Not only is Shaun of the Dead entertaining in its own right, it makes bad movies better. We also watched the Legally Blonde sequel over the weekend, and it would have been an unbearable ordeal had we not been able to picture the characters from Shaun invading Blonde, armed with cricket bats and pool cues and spades, swinging wildly.
And really, LB2 is one of those movies that make you retroactively hate the first one for spawning a sequel. I’m not saying LB was great by any means (it’s no Clueless or Bring It On), but it was a pleasant enough way to waste 90-odd minutes. LB2‘s worst crime was the utter waste it made of a cast that includes comedy legend Bob Newhart, will-be comedy legend Jennifer Coolidge, and Dana Ivey, who has had a fairly dire career in film (Addams Family Values excluded) despite being a highly regarded stage actress. (She was Miss Daisy before Jessica Tandy, and she played two very different roles in Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George.)
Moving back to comics, I’ve added a couple of links to the blogroll. At All Ages, Scott Robins posts news and views on what’s rapidly becoming one of my favorite categories of comics: the kind that are made for kids. The Comics Shrew offers up The Shrew Review, where she posts thoughtful, entertaining commentary on mostly mainstream titles. I particularly like her takes on Young Avengers 2 and Ex Machina 9.
Last and least, there’s a new Flipped up at Comic World News. In the forum, some dork is trying to clear out space on his manga shelves.