Do you miss having that ability with Spaced to be able to talk about fandom stuff like Star Wars or that kind of thing?

I think people are sick of me talking about Star Wars. I think Spaced was good because I could kind of sublimate my own feelings about it through Tim. And at that time, that was the time when the new ones had come out and there was a lot to be said, I think that everything that needed to be said has been said. We all gave it every chance, and I know you did as well, but I don’t know if you still feel like this, I first saw Revenge of the Sith and I really loved it, but on subsequent viewings it doesn’t hold up and eventually you realize it is just the same as the others with the exception of just a few great moments. And I still think, I maintain that if he had made C3PO say “did you hear that” after Captain Antilles says “wipe this droids memory” if what 3PO said was “did you hear that” than the last thing he said in episode three would be the first thing he said in episode four and that would be a lovely little bit of circularity to bring them all together cause that is his opening line from the first film as well, and that is just simple script writing.

There is a lot of simple script writing that is sorely needed (Both of us laughing) in episode three. That is one of the reasons why, and I don’t mean to keep on talking about it, that is one of the reasons why we all go bonkers because there are simple things that are missing that you and I…. do you think that he is just surrounded by yes men… let’s stop on the Star Wars thing because we could go.

Let’s talk about that down in the bar in a minute.

Exactly. Here is a different question though, if you were offered a part on the Star Wars TV show that they are doing, would you do it if it was a real time commitment?

That is really hard. It depends, I don’t know. I would have to say…. Of course I would probably do it. I don’t know, I think if I was offered a part in one of the movies after having seen Phantom Menace I probably wouldn’t have done it because I had been so vocal about my misgivings about it, it would have been extremely hypocritical and it probably would be still to be in a TV show. I don’t know, it might be really good, it might be awful, I don’t know. It is a really hard question I can’t answer that.

Is this one of those things that you would demand to see the script or to know who the show runner is?

I don’t know.

It is interesting though.

I think I would be quite terrified if that actually came up, would you like to play the part of whoever. I wouldn’t go in and be a stormtrooper now, you know what I mean. There was a time that I would have done anything just to have been part of it like when me and Edgar went to be in Land of the Dead, we were very happy to shoot for forty-five minutes and be in full makeup and be zombie’s that you will blink and miss even if you know us, because it was wonderful to be part of a George Romeo film as he was the reason we wrote Shaun of the Dead and we are huge fans of his work, and that time for me and Star Wars is past.

Same with me. What do you think about Romeo, he just got signed on to do this new project, low budget, did you hear about this?

I have the script.

You have the new one?

Yeah I am going to read it.

There you go. Apparently he is doing this all on his own with his producing partner.

I know a little of it but I don’t know how much I can say, so I had better say nothing. Anything from George is going to be interesting and I hope that he is allowed to, George is at his best when he is allowed to do what he wants, the more people that interfere with him the more they hold him back and the more it dilutes his work. He is really good when he is left to his own devices so I hope that happens with this.

Last question.

Yes.

Favorite movie you have seen recently?

Hmmm. Let me think, I haven’t been to the theater much to be honest. (long pause) use all of this (both of us laughing) keep all of this in. (Simon scratches his head loudly).

While you are thinking about this, is it weird being in America and getting recognized for Shaun, because I am sure in England, we talked over there and I could see people recognizing you from Shaun or Spaced or whatever it may be.

Yeah.

But over here

It is nice over here because it shows that people give a damn. Obviously, here in L.A. people see movie people all the time so it is no big deal and people come up and are very nice. Some guy cam up to me on the street and really surprised me today, he just as I walked past he said (Simon screams) “HEY!” And I kind of jumped but that was really nice. Yeah it is a surprise and it is very sweet and it never fails to amaze me. In terms of the film, I am just trying to think, I’ll tell you what, I really enjoyed Superman Returns up until a point. I thought what was missing from Superman was, what would have made it for me really brilliant was if it would have had an upbeat ending. If it ended like the original Superman films did with a big old, it felt a little unsatisfactory, it felt like The Empire Strikes Back rather than a Star Wars, you know what I mean?

You know we are opening the door again on geekdom. You know I think that one of the things, one of the reasons that it didn’t play for me and why I don’t think it played very well for America or in general is that Superman is a stalker, it is Superman being moody like Batman, and he is not super. You know what I mean?

But when he was being super, when he stopped that plane crash.

All that stuff, it was insane.

I was jumping out of my seat with excitement, this was what I always wanted to see Superman doing. And yeah it was very dark, it was to the point that his suit was a little bit darker than it should be. That bit when everyone kicked the shit out of him, how horrible and violent, I wanted him to come back and him to get the guys that beat him up, not for a big rock to fall on them, I wanted to see Superman kick those guys asses and pay for what they did to him.

You want to see Superman being super.

Yeah, absolutely.

That’s the thing.

One of the most satisfying moments in all of Superman movie history is a moment when he is not even dressed up as Superman, which is in Superman II, when he goes back to the diner and he beats that guy up, and he goes “this ones to go” and he pushes him along the bar. That is Superman being super, and he is not even got the cape on then, you know.

What is amazing for me is watching this new one, which has moments of absolute brilliance.

Yeah, absolutely.

You’re sitting there and you are like, oh my god you get it, and then there are so many moments where you are like why did you make these decisions? What was the thought process?

Yeah like what was the whole thing about having the super son? Surely don’t do that in the first film that’s quite….

There’s a lot, as much as I love that they love the original and Superman II, but they played it so hard that they just thought that everyone was going to see these movies and walk into the theater, but there is a whole new generation.

Yeah it was very similar to, in terms of its structure and the beats that it hit, it was very similar to the first Superman movie what with Lex Luthor having a kind of property scheme, him having a female counterpart who starts to feel a little bit guilty about things.

But don’t you think it was just too much repetition and the fact that Luthor is just omnipresent in these films, I think that was one of the reasons why for me it was stale, I didn’t want to see Luthor, I wanted to see a super villain. But this film makes you realize how fucking amazing the first two movies are, and for the time that they were made.

Yeah.

They are brilliant. And you know this Christmas we are getting that box set, or the Richard Donner cut, whatever it may be I am beyond excited.

Yeah but I think for those moments in that film, and I like Bryan Singer, I think that Bryan is a fan and he definitely cares about the material whether people agree with his decisions or not, but the moments when he was being super, when he brought that plane down, and the brilliance of it landing in a baseball field, and him stepping out and the crowd going crazy, that was worth the admission fee, that scene, that sequence was worth it, and I think it supported me through the whole film so even towards the end when it started to get a bit dower and less interesting, the buzz off those moments was…

That moment was, I was losing my mind in the theater, that was what I was waiting the entire time to see.

I thought the one thing they should have done is, when he was at the bar with Jimmy Olsen and they see the thing on the news about the plane, and he turns around and Clark’s gone from the store, they should have started the John Williams music then, you should have heard the (Simon does an impression of the score) just like the Jaws theme when it starts very slowly, and that would have made my hair stand on end.

Ultimately though, for me, there were choices made that did not need to be made, and I wonder what the process was for getting to where… I think there were some bad choices made, but when it works it’s phenomenal.

Let’s go talk about this in the bar, people are not going to want to listen to our geeky ramblings, they want us to go get drunk.

What is funny is they will probably be listening to this part more than they will be the other parts. On that note, thank you Mr. Pegg.

Before going I really want to say a enormous thank you to Simon for giving me the time and answering all the questions. I hope you all enjoyed the conversation.