Title: Burke and Hare

Directed by: John Landis

Written by: Piers Ashworth & Nick Moorcroft

Current Flickchart position:  #635 of 1365 overall.  My #50 film, of 66, from the year 2010.

What It’s About:
A black comedy about two 19th century grave robbers who find a lucrative business providing cadavers for an Edinburgh medical school.

General Comments:
It may pair Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes again after their brilliant work on Spaced, and it may also star Andy Serkis, Tim Curry and Isla Fisher, but all I could do was compare it to I Sell The Dead, and it’s sad to say that it’s just not as good or enjoyable as that film.  For a comedy it’s completely unfunny.

Watch Burke and Hare because it features a really great British cast (as well as the very hot Australia Isla Fisher).

Rating:  5.5/10

I absolutely loved the script for Paul when I read it and I’m really hoping that it’s another success for Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  I guess I’ll find out in February.

Personally I thought of Bill Hader as the voice when I read the script, but more Seth Rogen is never a bad thing.

Also added to the cast are Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch and Jason Bateman.

[via Variety]

Simon Pegg

GENRE: comedy/action

PLOT:
After attending the San Diego Comic-con, two British nerds travel across America to visit Area 51.  Along the way they encounter an alien named Paul who enlists their help to travel north.

I absolutely LOVE Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  They were awesome in their first project, Spaced, and they continued that excellence through Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  Pegg can currently be seen playing Scotty in JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek.  I first heard about Paul around August 2008 on AICN and have really been waiting for more information on it ever since, which is why it was such a surprise for me to receive it today.  Needless to say, I quickly stopped reading Grand Theft Auto and sunk my teeth into the script.

Put simply, it’s f’ing great.  It’s obviously very funny, there are some great Back to the Future references, fun action scenes, and even a debate about evolution and intelligent design between Paul and Ruth.  There’s literally nothing I dislike about this script.  Nothing.  That may be because I’m easily pleased when it comes to films/scripts, or because of my admiration of Pegg and Frost, and whilst these things may be true, there is simply no denying that Paul is a great, silly, fun, and caring film.  My reviews are never that insightful to begin with, but it’s especially hard when I enjoy something as much as I enjoyed this, it just turns into 300 words of me gushing about how great it is.

Here’s just a taster of the Back to the Future references:

Pros:

• Everything

Cons:

• Nothing

Final Grade: A

DATE NIGHT – Josh Klausner
DEATH AT A FUNERAL – Chris Rock & Ayesha Carr
THE GILMORES OF BEVERLY HILLS – Chris Rock & Ali LeRoi
GREENBERG – Noah Baumbach
THE HARDY MEN – Ron Parker
PAUL – Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

PAUL is real, I’m reading it now and hopefully will have a review up soon.

I went into the film knowing next to nothing about the plot, so I’m not going to give too much away here in case anyone’s actually reading my blog, but I will highlight some of my personal pros and cons of the film.

Pros:

• A great reboot that sets the stage for future films without the need for retcon.
• The fight on the drill
• Brilliant choices for the main roles
• Eric Bana as a kick ass villain
• The special effects were absolutely amazing
• So was the score
• The whole scope of it is something that I’ve never seen in a Star Trek film before

Cons:

• The birth of Kirk sequence (that specifically, not the whole opening)
• The little alien hanging around with Scotty (it reminded me of an Ewok)
• The standing ovation for Kirk at the end

Final Grade: A-