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#016 Edgar Wright: Shaun of the Dead vs. The World's End w/ Guest Jacob Nash of "Critical Cousins"

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In today's episode Nate and Austin compare Edgar Wright's best and worst rated films, Shaun of the Dead (2004) and The World's End (2013), respectively. Austin likes to drop Game of Thrones spoilers in the middle of the episode, Nate wants to see more "trying to jump over a fence" gags, and Jacob is never going to be welcomed back to the show ever again. Check back next Sunday at 7pm PST where we will compare Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (2006) and Mimic (1997), his best and worst rated films. Jacob runs a YouTube movie review channel with his cousin called Critical Cousins. Go watch their stuff, its great!
And check out this clip showing the writing process that Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg went through to create Hot Fuzz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P-Is2EJpEA

The World's End Notes
Worst Rated
PLOT: Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.
  • Ratings: IMDb 7.0 | RT 89% C / 71% A
  • Released: 2013
  • Director: Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Hot Fuzz)
  • Writer(s): Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
  • Cinematographer: Bill Pope (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, The Matrix, The Jungle Book)
  • Notable actors: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, Pierce Brosnan, David Bradley, Rafe Spall, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy
  • Budget: $20 million
  • Box office: $46.1 million
  • Fun Facts:
    • The poster for "The King's Head" pub features writer and actor Simon Pegg as a king in a painted portrait.
    • Simon Pegg and Seth Rogen are friends in real life and were working together on the film "Paul" before going on to their next projects. When Rogen described his film to Pegg as a dark comedy about the end of the world, he said they'd chosen the title of "The End of the World". Pegg then outlined this film's similar story about a comedy that addressed the complete destruction of the modern world and said it would be called "The World's End". Pegg then asked Rogen if he would change his film's title, which he couldn't because "The World's End" also refers to a central location of his own movie's storyline. Rogen agreed and after some thought gave his film a new title: "This Is The End."
    • The girl sitting next to Gary in the opening group therapy scene is played by Nicola Cunningham, who had previously appeared in Shaun of the Dead (2004) as "Bloody" Mary (the zombie girl who shows up in Shaun and Ed's garden).
 

Shaun of the Dead Notes
Best Rated
PLOT: A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.
  • Ratings: IMDb 8.0 | RT 92% C / 93% A
  • Released: 2004
  • Director: Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Hot Fuzz)
  • Writer(s): Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
  • Cinematographer: David M. Dunlap
  • Notable actors: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Nick Frost, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Peter Serafinowicz, Rafe Spall, Bill Nighy, Jessica Hynes, Penelope Wilton, Martin Freeman, Matt Lucas, Chris Martin
  • Budget: $6.1 million
  • Box office: $30 million
  • Fun Facts:
    • When asked by an interviewer why they chose to have slow moving zombies instead of running zombies, Simon Pegg simply replied, "Because death is not an energy drink."
    • George A. Romero, creator of the films that this movie pays homage to and lampoons, was so impressed with Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's work that he asked them to appear in Land of the Dead (2005), the fourth part of his Dead series, in cameos as zombies.
    • Shaun tells Liz that he's going to take her to "the place that does all the fish". When he opens the phone book you can see that the restaurant is literally called 'The Place That Does All the Fish'.
    • Shaun and Ed's friendship is based on Simon Pegg's and Nick Frost's when they shared a flat together.
    • Quentin Tarantino dubbed Shaun of the Dead (2004) one of the top 20 films made since 1992.
    • First part of Simon Pegg's and Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy. The other two parts are Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World's End (2013).
 
  Intro music by: Calm The Fuck Down (Broke For Free) / CC BY 3.0  

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