In case you weren't sure, Zombie Strippers is exactly what it sounds like: a horror comedy about zombified strippers. And like most zombie movies, it has political subtext, though you don't have to worry about it being headier than something titled Zombie Strippers should be. Sure, it claims to be based loosely on Eugène Ionesco's classic absurdist play Rhinoceros and, sure, it features allusions to a number of philosophers, including Camus and Sartre, but really it's dumb and silly and a heck of a good time. Particularly if you're anything but sober. And if you're just looking for a grindhouse sort of guilty pleasure to pass the time.

Zombie Strippers opens with a montage that sets the scene: it's sometime in the near future, and Bush has just been reelected to his fourth term. Already, we know this movie will be a complete farce, but the ludicrous exposition continues, explaining that government scientists have developed a virus that allows soldiers in Iraq to continue fighting after they're killed. Yes, these super soldiers are zombies, a minor twist on Joe Dante's anti-Bush short Homecoming, which was one of the more critically celebrated episodes of the cable series Masters of Horror, and which featured Iraq War casualties rising from the dead in order to cast their vote against Bush's reelection.

It's only a working title, but it will do to wind us up for now. Edgar Wright gave a hint as to what will complete the three-flavored Cornetto Trilogy begun by Shaun of the Dead -- rather appropriately, it will be The World's End.

The Guardian caught Wright at a London press conference, where the director announced a two-film deal with Working Title Films -- World's End with Pegg, and a separate action thriller currently titled Baby Driver.

Wright wouldn't give up much on what genre it would be, but admitted it might be a doomsday sci-fi piece. "It's kind of going in that direction." Sci-fi does seem to be an appropriate choice for the mint chocolate chip Cornetto that is supposed to appear. (The Cornetto theme is a tribute to Krzysztof Kieslowski and his Three Colors series, and a different flavor has appeared in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

I'm no horror buff, but I do love the zombies. Well, I love the idea of zombies. I'm not really that interested in watching all the low-budget zombie movies, all the Italian zombie movies, or all the non-Romero Living Dead movies. But it's funny, I was looking over Ryan's recent Cinematical Seven of reasons he doesn't care for zombie movies, and it dually serves as my own list of reasons I like zombie movies. Or at least those zombie movies that apply. Primarily, I like zombie movies for the first reason: the symbolism.

Shaun of the Dead may be a comedic zombie movie, and it may not have any political undertones or serious social commentary, as do Romero's films and other prominent examples of the genre, but it does permit a scholarly subtext reading nonetheless. And because I'm a scholarly sort of gent (or maybe really I just like to over-analyze everything), I'm going to take this opportunity to look at this deeper level of the movie. Sure, I could just write about why I think the movie is one of the most hilarious I've ever seen, but that would be boring; plus, I respect that some people don't have the same sense of humor as me.

Shaun's symbolism comes in the form of the romantic story. The movie, often referred to as a "rom zom com" (romantic zombie comedy), actually serves as a sort of cinematic relationship guide, comically instructing us about dealing with commitment issues. Look at the order in which the members of Shaun's party are killed (killed dead, not undead): #1: his stepfather (Bill Nighy); #2: his mum (Penelope Wilton); #3: the other guy who loves his girl (the underrated Dylan Moran, who must be seen in Run Fatboy Run); #4: his roommate (Peter Serafinowicz); and finally, #5: his immature best friend (Nick Frost). These are the people that have to die in order for Shaun (Simon Pegg) to devote his full attention to Liz (Kate Ashfield). In real, non-lethal terms, they are the people Shaun has to let go of before he can fully connect in a relationship.

Fans of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (i.e. pretty much everybody) rejoice! The stars of those films, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are teaming up again for a movie called Paul. Pegg and Frost are writing the screenplay, but this one will not be a full Shaun/Fuzz reunion, as director Edgar Wright is not involved. The director for Paul has yet to be chosen. Pegg tells MTV Movies Blog the film is "a road movie about two British geeks in America," and it will be shot here in the U.S. Sorry, I know that doesn't tell you much! The film will not have the usual Pegg-ripping-on-Frost dynamic they've perfected. Pegg says, "No, it's different actually. I'm the bitch in this one. This time Simon's the bitch!"

For my money, Pegg is not quite as hilarious as his British comedian compatriots Ricky Gervais (I bow to The Office) and Steve Coogan (just now getting into It's Alan Partridge and loving it), but he does make me laugh. He's becoming a major player in the states, starring in the new romantic comedy Run, Fat Boy, Run (you can read James' not-quite-a-rave-but-not-quite-a-pan review here), and co-starring in the upcoming How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. I loved Shaun, and was on the fence with Hot Fuzz until the glorious shoot-em-up finale made me a believer. Speaking of Pegg and Frost, does anyone have any idea how to get their television program Spaced on DVD here in America? I know it's online here and there, but I detest watching anything longer than two minutes on my computer. Thanks!

As much as I wished, I couldn't make it to the U.K. for the domestic opening of Edgar Wright's new action spoof, Hot Fuzz. Apparently the film didn't need me, though, as it earned an amazing $11.5 million in its first five days. It didn't break any records over there, but even if we only look at the film's weekend take -- $8.5 million -- it performed remarkably better than most films, imported or homegrown. The last movie to open to more money was Casino Royale, which made $25 million in its first weekend back in November (Borat also earned a tad more than Hot Fuzz in its debut two weeks earlier).

More important for Hot Fuzz is how much better it did than Wright's Shaun of the Dead, which opened in the U.K. to about $3 million and went on to gross only $12 million there in four months. This achievement shows how popular Shaun has become since its video release. Hopefully the same will prove true for American audiences when Hot Fuzz arrives here in two months. I doubt that it will open bigger than its April 20 competition (which includes The Nanny Diaries and Rogue), especially since it is only getting a limited bow, but there should be a lot of interest, nonetheless (I'll be seeing it a few times, I'm sure). It will be interesting to see how American critics respond, too. So far, with U.K. reviews in, the film has a 75% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, despite the fact that many of the positive blurbs appear to actually be slightly negative.

I guess it is fair that people in the U.K. will get to see Hot Fuzz beginning Wednesday -- usually the Brits have to wait a few months behind us for new Hollywood releases. But being fair doesn't make me wish it weren't true. I am really, really looking forward to this movie, as are many of us. It doesn't help that I keep getting teased by more and more promotional materials. Now, Empire has a new internet-only trailer up. I don't want to spoil the trailer for you, but I will say that the trailer won't spoil the movie for you. And yet it tells you all you need to know about the film. Here's what you need to know about the trailer, though: it was personally edited by Hot Fuzz director Edgar Wright and it was scored by Robert Rodriguez (surprising, I know).

The only thing I'm getting worried about now is that the movie is being sold as -- and will actually be -- too much of a parody film. Shaun of the Dead was a comedic zombie movie more than a spoof of zombie movies, and I'd hope that Hot Fuzz could work more on its own than being an action counterpart to Scary Movie and others -- not that I could imagine it would be that humorless. The latest review, from the BBC, claims it isn't as good as Shaun but that it is hilarious and worth seeing more than once (it gets 4 stars, too). If your boyfriend or girlfriend loves Shaun of the Dead, spend the money and fly the two of you to England on Valentine's Day. Otherwise, try to wait with me until April 13.

You could say that the Cinematical team is excited about Hot Fuzz. But you would be making a terrible understatement. Erik and Scott are going to fight mano-a-mano for review privileges. Martha is probably re-watching all the Hot Fuzz video blogs on a daily basis as she counts down the days until April 13. As for me, I might actually need to fly to London next month for the earlier UK release date.

The major worry is that Hot Fuzz will not live up to the hype. After all, it is going to be pretty difficult for the movie to please all of us Shaun of the Dead fans. How many highly anticipated follow-ups have been met with disappointment? And how many have actually been as popular or more beloved than their predecessor? All we can do is try not to overdo it with our expectations and just try to enjoy the damn thing without any unreasonable demands.

Thankfully some early reviews are trickling onto the net, and so far they all seem to agree that if you like Shaun of the Dead, you'll also like Hot Fuzz. Only the first report, posted on Aint it Cool News last November, featured some slight criticisms, although the overall response there was great. Another person reacting from a more recent preview screening claims the movie will certainly be one of his top 10 of 2007 -- a strong claim from someone who also says he doesn't want to over-hype the thing.

Even if you are not a fan of the Grindhouse tradition, you have to admire a movie that is going all out to re-create a movie going experience that most of us have probably never had. There has been no shortage of headlines about Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse. The latest is the announcement that Shaun of The Dead director Edgar Wright is on board to direct another "faux trailer" for the film.

It was only a little over a week ago that Matt had news that Rob Zombie was directing a trailer titled Werewolf Women of the SS for the film. Along with Zombie, Eli Roth is joining in on the fun with his trailer for the film titled Thanksgiving. Fangoria reports that Wright is the newest addition to the expanding list of director "cameos." There are no details as to what Wright's trailer will be about, but I would expect there to be more that a smidgen of Zombie action to the proceedings. Grindhouse is set for release this April, which is going to busy month for Wright since his upcoming cop film, Hot Fuzz with Shaun of The Dead's writer and star Simon Pegg, will also hit theaters.

[via ComingSoon.net]

There are few movies more anticipated by the Cinematical staff than Hot Fuzz. Why? Because Hot Fuzz is Edgar Wight's follow-up to Shaun of the Dead, of course, and most of us -- if not all -- are huge fans of Shaun of the Dead. We're obviously not the only ones, either; the production didn't make 15 video blogs for nobody. In fact, they couldn't make 'em quick enough to fulfill my needs. Last week, when the two teaser trailers were unleashed, it only made me hungrier. Well, we still have to wait until February to see the finished product, but at least the updates keep coming strong. What's new this week? The Hot Fuzz website. Sure, it's just a simple site featuring the blogs, the trailers and some stills, but hey, I'm not greedy. Besides, can't you enjoy a photo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost chasing a giant goose for quite some time?

Now, I will admit I'm a little wary about getting too excited, because it just isn't possible for a movie to live up to the expectations I have. So, I'm trying really, really hard to control myself. It is pretty difficult, though, whenever I take another look at the picture of Pegg and Frost with ice cream cones. Doesn't it remind everyone else of a particular scene from Shaun?

[via JoBlo.com]

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The BBC has decided to produce comedies! Oh yeah, and Hollywood is planning to make some blockbuster action films, too. No, but really, BBC Films is on the search for some funny new talent with which to start new relationships. In a joint venture with the BBC's television production department, BBC Films is hoping to find this talent, nurture them on TV and then eventually work with them on feature film ideas. Basically they're looking for "the British Steve Carrell," to one day star in "mainstream comedy feature film hits."

Honestly, I don't know what the BBC is talking about. Haven't they been doing this, less intentionally, for years? Let's see, there was Monty Python. Oh wait, BBC Films didn't make their movies. Okay, so I'm not that familiar with BBC television comedies since then and before The Office, but seeing as how Ricky Gervais will probably get wooed by Hollywood, perhaps BBC Films does have a fresh idea. Especially since the funniest British TV talent cum movie talent, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, came out of Channel 4. Anyway, I am always open to more comedies, particularly British comedies, but the British Steve Carrell? That's like EMI Records in the 1960s looking for the British Monkees.