Shaun of the Dead

Creators and Guests

Host

Trucker Andy

Guest

Nelly

What is The Director's Chair Network?

Join Ryan and many featured guests and other hosts as they break down and review a variety of directors and their films!
So far, this podcast has featured films from Edward Zwick, John Hughes, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann.
Soon, we will feature Edgar Wright, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Verhoeven, and David Fincher!

[Music]
0:10
That's right. You've pressed play on All the Right Moves, a limited series from the Director's Chair podcast about the
0:18
filmography of Edgar Wright. I'm your host, Andy, and with me this week to
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talk about Shauna of the Dead is our very special guest, Nelly. Welcome to the show, Nelly.
0:29
Hi. Okay. This is such a cultural phenomenon and
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it it's so important to the rest of Edgar Wright's movies. Uh seemingly, you
0:40
know, Hot Fuzz and World's End are just different incarnations of this. And this
0:46
is maybe a debut with the exception of Fistful of Fingers, which I discussed
0:51
with Ryan Rebulkin in episode 1. This is one of the like biggest arrivals on the
0:58
scene of cinema where everybody was blown away by this film. Do you remember seeing this for the first time?
1:04
Oh my gosh. Yeah. And I I I I think I remember it came out at the same time as
1:09
Dawn of the Dead. And I'm not like a like horror film person. So I was so worried to watch it until someone told
1:15
me like, "Oh no, it's it's like a comedy funny one." And I've like psyched myself
1:20
up to watch it and I was like, "Oh my god, I'm so glad that I did watch it." Like I would have missed out so much if
1:25
I hadn't. And yeah, it's incredible. That's right. This did kind of kick off
1:31
the whole what went on to become Zombie Fatigue with The Walking Dead and all of
1:37
the spin-offs of that. This was more of a fun way to get people on board with
1:46
the zombie phenomenon at the beginning. And like you said, Dawn of the Dead, the re the Zack Snider remake was also
1:54
wildly popular in a more serious horror aggressive kind of way, but this was
1:59
kind of for everybody. Everybody could enjoy this.
2:05
way that it holds your hand into the horror genre. Yes.
2:10
It does have very intense moments that we'll end up talking about that do get
2:16
straight up horrific, but um all of the comedy just makes it, you know, welcomes
2:23
you in. The perfect blend of comedy and horror, right? Oh god. It's far more palatable. I I
2:28
remember showing it to my son for the first time when he was like eight or nine. Like really?
2:35
you know, it's got his little jumpy bits and whatever, but yeah, it's a it's an all round like everyone can enjoy it
2:41
kind of film. I remember like being so shocked when I found out like how much Americans like these films because I'm
2:46
like, "Oh, I just don't feel like they get the comedy." Like it's quite because it is very very British.
2:53
Yeah. It and I don't remember exactly how the distribution happened where it became so mainstream. How was this
2:59
discovered? basically a a foreign film that it's very hard to
3:07
put that on Americans radars. They think that, you know, every everything
3:12
revolves around America and all of our films get distributed all over the
3:17
world. And for something like say Parasite to show up and win an Oscar,
3:24
that that's a very rare thing. And for
3:29
something so British to show up and be beloved by just about everybody is a
3:35
rare thing. So yeah, this this movie is something special and I do think that
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the comedy element is key and I and the horror element is key and a lot of films
3:49
try and replicate this recipe and it always fails because it's just not
3:57
executed so masterfully. But I do want to start off with spaced because you do
4:04
see a lot of the seeds being planted for Shaun of the Dead and specifically these
4:10
two as you know we're doing the series kind of in order so we're doing spaced in order. So episode three and episode
4:15
four of spaced do have uh certain copypaste elements from the
4:23
show straight into Shawn. And you can see you can see the ideas being planted, the seed being planted from
4:29
them points. I think that's Yeah, definitely. Yeah. And it it could be said that all
4:35
they did was really change the name and add zombies. It's all Shawn of the Dead
4:40
is basically spaced with a zombie apocalypse and Tim is named Shawn now.
4:45
so that the the pun of the title makes sense, but it's so similar to the
4:52
television series which was extremely popular u even even here like I talk
4:58
about I mean maybe that's why it was more on people's radar in America because I do know a lot of people that
5:03
were watching space uh and what was your awareness of space? I mean, I I was like
5:10
quite young when Space come out. But I do remember watching it like with my brothers and my dad like it it would
5:17
just come on TV at any time and Yeah. And I I remember like never watching it
5:22
as a kid, like never watching it episode for episode. It was just like you caught an episode when it was on, but I
5:27
definitely remember like sitting around as a family and watching it. Is that right? Okay. because I do get a
5:34
lot of traditional BBC British humor vibes from Space, but at the same time
5:42
it seems modernized and more of a voice of my specifically my generation when
5:50
you look at the comic book culture and the video game culture and the Gen X
5:57
melees that Tim brings to the table. So that speaks to me. But then you get a
6:05
lot of especially in episode three, which is the art show episode that where
6:12
it reminded me so much of British stuff that I don't that isn't exactly my cup
6:19
of tea. Specifically, um the character of Vulva, which was reminded me a lot of
6:26
old Greg from the Whitey B. And
6:32
explain that to me because I never I did like the characters like the actors and
6:38
the and a lot of the humor of the mighty bouch but old Greg I never got it and
6:44
people it seems you know what I think it is just one of them things you either you just get it or you don't and I I honestly can't even
6:50
explain it because I remember when I first used to watch my TV show that was I was like and then as I like got a
6:57
little bit older I don't know I now I still watch the clips to this day. I've got a specific friend and we send each
7:03
other clips of it cons like daily. Um, but yeah, I don't know. I don't know if it's just like that specific kind of
7:10
really dry sense of humor like it's Yeah, it's definitely not for It's not for
7:17
everyone. Yeah. And I I mean I I like it though just specifically Old Greg, but it's
7:24
kind of gone on to be maybe like a queer icon. The the way the the community
7:30
adopted the Bob Duke and old Craig are like LGBTQ
7:36
uh mascots to some degree, which you know, I don't I don't know why though.
7:43
It doesn't seem like there's any real purpose to it. But that you you were
7:48
mentioning that that character that played Volva was from uh Little Britain. Is that right? Yes, David Williams. He's like a massive
7:54
he does is an author and everything. Like I'm surprised you don't know who he is. He's done he's a really massive British um comedian, but around the same
8:02
time or just After Space, they did a series called Little Britain and it was all skits. So you'd have like um like a
8:10
Weight Watchers thing and the the woman who was running the Weight Watchers had basically just it was like really racist
8:16
and homophobic like like in a funny way and she just called on fat and you had
8:22
like a guy in a wheelchair who actually didn't need just all these tiny little skits but it was huge like it was like a
8:29
massive massive show like that would never ever be heard. No like you would never get it. I don't think I've even
8:34
seen it on TV for a long long time. You can go in any thrift store and there'll be box sets of it. But um
8:41
yeah, he's David Williams is a a massive massive English actor. Yeah. A really comedy actor.
8:47
Even in episode three of Spaced, there is a a certain joke that they definitely
8:54
would not tell today. You got a friend called Vulva. Who's called Vulva? Real name's Ian. You mean her real name's Ian?
9:00
She's non-gender specific. Oh, what you mean? He's a [ __ ] More than that. What a big fat [ __ ] Uh, you know,
9:06
obviously comedy is evolved, but that was still that was still a good joke.
9:12
But, you know, that's the greatest thing about going back to these old shows. It's just like
9:18
just be being back in that time where like you could laugh at things like being allowed to laugh at things and just be silly like Yeah. When cuz I
9:24
haven't watched Space in years until we until, you know, we decided to we were doing this episode. I was like, "Oh my
9:30
god." Yeah. Like I went back and I ended up binge watching it all because I was like, "God, this was so much fun." Like,
9:35
you just don't you just don't really get comedies like this anymore. Especially episode three here. They
9:42
started off with a zombie sequence. It turns out that Tim is playing Resident Evil 2, which I was obsessed with when I
9:51
was when that was brand new as well. I used to play it all day and then fall asleep and dream that I was still
9:57
playing it. So, this really was, you know, just a a slice of life sequence
10:04
for me. And the way that it applies to Shawn is perfect because Tim is having a
10:12
a dream that he's in a zombie movie. And it it might as well just be the opening
10:17
of, you know, the second act of Shaun of the Dead. So, and also I wanted to point
10:23
out the in both episode 3 and episode 4, you get little quotes from Evil Dead.
10:31
Come get some. I'll swallow your soul. Come get some.
10:37
Ruby,
10:47
Groovy. And these are both um Edgar Wright paying homage to Evil Dead and
10:53
Sam Ramy. And um you kind of have to if you're going to do a zombie movie like
10:58
Shaun of the Dead or parody Resident Evil. If you're not if you're not giving
11:04
tipping the hat to George Romero and Sam Ramy, then you're not really a a zombie
11:11
movie fan, right? Have you seen those? I have not. No, I was
11:17
dead. I've seen like Evil Dead is one of the movies that like I've never sat down and
11:22
put on, but like you know you'll be like flicking the channels and it'll be on. So I've seen the start of it and I've
11:28
seen the end of it, but I've never actually seen the entire filming one. Well, you mentioned uh Dawn of the Dead.
11:34
Have you seen the original Dawn of the Dead? Yeah, I've Yeah. like um and I I didn't mind it, but I think I'd watched that
11:40
way after Sha of the Dead. And I I think I'd like cemented my like like favorable
11:46
kind of zombie movies at this point. Like I prefer like the more comedy route like cuz I've got to the point I watched
11:52
all I did I was like a massive Walking Dead fan and all the rest of it and now I'm like so over zombie stuff like you
11:59
know when you're like oh it's a fast zombie or a slow zombie or they can do this or they can do that and they evolve
12:05
into these things and I just I've got I got to the point where I'm just like oh no I'm like so over it. This people Yeah.
12:11
Yeah. People definitely burned out on the zombie stuff and I I'm in that camp
12:16
too and I blame The Walking Dead, but I do think that there we mentioned how
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Shawn blends comedy and horror together and I think that was very significant to
12:30
me from the Evil Dead franchise point of view with Army of Darkness which is the
12:36
third part of the Evil Dead franchise. So you get Evil Dead 1 which was an
12:42
independent film and Sam Ramy was just making a movie with his friends. We
12:48
talked about a little bit about it with Fistful of Fingers and how a lot of
12:53
upand cominging directors use the horror genre to as a proving ground for
13:01
developing, you know, their skills in the film making industry. And that is Evil Dead one for Sam Ramy. And then he
13:09
goes on to want to make a better version of something that he did with no budget
13:16
with Evil Dead 2. So then Evil Dead 2 comes out and is even more, you know,
13:23
successful and it's a glow up for Evil Dead 1. But it's almost like they just,
13:28
oh, now we have money. We're just going to make the same movie again, only better, which is an interesting way to
13:35
do it. And I kind of thought that Edgar should have done it with Fistful of Fingers cuz Fist Full of Fingers wanted
13:41
to be like Blazing Saddles. And it's just kind of you can see the the lack of
13:47
budget in Fistful of Fingers, which is maybe like what was my least what made
13:53
it less enjoyable. So I I did mention to Ryan that I I would like to see uh a
14:00
better version of of that film like the way that Sam did with Evil Dead 2. But my point is that Army of Darkness is a
14:09
departure because it leans so much more into the humor of the characters and the
14:15
franchise and and the um the theme of Evil Dead 2 and it goes medieval. It
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goes into like shields and knights and castles and stuff which is just like a bizarre left turn but it is fun. and all
14:31
your shoelaces untied.
14:41
And it makes it a a good point of entry for uh you know little [ __ ] Andy who
14:48
was scared of Friday the 13th part two when he was 8 years old and then thought
14:54
that he didn't like horror movies because he was exposed to you know Jason
14:59
Vorhees popping out of the lake and attacking the woman in the canoe and I
15:04
remember Jeepers Creepers that scared me. That was the one that got Jeepers Creepers was the one that Oh the first one. Yeah. Yeah. My brother
15:12
My big brother thought it was a good idea to put it on. And I think I only got to the part where he's on top of the skill bus.
15:18
Yeah. And then I I was like, "Please like take me up to my room." My brother put me in my room. But I had an attic bedroom.
15:24
Like so I was like, "Well, if it comes, it's going to get me through the stimul." Like it landed on the bus and I was slept under I slept under my bed for
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weeks after that. Like it fully traumatized me. And I watched maybe like what 10 minutes into it. I've never got
15:36
back to watch it again. like but yeah that that's what fully traumatized me with horror films. It took me long time
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to get over that. Yeah. So that's why that's exactly my
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point though. You need that comedy element to bridge the the audience into
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it. And even a lot of these newer horror movies that are just nothing but tension
16:01
and suspense and nailbiters with no
16:06
release from that tension. I I don't exactly enjoy that kind of movie. I do
16:13
want too much anxiety. I can't you know what? I literally had a film on the other day and I can't even remember what it was
16:18
now. And I was like 30 minutes into and I'd realized my hands have been like gripped the entire time. My hands were
16:24
hurting cuz I was like and I was I'm not enjoying this. I don't understand. And I was like I'm just I have the power to
16:29
just switch off. I just don't and some people that's fine. But yeah, for me I have so much anxiety like I was just
16:35
tense the entire time and I do need that like little breather from things like
16:41
waiting for like the next horrible thing to happen. Yeah. Yeah, I like a good I I' I've found that
16:48
I like slasher movies like Scream or you a one to one of that with a something
16:55
with a little bit of a mystery where you're trying to figure out what's happening. But yes, the the sexy teens
17:01
are getting murdered and there's there's oneliners and comedy beats. Like that is
17:06
an enjoyable movie to me. these these other things that are just like, you
17:12
know, see seeing how much you can take. It's like it's kind of doesn't it stops
17:17
being fun to a certain degree, but not that there's not value in it, but it's
17:22
just not the kind of movie experience I want to have as opposed to I'm exactly the same.
17:30
Yeah. Like just to move through uh space
17:35
three and four quickly, you get uh Three. Is that the norm where Daisy's going for the job interview? Is that for
17:41
Oh, correct. Thank you. Thank you. Like the magazine interview? Yeah. Yeah. Flappers, flaps or whatever it is
17:48
like some women's porn magazine or something. And u Yeah. So Daisy's doing
17:54
the job interview thing and Brian and Tim are talking about the art stuff with
17:59
Volva. And I just I I this one wasn't really my favorite so far. Like from
18:06
everything that we've watched revisiting Space 3 is kind of the one that I didn't
18:12
enjoy the most. But I mean it's still fun and you
18:17
I feel the same about that. I think episode 4 is definitely one of my all-time favorite ones in space. But
18:22
yeah, no, I totally agree. Episode three, it's very I don't know. It feels like a really niche kind of episode like
18:28
Yeah. Yeah, you have to be in I think you have to be in it. I think it might have hit better later in the season
18:35
because if like I if id have started watching that no as a series and I got to episode three I probably would have
18:40
gone oh actually I don't think this is for me and maybe would have gone back to it but we didn't have many TV options
18:46
back then and you got what you was given. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it did it does
18:52
give a little bit of all of the a lot of the British television tropes that we
18:57
talked about. And it reminded me a little bit of Kids in the Hall. Do you do you did do you have any awareness of
19:03
Kids in the Hall? It was more of a Canadian uh sketch show, but um and that's okay if you don't, but
19:10
that was a big deal back in the late 80s, early 90s, and it felt like that.
19:17
But uh it you also see a couple of really good references that turn up in
19:23
Shauna the Dead where uh Tim and Mike are kind of being painted as a couple
19:31
and uh they call each other babe on, you know, when they're hanging out. And that
19:36
is directly inserted right into Shauna the Dead when they get to the Winchester
19:42
and Ed gives Shawn the beer and he says, "Thanks, babe." Yeah. He's here. I'll just get him. It's
19:47
your boyfriend. He's not my boyfriend. Hi, B. Well, I wasn't the one who was blowing
19:52
our cover by having a tiff with my boyfriend. He's not my boyfriend. Might be a bit warm. The cooler is off.
19:58
Thanks, babe. It's like the exact same
20:04
punchline or scene. So, uh it's nice to see these things that maybe played well
20:11
on the show that they're they're just like, "Oh, this was so much fun on the show. We're just going to put it in the movie." and they they took all of the
20:17
greatest hits from the television series and put it into Shawn, which is a smart
20:22
move. You know, it feels like maybe like stuff like with the saying thanks babe and stuff cuz they are all like such good
20:28
friends and it's so natural. I can imagine that being like totally improvised on the spot or you know like
20:34
that's just something so natural for the two of them because they're so close. You can imagine like
20:39
I can to just totally imagine them not being on camera and saying the exact same thing. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
20:45
It's just like u life imit or art imitating life kind of uh mentality. And
20:51
they do even extrapolate that out into hot fuzz where they have the uh they're
20:58
watching the movie and it seems like they're on a date and it's super gay. So
21:03
they just lean into this trope of um you know Simon and Nick being a couple which
21:13
it's it makes for good comedy and then in four even more so you uh when they do
21:22
the paintball oh sequence god it's [ __ ] brilliant nailed it
21:29
completely nailed it Mhm. And they at the end of that um what is the actor's
21:35
name? Peter Sarfininoitz. Is that how you say that? Do you know who I'm talking about?
21:41
Yeah, I know what I'm talking about. Yeah. But yeah, I'll I'll splash it on I'll splash it on
21:47
the screen the correct way to say it or pronounce it. But uh he's the third
21:52
roommate in Shawn. So, it's fun to see him turn up as the guy that stole Tim's
21:59
girlfriend and is sort of his antagonist throughout Spaced and is one of the
22:05
Edgar Wright players that uh they feature over and over again in a lot of the the big films and they keep bringing
22:14
back these cast members from space to make cameos and uh and it's always a fun
22:20
little Easter egg to find in the movies, But um
22:25
specifically the this part when um they finally he or not what's his name Mike
22:33
shows up and takes a bullet for Tim so that he can uh you know get the better
22:40
of uh Peter's character and then they have the whole death sequence where and
22:47
it's it's straight out of Shawn when I think I I I don't I don't not exactly
22:54
sure, but you get Simon's kind of like really like upset, screaming.
23:00
That's not to be the hero after all. I guess you I've got to sleep.
23:06
No. No, Mike. Stay with me. I'm so tired. No, Mike. So tired. I'm a battle friend. No, Mike.
23:13
[Music]
23:22
Like you can see that he's rehearsed this a hundred times and now he's just doing it in Shaun of the Dead, but you
23:28
know they're you know Ed's dying and they're you know or not P. I can't keep
23:33
all these between Nick, Mike, Simon, Tim, Ed, Shawn. It's like how how are you supposed to keep all these
23:38
characters straight? That's why I'm just like it's it's just the same characters in Sean. It definitely is. Yeah. But it just
23:44
feels like it's it feels like it's them. I think that's why it works so well is because it's so natural for them. Like
23:50
it just doesn't feel like they're playing a character. It feels like they're just filming themselves
23:56
as friends, which is I think that's what makes it work so well. It just feels so
24:01
natural. The chemistry between them both is excellent. Like you don't see like many onscreen chemistry like that where
24:09
it can go from film to film to film. Yeah. And Daisy's got a plotline with
24:14
where they introduce Colin the dog who goes on to be, you know, more, you know, featured more and more, but wasn't in
24:21
the first couple episodes. I don't know why they felt like they needed to add the dog. And I I don't think they really
24:26
knew what they were going to do with the character of Daisy at this point. I didn't really find this whole plotline
24:34
in episode 4 to be very interesting except that they introduced Colin and
24:40
then it goes on to be a cliffhanger with the dog. So, um, but Jessica Hines and
24:47
this is maybe just her still finding the character and I wasn't really I I mean I
24:53
know that I ended up enjoying her a lot more the longer that this series went
25:00
on, but at this point in the show, I'm not even really like interested in
25:05
anything that she's doing. And maybe it's just because she's more of a the
25:10
female point of view to the show and that doesn't apply to me or I I'm not sure why.
25:16
It doesn't I don't really see I get I think like she wasn't for the first few episodes I don't think she was really
25:22
necessarily a main character. I think she was just a way to set up the plotline of you know the living
25:28
situation and all the rest of it. I I feel like she became more of a serious character later on when they
25:36
realized, you know, that she's a great actress and she's quite funny and whatever. But yeah, I think the first few episodes like yeah, the the the job
25:44
interview scene and the dog bit didn't really do anything for me either. Like there was no like it was just
25:50
gaps between the good bits. Maybe it's cuz there it's written by men and they don't know how to write a woman
25:56
or something like that. But I think that she's doing she's doing some good and
26:02
interesting work about uh nervousness and anxiety. And there's a
26:08
little bit of I I I could see a little bit of Lucille Ball and a little bit of
26:15
D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D Re Reynolds from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and uh Zoe Des Chanel's
26:22
character, New Girl. Not not not the Nelly New Girl. Zoe New Girl. It's a
26:27
it's a raw way of looking it up. like women are always portrayed as like super feminine or like really crazy or you
26:35
know shy or whatever and and the these are characters that like play real women that you know have like a little bit of
26:42
craziness and are a bit disgusting and a bit rude and like you know yeah I don't
26:48
know she's a great character but I don't think I don't think she had great storylines to start with
26:54
but she is important to the series and the same way that we can sort of start
27:01
talking about Shawn and how the character of Liz is important to the
27:07
plot of Shawn of the Dead and the because just like Space, Shawn
27:14
starts with uh these this couple breaking up and um that's really the
27:20
whole catalyst of the zombie apocalypse because once Liz dumps Shawn, that's
27:27
when the the movie goes into the chaos. So, this beginning when the opening
27:35
sequence of Shaun of the Dead with the musical uh elements where things are kind of uh in time to the music and
27:43
they're setting the table for what will go on to be maybe a a Groundhog's Day
27:50
type of revisiting certain sequences over and over again, but with a a different take layered over
27:57
it. So now we have maybe a the normal mundane life of Shawn that will
28:05
eventually go on to be the iconic sequence of his walk to the shop. Uh you
28:11
know it starts out very normal everyday kind of sequence that when they revisit
28:18
it during the apocalypse he can't even tell that it's happening like like the
28:23
world's coming to an end. [Music]
28:36
The American Deep Space Probe Omega 6 due to return to Earth this weekend unexpectedly re-entered Earth's
28:42
atmosphere in the Southeast and broken apart of what's believed to be
28:48
[Music] [Applause]
28:59
[Music] Nelson
29:05
literally speaking to the zombies like Yeah. No to the homeless guy. What's change? Have no change. Just walk.
29:11
That's what makes it so good as well. Like that's what makes the zombies perfect. Yeah. Is that like he could just walk straight
29:17
and there was no anxiety through it. like you was like it the f I remember the first time I watched it I remember like say
29:23
are they zombies like it took a second like are they using zombies and you're like questioning yourself and then yeah
29:29
no it's it's it's timed perfectly though it really is I'd love to watch it like side by I'd
29:35
actually love to watch it side by side the mundane day and then the mundane day with the zombies on top like it looks so
29:42
good side by side yeah and Edgar is so good at taking
29:48
these and Simon, you know, the these guys that wrote it, taking the themes of
29:54
boredom and depression and saying like this person that is having a bad day on
30:00
the bus, you might as well just be a zombie. You know, these people that look
30:06
like they're they can't stand going to their job and then what's what's the
30:12
difference between that person and a zombie that you're walking past on the street? So, uh, it's so clever and it's
30:19
so well done and that opening sequence with the music with a theme song in the
30:26
title car or whatever. I I when they're they just kind of do a a musical
30:33
sequedence there
30:38
[Music]
30:45
that will go on to be significant in uh
30:50
Scott Pilgrim and even more so in Baby Driver where music becomes so important
30:56
and you can see it all the way back and Shawn how
31:01
Edgar pays so much attention to the music in the movies utilizing it in the
31:08
writing and um it's just a trope that carries over throughout his whole career
31:14
really. And I mean the music has can have such a significant impact on the scene. It it
31:20
can totally totally change how you feel about it. Like what it makes you feel when you're watching it. Yeah. It's it's
31:27
it's incredible. Like there's nothing better than a good soundtrack. Yeah. Yeah, it really does make it can
31:34
make or break a movie, especially a lot of certain songs, especially um having a
31:40
good time in this. The Queen song is obviously something that and Winchester
31:45
one of the most memorable parts of this. So, and then uh I like right at the top
31:52
of the movie this the running gag of the the word exacerbate, which before Shaun
31:58
of the Dead, I never even heard that word, right? This is a a movie that
32:04
brings the the voc like it expanded my vocabulary just watching this movie.
32:10
It's it's making me a smarter person. And um it just goes to show that uh Liz
32:18
is kind of the the brains of the duo, right? She's the responsible one. She's
32:24
the she's what gives Shawn a purpose
32:30
is maybe her role, which is key to the movie and uh keeps the the accelerator
32:37
down in the plot. you know, when she dumps him and he becomes you depressed
32:44
and he feels like his life is over, that's when uh every the the world goes
32:51
to [ __ ] So that's the analogy of the movie. like his their relationship and
32:57
the the state of it is a onetoone with the the zombie apocalypse and how how
33:04
things are going with uh their survival. It's like will will Shawn survive the
33:11
zombie apocalypse? Will their relationship survive? Seems to be Yeah. Like it just goes hand in hand
33:16
throughout the film. Yes. Yes. And so once they kind of break
33:22
up, then we go to the the dynamic of Ed and Shawn and maybe how it it becomes
33:32
significant with their other roommate Peter from space that or that actor that
33:38
is their third roommate where the relationship between Shawn and Ed is
33:44
maybe a codependent. Yeah. Yes. Exactly. Toxic
33:50
codependency where that is holding Shawn back as uh Peter says and he's, you
33:58
know, the whole thing with Ed being lazy
34:04
and Peter Sarinitz is telling Ed to go live in the shed and that he's only
34:10
holding him back and that he's a thick [ __ ] And he's basically right. Ed
34:16
doesn't really have a a character arc and that all these things get called
34:22
back at the end of the film as as the world's falling apart. But Ed is such a
34:27
an interesting character because he doesn't have any kind of character arc
34:34
where he learns something or becomes a better person. He's at the beginning of
34:39
the film he's playing video games on the couch and at the end of the film he's just playing video games on a couch in
34:44
the shed but he's dead and he's just the same person. Very consistent.
34:50
Yeah. And I I did I did say earlier that they don't really have uh that they're
34:56
just kind of doing the the same character from Space in this, but they do go on to play different versions of
35:04
these characters in Hot Fuzz and World's End is that's definitely uh they're just
35:09
not doing the same thing over and over again. But um cuz Nick Frost character
35:15
Mike is not the same as Ed. Even though it does seem like Tim and Shawn are maybe the same character, uh Ed and Mike
35:23
are are definitely uh different character work from Nick Frost, who uh I
35:28
have a lot of respect for Nick Frost. I think that uh whenever I see him in the
35:33
credits of something, I I get excited that and I know that whatever I'm going
35:39
to watch is probably going to be good because uh Nick's always good. But they
35:45
go out drinking. Sean is dejected from the breakup and
35:53
they you he wakes up now and it's the the world has come to an end and the the
36:00
brilliance of the sequences where they don't even realize that it's happened
36:05
and I I really love the channel flipping uh sequence where all the news is covering it.
36:11
Yeah. and they're kind of they're kind of telling him that uh that they're [ __ ] and he's still just does he's not
36:18
getting it. And the the beat forbeat walk to the shop where you get the the
36:23
cornetto gag from uh from Ed. Do you want anything from the shop?
36:30
Cornetto. And I don't even I don't even understand this bit and how it went on
36:36
to be so like they call the the trilogy the Shaun
36:42
of the Dead Hot Fuzz and World's End or the Cornetto trilogy the the three colors trilogy the name of
36:48
the trilogy raised from a joke during the film the genre bending movies by Kazolski's
36:56
series. So the the Cornetto trilogy is homage to the three colors trilogy,
37:01
the work of the Polish filmmaker Kroske whose 1990s films blue, white and red form threecolor trilogy.
37:08
Yeah. Okay. So it's it's another uh tribute to the art of film making that
37:14
Edgar loves to do. There's so many things that he takes his fandom of and
37:23
inserts it into his work, whether it's video games or movies or music. This is
37:31
Edgar putting on display what inspired him to become a filmmaker. And
37:38
he makes no secrets about it. He's he's not even trying to rip it off. He's just
37:44
saying this. This is what informed my point of view in in the art that I'm
37:51
making and I'm going to shout it out and I want everybody to know that this I
37:56
think this stuff is cool and if you if you want to know what I like and then go
38:02
watch this stuff. So, um that and I I love that about him, too. And I love
38:07
feeling like I'm in on the joke or in on the um inspiration of something else
38:14
that I enjoy when he's playing Resident Evil in Space or he's playing Tomb
38:20
Raider and I was like, "Oh, I played those games. I I beat those games. I'm I'm cool like Edgar."
38:25
It's always nice like to be able to relate to something and like feel a part of it. Yeah. I think that's what makes
38:32
them such good films as well is that there's always something in it that you can relate to. Whether it's the games or the music or
38:38
even like silly things like the running gags of having a cup of tea all the way through like
38:43
as a Brit who's just been brought a cup of tea straight to the table. we do drink that much tea like
38:49
it's just the little the little things or the drinking the beer you know it's like I like to go to the pub and have a
38:56
pint massive Has anybody not thought that they would
39:01
just go uh you know barricade themselves in at the local bar and wait out the apocalypse there. I think that a lot of
39:08
people would Oh, I mean during the entire time I think every British person in CO just was like, "Oh, off to the Winchester."
39:15
Like that was all wealth content. We'll go to the Winchester. It's fine. Yeah. Exactly. So, u Yeah, I think that
39:23
that's just them a mentality that people can relate to that is what makes this
39:30
movie so whatever you want. You want to you want to survive the apocalypse with
39:36
Ed and Shawn. It's kind of but be before things kick off with the
39:42
apocalypse that we do get a peak into Shawn's work life where it becomes a
39:48
running gag with the uh that you've got red on you.
39:53
You got red on you. [Music] You've got red on you. If anyone does
39:59
discover any and develop symptoms similar to those displayed by their attackers, if you
40:04
know someone Oh, you got red on you. Yeah. And uh Bill Nye gets uh introduced as
40:11
Shawn's stepfather and the character of null uh played by Rafe Spaul becomes
40:18
shows up in a lot of the other films too. So we get a lot of running gags
40:23
that are not This is what's so brilliant about Edgar, right? is that he'll do a
40:29
running gag not just from the beginning and end of a movie. He'll do it from
40:35
spaced into all of his movies with the fence gag.
40:42
I'm taking a shortcut before
40:49
or um you know and just like these references and these characters and his
40:55
friends and all of these things just kind of he has no shame about just
41:02
giving you an Easter egg from 20 years ago in space into baby driver or
41:09
something like that. He is all for his fans. Like all the the zombies in um in Sha of the Dead, they
41:16
went on the spaced like fan website and they got a lot of like they posted that they needed extras for the zombies and a
41:22
lot of the spaced fans were the zombies in Sha of the Dead. He's very much a man of the people. I
41:28
think that that makes so much sense because you do get a lot of unique looking
41:34
zombies in this film. Just a British.
41:39
you're like, why why why are the the twins and like some of the casting of these uh zombies are inspired, but to to
41:48
think that it's actually with intention and uh a nod to the fandom of space
41:55
makes it even cooler, I guess. So, uh yeah, I didn't know that. That's a that's a good point. all all the table
42:02
setting of the first act of the movie where you get the cameo of Jessica Hines
42:07
as a former co-orker or roommate. It's
42:13
almost like Tim is bumping into Daisy on the street and that happens repeatedly
42:19
in the movie to uh even you know progressively funnier degrees
42:24
specifically the second one with the doppelgangers where or it's just one to
42:29
one you get the Martin Freeman cameo which somebody said Martin Freeman's in all all the Cornetto trilogy and I I
42:36
didn't even remember that he was in hot or Shaun of the Dead. Yeah. Yeah. just just that tiny moment.
42:42
But that like that's one of the most significant scenes to me because it just feels like so British. The fact that
42:49
they're all lined up like in cues and everyone's very polite and it's hello, goodbye, goodbye, hello, thank you. Like
42:56
just so subtly just hilarious. Like it's not even
43:02
one of them where you like laugh out loud. It's just like the inside if you just feel so much joy where you're like
43:07
that's brilliant, right? And they're they're trying to establish
43:13
that Shawn just doesn't take anything even down to visiting his mother seriously. So, and that's going to
43:20
become important later. So, when his stepfather shows up prompting him to come visit and he fails to do that, he
43:27
fails to make reservations for him and Liz and he's just failing at his normal
43:33
life. And then once the apocalypse kicks off, this is Shawn's internal struggle
43:41
to sort his life out as they say. And um
43:48
he's you have all these things like he buys the flowers that for his mom that he
43:55
tries to give to Liz with the pow. I love pow supermom when when they're
44:00
asking what they want the card. Do you want do you want to have uh for to a wonderful mom or pow superm mom? That I
44:08
really love that. I wish you had picked pow supermom. But um so
44:14
it's quite funny though. It's like it took the it took the end of the world to make Sean become the man that he could
44:19
be. Like he needed he needed everyone to be at threat of death before he could stand up and be an adult.
44:26
Yeah. And that's that's the analogy of the movie that it's his internal struggle to get his life on track and
44:34
win back uh his uh girlfriend or you know his the love of his life maybe. And
44:42
uh the all of the the sequences that happen in the beginning. It's it's all
44:47
significant to the second act and and the third act and the the the arc of
44:53
their relationship and him winning her back because she she becomes frustrated
44:59
with his lack of motivation or plans and intention and
45:06
caring about what's happening with them as a couple. So then once she dumps him
45:13
and everything falls apart, this is the chance to revisit all of these beats
45:18
from the beginning of the film. And this is why I was saying it was kind of like Groundhog Day in that way. And I don't I don't really know what your opinion of
45:25
Groundhog Day is, but I know that a lot of people don't like the repetitiveness
45:30
of it and find it like maybe boring
45:35
because it just keeps doing the same thing over and over again. Do you I have an opinion.
45:40
I loved Groundhog Day. Grand I'm one of people though like I like to look for like the subtle little
45:46
things. So obviously when it's like you know the it's the same thing but there's always like just something something
45:53
slightly off like I I like that like but like I said I have so much anxiety so if I know what's coming next like I feel
45:59
like I could enjoy it more like perfect for me.
46:05
Yeah. And it's so important to this film as well though because all of the the
46:12
retreading of the setups to be paid off
46:17
in the second half of the movie where you you're like, "Oh, I remember when
46:23
that happened in the beginning, the whole thing with the slipping in the in the shop on on the water, but then he's
46:29
slipping in blood and the people are just not paying attention to him because they're bored." But now they're not
46:36
paying attention to him because the dad all these things get paid off in uh a
46:43
very similar way. And if it wasn't done so well, it would seem lazy, which so
46:50
many movies that went on to try and imitate this movie did unsuccessfully.
46:58
There's so many terrible, stupid versions of a zombie apocalypse comedy
47:05
that always suck because they don't have the intention and the writing and the
47:13
humor and the the vision that Edgar and Simon brought to the script of Shaun of
47:20
the Dead. I I don't know. It's very much a film in its own. Like I can't I can't think of another film to
47:26
compare to it. There's always a film where you can go, "Oh, well, it's kind of like this or it's on the level of this." But I can't think of another film
47:33
that is that I'd compare to Sha of the Dead when it comes to zombie films anyway, like zombie comedy. I can't I
47:40
can't think of anything that comes close to it. Yeah, this is categorically beloved as
47:46
opposed to something like like Zombievers, which is it's just like Yeah, it's it's a funny stupid comedy,
47:54
but it's not to be taken seriously. It's not something that everybody agrees was
48:00
amazing. Like basically everybody agrees that this is it. It's just so
48:06
significant in the the history of film treads the lines of so many like genres
48:12
like comedy, horror, thriller and then like romance like I like the ro massive
48:19
and then like you know like a buddy comedy like it touches all these all these different genres like so well and
48:25
just like takes enough from every single one of them like to mixture. Yeah. Because if you removed the the
48:33
zombie apocalypse from Shaun of the Dead, you could still have a significant
48:38
romcom between Liz and Shawn and
48:43
Yeah. Yeah. Right. You would have space. But you But you even I guess it's not um
48:49
an it's an appropriate time to bring up David and um yeah, his girlfriend. I
48:54
can't remember her name right now, but the the dynamic between Liz and David and Shawn and how David is kind of
49:02
trying to steal his girl, steal his girl, make sure that they stay broken up, keeps pointing out Shawn's
49:09
shortcomings, and he he's more of an antagonist to Shawn than even the
49:16
zombies at some like Shawn's just kind of what he's running around hitting him
49:22
with cricket bats and navigating the zombie apocalypse in a in a in an
49:27
effective way all while David is throwing jabs and kind of
49:33
[ __ ] Yeah. Yeah. Just trying to ruin the relationship, which we've established is
49:39
the whole point of the movie and becomes so much more significant at the like the
49:45
second part of the third act here that we'll get to. But um if you just take
49:50
the zombie apocalypse out of that dynamic and it was only about the relationship, you would still have a
49:58
watchable movie. But then you it would not be as much fun. So once all this is
50:05
happening and Shawn decides that he needs to save Liz and save their
50:11
relationship and they he and Ed you are are now now they're off to rescue
50:18
everybody. They come up with the plan which is like the um montage scene of
50:24
how how they're going to do it. Repetitiveness again. It's brilliant. like, "Well, what about this thing?" And
50:29
then we've So, we do the list and then we add on this and we do the list and then we add on this person. Yeah. It's
50:36
Yeah. So, it's even like it's it's the movie boiled down to
50:41
uh one sequence. It's like they're doing the movie three time. The way that they do this
50:47
movie in a first, second, and third act, like they kind of do it three times. They do it three times in 5 minutes.
50:54
What's the plan? Right. We take Pete's car. We drive over
50:59
to mom's. We go in, take care of Philillip. I'm so sorry,
51:04
Phillip. Then we grab mom. We go over to Liz's place, pull up, have a cup of tea, and
51:10
wait for all this to blow over. Why have we got to go to Lizz's? Because we do.
51:17
She dumped you. I have to know if she's all right. Why? Because I love her.
51:24
All right. Gay. Okay. Go in, deal with Phillip. Sorry, Phillip. Grab mom, go to
51:32
Liz, pick her up, bring her back here, have a cup of tea, and wait for all this to blow over.
51:37
Where's safe? Where's familiar? Where can I smoke?
51:43
Take Car, go to Mom's, kill Phil. Sorry. Grab Liz, go to the Winchester, have a
51:50
nice cold pint, and wait for all this to blow over. [Music]
51:55
How's that for a slice of fried gold? Yeah, boy. And it's it's another call back. It's
52:02
another I I don't know. I just like feel like if anybody else tried to do this, it
52:09
wouldn't be successful. But somehow Edgar Wright's editing and writing make
52:15
it watchable. And that's what makes this movie special because I feel like if you
52:21
if you let Brett Ratner do this, it would suck. So, um, it just speaks to
52:27
his talent as a writer and director. the whole sequence when we're talking about
52:33
fandom and music and then they find the Mary the shop clerk and the and the fat
52:40
zombie in the backyard and you get the shed sequence that is also an Evil Dead
52:47
reference but then they're talking about the music collection and yeah which vinyl used as weapons
52:54
right throw
53:00
Um, oh, Star Wars. Uh, no. Coming. I like it.
53:05
The song that they're listening to at such a great little scene to just both
53:10
be sat there and like you're in this moment of like panic and you're about to be murdered by a zombie and you're
53:15
going, "No, no, not that. That's my first vinyl. No, not that Lizzy's favorite." And like to just take this
53:21
like time out of it and it's just perfectly just like inserted in there for them to do this like couples
53:27
bickering. Like this is like the running gag as well of them being a couple is that the like your your lives are in
53:33
literal danger like you're going to die in any second and you're still going to have an argument about which which music you're going to use to murder the
53:39
zombie. Yeah. And it's what makes these characters three-dimensional is what and
53:45
what enders them to us as viewers because you get a a peak into what they
53:53
like and what they don't like and it it gives them a personality and it lets you relate to them because you're like, "Oh,
53:59
I like that or I don't like that or I can't believe you I don't believe you when you say you don't like Dire Straits
54:06
because you use it in hot fuzz." It's like kind of um a peak into Edgar what
54:12
Edgar Wright likes a peak and it makes Shawn and Ed, you know, more rounded out
54:18
characters that you can relate to. But the the makeup effects of the zombies
54:25
and especially when once we get to like the Winchester um and this whole sequence with Mary falling on the
54:32
getting impaled. This is where it takes the movie to a another level cuz Edgar
54:39
Wright always likes to have these big graphically violent sequences in just
54:44
about every movie. Um, with the exception of maybe
54:50
Scott Pilgrim. I don't think that has an over-the-top violent part, but almost
54:55
all of the other movies do, which is a strange thing to make a trope out of,
55:03
especially in Hot Fuzz. There's Well, Mary impaled. It reminds me in Hot
55:09
Force when the thingy gets impaled on the church on the on the mini thing like
55:14
they fall and the impal. He has like the same little gory bit in both movies and
55:20
it's just like and I don't even like gore but it's just like perfectly done that it's still funny like funny gore.
55:28
Yeah. Jamie Fox's Death and Baby Driver like comes to mind. It's like did it have to go did it have to go to that
55:35
level? And uh I was watching Hot Fuzz with my wife and she hadn't seen it
55:41
before. And when the the reporter gets killed with the the the thing on his head,
55:46
the thing falls. Yeah. It's just um it provides this shock value overthe-top
55:54
beat uh to the audience where you're just like, "Oh my god." And it just Yeah. It's takes you so offg guard
56:00
because you're in this like really like secure funny place and then all of a sudden there's this like and it you just
56:06
do not expect it at all. But then he does it repeatedly throughout like a lot of things you'll only catch like a
56:12
couple of gory things but you get quite a lot of gore sequences sequences around
56:18
all these films and yeah it all even to this day especially with Hots is my favorite film and I've seen it a million
56:24
times and I will still go like like a panto man like oh my
56:29
goodness that hurt like you feel it right and it it does it leaves uh an
56:37
impression on you which is the whole point of it. And then which I guess is a
56:43
good time to talk about why this movie is so successful, why people
56:49
remember so much of it, and it sticks with you. And I don't think people really realize how
56:57
um traumatic a lot of this movie is. And it begins with the death of uh Bill
57:05
Nye's the stepdad in the car. So they once they they get Liz and uh David and the
57:13
friends, they go on to get Shawn's mom and the stepdad and he's already he's
57:20
already been bit. You don't see it. And that's I guess that's why I wanted to bring this up because until the Mary
57:26
impaled part, this isn't very graphically violent uh for a zombie
57:32
movie up until like a specific the the death of David, which is the the
57:40
craziest probably one of the best zombie devouring scenes in any zombie
57:48
movie really. It's uh with I think Day of the Dead maybe with um Sav Tom
57:54
Svini's uh visual effects in Day of the Dead are probably maybe the top tier
58:00
zombie effects uh in a zombie movie and this and David's death at the Winchester
58:06
is probably on par with that and it's it's crazy aggressively violent which is
58:12
great and makes and everybody remembers that too but the emotional impact of
58:18
when they're in car and he passes away and he's telling Shawn that he was just
58:24
trying to make him a better, more responsible man by being hard on him and
58:31
not, you know, just letting him coast through life. I always loved you, Sean,
58:36
and I always thought you had it in you to to do well. And you just need
58:44
motivation, somebody to look up to. And
58:50
I thought it could be me. Just
58:55
take care of your mom. There's a good boy.
59:05
Ed, can you pull over? Two seconds.
59:10
And this is where you get that Simon Peg, you know, from episode 4, um, what
59:18
the death scene of, uh, the paintball fake death scene with Mike. You hear
59:24
Yeah. Simon's dist Simon Peg's distraught cry talking that he does so
59:31
often in he does it so well like it's um Phillip Phillip
59:36
Philip thank you thank you yes uh yeah when when Philillip is dying in Shawn's
59:41
arms in the car it it is really upsetting and you could tell that it
59:48
just it it it's necessary for Shawn to become a better man to realize
59:56
you that everything that he was doing up until now was not really impactful and
1:00:05
this is a catalyst for him to become more responsible and rescue Liz and his
1:00:13
relationship. Th this this serious tone is something that is overlooked when you
1:00:21
think about the comedy versus the the
1:00:26
horror and the silliness of the zombie apocalypse. Not silliness, but the the a
1:00:32
horror movie tone versus the romcom tone versus
1:00:38
uh the the loss of a family member. And it it once they get to the Winchester
1:00:45
and it goes from now Shawn has lost his stepdad, maybe was not so significant to
1:00:52
him, but then on their way to the Winchester, Shawn's mom gets bit and
1:00:58
doesn't tell anybody. And then now they're trapped there and the the trope
1:01:04
of just like you get bit and people don't really know how long it takes for you to die from it, but you know that
1:01:11
Yeah, you know that once you do die that you're going to become a zombie. And the
1:01:16
the the tone shift when Shawn realizes that his mom is bit and
1:01:24
she's about to die and what that what has to happen is so heartbreaking.
1:01:33
Mom, I don't understand. The man in his pajamas. I didn't want to say anything. I thought you'd be upset.
1:01:39
No, she said mom. Mom. Mom.
1:01:45
Sean. Just hold on. Mom, you're going to be fine. I never thanked you.
1:01:51
For what? For these two are wonderful. Mom,
1:01:58
it's been a funny sort of day, hasn't it? Oh, no. No. No. No. No. Mom. Come on.
1:02:05
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Oh, please don't go.
1:02:18
[Music] What are you doing? And yeah,
1:02:24
when I when I was sitting there watching it, you know, it's just I I don't know, maybe like when you're younger and you
1:02:29
haven't lost people um as much, uh it doesn't register with you as much. But
1:02:36
um anybody that's ever lost a family member, watching
1:02:41
Shawn hold his mom while she's dying and then having her get back up and having
1:02:47
him have to uh shoot her. The the reality of having to do that is was
1:02:55
really upsetting for me. Like when I was sitting there watching it uh with a critical eye and uh digesting it, it it
1:03:04
really uh stirred up the maybe traumatic feelings or something like
1:03:11
that. And I think that is what [Music]
1:03:16
imprints on a viewer that makes this movie so memorable that people don't
1:03:23
they don't want to remember that. Uh, I feel like that scene when you ask
1:03:29
somebody what they what was the best parts of Shaun of the Dead, they're
1:03:35
going to bring up anything except that, but it's probably one of the most
1:03:41
significant and memorable parts of the movie in a bad way. like in a way that
1:03:47
is impactful and makes you remember this film, but you're just like, "Oh, I
1:03:54
remember when they hit the zombie to the queen song."
1:04:05
And I remember the Cornetto ice cream thing and uh when you know all all these other fun things that happened in the in
1:04:12
the movie, but that scene is the scene that
1:04:17
makes everybody remember this film, I think, without even realizing it. Feelings in it. You go from this like
1:04:23
light like fun atmosphere to like that real like and I think being dragged like
1:04:29
straight from like laughing like dragged straight down into that like with like no real warning. It just goes from here
1:04:35
to rock bottom in seconds. Like it's so like pulls on you so hard. Like that quick
1:04:41
emotional shift. Like it it has even more of an impact to have something like so serious and upsetting and
1:04:49
heartbreaking. Like seconds after you've just been like laughing at something and then the best thing is is that like
1:04:55
moments later you you're laughing again. So like you've just been like you your heart's just been ripped out your chest
1:05:02
and then shoved straight back in again impact on you right because it's not even done there
1:05:09
because one now David is uh you know not goating him but egging egging him on to
1:05:17
uh finish Barbara off uh because she's going to turn on everybody so it has to
1:05:23
be done and it has to be done by Shawn And then for you, David to just kind of
1:05:33
trivialize the impact of that what happened on Shawn and then turn it
1:05:38
around on him and they they start fighting and David wrestles the gun away
1:05:44
from him and turns it on Shawn. And the only reason that Shawn doesn't die right
1:05:50
there is because there were no bullets in the gun. like that. It's the fact that it's so ridiculous that like it's over a chick.
1:05:58
Like there the only reason he hates him is that he's of pure jealousy. Like imagine being that jealous of someone
1:06:03
that you're going to goat them into murdering their own mother and then turn on them. Like because you're that
1:06:09
insecure and like it's funny because you I think like Sean's seen as like you
1:06:14
know the the loser and the one who's got no motivation. He's not going anywhere in life. and this other guy sees him
1:06:21
sees himself as like better than him and he's more mature and he's smarter and all the rest of it, but when it comes
1:06:26
down to it, Sean was the better man in all the ways of saving everyone and and
1:06:32
yeah, it's nice to kind of watch someone who's up themsself get knocked back a
1:06:38
few pegs. Yeah. And I just love the the wrapup of
1:06:43
that scene, the the the end of David where he he turns the gun on Shawn and
1:06:49
everybody can't believe that he would do that, that he would even pull the trigger whe whether, you know, even
1:06:55
though it didn't work out. What if it did? You know what? If he did actually kill Shawn there, but because it didn't,
1:07:01
he's he dies out of embarrassment because everybody is shocked that what a
1:07:07
piece of [ __ ] he is that he just kind of is like looking around like, "Oh, uh, that didn't go the way that I wanted to.
1:07:13
I guess I'll just see myself out right into a horde of zombies where he's torn
1:07:18
apart." And that is the the tension breaker of that of what is maybe one of
1:07:24
the most heartbreaking scenes in any comedy is him getting shredded. You're
1:07:29
like, "Oh, you know, good riddens to this piece of [ __ ] that, you know, like that scene is so
1:07:34
relatable because there's been so many moments in my life where I've been so embarrassed. I would rather walk outside
1:07:41
the zombies than stay exactly where I am." Like I I totally like felt that
1:07:47
moment. I'm like, "Oh god." No. Yeah, I would walk outside as well. I would totally just rather die in that. Yeah.
1:07:52
Yeah. Diane runs out to rescue a a torn apart
1:07:57
David, which a guy just admitted that like he's in love with his best like Liz, his best
1:08:03
friend, and not her. I know that you settled for me and that's fine. Like
1:08:09
just being like the second choice. Yeah. That dynamic of of that
1:08:14
relationship and this maybe not it's not a just the a foresome. But I mean, it is
1:08:20
because they're they're all they're all reacting to their specific relationships
1:08:26
in different ways and the way that and the way they crisscross. But her her
1:08:33
role there, I don't really understand why that would happen. this it's got to be out of maybe trauma or you know just
1:08:41
people going a little bit crazy because all this craziness is happening that when she like admits that she knows
1:08:48
that he's in love with someone else and that she's fine with it. I think she's like this kind of woman that's like um
1:08:54
I'll not get anything better so I'll just settle like and so she like she loves him knowing full well that he
1:09:00
doesn't love her and she's not going to get anything better. So, it's better to run out there with him than stay in
1:09:05
there with nothing. And what does she have left?
1:09:10
Yeah. What are her choices? And and then after all that, the the death
1:09:16
of Philip, the death of Barbara, the death of David, then uh you get the
1:09:21
really gory death of Ed.
1:09:34
is another great uh visual effect and it's kind of that you don't want to see
1:09:41
you're kind as a viewer it's very
1:09:47
I don't know you're always hoping that these characters that you like the most are going to come out the other side of
1:09:53
it okay so when Ed gets bit it's again
1:09:58
it's the the trauma of that and Shawn watching his best friend basically, you
1:10:04
know, it's the beginning of the end for Ed there. That that's really upsetting, too. And
1:10:12
Ed, it's so funny when they get down to the basement and you think all is lost and Ed is just kind of like, I don't I
1:10:18
don't mind being eaten. I'll be I'll be fine. You know, he just he's Ed's just going to be Ed no matter whether or not
1:10:25
he's alive or he's dead. He's just along for the ride. And that's the uh that's
1:10:32
the magic of that character. There's no other character like that. I don't really Well, maybe there is, but not
1:10:39
with the intention written this way where they from beginning to end, even
1:10:46
though he ends up becoming a zombie at the end, he's just the same guy dayto
1:10:52
day and he's fine with it. It's very It's probably better. If anything, it's better for him to be at something.
1:11:01
Yeah. And I think Ed's character gives Sha like a purpose though. Like, you know, like
1:11:09
he's Shawn might have been like a loser, but next to Ed, he wasn't as much of a
1:11:15
loser. So, like that friendship is like toxic and codependent. It was like cuz there are moments where like you know he
1:11:22
they have like Simon and Ed have these like fights and he will Sean sorry and
1:11:27
he will like like tell him off like I've always looked after you. I've done everything for you. But like it's kind of Sean's
1:11:34
own fault that he's done that. Like I think he likes having Ed be this like clumsy useless lazy friend because it
1:11:42
kind of makes him feel better about himself. I think he enjoys looking after him. That's a great point that
1:11:49
Yeah, Ed makes Shawn feel like his life is good enough. And then you get to that
1:11:56
sequence where his phone they're pretending to be the zombies, which is a really fun comedic beat in the movie.
1:12:02
and they get to they've almost made it to the safety of the Winchester and Ed's
1:12:08
phone goes off and all the zombies are now aware of them and they have to take
1:12:15
that moment to have a lover's spat between Shawn and Ed about how Ed is
1:12:23
holding Shawn back the window. Is there another way in? Well, yeah, there's
1:12:28
[Music] two seconds. Hey, Noodle. You all right, mate? Yeah, man. I can't really talk now.
1:12:34
Did you get anything yet? I got nothing. Really? No, I'm right in the middle of something. Middle, isn't it? Yeah. It's weird, isn't it?
1:12:40
O, what are you doing? What am I doing? What are you doing, you stupid [ __ ] [ __ ] off. You [ __ ] off. [ __ ] [ __ ] off.
1:12:48
Sure. I spent an entire life. Look at me. I've spent my entire life sticking my neck out of you, and all you ever do is [ __ ]
1:12:54
things up. [ __ ] things up and make me look stupid. Well, I'm not going to let you do it anymore. Not today, Sean.
1:13:02
Oh, and Ed is stopping Shawn from
1:13:08
becoming a better man. And when you talk about the arc of surviving the
1:13:13
apocalypse being the the same arc of him saving his
1:13:19
relationship and Shawn realizing that and having that fight with Ed is the
1:13:24
pivot point for it's the catalyst for Shawn to improve his life and then
1:13:31
finally prioritize Liz and win her back and survive the apocalypse and at the
1:13:39
expense of Ed in the basement there when they when they only have the the two bullets and they're trying to decide.
1:13:46
I think that's you've got to give Ed's character some like like some credit there. like Ed was totally willing to
1:13:52
like give himself up so that Shawn could be happy with Liz like like I know we
1:13:57
kind of say like he doesn't he's like kind of the same all the way through but there is this like moment where he saves
1:14:02
him and where he's willing to give himself up that you see like oh he's like just he might be a lazy slob or
1:14:09
whatever but like he's like got like a really good heart like he's a really nice like he's he's the friend that you
1:14:14
want like whether he's holding you back or not like he's not the one that's kind of like saved your life. Yeah. And
1:14:21
they're they're there for each other. Even when Liz dumps Shawn, who's who's there to try and make Shawn feel better?
1:14:28
It's Ed. And Oh, your favorite monkey.
1:14:34
Should I do Clyde?
1:14:48
He is the the only other relationship in Shawn's life that Shawn cares about.
1:14:53
It's it's Liz and Ed. And he does he has to make that choice and Ed helps him
1:14:59
make that choice to go on to become a better man and be with the woman that he
1:15:05
loves. And so I guess that is uh significant and important to the character of Ed. And it's what you again
1:15:14
I just I love Nick Frost so much and these Yeah, Simon and Nick just being they
1:15:20
they do such good work in this even be for the first feature film of Edgar
1:15:28
Wright and Simon Peg and Nick Frost, you know, a after cutting their teeth with
1:15:33
Spaced to go on and do such great performances, such great writing and um
1:15:40
you know, they they they just like kill it right out of the gate with the the
1:15:46
Yeah, You start starting right at the top there. Like there's no like building up to that. They just went straight in
1:15:51
and just smashed out like a legendary film. Arguably the best film in this like that
1:15:58
we're going to go through like the rest of the catalog here. It's you're hardressed to find another Edgar Wright
1:16:06
movie that's better than this. I mean people have their opinions. I know that um
1:16:13
Scott I can't remember. I keep forgetting. I keep because we're talking about Simon and Nick and Mike and Sean.
1:16:19
I keep forgetting uh Scott Pilgrim. Scott Pilgrim is my favorite Edgar Wright movie. I'm not even trying to
1:16:25
like bury the lead about uh which one I like the most, but um
1:16:32
it's still like Shaun of the Dead is hard to beat. I think though like as much as they kind
1:16:37
of fall into a similar category, they're totally different films and like sometimes you says pick your favorite film and I'm like you can't make me do
1:16:42
that. Make me pick my favorite comedy. maybe pick my favorite horror like like you know that kind of thing like cuz I'd
1:16:48
say Hot Fuzz is my favorite one that he's done but that's probably because like Hot Fuzz is the most relatable one
1:16:54
to me because like it's set in a village and I've grown up in a village and and it's very northern and it's like it's
1:17:00
from like not far from where I'm from. So it's very like don't know I related with that one the
1:17:06
most out of any of them. A lot of people would say that. a lot of people it really pilgrim so much and and
1:17:13
obviously I love Sha of the Dead so much but yeah it's it is but then I think if you sat there and pointed everything like get
1:17:20
like give points for all the different things Shawn of the Dead blows everything else out the water. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's a really great
1:17:27
film and then you a lot of people wanted to be in the Edgar Wright business after this and um yeah so on once um you think
1:17:36
everything's over you you think they're not going to survive and then they they miraculously get rescued by Jessica
1:17:43
Hines character in the in the army and you get that what like a a third interaction with her from the beginning
1:17:50
where the mundane bumping into them to the the middle sequence with all the
1:17:56
doppelgangers and they're just trying to they're just trying to survive. They I think that's like one of the things that
1:18:02
I'm just surviving. So casual like Yeah. Yeah. all the way down from uh you
1:18:08
know being not um whatever just being something you say to being what you're
1:18:13
actually doing. And then uh yeah, she shows up to have one more, you know, to
1:18:19
cap it off. And then uh it just becomes the world featuring zombies now where
1:18:26
they've turned the zombies into like cart boys and uh you know subject of
1:18:31
reality television and it it's just whatever uh
1:18:37
that normal carts that always reminds me of Hot Foss. You know the guy in Hot Fuz
1:18:43
who um Yarp and he's the cart boy pushing the cart
1:18:49
like it's just that sort of like because he can't talk and he just makes noises doesn't he? So it's just that little you
1:18:55
know that little thing where I remember the first time I watch Hot and I was like oh like one of the Tomies from Hots where he's just like this big dude he's
1:19:01
aimlessly pushing the cards around. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They all that the yarp
1:19:07
and hot fuzz is bas the exacer ex exacerbate of shaun of the dead. It's
1:19:12
like the thing the big take away from that. Yeah. Um so yeah and uh
1:19:19
they're back together and the world kind of corrects it. The ship corrects itself. The world goes back to normal or
1:19:27
like they have a return to normaly because now they're back together. So, the apocalypse is over and uh and Ed is
1:19:35
just living in the shed and they're still they're still playing tack in and uh Ed is still that emotional support
1:19:44
animal for Sean. Um and I think it's I think it's a perfect ending. Like it's one of them it's like
1:19:50
some people might be like, "Oh, they just oh what like oh they've been rescued and that's it." But I'm like oh
1:19:55
no but it is it's just that perfect ending because you couldn't have left it without being wrapped up and spent any
1:20:01
more time on it and it was just this like great little oh you've gone through all that and if I probably if everyone had just stayed at home then no one
1:20:07
would have died everyone would fine because it's been a day they've been rescued within like a day so it's so
1:20:14
it's so stupid it's only occurring to me right now the the the relevance of the friendship of
1:20:21
their friendship there and as we were just discussing how Shawn wouldn't have
1:20:26
gone on to become a a better man without kind of taking stock of his relationship
1:20:33
with Ed. And then it ends with the the best friend song, you know, the queen
1:20:38
song about their friendship. So while while this whole time we've been talking
1:20:45
about the the actual plot of the movie revolving around his romantic
1:20:51
relationship with Liz, you get to the end and something that was so important
1:20:58
to him that the movie resolves on is the
1:21:04
fact that he still has Ed uh to be friends with, which was kind of the thing that he didn't really want to
1:21:11
abandon for Liz. is the whole time that was, you know, even though um it was
1:21:17
holding him back from becoming a better person and getting on with his life, uh
1:21:22
it was so important to him. Um and then you get to the end of the movie and
1:21:27
they're they're still friends and it's still the thing that brings joy into his life and the whole movie is those two
1:21:36
together. um surviving the apocalypse together. Was Ed holding him back or was he using
1:21:43
Ed as an excuse to not be better? Yeah. So, yeah. And that's
1:21:49
going to psycho analyze things. It's a whole It's going to be a whole another hour of us just uh analyzing the
1:21:56
relationship between Sean and Ed while we just spent the last hour. There's so many levels to it. Like you
1:22:02
can just see it on such a surface level, but it is a movie where you can just
1:22:07
keep digging and keep digging and like notice more and more and you can, you know,
1:22:13
relate to things differently. Like we'll all see the friendship in different ways. Some people see it as toxic. Some
1:22:18
people see it as fun and nice and loving and, you know, but you can there's so
1:22:23
many layers to it. Yeah. And that that's really what makes the movie so special and magical and
1:22:30
what makes the writing uh that Simon and Edgar and uh the
1:22:35
people that put this together, the the the attention to detail and the heart
1:22:40
and soul that went into the intention of the plot and the
1:22:46
writing of the jokes and the development of the characters that all these other
1:22:53
things that want to be Shawn of the Dead fall short on. And that's why, you know, it people have tried to duplicate it and
1:23:00
always fail because um they don't they don't have this
1:23:06
skill and writing and combination of writing, directing, and actors like it's hard to recreate
1:23:14
something like that. Definitely. But this was uh a great way to start the
1:23:21
series and I'm glad that you could be part of it and I look forward to uh
1:23:27
talking about the rest of the filmography. Do you have anything that you want to plug at this time? Um no no I'm good. Like just like any
1:23:35
show all apologies I'm going to plug you all apologies which I guess very often.
1:23:40
So yeah, all if anyone has me on X or whatever, yeah, just follow me on there
1:23:47
if I'm doing any popups. More than welcome. Okay. Well, thank you for joining me for
1:23:54
this episode. And if you're thinking about missing the next installment of All the Right Moves,
1:24:04
Dogs on dogs. [Music]