Smoking Hot

hot_fuzz.jpgWe can continually talk about the spiritual significance of pop culture entertainment, as we should and will do; however, sometimes it’s necessary to pause for a laugh…for its own sake. While we could draw some “spiritual lessons” from arguably one of this years funniest films, I’ll just encourage you to see it so you can laugh longer and harder than you’ve laughed in quite some time. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, creators and stars of one of 2004’s most critically acclaimed films, Shaun of the Dead, return with their newest installment, Hot Fuzz, which releases this Friday.

Hot Fuzz is a hilarious take on police action dramas like the Bad Boys seires and Point Break, both films, and many others, implicitly and explicitly referenced throughout this comedy itself. Taking place in a small English village, a displaced, overachieving London policeman, Sargeant Nicholas Angel (Pegg) and his underachieving colleagues, specifically PC Danny Butterman (Frost), hunt down a serial killer responsible for more-than-suspicious murders taking place in a peaceful town that has been consistently voted village of the year. Sargeant Angel suspects that the town’s serene veneer covers a visciously corrupt underworld, and hilarity ensues with high-speed chases (in car and on foot), gunfights, and over-the-top police lingo.

While you’re at it, renting Shaun of the Dead would make for a great weekend pairing, although you might find their newest film a bit funnier. Shaun of the Dead, a comedic take on zombie films and romantic comedies, might turn off some viewers with its gruesome violence, but of course, Hot Fuzz is not without a few unsettling scenes as well. In the end, they’re both simply too funny to resist.