The Running Man (2025)

A totalitarian, dystopian game show seemed oddly prescient back in 1982 when King's novel was first published. In 2025, it's depressingly accurate. 

This new adaptation by Edgar Wright attempts to be more faithful to the source material about an everyman who competes on a reality show for a large cash prize by surviving for 30 days in a city full of hunters. This is an extraordinarily stupid movie full of bad decisions that somehow succeeds in making the 1987 film seem more competent by comparison. It's quite a feat.

1½ lucky socks out of 5

THE WORLD'S END [2013]

The final instalment of Edgar Wright's Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy comes as an apocalyptic alien invasion pub crawl in the coming of age sci-fi comedy The World's End.
Reuniting Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman and Paddy Considine as well as adding the scene-stealing Eddie Marsan to the mix makes for a fantastic character piece that's witty, heartfelt and hilarious.  At first glance, it's just as goofy as the first two films but under the surface it's actually quite emotional and thoughtful.  It's not as good as the Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz but it is by no means a disappointment.  It's a zany sci-fi comedy as well as a celebration of accepting the rather flawed humanity we're all a part of whether we like it or not.

3½ burly bathroom brawls out of 5

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

To continue dating the girl of his dreams Scott must first defeat her seven evil exes. That’s pretty much all there is to it. There’s some character growth buried under the pop culture/video game mash up clusterfuck that would've been more poignant had I developed any emotional attachment to the surface deep characters, but that didn't happen.
I'm usually a fan of Edgar Wright’s humour, but it threatened to kill every brain cell I had left; after forty minutes it felt like I’d been watching for hours. I was desperate for it to end, but it just kept on going. He deserves credit for the visual flair, transitions, sound effects and for being faithful to the source medium by including speed lines and text, etc, but it's one pilgrim’s journey that I’ll never be taking again.

2½ levels out of 5

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN [2011]

Based on Herge's Belgian classic comic book series, The Adventures of Tintin unites director Steven Spielberg, producer Peter Jackson, Shaun Of The Dead writer Edgar Wright and Doctor Who writer/showrunner Steven Moffat. With this many creative minds stirring the pot it's bound to be a bumpy ride.
It might not be smooth sailing all the way through but Tintin is certainly an entertaining computer animated adventure that has some great action pieces and colorful characters. Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig and some very entertaining performances from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Tintin is nothing but a good-spirited, wild ride with an enthusiastic imagination spilling over the sides.

4 comic book likeness cameos out of 5

Hot Fuzz (2007)

All coppers are basta- not quite all. From the Shaun of the Dead (2004) team comes a parody/homage to the Hollywood buddy cop movie. It has the same kind of wry in-jokes and references to other films and their own past projects, so watch Shaun first. It’ll be even funnier if you've watched Point Break, Bad Boys II, the Dirty Harry films and even The Wicker Man!
Pegg plays it (mostly) straight while Frost is once more the comedy gold.
The swear-box gets a good filling.

4 the greater good out of 5

SHAUN OF THE DEAD [2004]

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost & Edgar Wright, vets of the British TV series Spaced, come together again for the zombie comedy Shaun Of The Dead.
What's great about Shaun is that it takes it's zombies very seriously. Zombie film first. Comedy second.
It's funny enough to humor and entertain the casual viewer but filled with enough Spaced in-jokes and past zombie film references to delight the hardcore fans as well. Wright's near perfect direction is complimented with a talented cast and excellent use of "old" zombie film music both original and re-recorded. Fleshed out with some surprisingly intensely emotional moments, great thrills and chills, cameos galore and enough gore to please the splatter-hounds, Shaun is an instant cult classic.
It's great horror-comedy for everybody granted you can handle a little bit of colored language and blood.

5 Fried Gold moments out of 5