It’s one thing when we’re talking about Alfred Hitchcock having a walk-through in every single one of his films, including one that exclusively takes place on a lifeboat (he appears in a newspaper ad for that one). Sure it’s eccentric but it’s not surprising because, well, they’re his films and he can appear in them as he pleases. What does strike me as weird is when a director shows up totally unexpected in someone else’s film. Usually there is a good reason – either they are producing the film or friends with the cast. However despite the later explanation, it’s still a bit jarring to see, say… the director of Kill Bill in an Adam Sandler comedy…

There’s no need for a giant dissertation on the nature of the box office and the world of youth culture. There have been enough editorials written recently about Scott Pilgrim‘s apparent failure to defeat the World, some going so far as to question Hollywood’s co-opting of geek culture entirely. However, there is a need for some perspective. To gain that perspective, we’ll need to analyze a past of store clerks fighting zombies and policemen cleaning up small towns to realize that Scott Pilgrim actually did pretty well for himself.

You may not recognize the name, but you should recognize the face. Another great actor lost this year.

Remember all of those movies you love to sit around watching and loving and talking about? Some of them were directed by women. You didn’t even know that. Did you, you chauvinist pig?

In this incredibly light edition of This Week in Blu-ray, we get one of the year’s darkest, most absurd comedies right alongside a few great comedies from yesteryear…

Rob Hunter loves movies. He also loves writing bestselling mystery novels and helping hot detectives capture evil-doers. These two joys come together in the form of cash money payments that he receives every week and immediately uses to buy more DVDs. This week’s releases include Barker’s Book of Blood, Observe & Report, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Albino Farm, lots of TV shows, and more!

When he isn’t acting or directing in some of our films like Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright plays the part of film lover. Now his top 29 list of 2008 is out and we’re ready to put it to the test.

With the following of films like Star Wars, we have seen some amazing art along the way. So why should it come as any surprise that a fantastic artist like Sam Gilbey would go all out and create an amazing piece of art celebrating a fantastic film like Hot Fuzz.

Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, the creative minds behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are gearing up to finish what they’ve called the “Cornetto trilogy.”

Following Simon Pegg’s super-cool performance in the live-wire Brit-cop parody that was last year’s Hot Fuzz, the pressure was on to follow up in his next project with the same writing prowess that made that film so freakin’ good. The resulting film is Run Fatboy Run, a humorous, compact little flick which possesses a slightly different overall style than that of his previous works.

Aside from keeping things organized around here, I am also obligated as the Editor to give you my picks for the Ten Best Films of the Year. So let’s do this thing!

Though British, Hot Fuzz is part cheeky send-up of and part loving homage to the American action film.