Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Fan boy movies are a dime a dozen nowadays, as are the Comic-Con endorsed flavors of the day, so it was with great trepidation, and expectation I found myself wandering into Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.  Expectation because it's directed by Edgar Wright, the wonderful British humorist of gleeful mash-ups like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  Trepidation because many times these fan-boy only type movies have an aura of exclusion to them, as in only the cool and devoted are really let into this world; I'm thinking of nearly every comic book adaptation on this one, and myself having no previous knowledge of the source material (created by Bryan Lee O'Malley), I was a bit concerned.  However, once the film started, with the Universal logo transformed into a sweetly humorous homage set to the Pac-Man theme, I relaxed and nearly instantaneously surrendered to this joyously inventive confection, itself a delightful mash-up of graphic novels, video games, Bollywood, and pretty nearly everything and anything pop culturally relevant in the past decade.  And yet the sweet thing about the film is the audience (including the beginners) are let in on the joke early on, and also get to enjoy an earnest and honest love story set to a style and soul all it's own.

In the beginning, we meet Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera, in a role really only he, or possibly Jessie Eisenberg could play.)  He plays bass in a garage band in Toronto, and he's also the unlikeliest ladies man in town.  Being snubbed before by a pretty blonde rocker chick girl, and in the midst of a semi-fling with a 17-year old Asian girl named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), Scott meets Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the pink-haired punk fatale of his dreams, literally.  After a playful appeal to win her affection, Ramona finally wears down and agrees to "hang."  In so the consequences begin-- Ramona has a past and Scott must defeat her seven evil exes to win her hand.  And let the games begin.

Right away the film takes note of it's comic origins, the slices of film look like comic grids, heightened to Batman-esque wordage every time a phone rings, or Scott gets punched.  Yet it feels authentic in the story, not distancing the way other films have taken comic worlds to the screen (e.g.- The Hulk.)  There's also a lovely metaphor in the fighting Scott must undergo in winning Ramona's heart.  As their relationship deepens, they must fight each others baggage and fight to the finish if it's worth it at all.  In other words, we all slug the shit if the other person in worth a damn.  Here we just get an awesomely stylized literal version of said shit.  There's a nice organic chemistry between Cera and Winstead that makes it all worth it to the audience as well.  His awkward mannerisms haven't been in such good form such since Arrested Development, and her articulate free spirit chick gives way to a nice ebb to his flow.  All I kept thinking about Ramona during the course of the film was that she's kind of the younger version of Clementine, Kate Winslet's greatest creation in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; an impulsive, yet lonely creature; you can practically hear echoes of Clementine's "I'm just a fucked up girl looking for piece of mind," speech channeling Ramona.  Plus they both dye their hair often, so perhaps it's a lazy analogy.

The exes themselves in which Mr. Pilgrim must defeat are a hoot and a half as well.  Nicely Mr. Wright (ever the generous scripter) gives each an identity and a different motif as well.  We get vain actor Lucas Lee (Chris Evans, an in joke in himself as he was also the Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movies) fights Scott with his league of stunt doubles.  Rival bassist Todd (Brandon Routh, previously Superman) plays a Vegan baddie brought down by half and half.  Roxie Richter (Mae Whitman, Cera's love interest on Arrested Development) is an ex of Ramona's during a brief bi-curious phase.  All of which leads to the evilest ex, dryly played by the always welcome Jason Schwartzman.  All of the battle scenes (and admittedly it does get a bit too battle intensive toward the end) are wonderfully and gleefully staged as video games.  Yet no previous knowledge of Zelda or whatever those kids play is necessary in savoring the humor or gleefully mad set pieces.  Movies have pretty much been ripping off video games for a least the better part of two decades, but Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is first film I believe I've ever seen that comes closest to transcending it.  There's too much pleasure in it, not incoherent mess like usual.

But this is a different entity all together-- a fun and bright comic book adaptation, video game ensemble romantic comedy.  A weird and fizzy hybrid film that impossibly works even though each scene is staged in such a go for broke, and intentionally silly way.  Yet Mr. Wright still finds enough for everybody to do.  We get the Cera front and center, and a bright newcomer in Winstead, but there's still time for a strong supporting cast of talented actors to make their own in more thankless roles, yet given strong dialogue and clear precise characterizations.  It's in this generosity that extends to a level of inclusiveness to the audience, even ones unfamiliar of Street Fighter.  We can still relate and laugh with Keiran Culkin as Scott's gay and wise roommate, guffaw with Allison Pill as one of Scott's exes (in this film, everyone's baggage comes out on the table), and giggle with Anna Kendrick as Scott's younger sister.

I'm not going to come out and say Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the greatest thing to hit a movie screen, but it is a lovely and original piece of pop entertainment.  It's so much fun, a word Hollywood likes to say a lot, but hardly ever offers, usually it gets compromised by jittery film types afraid of something different.  It's poster tagline promises, "an epic of epic epicness," and I'd say that about perfectly sums up the experience.  A-

Summer 2010 Progress Report

So the summer movie season is about one month in, still three weeks before the official calendar change, and it's been a largely ho-hum affair. Hollywood, as usual, has produced slickly over-priced, under-nourished franchise continuations and franchise hopefuls, and yet no one seems to be caring. No box office records have been smashed (or eviscerated, as hoped), no critical smashes, no films that seem anywhere close to entering the pop-culture lexicon. Perhaps, in a P-A (post-Avatar) filmmaking world, the doldrums must come. Much has been discussed of the last month and the disappointments (even though calling Iron Man 2 a disappointment when it's earned $290 million domestically because it didn't break any records seems ridiculous and an example of the wrong-headedness of the movie industry) that have ensued.

Iron Man 2, a well meaning if directionless and cowardly sequel, fared better than anything, and was followed by Robin Hood, which with Ridley Scott at the helm and a berth as the opening film at Cannes this year is still struggling to make it's way to $100 million, besieged with a plethora of middling reviews. It's unfortunate that a film barely making $100 million is a sign of failure-- perhaps if more control over whatever was going on in Scott's brain at the time were better maintained, the feature would have been viewed as a success. But thanks to a nice returns from a forminable overseas box office, Robin Hood will survive, and possibly go another round in the not too distant future-- the world wins.

Following Robin Hood, with it's desperate need for a sequel, was a sequel nobody asked for in Shrek Forever After, this time in magically 3-D. While the film has made money, despite it being the poorest attended Shrek in it's quadilogy, it hasn't exactly broadened the wonders of 3-D, or deepened the legacy of the Shrek franchise. And as a supporter of film preservation, I implore the end of unecessary sequels, really just to maintain the success (or lack of) of the original film. Which brings us to Sex & the City 2, the critical punching bag of the season, which like the rest is struggling to earn enough dough to defeat cultural embarrassment. Whether the reviews are fairly judged or not is perhaps not the case here, but again speaking from a preservationist perspective are the Sex films helping or hurting the legacy of the lauded and, in many ways, groundbreaking television show. Then again, perhaps the film would feels less like a dud if it didn't cost $100 million to make (just a theory-- perhaps the gals should have stayed in Manhattan, instead of traversing off to Abu Dahbi.) The second mishap of the unfortunate Memorial Day weekend was Prince of Persia, showing off Jake Gyllenhaal's abs to massive effect-- again the overseas box office is booming for this, but is anybody really interested in a second helping?

And so I'm, in a rare move, rather proud of the indifference shown on this years product by the American people. The populist do, and should have the power to say what they\we are and are not interested in, and the American movie industry should listen. And if we need a season without a box office record to make that point, then so be it.

However, even in times of distress, I see a beacon (perhaps a few) of hope in a few of the offerings coming out this summer. Here's the top ten films I'm most looking forward too this summer:

10. I Am Love- I posted the preview for this sumptious looking Italian film earlier starring Tilda Swinton. I know next to nothing about it, and I kind of want to keep it that way until I see it. It generated mixed reviews at this years Sundance Film Festival, but the I've always been fascinated by love-it\hate-it type movies, and this appears to be one of them. Opens limitedly on June 18th.

9. Dinner for Schmucks- I wasn't overly impressed with the trailor for this, but it's kind of slim pickings this summer, and in truth, I suppose I'd rather waste two hours of time with the likes of Steve Carell and Paul Rudd then the other jokesters coming out this summer. Then again the trailer for The 40-Year-Old Virgin didn't exactly impress me either initially. Opens July 23rd.

8. Joan Rivers: Piece of Work- This critically acclaimed and Sundance Film Festival winner for Documentary editing examines the body of work of Ms. Rivers as she approaches her 75th birthday. I've always been ticked by Rivers and this one looks like it could be a raw and perceptive look at her career, self parody and all, plus it might actually be funny. Open limitedly June 11th.

7. Winter's Bone- A grim feature from Debra Granik (Down to the Bone) which won the Grand Jury Prize at this years Sundance Film Featival, and follows a young girl (Jennifer Lawrence) trying to find her father and rebuild her family in the Ozarks. The film has gotten some of the best reviews so far this year, and while the feature looks relentlessly bleak, I'm intrigued by the Ozarks angle, simply because I've never seen a film set there before, plus advance word is Lawrence is terrific. Opens limitedly June 11th

6. Cyrus- Another hit from Sundance this year, but this one seems far more commercial than Joan Rivers: Piece of Work and Winter's Bone. It's a comedy from the Duplass Brothers (The Puffy Chair) starring John C. Rielly, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and Jonah Hill, centering around a romance developing for Rielly and Tomei, with Hill as her son mucking up matters. I'm hoping a mature, yet warped look at romance. Plus I'm digging Fox Searchlight's promotion for this already. Opens June 18th.

5. The Adjustment Bureau- This one's a conspiracy theory take on a Philip K. Dick short story starring Matt Damon as an aspiring senator and Emily Blunt as a ballerina. Dick stories come hot and cold in Hollywood (Blade Runner is the best by a far margin), but Damon is a pro at this point at this and Blunt, as least from the trailer appears to be right there with him. I'm hopeful about this one, so let's hope like the Bourne films it manages to please the cineasts and popcorn fans at once. Opens September 17th.



4. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World- Perhaps this one is a bit too high since it seems that it can go anyway at this point, but Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead; Hot Fuzz) is freaking brilliant, and I'm largely impressed with the young, hip cast assembled here. Sure I'll bet everyone's a bit tired of Michael Cera playing Michael Cera, but it seems like such a Michael Cera role, who else would it be? Plus Jason Schwartzman, Keiran Culkin and Anna Kendrick. Even if it sucks, I'm totally there. Opens August 13th.

3. Toy Story 3- The only sequel on this list, and for good reason-- Pixar wouldn't just make this if there wasn't a reason too. The unparallelled focus on story and how spectacle can enhance a story (such as 3-D) is but one of the reasons Pixar is in the loftiest of situations-- they've proven all of wrong so many times now with they're innovative and inventiveness, that I succumb to them every time they choose to wave something new in my face. Open June 18th.

2. The Kids Are All Right- The buzz about the lesbian mothers and sperm donar dad comedy is so deafening at this point, I just want to see this bloody thing so badly. Not just because it stars three of favorite actors currently working in cinema-- Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo. Not just because it's written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, a skilled filmmaker and observant writer (High Art.) Not just because of it's rave reviews from Sundance and Berlin film festivals. Nor because the trailer looks like it strikes the right balance between fun and heartfelt. It's because I'm clamoring and begging for a quality film to come my way, and I don't want to wait until July 9th.

1. Inception- Yep, I'm eagerly awaiting Christopher Nolan's return to the cinema moreso than the dozen of so promising films from film festivals, so there you go-- I'm not quite the cinematic snob you might figure me out to be. I'm digging just about everything so far on this film, but I worry as well. I worry that the overwhelming buzz surrounding Inception will swell to a degree of indifference either on my part or the part of the populist. But if it's as good as I feel it could be than everyone wins, right? Opens July 14th.