So here’s the thing – the best marketing angle Hot Fuzz has is that it’s from the creative team behind Shaun Of The Dead. This is effective if, like many people I know, you liked Shaun Of The Dead. Less so if, like myself, you didn’t. And yet I went to see Hot Fuzz anyway and I can say that if you liked Shaun Of The Dead, you’ll like Hot Fuzz. And if you didn’t…

Fuzz is supposed to be a satire of cop films, action films, cop action films, etc, in all their loud, silly, over-the-top glory but instead is more of a homage to the genre. Director Edgar Wright is adept at identifying the cliches that define these films but instead of skewering them, he just reproduces them faithfully but with a wink that’s supposed to make it ironic but really isn’t. The hyperkinetic fast cuts over pedestrian sequences might have been clever once or twice, but reused ad nauseum over two hours, it’s just as annoying as if it had been done without tongue in cheek – probably moreso.

Wright likes to play things far too straight for my tastes, flirting with proper farce and absurdity, but unwilling to seize it with both hands and make sweet love to it. He does indulge somewhat in the film’s final act but by then, it’s been 90 minutes of squandered opportunity and can’t be redeemed. Add to that the fact that the jokes really aren’t that funny or original, and anything that might have been really surprising or memorable is telegraphed so far in advance that it ends up feeling like a letdown, which goes for the film as a whole.

And while I’m at it, I may as well admit that I didn’t care for what I saw of Spaced either. Yes, I welcome your scorn. I feast on it. It makes me strong like ox.

Trailer: Hot Fuzz

The Age and The Sydney Star Observer talks to Patrick Wolf about his music, retirement and sexuality but not his new gig modeling for Burberry.

This site is usually an Avril-free zone, but I can’t help but be sort of gleeful that she’s being sued for her “Girlfriend” single. The first time I heard it, I swore that the chorus was a total rip-off of the Rubinoos song that’s currently at the heart of the lawsuit. I was only familiar with the original thanks to the cover that Lush included on their Topolino b-sides compilation. Of course, hearing it sung by a woman and with the titular gender flipped certainly helped me draw the comparisons. Give a listen and judge for yourself. You can go find the Avril version yourself.

MP3: Lush – “I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend” (Rubinoos cover)

Spinner has got the premiere of the first video from Land Of Talk for “Speak To Me Bones”. Elizabeth Powell talked to 2TheAdvocate about stuff and stuff.

The Waterloo Record talks to The Besnard Lakes. They’re at the Hillside Festival in Guelph the weekend of July 27 to 29. Incidentally, the complete lineup for the festival is now online, though not the schedule.

Filter discusses 23 with Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino. They play day two of V Fest in September and have a couple new videos from said album. Check it.

Video: Blonde Redhead – “My Impure Hair” (YouTube)
Video: Blonde Redhead – “The Dress” (YouTube)

A second track from The New Pornographers’ forthcoming Challengers (out August 23) is now available. This one’s a Bejar tune and I’ve been told that both Dan Bejar and Neko Case will still be on the tour when they play the Phoenix on October 20 but not at the Rogers Picnic on July 29. I am presuming. I could be wrong.

MP3: The New Pornographers – “Myriad Harbour”

The hits keep on coming with Daytrotter, who have a session and interview with Centro-Matic’s Will Johnson.

Show announcements – Dios Malos, just in town a little while ago opening for The Fiery Furnaces, will be back on August 2 for a show of their own at the Drake Underground. Icelandic quartet Amiina are at the Horseshoe on September 15 (via For The Records), The Mountain Goats return for a show at Lee’s on September 25 Thomas Dolby at the Mod Club that same evening and Pere Ubu are at Lee’s on October 2.

And unannounced – as many speculated, The White Stripes played a surprise show in town yesterday… right next door to my apartment. I, of course, was at work so I couldn’t pop out to see it and my no-account cat couldn’t be bothered to call me at the office to tip me off. When confronted, he was all, “hey dude, I don’t have any thumbs”.