Though we don't have a lot of comedies in our queue (experience has taught us that good ones are rare), Whit and I were excited to check out Hot Fuzz, the latest from British actor-writer Simon Pegg and writer-director Edgar Wright. We've been Pegg-Wright fans since Spaced—a sitcom that ran from 1999 to 2001 about two young Londoners who pretend to be a couple to get an apartment. Sounds hackneyed, right? Yet it was anything but, thanks to lightning-fast referential humor and innovative direction and editing.

When we heard that Pegg and Wright were working on a feature film, we were thrilled ... until we saw previews for Shaun of the Dead. "A zombie-movie parody?" we said to each other. "Aw, that's been done to death." We finally saw it, though—and loved it.

You'd think this would have taught us that you can't judge a Pegg-Wright project by its plot synopsis. But no, when Hot Fuzz previews appeared, we crinkled up our noses: "A cop-buddy-movie parody? Aw, that's been done to death." But friends started telling us it was better than Shaun, so we dutifully put it in our queue.

Hot Fuzz is about Nicholas Angel (Pegg), a driven supercop who's so focused on his job that he's alienated everyone in his life. His bosses decide his diligence is making them look bad, so they transfer him from London to Sandford, a picturesque country village where his partner (regular Pegg sidekick Nick Frost) is a bumbling idiot, and nothing ever happens. Or does it? After a string of "accidental" deaths, Angel becomes suspicious that things are not as they seem in Sandford.

Once again, we've seen this before, and that's kind of the point; this is parody, after all. But Pegg and Wright again demonstrate their remarkable ability to spoof a genre while somehow still creating a satisfying genre movie. (The Princess Bride is the only other film I can recall that manages to have and eat its cake in this way.) The key, I think, is that Pegg and Wright parodies always contain an element of homage. They're brilliant at poking fun, but they also revel in the chance to just participate in the genre.

And that's infectious: As you laugh at the smart humor, you also relish watching this cast of excellent British actors (led by the inestimable Jim Broadbent) having the time of their lives performing action-movie stunts. Somewhere along the way, you even get caught up in the plot.

We enjoyed Hot Fuzz so much that we greedily watched all the extras on the DVD—we were that reluctant to let go. So go on, queue it. And I promise not to scrunch up my face when I see the preview for the next Pegg-Wright venture.