Paul

It feels like forever since I've seen Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the big screen and that's way too long. They're back finally, however sans director and buddy Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs The World), to give us another slice of fried gold.
Pegg (Star Trek) and Frost (The Boat That Rocked) co-wrote the screenplay which was directed by Superbad director Greg Mottola. Start laughing... now.
San Diego Comic-Con is like Mecca to the fanboy and the geek. 'The writer Clive Gollins' (Frost) and illustrator and bestie, Graeme Willy (Pegg) travelled across the pond to check out all the wonders of the convention, and to meet famed sci-fi author Adam Shadowchild (Jeffrey Tambor - Arrested Development). Afterwards, they've planned to go on a road trip across the USA to visit Area 51 and other spots of conspiratorial fame. They've been planning this trip for years and nothing it gonna stop them...
... except for a small alien called 'Paul'. Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen - Green Hornet) looks like the usual 'grey' alien that we've come to know and love in sci-fi shows and films. He smokes weed, has a mouth like a sailor and is on the run from 'The Big Guy'. Paul's got a few special powers and The Big Guy wants to crack open Paul's skull and have a play inside, pity Paul would have to be dead for that to happen.
Paul stows away in Graeme (a.k.a Eggs) and Clive's (a.k.a Sausage) camper van which is being pursued by the mysterious Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman - Couples Retreat) and two not-so-mysterious agents Haggard (Bill Hader - Adventureland) and O'Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio - Gulliver's Travels).
Graeme and Willy abduct the one-eyed, bible-basher Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig - Date Night) who is in turn chased by her bible-bashing, gun-toting father Moses (John Carroll Lynch - Zodiac).
Hilarity ensues as they race to a very special place in Wyoming so Paul can go back home... stopping off for the occasional fry-up.
It might be packed to the brim with more pop culture references than you could poke a multi-pronged stick at but hey, I laughed a whole bunch and so did the rest of the audience. There are a couple of really cool cameos, (one, unfortunately, only via phone) but I won't spoil them for you.
Double Negative, the animation studio that created Paul, did an amazing job. Methinks the clarity and attention to detail in creating that little dude is up there with the work done in Avatar.
Pegg and Frost were they usual comic selves; I do miss them when they're not together... I might just have to have a Cornetto-thon tonight.
Things I learnt: aliens aren't here to study farts; dead birds don't taste as good as live birds; Jane Lynch awesome.
Awesomesauce.
Eight out of ten.