. He's funny. Him and Rafe Spall are like a double act in the film, and they're very funny. I think people will really enjoy seeing them together.

Frost: They're great.

Wright: They're great. It's really good; Paddy Considine... we met him over the last couple of years because when Shaun Came Out, Dead Man's Shoes came out and so we've been at a couple of the same—not like festivals—but awards shows and things, and he's such a funny guy but he plays this really intense role, so we kind of wrote the role for him, because we thought it would be funny for him to do something just really quite silly. So that was cool.

Q: What interesting conflicts or action can we expect from this movie?

Wright: Running. Jumping. Punching. Car-chasing.

Q: What's your take on it?

Wright: Kind of the point of the film is that in the UK, there are no action films, particularly. There are hardly any police films at all. In the UK, people make gangster films because gangsters are considered cool, whereas the cops couldn't be less cool, not just as authority figures, but the fact that they don't have guns. So you can't really make a British police film. So that's what we set out to do, because we were so sick of gangster films. How can we make a British Lethal Weapon? How is it even possible with no guns? So that's what we set out to do and essentially the first half of it answers the question of why there are no British action films and then we try to have our cake and eat it by throwing in running and jumping and explosions and sh*t. [Laughter]

Q: You kept comparing it to Midsummer Murders directed by Michael Bay.

Wright: Do they play on cable over here?

Q: It's on A&E.

Wright: I've never actually seen that show. I know what it is... I'm a big Tony Scott fan as well. I'm one of the few people who enjoyed Domino. But I thought was, wouldn't it be great if Tony Scott was forced to make a boring film. What if he was making a story where nothing happened, and he still did his style. To a certain extent, [there are] kind of Man on Fire elements playing into it a little bit, but contrasted against police procedure stuff that maybe isn't that interesting. That's the way it starts, really, is that Simon is an all-action, no-nonsense, like a really great cop, a brilliantly professional... and he basically gets transferred to a really sleepy neighborhood and then nothing ensues. [Laughs]

Q: What do you have them doing? Saving cats from trees?

Wright: A similar thing happens here. The police in the country... it's just a slower pace and we did a lot of research into the difference between being a London policeman and being a policeman in the west country in terms of just the crime rate. In one of those kind of towns [you] know everybody's names to the point where you don't have to arrest anyone. They don't arrest people, they say, "Hey, go on home, mate. I know your mum." So we saw [this] as like, how can you inject Michael Bay nonsense into that kind of setting?

Doing this genre is done with complete affection, and it's a similar type tone to Shaun where it's like you can say it's half-satire but half an affectionate homage to films, really. The one thing I always noticed about a lot of action films is [they] dissolve into popcorn logic in the last act, where they get really silly. Even a film like Lethal Weapon, which I really like... the first two thirds, there's some dark stuff and really emotional scenes and then it gets increasingly f***ing Looney Tunes in the last half hour and they just go for broke...

What was so funny is that I get to meet Shane Black, who's a hero of mine in London. I really wanted to meet him because I was a huge Last Boy Scout fan and what was so funny—and he seemed to like Shaun of the Dead, which was really cool, and I met him when he was doing all the Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang promotion—and he did this talk about all his films... and he goes, "You know that scene at the end of Lethal Weapon where they're wrestling around and it's raining and the cops are cheering 'em on? I didn't write that." [Laughs] That's so funny. That's the one bit that we homaged. I think that was Mel Gibson and Richard Donner getting carried away. We had this thing where in the last half an hour of the film it's like it gets really silly.

Q: Have you been thinking of a third one?

Wright: No, we haven't sort of...

Frost: I go back into my glass case shortly.

Wright: ...We'd love to do something else. It has to be organic.

Q: With your success, are you worried you can't top it?

Wright: When we did the second series of Spaced, it was kind of tough, because in a way, the perfect way to write another script, if you can do it—the only person who I think can do it is Woody Allen—is to not read anything. It's impossible. It's impossible, because you kind of have to shut everything off and write. It's difficult. We were still doing Shaun press and stuff for what seemed like a year and a half afterwards and it came to a point where we had to say, "Okay, we can't do any more Shaun of the Dead stuff. We have to stop."
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: RegularKarate on October 16, 2006, 02:37:27 PM
Teasers online!

Number One (http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/hotfuzz_teaser1_xlarge.htm)

Number Two (http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/hotfuzz_teaser2_xlarge.htm)

Both at lower res (but faster loading) (http://www.roguepictures.com/home.html)
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: gob on October 16, 2006, 04:37:08 PM
I think a little bit of wee just came out.
Fuzz can't come soon enough.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: diggler on October 16, 2006, 11:43:46 PM
nice use of souljacker

should be fun
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: pete on October 20, 2006, 01:53:30 PM
must you be ashamed of everything that comes out of your hood?
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: ASmith on October 26, 2006, 11:11:51 PM
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.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on November 20, 2006, 01:41:49 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aintitcool.com%2Fimages2006%2FHFUKteaser.jpg&hash=ddce2a5cf2a16473d54673c64cbf7dabb8918817)
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on December 01, 2006, 01:41:06 PM
TRAILER: http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/trailers/hotfuzz_trailer_xlarge.php
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: gob on December 01, 2006, 01:51:46 PM
Best bit of that trailer is clearly the Timothy Dalton appearance!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on December 01, 2006, 03:34:49 PM
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!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on January 07, 2007, 01:01:37 PM
Hot Fuzz will be released on February 16, 2007 in the UK and April 13, 2007 in the US.  Stay tuned for more details!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on February 08, 2007, 10:00:16 PM
'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.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on February 09, 2007, 09:10:11 AM
INTERNET EXCLUSIVE TEASER: http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/hotfuzz/empire/InternetSpotV3large.php

edited by Edgar Wright
scored by Robert Rodriguez
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Pubrick on February 09, 2007, 09:37:46 AM
or download for safekeeping:

http://media.workingtitlefilms.com/hotfuzz/HotFuzz_InternetSpotV3_500k.mov (14.4MB)
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on February 13, 2007, 10:36:53 AM
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?
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: gob on February 13, 2007, 02:17:53 PM
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.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on February 13, 2007, 02:58:45 PM
SO JEALOUS right now.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on February 13, 2007, 04:05:20 PM
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.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Pubrick on February 14, 2007, 12:10:28 AM
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!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on February 19, 2007, 08:22:48 PM
SO HAPPY right now.

ATTN: NYC
Film Comment Selects
Hot Fuzz
April 10: 8:30

Screening followed by an onstage conversation with director Edgar Wright and stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Tickets are $20 for Film Society members and $25 for the general public. Admission includes a complimentary ticket to the 6pm screening of Electra Glide in Blue.
http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/onsale/hotfuzz.html
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Kal on February 19, 2007, 09:40:35 PM
It was a huge success already opening in Europe... so I think they will seriously consider doing a wide release here.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 09, 2007, 08:30:52 AM
i think you hate any british comedy that crosses over to america.  except maybe monty python or faulty towers.  true?
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on March 09, 2007, 08:42:08 AM
Come on, mod.  Garam's review was exactly what I was hoping it would be.  I'm more excited than ever and you should be too!

Just don't tell him Peep Show is available on DVD here.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 09, 2007, 01:42:38 PM
thought so.  thanks!

Peep Show is in my Queue so you have done your work.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on March 14, 2007, 06:23:10 PM
Hot Fuzztivals Are Coming!

Hot Fuzz, the hit action comedy from the U.K., is headed your way! Writer/director Edgar Wright, writer/star Simon Pegg, and star Nick Frost (the whole team from Shaun of the Dead) are coming to the U.S. -- armed with rare theatrical prints and showings of some Cop Movie classics, plus a sneak peek at their own Hot Fuzz (weeks in advance of its April 20th release in the U.S. from Rogue Pictures). Hot Fuzztivals will be held in select cities (see below), with the Hot Fuzz gang on hand for Q&As. Here come the FUZZ!

WASHINGTON DC
Date: Friday, March 23
Details: A screening of Die Hard followed by HOT FUZZ with Q & A featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Location: Arlington Cinema N Drafthouse, 2903 Columbia Pike, Arlington VA
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Mike Jesson at mjesson@alliedadvpub.com

BOSTON
Date: Friday, March 16 - Thursday, March 29
Details: Hot Fuzztival Boston will run over the course of 10 days, with the highlight being HOT FUZZ (3/25) with Q & A to follow featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Additional screenings include The French Connection and Dirty Harry (3/16 & 3/17), Lethal Weapon (3/18), Hard-Boiled (3/19 & 3/20), The Super Cops (3/21), Electra Glide In Blue (3/26), Bullitt (3/27), Dead and Buried & The Hidden (3/28), and Infernal Affairs (3/29).
Location: The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Phyllis Mercurio at pmercurio@alliedadvpub.com

CHICAGO
Date: Sunday, March 25 - Monday, March 26
Details: Hot Fuzztival Chicago will run over the course of two days with screenings of To Live & Die in L.A., Infernal Affairs, and Point Break on Sunday, March 25 at the Brew & View theatre.
On Monday, March 26th HOT FUZZ will screen at the AMC River East followed by Q&A with Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Locations: Brew & View theatre, 3145 N. Sheffield in Chicago; AMC River East, 322 East Illinois, Chicago 60611
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Lara Golubowski at lara@thaweb.com

ATLANTA
Date: Monday, March 26 - Wednesday, March 28
Details: Hot Fuzztival Atlanta will run over the course of three evenings with screenings of LA Confidential (3/26), Bad Boys II (3/27) followed by HOT FUZZ (3/28) with Q & A to follow featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Locations: Palace Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30306
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Marci Miller mmiller@alliedadvpub.com

SAN FRANCISCO
Date: Tuesday, March 27 - Tuesday, April 3
Details: Hot Fuzztival San Francisco will run over the course of four evenings with screenings of Point Break (3/27), Training Day (3/28), L.A. Confidential (3/29) followed by HOT FUZZ (4/3) with Q & A featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Locations: Landmark Lumiere Theater, 1572 California Street, San Francisco; Landmark Embarcadero Center Cinemas, One Embarcadero Center, San Francisco; Landmark Clay Theater, 2261 Fillmore Street, San Francisco
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: John Weaver at jweaver@thaweb.com

DALLAS
Date: Thursday, March 29
Details: A screening of Bad Boys II followed by HOT FUZZ with Q & A to follow featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Location: AMC Northpark 15, 8687 N. Central Expressway, Dallas
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Sally Smolenski at ssmolensi@moroch.com

AUSTIN
Date: Saturday, March 31
Details: Screenings of Police Story 2, Freebie & The Bean, Sudden Impact and Electra Glide In Blue followed by HOT FUZZ with Q & A to follow featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Location: Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 409 Colorado Street, Austin
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Lawrence Wilczewski at lwilczewski@moroch.com

SEATTLE
Date: Monday, April 2
Details: A screening of Bullitt followed by HOT FUZZ with Q & A to follow with Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Location: Landmark Varsity Theater, 4329 University Way N.E., Seattle
For more information or to get tickets, please contact: Amanda Bedell at abedell@thaweb.com

LOS ANGELES
Date: Saturday, April 7 - Series starts at 6:00 PM
Details: A screening of HOT FUZZ followed by a Q&A featuring Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost; as well as screenings of Hard Boiled and Point Break.
Location: The Aero Theater, 1328 Montana Avenue (at 14th Street), Santa Monica, CA.
Tickets are $10 general, $8 Student/Senior, $7 AC members and will be on sale at Fandango.com, for more information visit www.americancinematheque.com

NEW YORK
Date: Tuesday, April 10
Details: A screening of Electra Glide in Blue introduced by Edgar Wright followed by HOT FUZZ with Q & A featuring with Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Location: Film Society of Lincoln Center/Walter Reade Theater - 70 Lincoln Center Plaza
For more information or to get tickets, please visit: www.filmlinc.com
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on March 15, 2007, 10:04:06 AM
Interview With Edgar Wright
Source: IGN

'Hot Fuzz', the cop-shop follow-up to the cult smash Shaun of the Dead, is nearing its theatrical release in Australia, with the US soon to follow. On the recent publicity circuit around Australia, we caught up with director Edgar Wright and picked his brain on the experience of making his latest flick. We managed to extract some juicy facts on the eventual DVD release of 'Hot Fuzz', as well as his thoughts on violence and film classification, roping in big-ticket stars and how he hopes to one-up the Hollywood producers at their own game.

IGN: How did you get into filmmaking? And from where did 'Hot Fuzz' evolve?

Edgar Wright: I used to make amateur films when I was a teenager. My dad gave my brother a Super 8 camera, and we were both interested in films and animation - my brother was really good at animation - so we started to make shorts on Super 8. All of the shorts I used to make were really silly and quite kind of spoofish and stuff. Then I won a competition on a BBC TV show and I won a video camera, which I otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford.

I just started kind of making longer films. Through sort of the ages of 14 to 20 I just kept making my little pastiches and stuff. And it had the same sort of humour as 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz', in a way - but much more spoofy and silly. I used to make westerns and superhero films, and I made a cop film when I was 18, which was a weird kind of dry-run for 'Hot Fuzz' - which might be on the DVD. It would be pretty funny to see a teenage cop film.

IGN: Did you have to cut much from 'Hot Fuzz', in terms of whole scenes?


Edgar Wright: Ah yeah, actually. Half-an-hour's worth of stuff. A couple of whole scenes, but usually the deletings are like trims, where we nipped bits out of scenes all the way through. When we finished the first cut of the film, we were like two hours 20 minutes long, and we cut it down to two-and-a-quarter, and two-and-five minutes - and we got it down to two hours. It's that kind of process - both for jokes, but also for clarity and stuff. I'd much rather things be at their own pace and all the transitions work and the whole thing is slick.

IGN: One thing we noticed during our viewing is that the pacing is better in 'Hot Fuzz', than in 'Shaun of the Dead'.

Edgar Wright: Yeah, yeah - It's interesting, because for some, the ending [of 'Shaun of the Dead' ] kind of polarised some people. The critical response has been really good, but some of the 'negative' things was that it had "too many endings" - have they never seen any action films? Have they never seen 'Con Air'? Or 'Speed'? 'Die Hard With a Vengeance'? All those action films where we were thinking, "Hang on a minute... did they really need to do that?" - 'Bad Boys II' being the most classic example. After the two-hour-mark has already gone past, somebody says, "Let's go to Cuba!" Yeah. Let's decamp to Cuba... It's almost like there's a bonus episode at the end of the film. It should be called 'Bad Boys II-and-a-half'!

What I always felt when I watched 'Shaun of the Dead'' is that it was a bit more compromised than 'Hot Fuzz' in terms of it was a low budget. The original action at the end of 'Shaun of the Dead' was supposed to have a lot more going on, but because of budget and time constraints, we didn't film it. With 'Shaun', I was really pleased with it, but I always felt like it hit its high-point in the middle - with 'Hot Fuzz', we wanted it to hit its high-point at the end, so it goes increasingly insane.

IGN: It does take a right-turn, halfway though the film, that nobody was really expecting.

Edgar Wright: Kind of; but it was a slow-burn sort of the whole way through. All the signs are there. I mean, I hope when people watch it a second or third time, they spot all of the foreshadowing. Even things that seemed nice in characters - who are on the surface very wholesome - are actually predicting things that are going to happen later. We like having a running-gag, similar to Shaun; the unlucky characters who kind of predict their own doom. So you have lines like, "Oh, we haven't got long..." and a cut to a scene of wham! Or a lady closing up her shop, saying, "Oh! I was just about to pop off," and whoomph.

IGN: You've made the jump from TV to film - which isn't always easy to do. Why did you move across to cinema?

Edgar Wright: Well, I wouldn't really class 'A Fistful of Fingers' as a film! (laughs!)

It's shot on film, but the stuff I did on TV is much more... ah, well, I did that film when I was 20 and it was powered along by naivety - like this naive energy. When I edited A Fist Full of Fingers, I wasn't that happy with it. And I got really, really depressed because I realised I'd committed something to film. This was permanent; and I was thinking, "Shit" you know. "What have I done? This is there forever now." But I did well enough out of it - I got my agent out of it, I got my first TV gig. Unlike the Coen brothers, Sam Raimi or Tarrantino, who knocked their first ones out of the park, I felt like doing that first film was a stumble. Doing TV was like going to college.

IGN: Was there ever any pressure from Working Title to tone down the violence - which is excellent and deeply satisfying - particularly the church spire impaling sequence!

Edgar Wright: There wasn't actually. I must admit, when I was editing it I suddenly started to panic and thought we were going to get a higher rating. I think if there had been a ratings-issue, then maybe we'd cut it - if we'd gotten an 18+ rating, we'd definitely be under pressure to cut it - but we got passed with a 15. For my money, for a film that features two uses of the word 'c%$!', somebody's head getting ker-splattered, somebody else getting impaled, somebody else getting stabbed - multiple nasty blows and stuff - I think it's pretty good going! The censors are going easy for once!

IGN: Part of 'Hot Fuzz''s charm, like 'Shaun' before it, is its "Englishness". Is it hard to translate that kind of culture and humour into something for your average American?

Edgar Wright: We'll maybe for non-English speaking audiences. Some of the dialogue stuff gets lost. I think Australia, New Zealand, The States, Canada - I don't think that's necessarily the case. I think that, from what I've seen in terms of audiences here and in The States, they totally get it. I mean, nobody wants to see a standardised version of 'Amelie', do they? They want it to be as French as it can possibly be. The joke here though, which confuses the issue even further is, 'Hot Fuzz' is on one hand incredibly British, and yet, on the other hand is trying to be American. So in the last half of the film, it goes more and more into Bruckheimer-mode.

IGN: You didn't approach Bruckheimer, did you, with this?

Edgar Wright: No, but I want him to see it! I keep saying to them, "You have to show him!" And Tony Scott. And Joel Silver. I want them to see it. Shane Black saw it and he loved it; he actually issued a press statement saying, "On behalf of the nation, I demand a sequel!"

IGN: 'Hot Fuzz'' has an outstanding cast. How did you go about sourcing the number of quality actors? Is it a tight-knit community over there?

Edgar Wright: Some people came to us - Jim Broadbent and Paddy Constantine approached us, saying how much they loved 'Shaun' and how they wanted to work with us in the future. As such, you start writing roles with them in mind. Then there are others who you write with them in mind, such as Edward Woodward and Stuart Wilson and Timothy Dalton. And you kind of think, "Well, they'd be our first choice," and we were lucky enough to get them.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Talk Fuzz

Source: IGN

For fans of UK comedy, some series stand head and shoulders above their rivals. 'Fawlty Towers' was one; 'Monty Python' another. Recently, 'Spaced' joined those ranks, recognised with BAFTAs and a multitude of loyal fans. Series co-writer and star Simon Pegg, with co-star Nick Frost, used their exposure from this seminal show to leap into films in a big and gory way with 'Shaun of the Dead'.

Now, on the cusp of international glory with their second hit-to-be, 'Hot Fuzz', we sat down with the pair who were pleasingly candid in their discussion of the industry, their approaches to acting, love for comic book writer Garth Ennis and what lies ahead for their "trilogy-that-isn't." You can read our interview with the director, Edgar Wright, here.

IGN: How long have you two and Edgar Wright been working together now? Where did you first work together?

Simon Pegg: For Edgar, he was always going to get into films. For him, I think ''Spaced'' was kind of a proving-ground. I was writing it with Jessica and Edgar was script-editing it, so he had an input and I always would consider him to be the third writer of the show. Obviously, a huge part of his personality was the aesthetic of it as well.

My first job with Edgar with ten years ago, on a show called 'Asylum', which was on the Paramount comedy channel back at home. I was working on another show six days a week and doing 'Asylum' on Sundays - and I hated it, because it was taking up all my private time. And I was working with this guy who seemed like such a stickler for detail. And when I eventually saw 'Asylum', I kind of realised exactly why Edgar was like this; because he was just inordinately talented. When we came to write 'Spaced' a year later, Edgar was the first person I thought of. He was the only person I knew could possibly interpret what we were going to write.

He eats and sleeps and breathes film - and has done since he was young. I think it's no surprise that he's been adopted by the likes of Peter Jackson and Quentin Tarantino because I think they see something of themselves in him. They're film fans who became filmmakers.

IGN: What is it like, shifting into film and out of television? Is it a totally different experience? Has it changed your perspective of the entertainment industry?

Nick Frost: For us, it hasn't changed. It's always been the three of us and our producer; we're in the same office. It's as it has been for us for 10 years.

Simon Pegg: And we're just about to move office, actually - which will be strange - because it will feel different. We're just getting some better premises I think, but the feeling when we're all together is that it's just the same. When you walk out onto a red carpet and everyone is going a bit mad, it can be a bit overwhelming.

Nick Frost: It's been a bit odd as well; it's happened a couple of times where we'll come out of a hotel in New York and there are people waiting for our autographs - like we're Take That or Ringo Starr or something!

IGN: Is it surprising how well 'Shaun of the Dead' was received by American and Australian/ non-British audiences?

Simon Pegg: I kind of hoped that it would travel. We were resolutely British about it because we didn't think people would appreciate being patronised. You don't want to try to be trans-Atlantic or try to appeal to everybody. It was always our rule with 'Spaced' - if you're specific, you'll find there are a lot of people who feel the same way. If you try to generalise, you'll lose everybody. It was a nice validation of that risk; that did play well abroad.

IGN: And did that success make it easier to get support behind 'Hot Fuzz'? Will it perform even better, since half the film is a straight-up Hollywood-style action flick? Albeit, with a unique twist.

Simon Pegg: I think they'll get it. I think the Americans will get it. What we were doing was sort of adopting an American tradition in a way. And around the world, people will get it because we all consume that tradition - but in America, I think it'll be most keenly felt.

It's nice to think that that kind of fan-base we've built up throughout our TV stuff and 'Shaun of the Dead' will vote with their feet, if you will, to go and see 'Hot Fuzz'.

But I'm really glad we moved away from 'The 300' [in The States], because that would've killed it. It would've pushed us over a cliff! Of course, 'The 300' is amazing because the slow-motion is exactly what a fan would do with a remote control. You'd just be slowing it down and speeding it up and slowing it down, because it is spectacular visually. Frank Miller has done very well out of his adaptations - Alan Moore seems to be very unlucky.

IGN: Actually, this raises an interesting tangential question - well-known comic book author Garth Ennis, of Preacher fame, has created a character based on your likeness for his series, 'The Boys'. Were you involved there? Or is this just eerie coincidence?

Simon Pegg: Darick Robertson, who's the artist on 'The Boys', he was a fan of 'Spaced'. When he was coming up with the conceptual designs for Wee Hughie he based it on me. And it was before 'Shaun of the Dead' hit and suddenly my profile went big in America and I had to sign a contract saying I wouldn't sue because of likeness rights! He copied pictures of me, and in some images I can see what photos he's taken it from.

I love Garth Ennis - I'm a great 'Preacher' fan, so what I'm doing at the moment is I'm going to write the forward for the trade paperback of The Boys.

IGN: No kidding! And what are your thoughts on the 'Preacher' HBO miniseries?

Simon Pegg: It'd be great to play Cassidy or something like that.

IGN: Have you been approached?

Simon Pegg: I don't know if they're doing that - I mean, they're big comic books, I'd like to be a part of it. I think it would be a shame to have to water it down for television or film, because it is so, so over-the-top. I put the rumour out there a long time ago that I was interested in playing 'Rorschach' in 'Watchmen', just because, with Land of the Dead, me and Edgar put the rumour out that we were in, and that's how we were in it! By putting the rumour out - and it came true!

Well, Nick and I, we did a thing on our last American tour, decided to spread a rumour just to see how quickly it got back to us. So Nick and I and Edgar said that we were doing an adaptation of the British cartoon 'Danger Mouse' and it got back to us two days later! And then, people who were producing the DVD collector's version of 'Danger Mouse' approached us to revoice two new cartoons! Talk about self-fulfilling prophesies!

IGN: Nick, you've played a few of the 'bumbling' sidekick roles - is this kind of your preference? Or would you like to see a bit of a role-reversal between the two of you some time?

Nick Frost: Well, my personal view on it is that I'd hate people to get bored with the dynamic. I think that's something we'd look at, yeah.

Simon Pegg: I guess the next thing we do, there will be a difference. In the same way that 'Nicholas Angel' is different to 'Shaun' and also from 'Tim' in 'Spaced'. I had that sort of criticism levelled at me after 'Shaun of the Dead' where up to that point I'd really only played slacker guys. So it was important with 'Hot Fuzz' to write a character that was so far from those.


IGN: And was this more uptight, straight-laced character harder to perform? Particularly when standing next to Nick, who's probably pulling faces?


Simon Pegg: It was the hardest thing I've ever done - to act - and not pull faces and be funny and be silly like I like to. When we write, I think it's fair to say we don't write selfishly. To quote the film, me and Edgar will think of "the greater good". For the comedy to work, you have to have this character who is almost like a humourless automaton, so that his reaction to 'Danny' and 'Sandford' works really well. If that means having to occupy that character, then that's what I'll do - for the good of the film.

Nick Frost: And it was quite a classic way of doing things, as well. The straight guy is always the central character and all the other weirdos just rotate around him.

Simon Pegg: There's an extra feature on the DVD which is just me pulling funny faces at the camera, because I would have these sort of little explosions after every take. I'd have to deliver everything like Mr. Spock, and then when Edgar would call cut, I would go "Hnnnghhh!" to rid myself of it!

IGN: After two genre flicks under your belts, what's the next step for you both? Sci-fi? A romantic period comedy? And is it fair to say that Edgar will be intrinsically involved?

Simon Pegg: We're all genre fans - and the reason we did a cop film and a zombie film is because we love those genres. It also happens that we're comedy writers, so we had to have our cake and eat it.

Nick and I are writing something together at the moment which has a sort of Sci-Fi edge, but it's not really a take on that genre - it's a comedy within it.

IGN: Is this for film?

Simon Pegg: Yeah, it is; and it's something we're gonna do and Edgar is going to be involved on a production-level - hopefully as a script-editor. Maybe not as a director; he's got other projects he wants to do in the interim.

But Edgar and myself, we started talking about our next project, which will be the third in the run of films that started with 'Shaun'. We made a mistake with 'Hot Fuzz', in that we came up with the idea very early on after 'Shaun of the Dead' - and the name. So when people asked what we were doing, we said 'It's 'Hot Fuzz'." And it became a thing; it became an entity before it was even written.

Nick Frost: It was 'birthed'.

Simon Pegg: Yeah, it was birthed before we'd even started writing it. People would be going, "So where's 'Hot Fuzz'?" And I'd be, "I dunno! We haven't even started writing!" So at this point, we've decided to say nothing about our next project until we're shooting it and it becomes unavoidable. That way, we won't be hassled to finish it.

Nick Frost: Then there's also that thing that, when we said 'Hot Fuzz' is coming out, people had to wait two years for it. If you don't say anything about it, then when you start shooting it's like, "It's called so-and-so and it's about this," and they only have to wait ten months for it.

Simon Pegg: I think, a great sort of metaphor that Nick uses is that you don't speak about a project until its had its 'three-month scan'. It's like having a baby. So with our new project, we're already writing it now and we're into it and have a story and characters and everything - and it has one of the greatest jokes we've ever written - but I can't tell you that. But we're going to keep a lid on it until we're shooting.

IGN: Well, in that case, I hope the birth goes well!


Simon Pegg: Thank you very much! Hopefully it won't be a C-section!

Nick Frost: See you after the first trimester!
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on March 30, 2007, 12:45:23 AM
Aw, come on, Garam, it wasn't that bad.  I saw it today and thought it was a really funny send-up of action films, with some Wicker Man thrown in for good measure.  I agree that Timothy Dalton and Paddy Considine were great.  Especially Dalton.  The other actors like Jim Broadbent were perhaps underused, but their presence in the film did not hurt the film, and in fact added to the credibility of their characters in the story.  If they were all a bunch of mugging amateurs it would have been annoying.  The ending was practically out of another film, but it was so much fun that it didn't matter.  Overall it didn't quite come together as well as SotD, but its nonetheless very funny.  Its definitely more of a parody movie than SotD, which was more a funny zombie movie than a parody of zombie movies.  Nothing wrong with that, but don't expect something else.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Weak2ndAct on April 22, 2007, 12:06:21 AM
*Sigh* What a confused film.  When did classic action movies have hooded axe-wielding villains?  The opening and the ending are more on par with the action genre, though what happened in the middle?  For what's supposed to be a send-up of the action genre, this was more of a bloody "Wicker Man" riff than anything.  Though I appreciate great kills (and the movie does have an amazing one), they feel like they belong in another film. 

Where are the stakeouts?  Where's the scene where the characters go undercover?  Where's the torture scene?

Stylistically, some of the editing made me nauseous.  I don't see the point of the ADD mugshot moments.  And the plot device that gets the guns in town could be the laziest writing ever committed to film. 

Though all that being said, I didn't hate the film.  It's like an A student turned in a C paper.  You just expect better.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: pete on April 22, 2007, 12:53:43 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.somethingawful.com%2F%2Fsasbi%2F2006%2F10%2Fjcdracula%2FCOBRA_axe_clanging.jpg&hash=c0cf2500bc55c11b2ec6bca58f54ce053d5a88a4)

Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: RegularKarate on April 22, 2007, 05:19:04 PM
Weak's review fits that smug avatar so much.

I saw it again last Friday and it's still a pretty damn great movie.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: polkablues on April 22, 2007, 06:16:57 PM
Quote from: Weak2ndAct on April 22, 2007, 12:06:21 AM
*Sigh* What a confused film.  When did classic action movies have hooded axe-wielding villains?  The opening and the ending are more on par with the action genre, though what happened in the middle?  For what's supposed to be a send-up of the action genre, this was more of a bloody "Wicker Man" riff than anything.  Though I appreciate great kills (and the movie does have an amazing one), they feel like they belong in another film. 

Where are the stakeouts?  Where's the scene where the characters go undercover?  Where's the torture scene?

This critique would make sense if the movie was meant to be a direct parody of those films, in the way that "Scary Movie" or "Airplane!" were.  But it's not.  So it doesn't.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: SiliasRuby on April 23, 2007, 11:10:30 AM
Saw thos last night and had soo much fun. I had such a great time that early this morning, I wanted to know when the DVD was coming out. Well, in England, June 12th.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: ponceludon on April 23, 2007, 03:39:37 PM
I think it's inescapable to compare this to Shaun of the Dead because it's nearly the exact team who made both (unless I'm wrong, anyway), but I think I know why it's not QUITE as good.

I think the action genre, while rich and full of incredibly hilarious cliches that pretty much sets themselves up for gags, is not the same as the zombie genre. There seems to be a common thread among all zombie movies, sort of a set of rules for them that set them apart from all other kinds of horror, besides the fact that there are walking dead people. There's almost a community among aficionados who can quote everything from Night of the Living Dead to 28 Days Later. Action movies, however, are much more broad, and there are less rules for them. There's also a lot more that qualify as action. Therefore, there's less of a formula to play with.

But at the same time there are plenty of things that were hilarious in Hot Fuzz: slow motion gunfights, the bombastic music, the helicopter, car chases, cheesy one-liners, smug villains, etc etc. It doesn't have eeeeverything, but there is hardly room for it all in a standard 2-hour movie. There aren't any stakeouts or undercover missions, but there is a hell of a lot of stuff in it. Shaun of the Dead was able to put in nearly every cliche and reference to nearly every zombie movie because there's less to work with. That's all. It's less satisfying, I agree, but I thought it was a great effort.

That being said, it was kind of a waste of Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: john on April 23, 2007, 04:21:35 PM
I loved this film.

I don't think I could critically, or intellectually, dissect this film to validate my reaction to it - or argue with it's detractors.

I'm not even a fan of the rapid-fire, quick editing style most of the film parodies. To the effect that, even as satire, I'd presume it would get on my nerves. But this was exceptionally edited.

The best thing I've read about this film is from Harry Knowles Grindhouse review, where he said the only way to make that film more epically enjoyable would be to add Hot Fuzz and make a triple feature. So hopefully some drive-in or second-run theatre ends up putting these together for some reason.

After Shaun, the Don't trailer, and this... I really think Wright and Co. have a tremendous knowledge and love of these genres, and every niche in them. And, not only do they have the knowledge, they can actually execute it to great extent.

It's parody, but it's also not. Maybe it's cinema through osmosis, but it's definitely better than any spoof that has been dumped into theatres as of late.

Or...ever, in my opinion... as Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane!, and the like never did much for me.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: w/o horse on April 24, 2007, 08:08:10 PM
The parody film, with its attachment to contemporary expectations, has roughly the shelf life of a political film.  I think the most important question must be its contribution to the formula it represents, and as it is, for all the ejoyment I received from Hot Fuzz, it didn't stimulate me creatively or intellectually (why shouldn't it be able to?).  It drew from a pool of resources already prevalent in mainstream cinema.  A great send up of the superficial buddy cop films, but entirely superficial itself.  Some references are obvious, some simply feel used.  Was the opening montage specifically invoking Andersonesque satire, was the large model-city battle in any way influenced by the Arrested Development jetpack episode?  I don't know for sure.  Probably yes the former and no for the latter.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on April 25, 2007, 12:39:26 PM
That was entirely too much analysis for a movie like this and the only things that were relevant were:

Quote from: Losing the Horse: on April 24, 2007, 08:08:10 PMA great send up of the superficial buddy cop films

and

Quote from: Losing the Horse: on April 24, 2007, 08:08:10 PM
for all the ejoyment I received from Hot Fuzz, it didn't stimulate me creatively or intellectually (why shouldn't it be able to?).

It's clearly not trying to pass itself off as a satire, nor was it trying to make any kind of statement on the supercop action movie.  It's just a movie.  And an enjoyable one at that, by even your own admittance.  I'm not saying that your insight isn't relevant in general but what is the purpose of everything else you wrote, especially the last three sentences?  I just don't understand why there's such a need to cull depth from something that's superficial by design.

Unless you were doing a Pegg & Wright-style not-quite-parody of a xixax review, in which case, good one.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: john on April 25, 2007, 03:07:08 PM
Quote from: Losing the Horse: on April 24, 2007, 08:08:10 PM
The parody film, with its attachment to contemporary expectations, has roughly the shelf life of a political film.  I think the most important question must be its contribution to the formula it represents, and as it is, for all the ejoyment I received from Hot Fuzz, it didn't stimulate me creatively or intellectually (why shouldn't it be able to?). 

The shelf life of any good film, regardless of genre, is timeless. I suppose by "political film", you allude to something like The War Room, or Fahrenheit 9/11, documentaries insistent to the current event they capture. Urgent for the moment, then politically dated. I still don't believe that renders them useless or archaic, though.

Though something like Battle of Algiers, which is a decidedly political movie, is timeless.

I'm not compairing Hot Fuzz to Battle of Algiers (though, it would be pretty cool if I did), but what Hot Fuzz successfully does will keep it from being rendered useless in ten, or twenty years time. It spoofs conventions, and while there  references-a-plenty, it wasn't the references that made it a winner to me.

It was the chemistry between Pegg and Wright, the giddy tonal shifts, and the sincerity behinf the humor that one me over. Those things are timeless.

And, not stimulating you creatively or intellectually, fair enough. I had the same response watching Dreamgirls. But, creatively, anything with this much affection and love behind and in front of the camera, gets me going.

Intellectually, I don't need to be stimulated by this film. The same way I don't get anything intellectually from watching NBC's The Office, or Point Break - and I dig both of those.

It's much more of a shame when something that pretends to want arise an intellectual discussion fails at it - like Notes on a Scandal, maudlin, sweetly-flavored trash disguised as something more meaningful. Here, there's no disguise, no pretense of intellect, just a real good time.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: w/o horse on April 27, 2007, 11:34:39 AM
The responses to the more human dynamics of the film, especially the relationship between the two leads, didn't register in the same way for me.  I saw a film with a well executed bag of conventially sensational emotional trappings that catered to the viewer's desire to connect with the characters, and a film with a sense of humor that could not be seperated from its place in time.  It seems to me that the people who find these characters engaging also probably feel that Raimi has bottled Peter Parker's true energy.

I can completely understand saying that there was a contagious amount of affection in Hot Fuzz.  And the "Just a movie" trick is always a nice one to have.  I won't argue with either.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: MacGuffin on June 02, 2007, 11:34:06 AM
EDGAR WRIGHT INSISTS ON TALKING THROUGH HOT FUZZ
Source: CHUD

I am so jealous of the British Chewers. Not only do your accents give you an unfair advantage with my local women, but now you're getting a SECOND Hot Fuzztival... and this time not only are you going to see three great movies for free, but you're going to see Hot Fuzz with a LIVE COMMENTARY by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and special guests from the film.

Here's a message from Edgar:

"Hey muddy funsters. Join me at the Prince Charles Cinema on June the 10th for a marathon of hot cop action. Not only will we screen three of our favourite actions films, but you will get to see a totally unique live commentary from myself, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as other special guests from our Bad Bobby opus HOT FUZZ.

And who can argue with the triple whammy of John Woo's classic HARD BOILED, the bruising, hilarious LAST BOY SCOUT and the palpable homo erotic tension of POINT BREAK.

I will be your host for the day, will join you in watching the marathon of bad-assery and will be flinging a few goodies and surprises your way.

Come join. First come, first served. And totally free.

Get there early. The hardcore will be duly rewarded.

Edgar"

So here's the line-up:

11:00 Hard Boiled
13:45 Last Boy Scout
16:30 Point Break

20:00 Hot Fuzz with LIVE AUDIO COMMENTARY FROM EDGAR WRIGHT AND CAST FROM THE FILM!

That's June 10th at the Prince Charles Cinema... and if you can't make it, Hot Fuzz is hitting UK DVD on June 11th.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on June 07, 2007, 01:00:49 PM
http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/hot-fuzz3.html

Title: Hot Fuzz (IMDb)
Starring: Simon Pegg
Released: 31st July 2007
SRP: $29.98

Further Details:

Universal Home Video has sent over early details on Hot Fuzz which stars Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost. This new Edgar Wright directed film will be available to own from the 31st July, and should retail at around $29.98. The film itself will be presented in anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX Surround track. Extras on this single-disc (not two-discs like the UK release) will include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, outtakes, an exclusive Fuzzball Rally feature, a Man Who Would Be Fuzz feature, a Hot Funk feature, and more. A HD-DVD/DVD Combo release will also be available for $39.98.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: pete on June 07, 2007, 07:56:45 PM
it was okay, like shaun of the dead, bubba ho-tep, or even Adaptation, it never delivered.  I don't like movies that spend all this time being clever and self-referencial, promising some kinda postmodernist ironic fun, but in the end it's filled with boring subpar thrills.  say what you will about tarantino, but he actually delivers.  his action scenes are actually thrilling, and his scary scenes are actually scary.  these movies just lack the balls to go all out, despite great filmmaking.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Gamblour. on June 08, 2007, 08:02:11 AM
Jesus, does this movie have to live or die by its connection to action films? It was really funny.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: samsong on June 10, 2007, 06:40:50 AM
the Straw Dogs/Point Break stuff made me giddy.  it takes a really strange and satisfying turn towards the end with all that cult shit but i guess that's what needed to happen in order for the film to elevate itself above the haze of clever brit comedy that i feel Shaun of the Dead lingers in.  violence towards/against old people is always great entertainment.  a gratifying, forgettable watch. 
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on September 02, 2007, 01:22:00 PM
The aspect ratio should be 2.35:1, not 1.85:1.

http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/hot-fuzz5.html

Title: Hot Fuzz
Starring: Simon Pegg
Released: 27th November 2007
SRP: $34.98

Further Details:
Universal has announced a brand new 3-Disc Collector's Edition of Hot Fuzz which stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The set will be available to own from the 27th November, and should retail at around $34.98 or thereabouts. The film itself will be presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, along with English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 EX tracks. The artwork hasn't been revealed for this one yet, but we'll bring you that very shortly. For now though, here's the full rundown on each of the discs:

Disc One
• Commentary with Simon Pegg & Edgar Wright
• Commentary with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Rafe Spall, Kevin Eldon & Olivia Colman
• Commentary with Kenneth Cranham, Timothy Dalton, Paul Freeman & Edward Woodward
• Commentary with The Real Fuzz - Any Leafe & Nick Eckland
• Commentary with Edgar Wright & Guest
• Outtakes
• Storyboards
• Fuzz-O-Meter (Trivia Track)
• Inadmissible: Deleted Scenes
• Fuzz-O-Meter
• Danny's Notebook
• Hot Funk
• Theatrical Trailer
• UK TV Spot 1
• UK TV Spot 2
• Director's Cut Trailer

Disc Two
• We Made Hot Fuzz
• Art Department
• Friends & Family
• Cranks, Cranes & Controlled Chaos
• Here Come the Fuzz
• Return to Sandford
• Edgar & Simon's Flip Chart
• Simon Muggs
• Sergeant Fisher's Perfect Sunday
• Plot Holes
• Special Effects: Before & After
• Video Blogs
• Poster Gallery
• Photo Gallery
• AM Blam: Making 'Dead Right'
• Dead Right (1993)
• Edgar Wright Director's Commentary on Dead Right
• Simon Pegg and Nick Frost Commentary on Dead Right

Disc Three
• The Extended Fuzzball Rally
• Video Blogs
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on September 03, 2007, 12:02:12 PM
those bastards.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: SiliasRuby on September 03, 2007, 01:49:52 PM
They are going the wonderful routine route that most action films go into when they hit DVD. They are double dipping.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: modage on September 03, 2007, 06:26:41 PM
which would've been slightly more excusable if they had

a. announced this a little sooner.  like before the original release came out.  or
b. announced this a lot later.  like a few years after it has been a dvd hit, like they had to prepare all these extra extras. 

but this is sort of the worst way to screw people.  thankfully, i actually didn't buy the original release.  so i lucked out for once.  but i wouldn't be surprised if Rick Sands is behind this.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on September 03, 2007, 08:49:59 PM
Quote from: modage on September 03, 2007, 12:02:12 PM
those bastards.

Indeed.  Universal is a notorious double-dipping studio.  The 2-disc UK edition has all this stuff, except, I assume, the 3rd disc.  What makes it even worse is that the R1 HD-DVD includes the content from the R2 DVD.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: SiliasRuby on September 03, 2007, 08:53:56 PM
You are right ravi.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on September 03, 2007, 10:22:30 PM
Motherfuckers.  I'm not even going to pretend I have any kind of self-control that I won't buy this but honestly, the bigger problem is that they're a bunch of pricks for releasing a 1-disc in R1 when they already had 2-discs worth of shit already produced for R2.

Now, all I need is to hear this week that there's going to be a 2-disc of Children of Men and I'll REALLY be pissed.


Quote from: Ravi on September 02, 2007, 01:22:00 PM
• Commentary with Edgar Wright & Guest

$20 on Kevin Smith.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on September 03, 2007, 11:36:44 PM
Quote from: just sparrow on September 03, 2007, 10:22:30 PM
Quote from: Ravi on September 02, 2007, 01:22:00 PM
• Commentary with Edgar Wright & Guest

$20 on Kevin Smith.

My bet is on Tarantino.
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Kal on September 04, 2007, 12:17:59 AM
My bet is WHO CARES...
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on September 07, 2007, 02:12:38 AM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg376.imageshack.us%2Fimg376%2F413%2Fhotfuzzeg5.jpg&hash=2cecf21428a8bf071bff0bbefd4fc69fec8840b2)
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: grand theft sparrow on September 07, 2007, 09:38:36 AM
That's one of the better non-original poster art DVD covers I've seen.  It sums up everything that the movie is. 
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Neil on July 28, 2017, 11:27:02 AM
Quote from: Ravi on September 03, 2007, 11:36:44 PM
Quote from: just sparrow on September 03, 2007, 10:22:30 PM
Quote from: Ravi on September 02, 2007, 01:22:00 PM
• Commentary with Edgar Wright & Guest

$20 on Kevin Smith.

My bet is on Tarantino.



Finally got around to listening to this.

Did anyone pay Ravi his 20$
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: Ravi on July 28, 2017, 12:37:39 PM
Quote from: Neil on July 28, 2017, 11:27:02 AM
Did anyone pay Ravi his 20$

No. Where's my $20?
Title: Re: Hot Fuzz
Post by: polkablues on July 28, 2017, 03:44:38 PM
You would have to collect from hacksparrow, and that dude's been MIA for years.