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Mar 29, 2011

Fletch's Film Review Paul

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: Um, hi. Welcome to The Pegg & Frost Show. We're...uh...Simon and Nick...and, our guest tonight is...one of the...greatest directors.. uh, film directors. We guess, film makers, ever. [ Simon and Nick smack themselves in the head ] GOD! That sounds stupid! God, we're such idiots! We never know how to start these things!

Steven Spielberg: You're doing great, guys.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: [ hopeful ] Really? No, we're not. [ hyperventilating ] Anyway...we guess...we didn't have, have to say, who you were, because...man, we mean...everyone knows who you are. Mmm...you're Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg: Well, it's great to be here.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: [ uncomfortable ] You...you...you remember that time when you made Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Steven Spielberg: Yeah, sure.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: That was awesome!

Steven Spielberg: Yeah, it was.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: O-kay.. Oh! You...you remember when you made that movie about the little alien guy...and...uh...how he ate M & Ms and he could heal stuff with his finger and everything?

Steven Spielberg: Well, actually, guys, it was Reese's Pieces. We tried to get M & Ms in the movie, but the parent company, Mars, Inc. said no so we went with Hershey and Reese's. But yeah, E.T. was a fun movie to make that really let me re-live the imagination of my childhood.

Simon Pegg & Nick Frost: Oh my god! We're such morons! We totally should have known that! We've seen that movie like a thousand times! Well...uh...really, we've seen, like, all of your movies a thousand times...well...except for Hook, that sucked. Oh wait!! No, that's not what we meant!

Steven Spielberg: It's alright, fellas. I understand. You're big fans. Everyone has their favorites.

Fletch's Film Rating:
Expectation:
"Darn tootin."
Reality:
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
LAMBScore:
Large Association of Movie Blogs


7 people have chosen wisely: on "Fletch's Film Review Paul"

Colin Biggs said...

Interesting. I would have thought you would have liked this more.

Fletch said...

@ Fitz - You and me both. I almost put a postscript to all that with some random thoughts but decided against it - it's the subject of the next LAMBcast, to be posted in just a few days.

Basically, yes, I should have liked it a whole hell of a lot. I dig Mottola, the stars, the deep ensemble cast (full of great character actors), sci-fi, comedy, references, etc. But it just didn't come together - it settled for dick and fart jokes instead of actually being clever.

Thaddeus said...

A lot of Paul reviews (I haven't seen it) have said that the movie is "so-so." Generally, it seems to suffer from comparisons to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

There are no guarantees in comedy, and I have to say that I'm sad it's not a better movie.

Tell me, do you think it was a bad decision to have Seth Rogen voice the title character? Didn't sound like a good one to me...

Jack L said...

This was amusing and pretty accurate..
Maybe the reason Paul didn't impress me much was because I'm not a fan of ET and Close Encounters, or Star Wars for that matter.

Alex said...

Adorable.

I keep forgetting this movie even came out, and then vaguely thinking about seeing it whenever something reminds me.

Kano said...

Your picture doesnt match you quote. Which one 'Whatever' or 'Decent'?

Fletch said...

@ Thaddeus - Yea, it's definitely a bit to the film's detriment that the two stars are the same, inviting such comparisons. It's really not the same tone as though (not surprising given the different director), but it's just easy and unavoidable.

I was okay with Rogen. At first, it is a bit distracting given his recognizable voice, but in the end, I think the personality that comes with his voice added to the character of Paul overall. And he definitely gives off the required "jovial, friendly alien" vibe that's needed in a hurry.

@ Jack - Aww, c'mon, you're killing me. Next you're gonna say that you don't care for Raiders, either.

I understand an homage to Spielberg - the guy definitely deserves it. Just a little subtlety would have helped.

@ Alex - You could do a lot worse, and from what I've seen, my opinion of it is on the lower end of the spectrum. Sad, but true.

@ Kano - Indeed - thanks for catching that. I gave it a Decent, since I generally enjoyed myself. That said, the more I think about it, the more the laziness of the writing (dick/fart jokes) bothers me. If the direction was poorer and the language a bit cruder, I would have thought Kevin Smith directed.