Hello everyone, hope y’all had a nice weekend. It’s scorching HOT here in Minnesota with heat index topping 100 degrees!! I’m not fond of extreme heat and humidity so I stayed mostly indoors, went to the movies Saturday night and cooling off at Mall of America on Sunday. Not much of a home-viewing weekend, as I only watched an episode of Shark Week on Netflix from Discovery Channel, ahah. I did see Austenland earlier in the week which I really enjoyed (review later this week as it opens at Edina Landmark Theaters on 8/30).
At the movies The Butler is still well-served by moviegoers, topping the box office again with $17 mil, whilst all of the new releases made barely $10 mil each (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, The World’s End and You’re Next). I guess this weekend and the next few weeks are the dead zone of sort, as Summer movie season is pretty much over. I’m quite looking forward to Fall/Winter schedule though, so look for my Most Anticipated List around Labor Day. Below is my mini review of …
Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier unwittingly become humankind’s only hope for survival.
This film is the conclusion of the Cornetto or Blood and Ice Cream trilogy, a series of British comedic films by Edgar Wright, written by him and Simon Pegg. I’m a big fan of the last two in the trilogy, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, so that’s the main draw for me to see this one.
This film also reunited Pegg with his longtime BFF Nick Frost in a slightly different role than what I’m used to seeing him in (more on that in a bit). Pegg plays Gary King, a bon vivant alcoholic who’s pretty much still stuck in the past (literally), obsessing over his teenage days in his hometown of Newton Haven. He can’t get over the fact that him and his posse failed to complete the Golden Mile, an infamous pub crawl encompassing 12 pubs that ends in the last one called The Worl’ds End.
So he sets off to track down his old mates, and soon he realizes each of them has moved on. Peter Page (Eddie Marsan), Oliver “O-Man” Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine) and Andy Knightley (Nick Frost) all have a steady job and family of their own, with their own set of responsibilities. But Gary is far too self-absorbed and oblivious to let that stop ’em, but yet somehow, he managed to convince them all to actually join him! So off they go in Gary’s beat up sedan, the very same one he has from his teenage years, bound to Newton Haven!
I have to admit the film started off a bit too sluggish for my liking. Even as they arrive in their old hometown, the pub crawl itself aren’t as hilarious as I expected. I don’t know if I’ve grown tired of Simon Pegg’s schtick or what, but he’s just not as funny as he was in the other two films. In fact, I find Gary to be pretty irritating most of the time, which doesn’t help. I’d say the scene-stealer here is Nick Frost (I guess you could say the same about the rest of the trilogy), as he plays a responsible, thoughtful and actually wise guy with a good career, it’s an interesting role switcheroo as he’s not the typical dumb slob he’s played in the past. His straight-laced Andy provides the most laughs for me as the antithesis of Pegg’s character.
I guess I have a similar complaint on this one with Elysium in that this film is much bigger in terms of budget and special effects, but overall the quality isn’t on par with Wright’s smaller projects in the past. Some of the jokes made me cringe and it just feels forced, which is too bad as I know the talents are capable of something great. Given that we’ve seen a lot of apocalyptic themes in movies lately, the film also suffers from originality, I could see the plot reveal from a mile away and the finale seems to go on forever. Oh, and there’s a cameo from another Bond actor (Timothy Dalton was the scene-stealer in Hot Fuzz), but I think Pierce Brosnan is utterly wasted and devoid of humor in his role. Interestingly, Rosamund Pike (who was the Bond girl in Brosnan’s worst Bond movie ever), also didn’t have much to do in this male-dominated comedy.
Now, there are some fun moments to be had and I like the all-British cast, but I wish I had just rented this one instead of paying top dollars to see it on the big screen. Truthfully, I’m surprised by its high rating on RottenTomatoes. Ah well, I had expected the trilogy to end on a high note, alas, I feel that the Wright/Pegg/Frost trio is perhaps a bit complacent about their work. That’s never a good sign no matter how good they think they have it.
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| 2.5 out of 5 reels | ||||
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
Yeah it’s way too hot this weekend but again I’d rather have this weather than the cold and snowy days, which sadly will come in a couple of months.
I don’t really have the urge to see The World’s End, maybe a rental if I”m in the mood. I enjoyed the first two movies in this “trilogy” but this one just doesn’t look that interesting to me.
I rented Bullet to the Head this weekend, to my surprise I quite enjoyed it and I thought Stallone was great but I understand why it tanked at the box office.
Hi Ted! Well I’m actually looking forward to Fall, that’s my favorite season!
Hey, would you review Bullet to the Head for me? I plan on doing a Rental Pick post w/ my review of Arbitrage as well. I figure you didn’t go see You’re Next right?
Oh I love the fall season too, not too hot and not too cold but after Thanksgiving, the weather tends to get too nasty for my liking.
Yeah sure I can write a quick review of Bullets to the Head. No I didn’t make it to You’re Next screening, I wish these screenings are being held on weekends, a week before the film opens to the public. I just have too much to do during the week and tend to forget about the screenings.
Sounds like I won’t be missing much with The World’s End. Not one I care to see. In fact it was another terribly slow movie week for me at the theater. I do plan on seeing either The Butler or Blue Jasmine tomorrow.
If you’re not into this type of comedies, yeah I don’t think you’ll miss out on it, Keith. Oooh, I missed Blue Jasmine screening, looking forward to your review on that one.
Great review Ruth. I liked Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz but I thought some of the jokes in them seemed forced as well. It doesn’t really surprise me that this one feels the same way. I think I’ll skip this for the time being.
Hi Mark! Yeah it’s too bad really, I guess the jokes are wearing thin. The laughs are really scarce on this one.
I haven’t seen it yet, but it looks like everyone skipped it at the box office. I was hoping to hear better things, but I think it sounds like a lot of people that did see it were slightly disappointed. Guess I’ll wait to see it.
It might still be worth a rental Shane, but definitely not the $10 bucks i paid for 😦
Just wish I had laughed more 😦
Good review 😀
I know, right? I laughed way more watching Hot Fuzz, I even bought the BD. I don’t think I’ll watch this one again.
Bummer! I also liked the first two, especially Shaun. It should be funny to see Frost as the responsible character 🙂 Thanks for the review, Ruth!
Hello Gene! Frost is really the best part here, he played straight-laced quite well, ahah.
Too bad you were disappointed with it Ruth. I went in with kind of low expectations and had a decent time. I agree though, how is this at 93% on RT? LOL, that’s usually reserved for like the best of the best… and I don’t think this is top ten material, for me.
Hi Fogs! Yeah I guess expectations play a big part as I was a fan of the other two in the trilogy. But I really was bored a few times, so I have to knock off points from that. I’m really puzzled by the super high ratings, but oh well, I don’t often agree with the critics anyway 😀
Ruth, your review sort of makes me glad we didn’t see any films this weekend. I still have a feeling I will be checking this one out at some point.
Hi Adam! So no movie for you all weekend? This one is still worth a rent if you like the cast. I was really hoping it’d at least be as funny as the other two. I wasn’t even a fan of zombie movies but I really like Shaun of the Dead!
Yeah Ruth, wife decided to have the baby a few days early so no weekend film for me 😉
WHOA!!! You just had a baby?? OMG, big congrats man. Who cares about going to the movies when you just had a miracle of birth!! So is this your first? Congrats again man, that’s awesome!
2nd, thanks Ruth 🙂
Ah so you’re a pro by now then 😀 Thanks for sharing the big news Adam, hope you manage to get some sleep, ahah.
Sorry you didn’t like The World’s End. I should see it at some point this week, and I’m looking forward to it. 🙂
I saw Blue Jasmine, which was great, as well as some films from 1987, including The Dead, Radio Days and Ironweed.
Hope you enjoy it more than I did 😀 Oh Blue Jasmine! Are you gonna review that?
Yeah, I should review it later this week or early next week. 🙂
Hi Ruth, how disappointing about The World’s End! I didn’t get a chance to check it out over the weekend, but I still plan to do so soon. I’ll just have to go into it with tempered expectations.
Hi Eric! Yeah, I guess I expected more from these guys but despite some funny parts, overall it’s just not as good as the previous two. Who knows though, seems like I’m in the minority who didn’t love this movie.
Nice review. Still very excited about World’s End, though. This weekend I watched Kick-Ass 2 and The Bling Ring. Reviews coming soon!
Did you like Kick-Ass 2? Since you saw the cast I thought you’d be excited for it. I’m curious about The Bling Ring, I missed the screening for that one.
I liked K-A2 but the first one is a lot better. The Bling Ring is great. One of my favorites of the year so far!
I like the first one too, but I’m not that interested in the sequel. Oh glad to hear about Bling Ring, the premise sounds intriguing though I wasn’t fond of Sophia Coppola’s previous film Somewhere. Looking fwd to your reviews Fernando!
Hey Ruth, finally getting round to your posts! We’re in agreement over this one although I did score it slightly higher. I definitely agree that the bigger budget and scale just makes it feel a lot less personal compared with Shaun of the Dead and even Hot Fuzz. Bit disappointed with it to be honest.
Oh and you already know what (or rather who) I saw last weekend 🙂
Hi Chris! You said it man, it becames less personal n also less original somehow. It’s too bad as i love these guys n nice to see Martin Freeman too!
Oh yeah lucky you to run into Richard, wow!! I wonder if he shops at Harrod’s regularly, he always dresses well! 😉 Btw would u describe in detail in my Everybodys Chattin post? One of his fans inquired about it, ahah.
Haha, of course, I’ll pop by shortly and recount the tale 🙂 And of course read your post!
Yay! Be as detailed as possible ok Chris 😉
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