Attack the Block

The Synopsis
It's an alien invasion in a place we have yet to see, in a South London block of flats. The aliens have met their match with a bunch of teenage kids from London who will protect their block, no matter what it takes.

The review
Oh my days. Dude, you simply HAVE to see this movie. I know that a film has got me hooked when the next day it is all I can think about.

I saw the trailer for this film a while ago and thought immediately that I have to see this film. I didn't really know how I would take it though. But then the film came out and with it the reviews were outstanding. This peaked my interest as I couldn't see how such a bizarre and low-funded film could make that much of an impact, but then I saw it and now I know. It was immense.

Being a girl that lives in London, I immediately related to the characters. I am definitely not streetwise enough to ever pull off being anything like them but you can't go anywhere around this area without bumping into someone just like them. There's not many alien films where I can genuinely say, that was actually really realistic!! I'm not kidding, if aliens were to attack South London, that would totally be how it would pan out.

The film was fresh, new and simply awesome. The writing was perfect for it's setting and the main gang of kids totally stole the show.

One thing I wondered about prior to seeing the film was whether it would be nearly as good to anyone who doesn't live in London. After seeing it though, I really don't think it matters. The film was so well put together that an outsider might very well think it a little strange but by the end would be so wrapped up in it, it wouldn't matter.

All the main actors in the groups of boys were awesome but I need to take a moment to marvel at the genius that was one of them. His name is Alex Esmail and he played the character 'Pest.' I absolutely loved him. Almost everything that came out of his mouth was freakin hilarious and if he isn't immediately snapped up for another film then there is something seriously wrong with this world.

It was pure alien invasion science fiction classic with a new twist that was refreshing and very enjoyable. But overall, on top of absolutely everything else, it was FUNNY. Really really funny.

I really don't know what else to say except Nick Frost was his normal awesome self throughout and the Writer and Director Joe Cornish is officially my favourite person this month.

GO AND SEE IT AND THEN TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO DO THE SAME. I've officially roped everyone I came into contact with at work today to make it their priority, now I'm doing the same to you.

That is all. No review can do it justice, it needs to be experienced to fully understand. I'm already making plans to see it again.

An unsurprising 5 faces from me.

Paul

The Synopsis
Graeme Willy *tee hee* (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) are two British guys who go to America for Comic Con and expand their holiday by taking a road trip and visiting all the great Sci Fi hotspots it has to offer. Their journey is thrown completely out of whack however when they end up hiding a real life alien fugitive, Paul (Seth Rogen)from the American government and agree to help him try to get home.

The Review
Aaah, me likey me likey. I mean I went in thinking that I was going to love it because it has my fav comedy duo in Nick and Simon but of course that worried me as I feared it wouldn't live up to my expectations but you know what? It was fandabidosy.

The whole thing just reeked of geek love but being a budding geek myself I felt at home watching it. It was basically a love story to all things sci fi and it was done by two men who obviously know their stuff. Now as far as I stand with the science fiction world I would have to say I'm around just below average but the sci fi things that I do watch have been known to take over my whole life, (namely Doctor Who... I could soak in those stories all day).

What I love about Paul is the same thing that Nick Frost and Simon Pegg always seem to do in the films they do together and that is they underline all their characters with aspects of themselves. Like I could easily believe that they have probably done the tour of America's best alien land marks plenty of times before they filmed this film. In fact I like to believe that when Nick and Simon retire they might migrate together to Roswell, buy a little two bedroom space shuttle shaped house and live out the last of their years whistling the theme tune from Close Encounters into the night sky whilst secretly hoping to hear the whisper of alien life speaking back...

Hmmmm, a couple of minutes has passed since writing the above as I have just closed my eyes and imagined how perfect the world would be if that would happen.

For anyone who is a little obsessed in the world of science fiction then there are millions of little tid bits littered throughout the film for you to go 'Oh my days! I saw that on Star Trek/Spielberg films/etc etc' I would like to think that I caught about 80% of them but I'm sure if I were to see it with a hard core sci geek I would probably hang my head in shame with the amount I really missed. So with that said, if you are not a sci fi geek at all but simply a fan of the comedy duo then it does not depend on you to get all the references in order to enjoy the film, it stands on it's own as a highly funny film without a need for research first.

The alien Paul in the film is rude and very funny and somehow comes across as very loveable. Seth Rogen's voice definitely suits animation, it's very soothing to listen to and his timing is awesome. There are a few moments in the one on one conversations between him and the other characters where it seems to get emotional and automatically each time I could feel myself getting nervous as I was sure it was going to enter into cheesy town but I have to say, not once did that happen. Instead at the end of these conversations I found myself inwardly applauding the writing of this. Thinking about it, this is quite obviously a film of love from two people who know this genre very well, it couldn't have been written any other way than just perfect for the genre it was in.

Go and see it, love it and tell your friends. Well done Nick and Simon, next one to look forward to is the Cornetto Trilogy finale! An almighty five faces from me as it appealed to my geekdom so well.