Top 250

Hot Fuzz (2007)
Number 101 on IMDb's Top 250

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He's so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel's superiors send him to a place where his talents won't be quite so embarrassing - the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford, the current "Village of the Year". Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life "bad boy," and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny's puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel's growing frustration. However, hilarity ensues as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, and Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny's dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality. It's time for these small-town cops to break out some big-city justice.

Trivia: Sandford, the "fictional" setting for the film, is the name of the town used as the setting for all Police training role plays. The combination for the lock of the Evidence Room is 999, the same as the telephone number of the police (and other emergency services) in Britain. Throughout the first half of the film, Danny asks Angel a number of annoying questions like "Have you ever shot two guns at once while diving through the air?" to which Angel responds "No -- you've been watching too many cop movies! The job isn't like that." Then in the second half of the film, every single thing that Danny has asked about, Angel has to do. He does shoot two guns while leaping through the air, etc. Somerfield is a real UK supermarket chain, and all of the scenes were shot in one of their stores. At a Q&A session following a screening of the film in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Edgar Wright revealed that the film featured disguised cameos by two Oscar winners: Cate Blanchett and Peter Jackson. Jackson appears as the Santa Claus who stabs Nick Angel through the hand during the opening montage, and Blanchett appears masked as Angel's ex-girlfriend CSI agent, in which you never see her face.

This is from the guys that brought us Shaun of the Dead. This time they set their sites on action movies. Like Shaun, this movie starts out slow and steady but by the time I got to the last 20 minutes I was laughing hilariously. I was able to snea...I was able to catch this right after Shrek The Third so I had a wonderful Saturday afternoon double feature. If you liked Shaun of the Dead you will love this one.