Thursday, 3 December 2009
Christmas Countdown – Guest Post by Elizabeth Scott
I’m so excited to welcome one of my favourite authors, Elizabeth Scott, to the blog today. She’s written some fabulous fictional couples so it was interesting, and surprising, to see who her couple of the year was. Thanks so much for sharing Elizabeth.
My favorite fictional couple of the year…
You know, I have agonized over this for weeks. I wanted to pick a book, and I have read some truly great ones this year–but in the end, I have to go with a couple that isn’t actually a couple, but that has gotten me through one of the longest, strangest, and hardest years of my life.
And that couple that isn’t quite a couple?
Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman from Hot Fuzz, a movie which was released with very little fanfare (at least in the US) in 2007.
I first heard about the movie from my friend Jess, who swore up and down that I *had* to see it. I love Jess, but I wasn’t sure–a British comedy about action movies? How much funny could there be in that, really?
Turns out, there is a *lot* of fun to be had. Hot Fuzz takes every conceivable Hollywood action movie stereotype–from the obviously too-tightly wound but dedicated police office and his new, and more laid-back partner, all the way to not one, but multiple fake-out endings. Think of anything and everything you’ve seen in an action movie, and Hot Fuzz takes that and twists it into something sharper and funnier than anything you’ve ever seen.
Now, as for my couple that isn’t a couple–what the makers of Hot Fuzz did, and what I never fail to enjoy when I watch the movie (and I have watched it many, many times this past year), is how they take the inevitable homoerotic subtext that comes with an action movie and make it sweet, charming–and push it close to text. As the director of the movie, Edgar Wright, said, “It’s platonic man-love. It’s “Brokeback Precinct.””
I love Nicholas Angel and Danny Butterman for many reasons, but the main reason I love them is that whenever I watch Hot Fuzz, I know I’ll see a movie that not only makes me care about the characters, but offers an interesting and nuanced take on action movies wrapped in an incredibly awesome package of funny.
In short, whenever I watch Hot Fuzz, I get to see a great movie.
Don’t believe me? Check this out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Bottom line–out of everything I’ve seen and read over the last year, this movie has always made me smile. And that is something worth sharing, I think–and I hope that if you see Hot Fuzz, you enjoy it as much as I do.
Elizabeth Scott grew up in a town so small it didn’t even have a post office, though it did boast an impressive cattle population. She is the author of Something Maybe, Perfect You, Stealing Heaven, Bloom and Living Dead Girl. Her new book The Unwritten Rule will be published 6th April 2010. She firmly believes you can never own too many books; and would love it if you visited her website, located at www.elizabethwrites.com
And don’t forget to enter the competition. Among other things you could win a signed copy of Perfect You
Hi Elizabeth 🙂
Thank you very much for sharing here today. I really enjoyed Hot Fuzz too. Simon's a great comic writer & actor. He's on Twitter too!
🙂
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
ReplyDelete
I haven't seen Hot Fuzz yet – sounds like a must see 🙂
Great interview!
ReplyDelete
This contest is such a fun idea, Alexa! And what a cool interview! Elizabeth sounds like a kindred spirit, since I am also from a dinky little town. Thanks for posting this interview, and thanks to Elizabeth for recommending Hot Fuzz! Sounds fun.
ReplyDelete
Hey I nominated you for an award over at my blog.
http://agoodaddiction.blogspot.com/2009/12/awards-my-first-and-4-in-one-day-wee.html
ReplyDelete
This was great. I totally want to see that movie now. I'll have to look into it! And I'm a huge fan of yours, Elizabeth, just if you know…you're reading the comments! Alexa recommended you to me a while back and I read a bunch of your books. I recommended one of them to our librarian who loved it too!
cheers,
Joelle
http://www.joelleanthony.com
ReplyDelete
RKCharron – thanks for telling us Simon is on Twitter, cool!
Jemi – It really is very funny
Kim – Glad you're enjoying it stay tuned 🙂
Karl – thanks!
Joelle – thanks for commenting, yup Elizabeth writes great books all the people I've recommended her too have loved her!
ReplyDelete
Elizabeth Scott is one of my must-read authors!
ReplyDelete
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments, and Alexa, a very special thank you for letting me write about Danny and Nicholas!! 🙂
ReplyDelete
Elizabeth = thanks for writing it!
ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete