How many movies are referenced in paul

Consider this the ultimate modern-comedy crossover, as damp a dork's dream as when Superman teamed up with Spider-Man or when Captain Kirk met Captain Picard in Star Trek: Generations , among the approximately films referenced in Paul. But Wright's absence is notable and, moreover, noticeable — for reasons so subtle they almost don't matter, but which are so evident that they finally render Paul lightweight and less than essential, unlike Shaun and Hot Fuzz , which entertain no matter how many times you see them.

It's the difference between parody and tribute — between Spaceballs and Galaxy Quest. Shaun is nothing less than a canonical zombie film; Hot Fuzz is a terrific shoot-'em-up-stack-'em-up. They're top entries in their respective genres, not mere nods of reverence to the tower of reels upon which they were constructed. Paul , however, is a sci-fi movie spoof, half its dialogue consisting of lines lifted from Star Wars , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Star Trek , Raiders of the Lost Ark , Aliens , Back to the Future , and all the other '70s and '80s sci-fi comfort-food staples fed to growing fanboys back then.

And its plot is pure E. But in this case, the alien is a shirtless, foul-mouthed, dope-smoking ass-flasher named Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen. Paul looks like every alien throughout popular culture — bulbous noggin, wide-screen eyes, rail-thin frame — because, as it turns out, he's the original pop-cult prototype. As he explains, after he crash-landed on earth in and wound up in government captivity, Paul's likeness was marketed via moving pictures and literature in order to get people used to his image, should there ever be an actual alien invasion.

And he's no E. Frost and Pegg Scotty! Who better to escort an extraterrestrial cross-country than nerds who want to believe speaking of: Mulder and Scully were also Paul's invention? They're chased by Men in Black, among them Jason Bateman as Agent Lorenzo Zoil, one among dozens of cheap gags and Bill Hader, who receive their instructions from a faceless voice on the other end of the phone. It's Sigourney Weaver, which spoils nothing unless you've never heard her speak.

Along the way, the trio encounters a True Believer of a different stripe: Ruth Buggs Kristen Wiig , a cycloptic Creationist who runs an RV park, with her devout daddy, in the middle of nowhere. Wiig's the revelation here: A screeching sketch artist, she brings rare depth and genuine warmth to the thankless, one-dimensional role of a God-fearing Bible-thumper.

Her scenes with Paul —when he reveals to her the size of the universe or introduces her to the simple pleasures of a well-used expletive — are more rewarding than those that the alien shares with Pegg and Frost. The group hides out in a bar as Kristen Wiig's character decides to call her father on a payphone only none of them know that her father and the agents are right on their trail. When they walk into the bar a familiar song is being played by the band specifically it's the recognizable cantina song from Star Wars that plays through the entire scene ending in a confrontation between all the characters.

Paul references the Men in Black throughout the film either referencing the film franchise starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones about a secret agency that takes care of any alien encounters on Earth. There are also real-life mythologies and theories about a secret government agency that has interacted with people involved in supposed alien sightings.

The first scene of the film shows Paul crash landing in Wyoming around the same time as the Roswell UFO crash and alien photos were revealed in real life. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's characters have a mini argument at the beginning of the film about the Roswell crash and how it wouldn't make sense for the government to cover it up by saying the crash happened in Roswell when it happened somewhere else because why even say there was a crash at all.

There's a scene set in the s where Paul is in Area 51 and has a conversation with Steven Spielberg about the E. They talk about Paul's ability to heal and Spielberg says that would be good for his alien character to have. The Extra-Terrestrial. Paul says that he's influenced most aliens in pop culture since he crash-landed on Earth and this scene proves it even further.

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