Movie Review: Paul

Last Thursday my friends Mike and Ron managed to get a double guest pass to an advanced screening of the movie Paul, so my wife and I joined them to check it out.

Here’s my impressions of the film.

1) It was pretty darn funny

2) It is the closest thing I’ll ever see to an Alf movie (and I liked it better than Alf)

3) It has the makings for an excellent movie-lovers drinking game

4) It continues to show me that you can’t go wrong if you’re teaming up Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

5) Kristen Wiig wears the funniest shirt I’ve seen in months

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, check it out, but basically the film follows two guys who pick up an alien hitch-hiker and spend the rest of the film on the run from shady government agents. The movie nods at tonnes of classic genre films (seriously I tried to keep count by after hitting reference #27 I just gave up and enjoyed the film) in very clever ways.

The alien (a CG creation voiced by Canadian actor Seth Rogen) is pretty incredible, making him both foul-mouthed and loveable. I think it’s fair to say that if you’re a regular reader at my blog, there will be a lot you’ll like about the film (no it doesn’t spend a month looking at Twilight, that was just me). In the end, a very fun flick.

Bookmonkey's Top 5 films to see before summer 2011

This summer has got a lot of genre picks I'm going to see, and it starts in May with the release of Thor. Although I'm not a big fan of the Marvel Character, I am a big fan of director Kenneth Branagh and I've enjoyed the Marvel films over the last few years. The four months between now and Thor, however are filled with a lot of Genre films I'd like to see, so I thought I would share it with all of you.

1. The Green Hornet

Although I never saw the classic '60s series, my interest in the film comes from two distinct factors: a) Canadian Actor Seth Rogen, who I've loved since his days back in Freaks & Geeks, b) Director Michael Gondry, whose film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind may be a strong contender for my favourite SF film of the last ten years.

2. Your Higness

A send-up of fantasy films starring Danny McBride (who I've loved in everything I've ever seen him in, from Land of the Lost to Up in the Air), and James Franco (another actor I've been following since Freaks & Geeks), this movie looks like it may do for heroic fantasy what Hot Tub Time Machine did for time travel SF.

3. Limitless

Starring Bradley Cooper, this film looks at a miracle drug that can open all of mans potential, I wonder if there will be a horrible downside? Regardless I'm looking forward to checking it out.

4 Paul

Much like Scott Pilgrim last year, Paul mixes some of my favourite things (Shawn of the Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and again (wow!) Freaks & Geeks alum Seth Rogen in a buddy film involving a tour of the great alien contact sites throughout America and the chance to help out a real live (and disgusting) alien called Paul.

5. Source Code

From the Director of my favourite SF film of 2009, Moon, comes this film about a man using technology that allows him to live the last 8 minutes of someone elses life over and over in an attempt to discover who killed him, only problem, he doesn't just want info, he wants to change history.