What was going to be a fairly average day of playing video games to forget about my current state of unemployment, actually turned into a pretty fantastic day of getting paid to talk about beer in a focus group and going to a free screening of Screen Gems’ Attack the Block. I can safely say that Attack the Block is the best film of the year. Trust.
In all honesty, this article has been sitting on my computer since April, not necessarily because I am occasionally lazy, unmotivated, and a chronic procrastinator (all of which are true), but because I haven’t quite found a way to express in words how I feel about this film. So, I wrote a love letter:
Dear Attack the Block,
I first heard about you when you were just a blip on a movie news site. You didn’t have much going for you at the time, but you sounded interesting enough. I knew you were of good stock, coming from the same bloodline as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim. With Edgar Wright and fresh new director Joe Cornish, how bad could you be? Time went on, and it was like you disappeared.
One night, I was minding my own business, and there you were, standing there across the pond, all done up. You weren’t a “B” movie, or some side project that was going nowhere. You were a fully formed passion project. You were full of talent, effects, and aliens. I’ve scoured the streets of Los Angeles in the hopes that a beauty such as yours would catch my eye, but I couldn’t find anything like you. You were original. Yet, you were way out of my league, and my country.
When it seemed all was lost, SXSW happened. Suddenly, you were stateside. I had no job, no money, and no tickets to see you. Texas might as well have been across the Atlantic. Still separated by distance, I followed your reviews. Watched your trailers. It was love at first site. There was hope. I knew if they loved you in Austin, that you might have a chance of coming to LA, or at least New York.
After it was announced you would get theatrical distribution by Screen Gems (thank you, I owe you my first born), I happened to read of a fan screening to be held in Los Angeles. It was a drawing, my e-mail in an inbox of millions. Lady luck was not on my side; I succumbed to the depression that is rejection. However, due to an overwhelming demand, another fan screening was announced!
My faithful wingman and I lined up, risking first come, first serve, un-guaranteed seating. It was a long road to hoe, but we got in and secured two seats at an optimum viewing level. We were going to see you. In person.
This is where I get befuddled. I just don’t know where to start. Your cast is utterly brilliant. You are filled with unknowns, several who have had little or no experience before. Beautifully crafted by the hands of a first time feature director, even the parts of you that were alien to me left me completely satisfied. (I went to far there, huh?) What I mean is: no overly complex, unrendered, unrealistic CGI aliens disgrace your image. Nor was I bombarded with increasingly boring pretty boy soldiers from an inept military force failing to dislodge arthropodal extraterrestrials from depleting our Earth of its natural resources. No. Instead, you gave me a group of cocky, humorous teenagers kicking some alien ass. And a deep desire for a South London accent.
While your action scenes are great, you also gave me understanding, redemption, and death. Oh, and teenagers confined to the limits of their prepaid cell phone plans. And again, some “big, alien, gorilla-wolf mother***kers.”
And for that, I love you.
Believe,
Nick
Attack the Block is showing in select cities starting Friday July 29, 2011. Go see it.
AUSTIN
Chicago
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
Seattle
Toronto
Nicholas Ellingsworth is often called “nellingsworth” by his friends and coworkers, though it’s unclear when this actually started. He shares a birthday with Neil “First Man on the Moon” Armstrong and Maureen “Marcia Brady” McCormick, yet the three of them have never met, let alone eaten cake together. He currently lives in Los Angeles and spends his time writing, playing XBox and Wii, and watching way too much TV. You can follow him on Twitter@nellingsworth. 
