1953 - The World's End

I missed this one in the cinema and got it for xmas and decided to make it my birthday movie!  I’m a fan of the filmmaking team of Wright/Pegg/Frost.  I still think I’d rank Shaun of the Dead as the height of this “trilogy” and that this and “Hot Fuzz” are more-or-less tied for second.  For those who don’t know the film is about a pub crawl that happens to coincide with a sort-of alien invasion.  

As an action-comedy director I can’t think of anyone who holds a candle to Edgar Wright.  His films skip right along, and they are filled with fantastic and fun action.  There’s an amazing sequence in here wherein the group is surrounded and fighting the “blanks” as they’re called all the while Simon Pegg continues to try and finish his pint.  It’s comedy gold.  The film is full of that.  Frost and Pegg again show why they’re such a solid team here and really play to the emotions when needed.  Simon is in fantastically fine form here.  

If I have a complaint it’s that the epilogue just feels… strange, not sure that’s the route I would have taken it - though I suppose it works and makes sense.  At any rate I’m not going to spoil it.  If you’ve seen the other films from this team then you’ll likely enjoy this one too!

1538 - Paul

This film had me excited from the trailer - and then taking a quick glance at the people involved sealed the deal.  I even chose this over The King's Speech - mostly because I just wanted to watch something fun tonight.  Pegg and Frost have had a lot of fun playing around with genre films, and now they go after the sci-fi genre, this time with Greg Mottola as their collaborator. 
It's essentially ET as a road film with Seth Rogen as the (voice of the) alien, and he's a perfect choice.  What's a lot of fun about this is the idea that the alien isn't a new visitor, but he's been here for a long damn time - he knows stuff - he knows a lot more than most humans.  The film takes a pretty damn healthy poke at religion and I wonder if it won't get criticized for it. 
What I like about the film most is just how much of an adventure it feels that we're on.  There's lots of people after the group as they go along their road trip, and it keeps the pace going - always on the move.  The cast has as much fun with the material as the audience does watching.  I am always a fan of Jason Bateman, and I find Kristen Wiig simply adorable - and it's nice to see that she's becoming better known - she deserves it.
So obviously I'm going to see The King's Speech at some point 'cause everyone keeps on raving about the damn thing - but for tonight I wanted something fun - and I got what I wanted.  If you're already a fan of this group of people then you need no recommendation from me.  This is a really fun film.