Paul - Post Release Discussion

Glad you liked it Spike, the trailers have kind of left me cold so it's good to hear that it's not going to be the first Pegg/Frost flick I'm going to hate.

 

STOKED. Glad to hear good things about this.

Thank god! I was deathly worried that without Wright they would lose their charm, but when I remembered that Simon co-wrote Shaun  I regained some faith. I'm glad to hear it's good. I'll definitely have to watch this now. 

Deathly worried? Mottola's no slouch.

I agree with Spike, it's defiantly an ensemble piece but all the better for it.  "Aside from the Mission From God" line there was a ton of other references to famous Sci Fi flicks, my favorite being ether "Get away from her you bitch" or "Boring Conversation anyway (while shooting a CB radio).   

 

Pegg and Frost have put together a winner here, one that is well worth your time.

Uhhh, I made a Post-Release thread about this movie a month ago. No one left comments in it, and now Spike does one and it gets 5 posts in less than a day? Fine, you guys, if anybody needs me I'll be in the bathroom... CRYING.
 

I'm happy to read other people are really liking this.  I came out of a test screening a few months ago, excited and eager to discuss my favorite parts with the friend I'd seen it with, only to have him burst my bubble with an "eh, it was alright".   I tried to dismiss it as him being a downer (he had a similar reaction to Scott Pilgrim), but he'd planted a kernel of doubt in my mind and I was worried that maybe I'd been swept away by the advance-screening atmosphere.  Now I'm really looking forward to seeing it again.  There were so many sci fi references, and I'm sure I missed plenty the first time around.  And, yeah, though I found it impossible to not think "that's Seth Rogen" when I first saw the trailers, he quickly disappears into the character as you're watching the movie.  Really perfectly cast.

Yeah good to hear it's fun. I wasn't expecting much of this other than Pegg and Frost's awesome chemistry. That, and I'm not a big Rogen fan(his voice most of all) other than in Observe and Report.

When you're done drying your eyes you should repost your thoughts in this superior, more popular thread! (I'd combine threads but I'm not certain how to do that with the new boards yet)

Your friend is an evil man!
 

It's really great.  I love Pegg/Frost, but the trailers have left me cold.  All of the best stuff isn't in the trailer.  I was concerned that Rogen's voice would irritate me, but I completely forgot that it was Seth Rogen's voice after a few minutes because I became so invested in Paul's character.  He really does disappear into the character.  Loved all of the performances, but the MVP by a mile is Wiig.  She's got a truly interesting character arc in this film, going from a hardcore Bible belt chick to a woman going through a crisis of faith, and it's handled wonderfully.  I can see some Fox News pundit using it to decry Hollywood's blasphemy 

 

Really surprised by how much heart this thing has, especially in regards to Blythe Danner's character.  Her last scene would have been a cheesefest in another movie, but it's actually pretty sweet.

The most heartening stuff is that Rogen's good in it, because he was the worst part of the trailer.

He really is good, the alien effects are also a lot better than I thought they would be, which helps a lot.

The positive reactions here are encouraging, as the trailer left me extremely uninterested. And I'm not a Rogen fan, either - at least not when he's the lead.

 

Of course, a lot of folks here loved MacGruber, and I didn't care for that at all, so who knows.

 

It's the work on his eyes that really impressed me.  I couldn't stop staring at them.

 

And there are a ton of geek references that only a portion of my audience got.  The Mos Eisley homage had some people in stitches, while others were trying to figure out what was so funny.
 

If it helps I was put off by the trailer. As I said in the pre release thread it feard it would be the first Pegg/Frost flick I didn't like, 

 

It's weird that the weakest characters are the two guys I wanted to see the film for, Pegg and Frost.  They aren't terrible, not at all, but compared to everyone else, particularly Wiig and Bateman, they don't really have an arc.  They're still the same guys by the end of the film, whereas everyone else has changed, or the audience's perception of them has changed. 

 

Wiig rocks the house here, both with the broad humor and the romantic angle with Pegg.  I can absolutely see this film working as a great date movie, because the gals in my screening let out a huge AWW when Pegg nervously tells Wiig that she can kiss him if she wants to.
 

I'm still wary, since, as I said, MacGruber and another film (*cough*ScottPilgrim*cough*) received shitloads of love around here, and neither of them did anything for me.
 

It'll likely be a rental/library title for me, as March is already pretty busy for my theater money (Adjustment Bureau, Battle:LA, and Sucker Punch).

If it helps, I'm in the same boat as you.  I am always wary in regards to certain geek-friendly properties that get an overwhelming amount of internet hype.  I had no clue what everyone else was seeing in the trailer to this that had them so pumped, because I did not laugh one time during that footage.  I went in expecting to be disappointed, and I had a lot of fun with it.  I'd recommend you give it a go.
 

Is anyone else excited to be seeing this movie? It comes out on Friday (March 18th) in Canada and should be hilarious given the cast that includes, Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen (his voice), Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch. I've been waiting anxiously to see it since I love Shaun Of The Dead.

 

here is a trailer 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Universal-Pictures-Canada/107655785980544?sk=app_4949752878

 

 

 

 

 

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http://bit.ly/htcvaX

I half-expected this movie to be unfunny. I half-expected this movie to pile on the dumb geek-service gags, and to take a beat to explain/illustrate them for the cheap seats. I did NOT expect this to be such a genuinely DUMB movie. Or BORING. It's a chase movie where people move from A to B to C and to D, and everyone follows suit without any variation of pursuit or suspense. And Pegg and Frost, and their interplay, are genuinely the least interesting people in the movie. This feels like a leftfield misfire; I kinda don't get how much this movie doesn't work.

This movie is REALLY unfunny...unless you find Kristen Wiig swearing hilarious...it just drags and drags and drags.   And I'll be interested to see how it fares at the box-office, since much of the film is an attack on Christianity.

I think you guys were watching a different movie to the rest of us.

 

Well, I don't blame you if you just used the site's search function. To be perfectly honest, I find it to be ass and I actually get the results I want when I use Google's Advanced Search function and search within this site.

 

On topic, I was also underwhelmed by the trailer so it's a relief to hear it's better than I first thought it would be.

Tangential: Pegg and Frost interviewed by the Onion's AV Club.

Caught a screening of this last night and enjoyed it for the most part.  Mottola is great at balancing raunchy with sweet, but Paul never quite reaches the emotional resonance of Superbad or Adventureland, and when the movie goes into action mode, it never feels as big as it should (an escaped alien seems like a pretty big deal, but only one agent is sent to hunt him down?  This kind of stuff shouldn't bother me in a movie like this, but it does).  And the Pegg/Frost script, without Wright's input, is a bit clunkier with the references than Shaun or Hot Fuzz (shout outs like 'Get away from her, you bitch!' were a little too on the nose for me).  But Rogen is fantastic and Pegg and Frost have tremendous chemistry; no surprise there.  Well worth seeing, but never as great as it should be, considering the talent involved.

Add me to the reluctant 'meh' group. I got the feeling Pegg and Frost knew they'd only get one shot at making a movie like this and just threw everything in.

 

The narrative's a jumble: the Comic Con opening doesn't set up anything storywise aside from the sword and the Jeffrey Tambor character; the whole business of Wiig's crisis of faith should have been its own movie; the big reveal on the Bateman character is far too abrupt, as is his flunkies' switch from goofs to villains. Meanwhile, the subplot with the angry redneck hunters is left to dangle far too long before suddenly being resolved halfway through the film. Great care is taken to impress us, the audience, that the boy at the comic store is named Keith, but to no apparent end. And while it's great to see Blythe Danner in something that isn't Meet the Parents, she's playing a role that was obviously, OBVIOUSLY written for Melinda Dillon and no one else.

 

And really, at no point does anyone want to ask Paul where he came from? Presumably our three heroes have no further questions (or curiosity) after Paul mind-melds them, but that shuts the rest of us out.

 

I realize this seems nitpicky and, from a geek standpoint, ungrateful. I also recall having a similarly critical reaction to Galaxy Quest the first time I saw it so maybe this is another instance where I need to back off and just (re)watch the movie as its own thing. But for today... meh.

Edited by Hammerhead - 3/18/11 at 12:03pm

"THAT'S KEITH NASH!!!!!!!"

 

The only thing I didn't like was the lazy "Bateman has top secret government conversations with Sigourney Weaver over a 1970s cb radio that everyone can listen in on" stuff. Other than that, it was a fun road trip movie. It's more "sweet" than laugh out loud hilarious, but it definitely has  funny moments. Paul's the best and funniest character in the film. Just a laid back, likeable alien who wants to get home. Pegg, Frost and Wiig are all likeable but not as funny. And overall the chase stuff that kicks in near the end of the movie was exciting and well done.

I thought it was a lot of fun. A little rough around the edges, but that sometimes added to its charm. I was already on board - I love pretty much everyone involved. Certainly not great, but enjoyable throughout. Loved all of the references. Nice to see it making some coin, too. 

I lost it when I realized the band in Roy's was playing the Mos Eisley cantina music (and wtf were a group of sailors doing at a roadside bar in Wyoming?).  I was a little sad that nobody else in the theatre got it. 

 

And the payoff of the 'Three tits.  Awesome.' running gag.

The fireworks were a Flight of the Navigator reference, right?

 

Charming and amusing.  Went a little heavy on "Spot That Reference" towards the end even to the point where I knew when "Get away from her, you bitch!" was coming far before it landed.   Otherwise, though, I enjoyed it.   Pegg and Frost are such likable guys that they can rise above slight material effortlessly.   And Wiig once again proves that she's way better in films than on SNL. 

Man, some of those references were ROUGH.

 

"Boring conversation anyway."
*WHOLE THEATER QUIET FOR 3 SECONDS*

The references and quotes didn't ruin the movie, but they didn't add anything either. They were usually met with silence in my theater.

People did laugh at LORENZO ZOIL, though.

I think it's also a problem of not knowing (at that point in the film) whether Zoil says "boring conversation" because he's a fellow geek quoting Star Wars, or just because this is a movie with lots of geek references in it.

I think it's actually because it's a much more subtle reference than you think it is.  I knew it sounded familiar when he said it, but I didn't connect it to Star Wars until Patrick mentioned it just now (and I'm the guy who was laughing for five minutes at the hillbilly cover of the cantina music).  I imagine most people wouldn't even think it sounded all that familiar.

 

Another thing I love about this movie is how unapologetically atheistic it is.  They don't end the movie with some limp 'God may not exist, but faith can make people better' message or some other bullshit.  'God bless you!' 'Whatever, man. *boards spaceship*'

 

And did anyone else get a Ryall and Templesmith's 'Groom Lake' vibe from the plot at all?

Fair enough, but then you wouldn't have expected the audience to laugh, right? My point is that it was (seemingly) out of character for Zoil to say it. In defter hands it could have played as clever foresahdowing of his true nature.

 

Meanwhile, I found the Cantina Music gag kind of obvious.

 

For some reason I thought this would be a bit rough, but I found it utterly charming. Easily my favorite Mottola film to date, and just an amiable, jolly good time.

I may have been influenced by an audience that just completely fell in passionate love with the film. That's always a nice surprise. The kids present particularly loved it. They were positively gleeful. Also, as far as I could tell, they weren't nerds, just a bunch of norms.

I was worried going in from all the "meh" to negative reactions, but I thought this was great. Not quite on par with the Edgar Wright flicks, obviously, but it had the same sense that everything had been thought through, which is so often missing in comedies, and lots of great little bits of business. For some reason I laughed pretty heavily at the quick moment early on when Pegg tears off the "alien on board" bumper sticker while looking incredibly nervous. I thought the bit where Frost tried desperately to describe his bizarre belief system to Wiig was a laugh-out-loud moment, too (I was pretty much alone in the theater for that one). And "This spaceship takes a long time to take off, it's kinda awkward" generated a laugh that lasted until the credits rolled.

 

The quotes in the last third were overdone, but I thought it was an extension of the joke that reality seemed to be bending in favor of the nerdy duo. Though, on that subject, one thing I didn't like was that coda at Comic-Con, which tipped over into self-congratulation for me. Otherwise, great stuff.

Yeah, this was just a sweetheart of a movie. Pegg, Frost, and Rogen carry this easily. Could've used Wright's touch in spots. Some of the references were indeed *too* easy, and yet, same thing happened in my theater where the REALLY obvious ones went sailing over the audience. I kinda died a little inside when the pullout revealing the Raiders warehouse and the "Of course" when they arrive at Devil's Tower didn't get even a chuckle. Regardless, it's consistently funny, and surprisingly affecting. The entire Tara subplot tugs at the heartstrings in a way I didn't expect, and, while the payoff is just awesome, the Keith nash moment in the comic shop is kinda sweet. And overall, this is as close as we've gotten to a positive statement on aliens in way too long.

 

This also marks the first time I've ever liked Kristen Wiig. In anything. Ever.

I think i prefer this to Scott Pilgrim.

So am I missing something re: KEITH NASH? It's great that there's at least one (incidental) American in the movie who isn't ignorant or violent, but is the name a pun?

What a fun, endearing little fun. Loved the references ('Boring conversation anyway' had me laughing). It was nice to see a movie that dealt with subcultures not attack said subcultures too viciously. Geeks are often the butt of many jokes, as are radical Christians, but with Paul it never felt mean. I liked that. God, I wish this movie were directed by Edgar Wright, the energy brought would have been 9000x more.

 

A great for geeks by geeks movie.

Yeah, the "God bless you!/Whatever" moment could've been vicious, but never stoops that low, even after that guy shot another human being.

I thought this was going to be a kid's movie initially. and it feels like it still could have been(at the script stage, anyway). Good, harmless and fun, but nothing really knocked my socks off. I enjoyed myself. Pleasantly surprised by Rogen, a bit let down by some of the obvious gags/references(the Aliens line, the one Patrick mentioned), while others worked pretty well(loved the Cantina song, for instance). Wright proved he doesn't need Pegg and Frost with Scott Pilgrim, and they proved they didn't need him with Paul, but at the same time they are a match made in heaven and want to see them work together asap. 

 

I am usually pretty good with recognizing voices but had no idea that was Sigourney Weaver prior to her showing up. I also had no idea that Pegg and Frost wrote this.

I disagree, I think this movie proves that Frost and Pegg can stand on their own two feet well enough.

Boy, I loved the hell out of this. The biggest criticism I have against it is that the references might end up going over the heads of most audience members, but the film's humor doesn't strictly rely on understanding callbacks to geek properties for success. Someone might not get where Blythe Danner's, "Get away from her, you bitch!" comes from, but that doesn't matter. The big laughs-- most of 'em-- come from the plot and not from in-jokes for genre fans and dorks.

 

Frost and Pegg at this point should be identified as the comic duo of our time. Nobody can beat 'em. They click so well, work so naturally together, that any suggestion to the contrary just feels like bullshittery of the highest order. Undeniable chemistry. The bigger surprise for me was Rogen, who I thought I might potentially find distracting, but he's pretty great in the role and brings exactly what's needed to characterize our eponymous little green man.

 

As an E.T. riff, Paul succeeds; as a bit of geek wish fulfillment, it does gangbusters, since it's introspective at the same time. What do people like Graeme and Clive do when they're forced to confront the object of their fandom and fascination? Pee their pants and faint. Love it.