Scott Pilgrim vs. Expectations

So, whoa.

I mean the trailer is pretty good. I've been excited about this movie for a while. But the internet does seem to be losing its shit over this like minute and a half of trailer. Let's think about this movie for a second.

Alright, Edgar Wright. Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Also Spaced. When I heard he was directing I knew that this was likely going to be a pretty good adaptation. Those are some of the most intelligent comedies made in recent bits. So, really I'm excited for his next movie no matter what.

Oh, and then add Michael Cera. My love for him has not abated despite Year One. I do sorta get the hate that has sprung up for him. Yes, he often plays the same character. Well, sort of. I mean, he has a certain sense of delivery (which I love) that can make him seem more like the same then he would otherwise, follow? The characters he plays seem more similar than they would normally because of his delivery. I'm not saying they're that much different, but I am saying that many many many other actors have made careers of playing slight variations of themselves and are still generally considered good actors (cough cough george clooney). I think Cera has a great ear for comedy and balls to people who are tired of his schtick.

Now Scott Pilgrim, on paper... You know, I don't love these books. Disclaimer: I've read the first two of the Pilgrim series, and it is possible that they get better. Point: I dig the fight my exes bit (especially as a final act reveal in the first book) but otherwise I find the series unremarkable. I don't hate it, but it's not mind-blowing. Yes, it oozes style that often makes you dig the genre-bending/awareness, but the dialogue and characters are a tad underdeveloped.

Also, the books aren't all about videogames(!), but that's all the trailer seems to be about. Lots of comic/videogamey violence. Maybe that's how they're trying to sell the movie, but in the books there's a lot more that goes on. There is a lot of talking, a lot of music stuff (especially as it relates to indie rock in Toronto), and most importantly there's Pilgrim being a dumb dumb. While the fight scenes do look pretty bad-ass (is Cera seriously fighting Jason Schwartzman with a flaming katana!?) I think the movie will miss an opportunity if it doesn't also feature prominently the music and self loathing of the books.

This movie has a lot to live up to, I mean even beyond me. There are a lot of people really excited about this movie, and we've seen what expectations will do for a film. I just sorta want to cover my head and duck... like, after I watch the trailer again.

Eagle vs. Shark vs. Dynamite

Alright so I know this movie is super old, but I watched it a few weeks ago with Slagathor and, and well this movie deserves some credit.

I mean, I sorta wanted to see it when I saw the posters for it way back in the day, but it never really became a big deal and so as with many other movies it falls back into the the recess of the mind until you see at your local independent movie rental store. Oh so since now that we love FotC, and we have to pick something or else we'll have to talk all evening, it's rental time.

Background information: I was super pumped for Napoleon Dynamite before it came out--I was on the bandwagon before there was any wagon at all nevermind a bandwagon. And I saw it when it came out on video, and it was pretty damn funny. Then a year later there were tools running amock with Vote Pedro shirts. I think about then I soured a little on the film. I mean, I'll probly watch it again, and I'll like it, but it's not funny anymore when bros like it. That's why I don't listen to Modest Mouse anymore. I know its elitist blah blah blah, but what fun is liking something weird if everyone likes it. Popular isn't weird.

Check out the reviews for the EvS. Yes, it is sorta like Napoleon Dynamite. Dead-pan oddness with lots of 8-year-old nerdisms. But unlike Napoleon, this movie actually does something.

And I mean it. Napoleon Dynamite was solely about its own oddity. All of the movie's humour is predicated upon the surrealness of the characters, and the arc of the movie (okay the semblence of an arc) is a bare thread of some sort of developing maturity (and I think this is lopping on a good dose of credit). EvS has characters that are real, with problems that are real, both which manage to even be relatable at times. Both the characters and the movie have arcs that make sense, and are heartwarming. Character move from socially incapable and emotionally stunted to characters that are adorably more socially capable and a little more mature.

It's also pretty damn funny. There are many lol moments as well as, for Slagathor and I, a few rofl moments. The end is also climactic where ND was a fizzle on a horse. Further, throughout the movie there are a handful of strange animated parts. They're a little fucked up, and the complete randomness of their inclusion makes me love the movie just a little more. (I even contemplated not mentioning them so that if you see the movie you can also have a wtf moment as well)

I know I've been vague in my review, but that's because its funnier not to know much about the movie beforehand. Also I'm lazy.

In conclusion: Fuck the lazy Napoleon Dynamite and see a movie that actually uses the deadpan oddity to a point. You know, what makes good movies.

I'm so complex.

Scary Movie wasn't Funny.

I dislike horror movies. In fact I don't like terror in any form. Probably just a disposition developed from having my family killed by a mask wearing serial killer in front of my very eyes when I was six... I miss you mommy.

Still, I do love the Halloween. I love to dress up and act a little silly. Given my love/hate relationship with the holiday I thought I’d list some not so obvious things you could watch this Halloween to keep you in the spirit but don't render you incapable of taking out the garbage at 3 in the morning. I hate the fucking Ring.

But yeah. After you’re done with Shaun of the Dead, Evil Dead II, Young Frankenstein, and the Simpsons Halloween Specials, maybe you might consider something off this list:

Monster Squad – I loved this movie when I was a kid. A bunch of kids take on all the classic movie monsters. I haven’t seen it in years as I lost my of TV recorded VHS copy, so I’m not sure it’s actually good or not. However I do remember this line which is enough for this movie to make it onto the list: “Wolfman’s got nards!”

Big Trouble Little China – Kurt Russell as a self-aggrandizing anti-hero who finds himself mixed up with magic, monsters, kung-fu, and Victor Wong. You might guess this one’s cheesy.

Bubba Ho-Tep – Okay: Bruce Campbell, as an old man convinced he’s Elvis Presley, teams up with an elderly (and black) JFK to save their retirement home from an ancient mummy who sucks souls out of residents’ rearholes. … Yeah.

Little Shop of Horrors – Rick Moranis stars in a musical comedy featuring a giant man eating plant. There are also hilarious appearances by Steve Martin as a masochist dentist and Bill Murray as the sadist that can’t get enough dental work. Did I mention Rick Morranis sings?

Not a movie but the episode called “A New Man” is a pretty great episode of Buffy that is often overlooked. Some of the comedic timing in this show is genius. It was neither written nor directed by Joss Whedon so there’s little lecturing.

And finally you gotta check out the first movie I had to be taken out of crying. (For your information the second was Jurassic Park because, well, there was a giant man eating dinosaur running around eating Jeff Goldblum. The third was Holy Man which had a cringe inducing Eddie Murphy running around eating at Jeff Goldblum's career.) But yes, the first movie I had to be taken out of was, honest to god, Ernest Scared Stupid. I remember (i.e. construct) the look of utter befuddlement on my cousin’s face. “Wait he’s scared of Ernest? We’re leaving? You have to be joking.” My cousin and I don’t speak anymore.

But seriously that movie freaked me out and I still find it a little chilling. Goblins are scary okay. I learned to love the movie later, likely having nothing to do with proving that I was becoming “a man.” Again I haven’t seen this one in years but I’m sure there’s some decent simple slapstick and good natured life lessons in here that we can all enjoy. Or you could just laugh at how much of a sissy I was to be taken out of the theatre crying at an Ernest movie.

If there’s anything I missed why don’t you post a comment? We could be like buddies.