Reviewer James Ward at The Californian.com says the movie Paul is loaded with sf references, and one of them is unlikely to be caught by anybody — except fans like us!
The script by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost — who also star in the film as Clive and Graeme — is full of loving references to “The Empire Strikes Back,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”
The script also at times gets esoteric with a pointed joke aimed at the famously grumpy sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison. It’s a joke that only a few hundred people will get, but those who do will appreciate the laugh.
[Thanks to Andrew Porter for the story.]
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I just saw PAUL this afternoon, and liked it very much. But I didn’t notice any reference to Harlan Ellison.
Phil Nichols (on harlanellison.com) wrote: “A couple of days ago I asked the guy at The Californian about his suggestion that Jeffrey Tambor is playing a thinly disguised Harlan Ellison. In his reply to me, he cites only two things as the basis of his deduction: The hat. The profanity.”
You may or may not agree that this is specifically about Harlan Ellison. Not having seen PAUL, I have no idea. But always there is controversy.