The World's End (2013)

[El Dingo]

Remember that feeling you get after watching a Monty Python movie for the first time? It's like watching a comedy salad being thrown into a wood chipper and trying to keep up with all of the pieces flying around.

The World's End is like that. It's a movie about life, love, loss, nostalgia, missed opportunities, aliens, robots, regret, addiction, Kung-Fu (or as I like to call it - Pub-Fu), friends, drinking, society, technology, and ultimately, growing-up (and old).

Basically it's a DOOM gathering enacted by Simon Pegg and all of his "Shawn of the Dead" buddies. I get to be Simon Pegg because of the "Sisters of Mercy" fandom (DM breaks out in sweats when anyone mentions "Sisters of Mercy").

Like Pegg's other films (Hot Fuzz, etc.) this movie is heavily Anglo-centric, with thick accents and pokes at English culture. The central plot about a pub crawl through the home town provides a fantastic central theme that allows the story to spiral out of control then pull back to the main quest. The comedy is extra-dry, almost Oscar Wilde-esque with a hint of slapstick now and again.

It gets my vote for Best Picture next year.

Go see it.

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

How did you see this as a download or on DVD? Maybe I shouldn't ask . . .

The Queen and I attended this one at the cinema. We were at a loss to come up with the last film we saw outside the confines of the house but it might have been Iron Man 3.

After seeing the movie, this is how I felt the pitch meeting went. Our heroes return to their hometown to relive their youth by going to twelve pubs on one night. It's an epic pub crawl. The only catch is everyone in town has been replaced by alien robots. That sounds great. Then what happens? We don't know. But we'll figure it out.

Except they don't figure it out . . . .

This film had some really fun moments, some of the dialogue was great, but after you get to the robots have taken over the town point, it doesn't really go anywhere. I think they were win Pub 4 when I realized the same thing was pretty much going to play out in every pub.

Yes, there was the much more interesting story of what happened to Gary King and his best friend but that didn't get developed as much as it should.

I'm going to have to disagree that this was the best film of the year. Although if it is based on films I have actually seen at the theater, then that could be the case.

[cranefly]

Lady Cranefly is a big Simon Pegg fan, so this might lure us into the theaters -- or into "acquiring" a DVD a la El Dingo.

[El Dingo]

Oops - My bad. I was so excited to review this film that I linked the wrong forum. Don't get me started on how all movies eventually become DVD (or Blu-Ray) so I think there should be one movie section.

I guess when I watch a film I already think "this is scripted bullshit" and cannot immerse myself into the medium. What I immerse myself in is the pretense of the film. This allows me to enjoy the dialogue, cinematography, composition and color of the on-screen action.

So I will edit my critique for those interested in story and cohesion.

This film is a mess. A glorious, glorious mess. It makes no sense and has plot holes you could drive a convoy of trucks through. It is basically a live-action cartoon. But if you like clever dialogue, smarmy comedy so dry it makes John Cleese cough, well-shot but pointless action scenes, the occasional jab at serious big-budget movies and are Anglophile enough to understand why pub crawls are important then it is worth the ticket. It does drag in places but the over-the-top scenes make up for the 'chick' parts.

The last film we saw was Iron Man 3 too. The ending was a bit much.

[The Queen]

It did have a number of very funny lines. My favorite -- apart from the running gag about selective memory -- was, "What the fuck is 'W.T.F.'?"

[Drunk Monk]

i'm all sweaty