Movie Review: SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD

So… long time, no write.
I’ve been making excuses/defending myself unnecessarily a lot more in recent years than I used to. I’m trying to stop.
Hopefully this will be my last one.
I haven’t written anything in a while. Partly due to lack of desire… which, yes, I should have pushed through… but, also partly due to the fact that I lent my laptop out to a friend, and what was supposed to be two days has turned into several weeks. And in case you’re reading this (which you’re not), I’d like it back when you get a chance.

All that said, I’m learning more about what it is to be an artist for the art and not for the cool/stuff/attention. So, I’m writing for the sake of writing, cause I’d forgotten that I don’t need my laptop to write, I just need “something”. Which I have.

So, on to the movie… SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD!

This was a movie I wasn’t expecting to be as good as it ended up being (and likely was all along). It wasn’t the best movie ever. But it caught me off guard in a very good way.

For those of you (any of the four of you, really) who really like Michael Cera, you won’t be disappointed. He play’s his character basically how you’d expect him to—a little awkward/shy around girls, but bold at the right times. The only thing I didn’t like about his performance was little hints of Napoleon Dynamite that seemed to sneak in from time to time.

Creative (very creative and rather original) editing techniques really make this movie stand out from typical comedies… but what really makes the whole relatively unrealistic movie believable are the great, high energy performances from the entire cast.

The music is also quite unique. Though not a completely original sound, it is a sub genre (with a long hyphenated name of some sort) that is relatively unheard of and was pulled off excellently.

A lot of the content of this film could easily have been taken as cheesy/lame if it wasn’t for how well it was produced.

I gotta say, I loved it.

Anyways, that’s it for me for now, so until we meet again (which I’m hoping will be in less than two months), have a better than average day.

—
Zach

Defendor… among other things.

Defendor is a great movie, in case you ever get a chance to see it. There wasn’t a whole lot of promotion on this one. I don’t recall it ever making it to theatres (at least not here in Kelowna). Only a couple trailers online and a poster or two in places many folks may not travel.

It’s a great film that I expected to be an enjoyable comedy. It was enjoyable, and there was definitely comic parts in there, but it had so much more that really made it into an excellent film. Some people said it was too much like Kick Ass… but news for those folks, this one came first. I, myself, haven’t seen Kick Ass and can’t currently comment on there similarities.
A more detailed review will be available shortly on blogcritics.org, care of yours truly.

And on to other things…

I really don’t have much to say. I thought I’d have more… but for now I don’t.
I think I’m going to try and write more frequently, and less in-depth. I huge blog once a month will not do nearly as well as a relatively small one, every couple of days.

So… until we meet again, have a better-than-average day.

Opinions

To each his own.

So, here we are again on the general topic of film.
Last night, my wife and I joined a few friends of ours at the theatre to watch Alice In Wonderland in the miraculous 3rd dimension.

I enjoyed the movie, but I think I would have enjoyed this one more had I seen it the good ol’ fashioned way. Some of the 3D elements seemed exaggerated… and though the whole film was a film of fantasy and surrealism, the extended depth that the fantastic world (and even the “real” world at the beginning of the movie) simply seemed unnatural. It seemed as if much of the film was pieced together and made to be three-dimensional after the fact… and in order to ensure that it “looked” 3D, the depth of the third dimension was stretched out a little more than would be considered normal… something that simply caused me to be distracted. That, and a few mis-dimentioned fragments that flickered funny in my eye, made me wish I’d seen, or at least wish to see it, in the wonderfully flat second dimension. Of course, these thoughts are only my own.

On another note, I expected a lot from Johnny Depp. And that lot was just enough more than what I received to leave me disappointed. It was a clever character, and fairly well done. I think just a bit more energy (and a little less Jack Sparrow) would have given him the seat of my favourite character (something I had expected the Mad Hatter to obtain quite quickly, but a spot that went instead to the epic March Hare – care of Paul Whitehouse).

Lastly, Tim Burton. I’m not exactly Tim Burton’s hugest fan. I thought Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was excellent and Big Fish was also quite good (keeping in mind, my opinion is not necessarily shared across the boards; nor does it need to be). But other films of his (though I’ve yet to see a couple of his most popular films, humbly I’ll admit) have left me unimpressed (namely, “9”). I found Alice in Wonderland to be just a tad slow at a couple parts, but over all one of the better Burton films I’ve seen. It was humours and entertaining, and though it had a slightly predictable plot (just slightly), it was a good story.

After the movie ended (a movie which I’d happily heard hardly a hair about) a few of my friends gathered in a small circle (which I’m sure was unintentional – though it wouldn’t matter any way) and began sharing very positive reviews of the film they’d completely enjoyed. One friend in particular, who I thought would have been a little more critical (especially taking into consideration his views on another film we’d recently seen together) seemed to be thoroughly satisfied.

So, it just goes to show that while great minds may think alike, only fools never differ. Which is really only half of what I’m getting at, but hopefully my point is understood. Inform me if it is not.

Alrighty then… until we meet again, have a better than average day!

Musing Film

So, it seems I recently claimed to be starting with music.
So, it seems I recently realized I still need more time to work on that one.
So, it seems I’ll be switching gears for a moment.
So, it seems we’re starting with film.

—-

INT. PARAMOUNT THEATRE – NIGHT

The end of the night is nearing. TOM HANKS walks up to the front of the Oscar Stage carrying an envelope.

TOM HANKS
The last time ten films were nominated for best
picture was 1943. The world was at war and
Casablanca took home the big prize. It’s now
time to find out which one of this year’s ten
great films joins the list that includes that Bogart
and Bergman classic.

TOMMY continues as opens the envelope and pulls a card out .

TOM HANKS
And the winner is…

Suddenly the screen changes to a primarily blue screen with cream coloured menus around the outside with the words “Satellite Signal Error” standing out clear to everyone in the audience. A young lady jumps up from the front of the theatre and bolts to the back. The audience is filling the theatre with groans, complaints, and laughter. After about 25 seconds, the video feed returns and we see a wide shot of TOM shaking hands with KATHRYN BIGELOW while a mixture of the most recognizable members from the production of The Hurt Locker join them on stage.

FADE OUT
(not really, but for the sake
of this blog)

—-

The Hurt Locker takes the Oscar for Best Picture.

Having only seen two of the ten nominated films (of which The Hurt Locker was neither) it was difficult for me to determine whether I felt they deserved the win or not.

Avatar (which I had seen) has become the highest grossing film of all time (regardless as to whether or not inflation is taken into account) bringing in more than $2.6 billion worldwide in 3 months (compared to about $1.5 billion “adjusted for inflation” by the infamous, and previously unbeatable, Gone With the Wind). All opinions aside, that’s got to say something.

Up (the other of the two movies I had seen) was a great movie on Disney/Pixar’s part, but I really don’t think it had any real chance of winning best picture. Best animated picture, sure; but best picture in general… I really didn’t think so.

It’s been a couple weeks since the Oscars, and ’twas only last night that I finally saw The Hurt Locker. It was definitely a very good movie. At least in my opinion. Politics aside, previous opinions of cast and crew aside, and opinions on movie categories as a whole aside, it was definitely a good movie. Understandably nominated for best picture. Understandably nominated, but should it have one?

It’s not hard to see the politics of why it won. The movie doesn’t show war as a good thing. It leans towards the addictive side of war-based adrenaline. It hints at the pointlessness of the war, without saying that everyone involved is an idiot. It has interesting characters portrayed with great acting. And it was an entertaining movie for sure.

Everyone is entitled to there own opinion… mine is that, politics aside, The Hurt Locker was a better movie to claim the oscar than Avatar.

Nothing against Avatar. I think it was a great movie. Even one of my favourites (top 20, not top 5 – two groupings which The Hurt Locker will not enter). Even then, I wish I had seen it before a billion other people, so I would have had plenty of time to establish my thoughts from scratch, rather than hearing the opinions of a hundred others before I actually saw it for the first time. I think I might have even liked it more then. Though the first time I saw the film was in the old-fashion 2-dimentional version, seeing it in 3D later did little to suddenly shoot it up to “Best.Movie.Evar!” status which I was promised. It was a good movie though. Some of the basic story line did remind me of Disney’s Pocahontas… but honestly, there was plenty that differentiated the two (not including “space”).

So, seven movies to go. Then I will release my final thoughts on the matter.

Until we meet again, have a better than average day.