Flick Pick

The zombie king, George Romero, has got to love Shaun of the Dead. In Edgar Wright's witty 2004 sendup of the ghouls-on-the-loose genre, we meet a pair of North London layabouts who are a lot more concerned with scoring their next pint of bitter than with saving the world from the children of the night. In fact, Shaun (Simon Pegg, who is also the movie's co-writer) and his mate Ed (Nick Frost) find the creatures mere annoyances who dare to interrupt their drinking time at a local pub called the Winchester. That, and that alone, stirs the listless Shaun to bop a couple of them on the head with his cricket bat. Urgent danger? Not so you'd notice: Our heroes maintain both their sloth and their thirst in the face of all threats to the barricaded and battered Winchester. Perhaps we should credit that to the famous British courage in the face of catastrophe.

Appropriately, Shaun of the Dead will screen Saturday, August 6, as part of the popular Saturday Midnights at the Esquire series. Landmark's Esquire Theatre is at 590 Downing Street. For information, call 303-352-1992.