Text / Xiao Guanping
In my mind, Edgar Wright has always been a director with great personality. He first made his debut in the British sitcom "Mr. Affair". Because of his unique artistic characteristics, he eventually became an international director.
His masterpiece is the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy. In the third "End of the World", the director connected the bar culture with fantasy events such as alien invasion, and used comedy to collide with science fiction and suspense, forming a novel and alienated British humor, which is more connotative than the first two.
"Car Thief" is also very good-looking, but compared with "Zombie Shaun", "Blood Detective" and "The End of the World", it is still almost meaningless. It may be due to the lack of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The interpretation, or maybe the background of the story moved to the United States, lost the unique British characteristics of Edgar Wright.
Edgar Wright is really imaginative, using the three colors of cute ice cream to correspond to the three movies, and using the same team to create a series.
The blood and ice cream trilogy comes in three colors.
Shaun of Zombies is a zombie horror film, red strawberry ice cream representing blood plasma.
"Blood Detective" is a police and gangster action movie. It is a blue original ice cream representing the color of the police.
"The End of the World" is a suspenseful sci-fi film, a green mint ice cream full of supernatural elements.
It turns out that Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" was actually written by Wright. With the cooperation of these three directors, Peter Jackson is the producer, Spielberg is the director, and Edgar Wright is the screenwriter. Can such an animation look good?
It is hoped that the second Peter Jackson-directed work will also invite Edgar Wright to be the screenwriter, keeping the style of the "Tintin Adventures" series consistent.
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This is a play written by Edgar when he was 21 years old, called "Pub Crawl". I like the business culture of restaurants, bars, and cafes. Watching five British otakus check in at 12 bars is what attracts me the most. For the sake of the bar culture I love, I can keep watching End of the World.
I spent two days inspecting 12 cafes in Hangzhou, which is very similar to the bar punch in this film, but I inspected all of them by myself. If you can have a few like-minded friends go to the cafe to check in, just like the five people in this film, it will definitely be happier.
Small shops with atmosphere and creativity (and waiters) like bookstores, restaurants, bars, cafes are all my favorites. I like the logo design, business concept, cultural creativity, historical origin and dining characteristics of these stores, and I also like to study their decoration art and furniture placement.
Although I don’t necessarily know how to open such a store, but in the process of visiting the store, I get the satisfaction of appetite, visual enjoyment, and spiritual pleasure, aren’t they all a kind of happiness?
So I decided to take a good look at these 12 bars. This film review can only be regarded as an introduction to attract more people to do this interesting (boring) thing.
I participated in a movie viewing event at "Café Charing 84" before (watching "Paradise Cinema"), which was a continuation of my unfinished fun in the early reading meeting. After watching the movie, I wrote a movie review that night and sent it to The cinematographer at the cafe, Xiao Tang. It's one of life's greatest joys to be immersed in the film review and filming industry that I love, and making friends with people who love movies.
I was watching bar culture, but I was drinking coconut milk while watching the movie. I only love to drink red wine, and there is no place for writing at present, so I can use drinks instead. For a free person like me, tea, coffee, juice, and milk tea can be drunk as wine.
Putting aside the main plot of the movie, these 12 bars, I regarded myself as a London boy who punched in the local, and wrote down my feelings about these bars in turn.
When I last wrote a review of "The End of the World", I said that if I revisited the film in the future, I would focus on the culture of these 12 bars. Today it is finally possible to deliver on that promise.
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The part of Simon Pegg walking on the road with his four little friends (middle-aged uncles) is really handsome. The five people are more than two hundred years old together, but their confidence and handsomeness have already surpassed their age and time.
Five young lads (whom they later learned were aliens) approached and dismissed them. As everyone knows, the five of them were also teenagers back then, and they also liked to pretend to be ruffians and play cool. The loneliness behind the self-deprecating men's self-deprecation is touching under Wright's lens.
It can be seen from this film that Wright is very good at using music with visual effects. The soundtrack of this section is very nice. It inherits the story line of the Ice Cream Trilogy and starts with the cool and burning of "The God of Extreme Cars".
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12 bars (booze marathon)
1. No. 1 Post Office (the first stop)
The first stop of the Five Musketeers.
This bar looks like a post office in appearance. The architectural style and color are all brick-colored + retro green. Before Simon Pegg entered the bar, he told his buddies about the history of the bar.
The art details of this film are very good. The outside of the bar is the green of the post office. After entering, the wall is changed to mint green, which is fresh and elegant like a cafe. The bar is like a table for post office business. After placing drinks and decorations, it becomes an antique bar style.
In the words of the characters in the film, the truth is revealed: Now the government does not allow too many independent bars to appear, which is equivalent to the merger of Starbucks in coffee shops, abandoning all personalized storefronts and turning them into commercial chain operations.
However, I believe that these 12 bars still have their own characteristics, otherwise I will be sorry for their individual store names.
The Simon Pegg five ordered five drinks, including four beers, and the cute fat man asked for a glass of plain water.
I remember him saying: What a cool thing to go straight to a bar and ask the owner for a bottle of iced water!
But I forgot why he didn't drink. Maybe just because of British humor?
You came to the bar to check in, even if you don't drink, you can order something else. But he ordered a glass of boiled water, and he was so righteous and impressive.
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2. An old acquaintance (an old acquaintance)
The so-called "old acquaintances" are the old men who used to tell them stories in this bar.
Watching these five otakus roaming around London's small towns is a bit like a travel scene. Their minds are new, eccentric, and very personal, so consider it a special tour of London pub culture.
I was poisoned by writer Li Xinpin. I really like the various cultural tours she advocates.
The old-fashioned bar also has a very personal appearance, with a more modern art feel than the first stop post office style. On the way, they encountered a sculpture of modern art, a metaphor for the modernity of "old acquaintances".
This bar is indeed more lively. Five people were drinking freely at the bar and saw a familiar old man (an old regular customer).
The old man had told the five boys when they were teenagers such bizarre stories as UFOs, lizardmen, and underwater Nazis.
Notice! UFO science fiction elements appear, why combine bars and science fiction stories? Maybe it's because they used to listen to the old man's fantasy stories in the bar.
This old man is really funny, the fat man said is he just making it up? The Bermuda Triangle is actually a square? Really humorous.
Thinking of the jokes I used to tell with my friends Yang Fei and Liu Lin (I am a Moon Aquarius, they are a Sun Aquarius), I feel that this is an Aquarius movie.
Look at these three movies according to their constellation attributes:
"Zombie Shaun" is dominated by Scorpio with the water attribute, "Blood Detective" is dominated by Aries with the fire attribute, and "The End of the World" is dominated by the water bottle.
Sadly, Simon Pegg is blacklisted at this bar. The bartender didn't sell him alcohol, so the five had to change to another house, claiming to have two more drinks at the next house to complete the punch.
Here is a detail. After coming out of this bar, Simon Pegg saw three unfinished beers on the open-air table outside. Don't you sell me alcohol? I drink what others have left! piss you off! The long shot is of him gulping down the three glasses of beer. Funny British humor.
After drinking, Simon Pegg was so happy, it was a childish peculiarity of the British.
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3. Famous Rooster (Famous Rooster)
The literal translation of the bar's name is "the famous hang", and the five-member group collectively recalled the invincible youth of those years.
This bar does not have a logo on the outside, and it is very lively as soon as you come in. It may be that it is getting late and more and more young people come to the bar.
Everyone is laughing and laughing here, the bar atmosphere is very good, and people drinking and chatting are everywhere.
There were five teenagers playing pool, the little brats who passed by the five on the road before, and Simon Pegg thought of himself decades ago when he saw them.
This is really a movie that reminisces about the past, and you can experience a lot of new feelings after swiping a few more times. I think of Shaun of Zombies, where Peggy and his friends also brush past five other people who are similar to them, and the comedy is strong. I really like these brain holes of the British.
In the bar, they were still trying to strike up a conversation with the five girls who were now five middle-aged ladies, and our boys were terrified of seeing how old they were now. In fact, to tell the truth, the five male protagonists are already very handsome, and there is no need for inferiority and shyness. Years and time really pass by in a hurry on women, and they are not merciless at all, and they are soft-hearted towards men.
For those of us who do artistic creation, we must have the correct aesthetic concept. It is necessary to have both unique taste and tolerance, and the requirements for aesthetics should also be broader, and do not call others ugly just because they are older.
The fat man said that he wanted to find the bus to London. It seems that this is not London, but the towns around London. You can go back to London by bus, and it can be seen that it is not far from London.
If I go to London, I really want to find these 12 bars with my friends, check in one by one like I went to a cafe in Hangzhou, and experience the feeling in the movie. I also often say to my friend Xiao Jian that people who love beer should watch this movie more.
The style and atmosphere of this bar are warmer than the first two. The first two not only have too few customers, but the environment is deserted, and the color of the decoration is also colder.
The bar is slightly brighter and warmer, and the row of sofas and tables the five of them sit on are perfect for a chat. If I was looking for a bar to chat, I might come to this one too.
They called the punch-in the "Booze Marathon" (the town's main thoroughfare is called Booze Avenue), a term that translates well.
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4. Cross your hands (a trick)
Pass the trick and have a serious fight with these aliens.
Simon Pegg was a bit sad in this bar, and he told a young guy (one of the five youths) a lot of old things about himself when he went to the toilet, but the other guy ignored him.
He also took the initiative to invite the other party to a booze marathon, saying, "We can be like the Six Musketeers!"
The term "Six Musketeers" itself is very funny. Where did the Six Musketeers come from? Dumas' famous book is the Three Musketeers, did you find one person to be the Six Musketeers? Find another person to be the Seven Musketeers? Anyone who understands this British humour might smile. The British humor way of thinking is so similar to mine.
Sure enough, there are so many stories in this bar, and since then it has entered the main plot, and the scene has become more noisy.
Originally, when Simon Pegg talked to this young man, the other party ignored him. I thought he was trying to be cool on purpose, and then I wondered if he was deaf? It wasn't until the end of the fight (it really was a trick) that I found out that he was an alien!
And why is his shape so like the hero of "The God of Thieves"?
Simon Pegg knocked this man's head off and sprayed it with blue blood! Is Ni Kuang seeking copyright from Wright? Blue blooded man.
The plot is a bit scary, and it's the best part of the movie.
I guess Simon Pegg went back and told his four friends about it and they wouldn't believe it.
The four brothers broke in and asked Simon Pegg about the fact that he lied to everyone about his mother's death. Everyone was so angry that they didn't react even if they saw a head on the ground. This part is so funny.
This alien group is also five people, five people against five people, I think of "Zombie Shaun" again.
They fought with aliens. Our boys were pretty good at kung fu, and these aliens didn't take a beating, they shattered like porcelain dolls.
They have a strong ability to reorganize, but their attack and defense capabilities are not good. It's just that this reorganization function is too powerful, and they can't be killed no matter how they fight. If they can't be completely destroyed, they can always haunt the five male protagonists.
WTF this detail is particularly hilarious. Seeing the alien head on the toilet floor, one of the five people with high quality wanted to say "what the fucking about?" (what the fuck is this?), but he was very civilized, so he briefly described it as "WTF ".
Simon Pegg didn't understand, so he asked him, "what the fucking about?" Coincidentally, another friend came out of the toilet and said the head: "what the fucking about?" (what the fuck is this?). Simon Pegg reacted suddenly and said: Oh, I see.
Too funny, this is the borrowing and dependence of British humor on English.
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5. Good partner (everyone wants to be together)
Everyone is together, good partners unite to fight the enemy.
In order not to be found out that they killed five aliens, the protagonists prepare to act as if nothing happened and move forward in unison to enter the next bar: good friends.
The actions and expressions of these five people walking side by side on the road, coupled with the funny BGM, is really interesting.
The people in this bar are also matching the rhythm of the soundtrack, making the audience feel that everyone has a problem, they are all aliens.
The last bar was too exciting, and I came to this bar to soothe my mood.
I have experienced this kind of check-in in this film twice.
Once in Xiamen, we took the stamp book bought on the island and went to all the shops in Gulangyu to get stamps. That wonderful experience will never be forgotten in this lifetime.
Another time was my experience of punching in at twelve cafes in Hangzhou. Each of them specially asked the cafe owner to chat, and I completed it by myself. The content of the inspection was recorded by sending friends circles and writing travel notes.
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6. Reliable servant (faithful servant)
The bar's name literally translates to "This guy turns into a dog" and one of their friends has been captured by aliens.
This "Reliable Servant" sign makes people like it. The bar has made its waiters feel like servants, making customers feel like they are being treated as guests.
Art knows no borders, and I especially like these logos for bookstores, cafes and bars abroad.
However, Wright is not a person who really understands wine. Except for the slightly different signs and environments of these bars, the director did not introduce the varieties and characteristics of different wines. Maybe this is the author's inadequacy. Maybe Since it has nothing to do with the main plot, no specific description is given.
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7. Two-Headed Dog (Battle of the Twins)
It's here that the quintet battles two alien-controlled twin sisters.
They always put out close-ups as they poured beer at each bar. Europeans and Americans like to drink beer like this. They enjoy it, and we enjoy watching it.
At the beginning of the film, more emphasis was placed on the bar culture, but after the main storyline began, the audience's attention was no longer on the bar, and the bar's signs and culture became gimmicks, tools and background walls.
The director no longer carefully shapes the style and similarities and differences of each bar, and the main plot has become naive and noisy, which is the shortcoming of this film. But with the help of some film reviews and research, I found a strong connection between the name of each bar and the story, and then I discovered the director's good intentions.
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8. Mermaid (someone wants to seduce)
When I first saw the Mermaid Bar, I thought the name was very appropriate. It turned out to mean "someone wants to seduce".
The bar was taken with the heroine, and as soon as we entered, there was a dance floor, and there were many women dancing in it. Unlike the first few bars that are quiet and elegant, "Mermaid" is the most lively one.
The name of the bar is "Mermaid", and there are really beautiful women here. Although the main story is still the main story, as the bar culture of the branch line, the director did not perfunctory, each bar still corresponds to the characteristics that match the name of the signboard.
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9. Honeycomb (this is an ant society)
It's an ant society where everything is crazy.
The mermaid bar is too noisy, although it is good to watch beautiful women dancing, but I still don't like too noisy and noisy environment.
The beehive was much quieter, and the wine of the six people was poured ahead of time. It seemed that there was a new story.
The five-minute fight in this bar was quite exciting, and Fatty's fighting power was amazing. I heard that this scene pays homage to Jackie Chan's kung fu comedy "Drunken Fist", because action director Brad Allen was once a member of Jackie Chan's "Marriage Class".
The action design of European and American action movies is far from the martial arts design of Chinese kung fu movies. .
After coming out of this bar, the five-member group began to be wary of each other because someone was controlled by aliens, and they were all afraid that the other party was pretending to be an alien. The plot was well designed.
Each of them clearly remembered what year and year their friends were injured by, and even if it was caused by themselves, they would not shy away, and asked the other party to find the scars to prove that they were real human beings. On the surface, they are suspicious of each other, but in fact it reflects the deep brotherhood of these friends. Only those who truly care about each other will clearly remember everyone's past, whether it was setbacks or pain.
It turned out that the modern art statue they saw on the road was also an alien, and this foreshadowing was well hidden. If you think about it, it is very scary. We now see all kinds of sculptures, models and paintings that look like real people. Are there aliens hiding in them?
The topic of aliens often appears in Ni Kuang's novels. The beginnings of "Wesley" stories have their own characteristics, but the endings are often related to aliens. Although Ni Kuang's setting is suspected of being lazy, at least it has formed a unique Wesleyan universe and worldview, and believes that many strange phenomena in this world are related to visitors from outside the sky.
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10. King's Head (King's Head)
Simon Pegg later called himself King, a metaphor for himself.
The nine bars in front of them are still open, but they have already closed at King's Head. The town faces a full-scale alien invasion, so bars can no longer stay open.
"The King's Head" can only be used as a temporary functional place in the main storyline for the protagonists to avoid disasters.
"The End of the World" has more creativity and less completion, and provides a good idea, but the main line and the branch line have not been skillfully combined.
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11. Wall hole
With the visit of the protagonists, a car hits a hole in the wall of this bar, the name is too prescient.
Even in the face of alien invasion, the actor still has to continue to finish the booze marathon punch-in event.
He rushed to the hole-in-the-wall bar desperately, and the fat man was really loyal enough to accompany him.
What I can't understand is what's the connection between finishing a booze marathon and fighting off aliens? The film does not explain the inner relationship between these two things. Why should you continue to complete the marathon when resisting aliens?
If completing the punch card can stop the alien invasion, then doing this is in line with the logic of the plot and the motivation of the characters, but if these are two unrelated things, then the plot is a bit far-fetched, and I can only put all the unreasonable places. Push up on British humour.
However, after watching the ending, I finally found the connection between the two, which made me admire the director's strong brains and clever foreshadowing even more.
As for this black Blondon bar, I can't see any style or metaphor. At most, look at the signboard and appearance, as well as the hole in the wall that was hit by the car (the name was already called before it was hit).
So the bar in the front is lucky, at least allowing the audience to see the interior and decoration style.
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12. The end of the world
Finally got to the last bar: World's End. The story also came to a climax.
The fat man keeps asking the male protagonist: Why is the booze marathon so important? Is this a question that the audience has always wondered about?
It turned out that after drinking all the beers placed in the bar, the bar would descend to the ground through the mechanism, and there were a lot of weirdos on the ground. This is the purpose of the people who hold the booze marathon, but I later found out that the aliens set up the game to find capable earthlings (the ones who complete the race are the capable ones) to discuss a major event.
But for the male protagonist, what he is looking for is youth memories and brotherhood. In this way, the main storyline and the sideline storyline are connected.
The sci-fi creation of the ending is pretty good. It turns out that these aliens came to the earth to transform the people on earth and make them better, but human beings are full of imperfections and do not want to be transformed.
Cosmic beings feel that they are superior, and human beings do not need them to point fingers at themselves. It is the same reason that human beings want to control other low-level beings.
The ending tells the audience that this small town is where the quintet lived when they were teenagers, when they enjoyed drinking at these 12 bars. It's no wonder that Simon Pegg has to complete this club punch event anyway.
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In this film, every time Simon Pegg drives, it's like watching "The God of Car Theft", which may also be Edgar Wright's preparation for his new film "The God of Car Theft". forewarned.
I love the opening scene, the idea of the 12 bars, and the cool shots and music of the quintet walking down the road.
This film is the most creative and connotative of the "Blood and Ice Cream" trilogy. After watching the film many times, I finally understood the relationship between the names of the 12 bars and the plot.
I hope that the next time I go to London, I can go to these 12 bars for drinks and punch cards with my beloved . If I can meet a few aliens who appreciate me and discuss these ethical and moral issues with me, I will not refuse.
2020/8/12First draft2021/8/3Revised
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