Inspired by a conversation with a few others a couple of days ago, might fuck around and do a re-watch of the cornetto trilogy and tweet along with it

Okay here we go with SHAUN OF THE DEAD

As a preface to this, one of my friends in high school was a huge Wright/Pegg/Frost fan and horror fan and he made a couple of short films (that are still probably out there on youtube). The first I was involved with was a haunted house short that I helped him film.

The second was a parody horror in the same vein as Shaun of the Dead, where I played a zombie. It was a lot of fun.

Got distracted was trying to find good pictures of it. These were the best I could come up with. I made a good zombie, though I say it myself.

Right off the bat the way this movie mingles the mundane with the oncoming dread and subverts your expectations about whether horror or banality is coming next (and therefore linking the two things) is *chef's kiss*

"With Ed here, it's no wonder I bring my flatmates out, and that only exacerbates things."
"What do you mean?"
"Well you guys hardly get on, do you?"
"No what does exacerbate mean?"

The pull-back-and-reveal jokes with the shot steadily showing more and more of the surroundings and people who are there we didn't see before is one of my favourite jokes and Edgar Wright is so good at them

Nick Frost plays very different characters in all three cornetto movies. Even more so than Simon Pegg. Really underrated versatility there.

Dylan Moran plays so against type in this movie you often forget it's him

The filmmaker friend I mentioned before recreated the continuous tracking shot following Shaun from his house to the shop (which reoccurs later in the film) once in his own street

All the little hints and clues about what's coming and the things going on in the background are so perfect, as are the hints to what caused the zombie outbreak

Just realised this is an awkward film to be watching at the moment what with, *gestures at everything*

Alright we get it film, humans are already "zombies" going about their day-to-day business

Just kidding, the film nails this, even if it might seem a bit trite and overdone now

Young fresh-faced Rafe Spall appearing as one of Shaun's subordinates at work! (He's already grown up so much by the time he appears in Hot Fuzz)

"You got red on you"

"He's not my dad...He's my step-dad."

I'd be quite happy to have Bill Nighy as my dad

Guy behind Shaun on the bus coughing really should be wearing a mask

Jessica Hynes (then Stevenson)!!! Spaced!

"How you doing?"
"Surviving."

"I just bought a place." That dates this movie.

"Glad somebody made it!" I will be coming back to these lines later.

Movies about having to grow up and being a proper adult hit harder now than they did when I first watched them. Shit.

Kate Ashfield as Liz is great and she should be in more things

"So you want to go out with my friends? What, Dianne and David, a 'failed actress and a twat.' Your words!"
"I did *not* call Dianne a failed actress!"

"We went to Greece didn't we?"
"We MET in Greece."

Dianne being awkward and trying to stay out of the way of the fight but David is enjoying it too much and is staying there giving sarky asides

At one point Shaun was my favourite of the three cornetto films and I watched it loads. Then it switched to Fuzz and I watched it loads. Then World's End and again. In that order. Now I don't know which is my favourite.

But my fave is probably Fuzz or World's End, which makes me forget how much I love Shaun and how much I watched it back in the day. It was the one I was looking forward to re-watching the least but now I've started I've gotten into it.

(I'm stop-starting my viewing of it a lot though so will get through it slowly)

I adore Lucy Davis's character (Dianne) so much. Had a major crush on Davis when she was in the Office (UK) growing up. She was also so good in Wonder Woman. I hear she's on the new Sabrina series these days (alongside Miranda Otto, another crush of mine).

I like the subplot of David (Moran) being in love with Liz (Ashford) and poor long-suffering Dianne (Davis)

Shaun giving the flowers meant for his mum to Liz..."smooth"

Edgar Wright's films, specifically the cornetto ones, don't feature a lot of women, certainly not a lot of important ones. Which is one of my biggest criticisms of them.

But out of the cornetto films I think Shaun, the first one funnily enough, handles the female characters the best.

Honestly my least favourite Wright film is Baby Driver and I think it's not coincidence it was one of his worst in terms of handling the female characters (imo).

The extras and minor characters who come back as zombies later is a great touch

Nick Frost does do an excellent monkey impression tbf

"Who put this on?"
"It's on random."

Ed (Frost) is obviously portrayed as a bad influence and immature but I like it that the film isn't completely down on him. He's clearly a good friend and the kinda person you want there during a break-up for emotional support.

Confession time: I'm not a huge fan of horror. Like I appreciate it's qualities, I'm just too much of a wuss and am easily scared. I like horror best when elements of it appear in other genres (like ASOIAF).

I'm not a big fan of zombie movies either but not out of fear: I just don't find zombies interesting or good. This is one of the few zombie related pieces of media I like and it's largely because it's a parody and a comedy.

Ed's plan for a pub crawl feels like where the seeds of World's End were planted.

I think he even says one of the pubs is King's Head, which, I *think* is one of the pubs in World's End

Shaun and Gary King in World's End are both very irresponsible (with Sergeant Angel in Hot Fuzz being the real odd one out of Pegg's characters across the films). But they are very different sorts of irresponsible.

"It's true, Big Al says so."
"Yeah, well Big Al also says dogs can't look up."

"I won't bombard you with cliches. But I will say this. It's not the end of the world."

The couple still making out outside the pub both before and after Shaun enters but he doesn't notice they're actually zombies feeding is...hoo boy

I'm convinced if there was a zombie outbreak, this is exactly how people would behave. In the UK at least.

Like with Ed and Shaun being too drunk to notice at first. That would definitely happen.

"That was the second album I ever bought!" Nice bit of foreshadowing for the record throwing bit.

"It's 4 in the FUCKING MORNING." Peter Serafinowicz is my flatmates when they're wondering why I'm always up at weird times. It's called insomnia guys.

"Every other fucker in my department is fucking ill!" hmm I wonder why that is

Notice how Shaun says "*we* split up with Liz tonight" including Ed in the couple lol

"You wanna live like an animal, go live in the shed you thick fuck!" hmmm not foreshadowing at all that

Pete (Serafinowicz) has been bitten

That's Peter "Darth Maul" Serafinowicz there

"Next time I see him, he's dead." Subtle.

And yet with all the little bits you miss on first viewing you can't say these films are without subtlety

The way this movie slowly builds up dread and tension is so good. And it's a comedy!!

"These days a lot of people don't eat meat." Again, subtle.

Shaun's mum is so cute! And the way she calls Liz "Elizabeth". Adorable! The wonderful Penelope Wilton. That's Harriet Jones for Doctor Who fans.

Just makes her fate later all the more difficult

The way this shot here changes from night to day with the lighting is sooo clever (or at least to me, a rube who knows nothing about this stuff)

"Go round Mums
Get Liz back
SORT LIFE OUT!"

"Want anything from the shop?"
"Cornetto."

And this is the walk to the shop that happened earlier but now with a darker twist. And the fact it takes Shaun so long to notice is fantastic.

I always forget about the bloody hands on the fridge door which Shaun doesn't notice

Ad in the shop for Sunny Delight. That brings back childhood memories.

That corner shop reminds me so much of the one near my home

Never noticed before that Shaun goes for a coke but gets a diet coke instead, maybe because of what Liz said to him about getting into shape

Cameo from Krishnan Guru-Murthy @krishgm there in Shaun of the Dead, I always forget that too

"Although no one official is prepared to comment, religious groups are calling it Judgement Day."

Panic by the Smiths lol again I forgot that

The joke where he flips through the channels but it still makes up an appropriate sentence will never not be funny
"...people are literally being..." flicks to nature show, David Attenborough saying, "eaten alive".

*ominous music*
"Oh my god."
*laughs*
"She's so drunk!"

"No seriously I've just come out of a relationsh-ARGH."

Shaun notices her weird eyes. That low budget zombie-weird-eye was the inspiration for the colourless contacts I wore in my zombie get-up (see up thread).

When she gets back up from that injury tho

The shot through the hole in her stomach to see Shaun on the other side...one perfect shot.

*calls the police*
"Shit it's engaged."
"What about an ambulance?"
"It's engaged."
"Fire service?"
"It's one number Ed! And it's busy!"

"What do you want a fire engine for anyway?"
"Anything with flashing lights, ya know."

If the fires in Australia and recent events have taught me anything it's that the fire service is a good emergency service

"What do you think we should do?"
"...Have a sit down?"

I hate to do a trite "what a British reaction!" line but...yeah.

TV: Chaos on the motorways as people try to flee the cities...

Ed: You think this is the same thing?

The look Shaun and him give each other after that line always gets me

"The Home Office has issued a statement telling people to stay in their homes" oh yeah that'll go well people will obey that

The government in this film is a lot quicker to issue a stay at home order than they were in real life #satire #topical

The shot where they're on the couch watching the TV and we see the zombie enter through the front door and they don't see, but there's no sound cue, no camera movement...perfect.

It's the guy in the wedding outfit from earlier! But now he's undead innit!

"Argh! Oh for God's sake! He's got an arm off! Get him!"

"The man said to stay indoors!"
"Fuck the man!"

Is Ed...Dominic Cummings? #satire #topical

"...removing the head, or destroying the brain."

"No no that's the second album I ever bought!"

"What one was that?"
"I think that was Blue Monday."
"That was an original pressing!"
"For fuck's sake."

"Purple Rain?"
"Nope."
"Sign of the Times?"
"Definitely not."
"Batman soundtrack?"
"Throw it."

Interesting note in Simon Pegg's autobiography he says he was a big geek growing up but he says Martin Freeman was like a cooler geek because he was into collecting records growing up more than Pegg was.

"Dire Straits?"
"Throw it."

"Stone Roses?"
"No!"
"Second Coming..."
"I like it!"

"You got red on you."

"If you know someone who has been bitten it is absolutely essential that you isolate them immediately." For how long? 7 days? 14? #topical #satire

"Don't go up there!"
"Why not?"
"Because A. He might be one of them, and B. He might still be annoyed."

"OI PRICK."
*nothing*
Both: "He's not in."

*Tries ringing phone*
"She's engaged."
"That was quick!"
"Ed! This is serious."

"Some men tried to get into the house."
"Are they still there?"
"...We're not sure, we've shut the curtains."

Absolutely how everyone's gran would react to a zombie outbreak

Shaun: *extremely concerned* "Mum, have you been bitten?"
Barbara: No...but Philip has.
Shaun: *extremely relieved* Oh okay.

Ed: *extremely concerned* "Has she been bitten?"
Shaun: *casually* "No but Philip has."
Ed: *extremely relieved* Oh okay.

Ed: What's the deal?
Shaun: We may have to kill my step-dad.

Shaun: Mum sit tight, you're not safe there.
Barbara: I don't want to cause a fuss...
Ed: WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU BARBARA.

And on that note I think I will wrap up for tonight, and will continue tomorrow at some stage!

About to continue in a bit

"What's the plan?"
And so one of the best parts of the movie commences.

"We take Pete's car. We drive over to mum's. We go in. We take care of Philip. "I'm so sorry Philip." Then we grab mum. We go over to Liz's place. We grab a cup of tea, and wait for all this to blow over."

"We take Pete's car. Go round mum's. Go in. Deal with Philip. "Sorry Philip." Grab mum. Go to Liz's. Pick her up. Bring her back here. Grab a cup of tea, and wait for all this to blow over."

"Take car. Go to mum's. Kill Phil. "Sorry!" Grab Liz. Go to the Winchester. Have a nice cold pint, and wait for all this to blow over."

"How's that for a slice of fried gold?"
"YEAH BOI."

"Just to recap, it is vital that you stay in your homes, make no attempt to reach loved ones, and avoid all physical contact..." They should have listened to the man on the TV! #topical #satire

"Take car. Drive to make sure your sight is working. Go to Barnard Castle and wait for all this blow over." #topical #satire

"Any zombies out there?"
"Don't say that."
"What?"
"That."
"What?"
"That! The z-word. Don't say it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's ridiculous!"

"Are there any out there though?"
"Can't see any. Maybe it's not as bad as all that."
*beat*
"Oop no, there they are."
*There are lots of them*

I know I keep on saying it, but that shot where Shaun looks in the cabinet mirror then shuts the cabinet fully and sees the silhouette of Pete in the reflection is soooo good

Having Peter Serafinowicz, all 7 feet of him (or however tall he is) as a zombie is genius and terrifying, and then having him naked the whole time is hilarious

"If you're feeling better later we're going to the pub, you're more than welcome to...join us." And he does!

"The Church of England has now joined other extremist religious groups..." wow burn

*The guy they hit with a car is a zombie*
"Oh thank god for that."

But Shaun is so good for checking! A zombie apocalypse is no excuse for a lack of caring!

"Don't forget to kill Philip!"

"Hello Pickle."
"Hi mum."

"I'll take care of Philip."
"No fighting you two!"

*Shaun is about to kill Philip*
"I'm so sorry Philip."
"...Why. What have you done now?"

"What's that you got there? Some flowers for your mother I hope."
"Nope. Just a...a cricket bat."
"Oh is that for the jumble? I've got a box of your old toys upstairs I was going to give them."
"I took them all to the tip Barbara."
"Aw what!?"

"I'm quite alright Barbara, I ran it under a cold tap." That does fix everything, it's true.

"We had our jabs when we went to the Isle of Wight."

"You called him a 'you-know-what'."
"Oh what did he tell you that, did he?"
"He did."
"Motherfucker! Oh, sorry mother. I mean mum."

You can hear beneath Shaun and his mum's argument here the sound of a car engine and screeching - which we later find out is Ed crashing the car

Barbara: Hello Edward!
Ed: Hi Barbara!
Barbara: My how you've grown.
Ed: Yeah you better believe it.

Philip tells Shaun here not to worry about him but to worry about his mum but Shaun still takes the mortally injured Philip into the car despite the fact he doesn't like him - because his mum cares about Philip

Ed fancying Shaun's mum is my favourite thing

"You do realise this is a 20 miles-per-hour zone."
"Ohh yeah."

"Philip have you still got the child locks on?"
"Safety first Shaun."

Shaun tried to climb up to Liz's when he was let in the front door earlier but failed. Now he does it to avoid the zombies.

"If they get in they'll tear us to pieces. And that'll really exacerbate things for all of us."

"Liz, this isn't about you and me!" isn't it Shaun? Isn't it!?

Why does Shaun want to go somewhere on the ground? Surely higher up is better (I know why but still)

Dianne being the first to be won round by Shaun though is a nice touch

"David, I don't want to be torn to pieces, and I'm sure if you think about it, neither do you..." well sadly for David...

"I have a car, but it's a bit cramped now, has anyone got transport?"
"Ooh, yes, yes."
"Really, where?"
"Well...okay, no. But I passed my test."

David: "I don't see the point of owning a car in London."

He has a point.

I like how Shaun tells them to grab a heavy blunt object and David grabs...an umbrella.

Liz has a hockey stick (she absolutely strikes me as someone who played hockey at school so makes sense). Dianne has...some kind of wooden stick? Something from one of her art projects? idk

As they fight their way out Shaun is obviously trying to show off for Liz

Liz and Barbara meeting for the first time crushed together in the same seat of the car aww

"Is your dad alright?"
"He's not my dad!"
"He's bleeding!"
"Yeah, I know!"

Shaun and Ed thinking a pub would be secure is absolutely how so many men think lmao

"And there's a rifle above the bar!"
"I think that's deactivated."
"It's not, I'm telling you, John's connected, Big Al says so."
"Yeah well Big Al also says dogs can't look up."
"They can't."
"Ooh, can't they?"
"Of course they can!"
"Are you sure!"
"YES!"

Philip's speech to Shaun is so sad I'm tearing up

"Being a father is not easy. You were 12 when I met you. Already grown up so much...I just wanted you to be strong, and not give up because you lost your dad."
"Philip you don't have to explain."
"I...I do."

"I always loved you Shaun. I always thought you had it in you to do well. You just...needed motivation. Somebody to...to look up to. And...I thought it could be me." Heartbreaking.

"Just...take care of your mum. There's a good boy."

"Chill out, everyone's alright."
"STOP TELLING ME TO CHILL OUT!! And no for your information everyone is not alright!"

"Mum it's Philip. He's gone."
"Where's he gone?"
"Mum...he's dead."
"No he isn't."
*Philip's eyes are open and are pure white*

"We can't just leave your dad!"
"He's not my dad!"
"Oh Shaun!"
"No! He was, but he's not anymore!"

"It's not even your husband in there! I know it looks like him but there is nothing of the man you loved in that car."
*zombie Philip turns off the car stereo*

"Snake hips" from the bar earlier is getting eaten in a back garden by zombies

"Heard from your folks?"
"They're in Antigua."
"Reckon the same thing is happening there?"
"I hope not."

This bit where they bump into Jessica Hynes's group with all the doppelgangers of their own group is probably my favourite bit in the whole film

"How's it going?"
"Surviving."
Nice callback.

Nice chance for cameos from a fresh-faced Martin Freeman, Reece Shearsmith, Tamsin Greig, Julia Deakin (from Spaced!), and Matt Lucas as well

Funny story I saw Tamsin Greig in Twelfth Night and afterwards I went for drinks with my friends who work at the National Theatre in London and Tamsin was at the same bar. I first noticed because a guy behind me at the bar was like, "can I get you anything Tam?"

"What's the matter David? Never taken a shortcut before?"

The first of the garden-fence jumping jokes from the cornetto films

The fact that Shaun's first instinct is to use the ball at the end of the tetherball pole instead of just using the pole on the zombie always gets me

"Feel free to step in at any time!!"
"You did alright."
"Didn't want to cramp your style."

Shaun climbing up over the children's toy ladder and slide to check over the fence is another hilarious sight gag

Adults being forced to use kid things for serious stuff is never not funny to me. Like the bit in In The Loop where James Gandolfini has to use the toy calculator that makes the funny noises.

"We're not going to get anywhere by moaning!"
*The zombie moans*
Shaun's face: "Idea."

The acting class bit is terrific. I've been in many acting classes and amdram workshops. They're exactly like this.

"I'll do it on the night."
"This *is* the night!"

Shaun and Ed fighting over who does the best zombie impression is, I imagine, precisely what Pegg and Frost are like squabbling over nerdy things

"You died and made you the king of the fucking zombies?"
*Shaun does a zombie impression*
"...Yeah that is pretty good."

Liz's was also pretty good I must say

I like how bad Barbara is at the zombie noises. Bless.

Shaun is finally fed up of covering for Ed and snaps...at completely the wrong moment "I'm not going to let you fuck things up and make me look stupid!" and then he does

David smashing the window is a shit move that really ends up coming back to bite him (quite literally). Probably borne out of his desire to compete with Shaun and take his role as "hero."

...And then Shaun still outdoes David by distracting all the zombies and leading them away.

You might think at least some of the zombies would stay but the whole point is they have a mob/herd mentality and all move as one because of the things zombie movies are typically critiquing

Barbara discovering the flowers Shaun got for her and threw away is something I had forgotten about

"We should think about blocking up the window." They should have done this! After Shaun got back. Though of course there's another way in as Shaun says and indeed the zombies come through that way too later.

Dianne and Liz not wanting to worry Barbara about Shaun being back while David doesn't care

Liz getting angry and whisper-shouting at David is so good.

"Ed get me a double-vodka."
"Right you are."

Dianne: Think I'll get a drink too actually. Can I grab you a drink Barbara?
Barbara: Hellooo.

"Pickle!"
"Hello mum."

Liz: Nice of you to join us.
Shaun (suavely): Yeah, well. I promised, didn't I?

David: Well I wasn't the one who blew our cover by having a tiff with my boyfriend.
Shaun: He's not my boyfriend.
(Ed brings Shaun a beer)
Ed: Might be a bit warm, the cooler's off.
Shaun (winks): Thanks babe.

I ship it.

I notice that they *did* try to barricade the broken window by stacking some chairs, but...just not very well

Old Channel 4 and BBC logos on the telly also date the film haha

"I think we might have a bit of a problem," Shaun says, with an Arrested Development-style "I've made a huge mistake" delivery

Shaun puts a comforting hand on Liz
Ed puts a comforting hand on Barbara
David puts a comforting hand on Dianne
John the zombie puts a hand on David

"Tonight, I'm gonna have myself..."
"Who the hell put this on!?"
"It's on random!"
"For fuck's sake!"

"David kill the Queen!"
"What?"
"I mean - the jukebox!"

"What about the rifle!"
"It's not real!"

"A cocktail! Flaming spirits, stick a rag in, light it."
"The whole place could go up!"

It's stating the obvious, but the fact that Don't Stop Me Now is not incidental music but is actually happening in-scene is absolutely brilliant to me