Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2010)

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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#26 Post by domino harvey » Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:09 pm

I think after Batman and Robin, no one wants to go colorful in a comic book adaptation

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#27 Post by Grand Wazoo » Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:13 pm

I was lucky enough to attend a pre-screening of this about a month ago (I believe they listed the film as a "rock n roll slacker action comedy" without giving us the title on the invite, though I and a few in the audience knew what we were seeing in advance). The sound effect words are indeed littered throughout the film, but often rather subtly, at least as opposed to the giant THRAK!s of the fight scenes.
SpoilerShow
Now, I know relatively nothing of the comic series. The film itself is more colorful than the trailer leads one to believe. What I loved, besides the very obvious Edgar Wright style humor strewn throughout, is that the entire film operates on video game logic. I assume the series is like this as well. The fight scenes are insanely over the top and drawn out until Scott wins, the enemy turns into a heap of coins he casually collects, then appears as if he is just a little tired after the whole ordeal. The film is like a 7 tiered video game boss fight. A lot of wonderful video game touches, such as the opening universal logo being entirely pixelated and the standard theme being programmed with NES-like sound. Also, at one point Scott needs to escape an uncomfortable social situation and retreats to the bathroom where the soothing Legend of Zelda title screen music plays. He pees and a "pee-life bar" slowly diminishes. But what I love is that you can see the reflection of the bar in the bathroom mirror. Simple, silly, but wonderful.

The film also understands how hipster-aimed the story and characters are and attempts to have fun with the fact. Brandon Routh is a telekinetic vegan who attended vegan academy. "How do you have these powers?" asks Scott. "I'm Vegan. We're better than everyone else". Again, simple and silly, but works wonderfully in context.
I absolutely loved the film and can't wait to see it again actually. I could answer any questions about it the best that I can if anyone so desires.

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dx23
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#28 Post by dx23 » Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:17 pm

Matt wrote:
Cde. wrote:I'd always thought of Scott Pilgrim as being very bright and colourful, so this grey-filtered tons-of-lens-flares look seems particularly boring, like every other green-screen movie these days.
Maybe everyone's afraid of being compared to Speed Racer (which I thought was a great-looking movie).
Or worse, The Spirit, which the WHUMP! and other onomatopoeia in the trailer reminded me of.

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#29 Post by royalton » Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:19 am

After seeing the delightful trailer I do suspect they have another Speed Racer or close to it (rare will be the hand that grazes that brutalized diamond) on their hands. Which may not be good for the box office, but hey, who knows. Good old Edgar.

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Morbii
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#30 Post by Morbii » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:24 am

sleepy wrote:
domino harvey wrote: Also, I didn't realize Ann from Arrested Development was playing Roxy Richter. That's either brilliant or awful casting, I can't decide
...Her?
Sorry to dredge this post up after a few months, however, someone joining the forum and making their singular post an Arrested Development tribute has got to be recognized :)

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#31 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Sat Mar 27, 2010 10:29 am

Grand Wazoo wrote:I absolutely loved the film and can't wait to see it again actually. I could answer any questions about it the best that I can if anyone so desires.
Thanks for sharing! This sounds like a straightforward adaptation of the book - I'm uncertain whether to be happy or not as I do like liberties with the source text, but I also don't care for devoted faithfulness to it either. The music playing in the bathroom sounds like an inspired touch. I guess I'll have to see how the legible sound effects do indeed work out since you think it was done subtly. At first, I shuddered as I thought of Adam West Batman sound effects, but maybe here it could be a parody of the same use in manga. What did you think of the acting (Scott and Ramona expecially)?

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#32 Post by Grand Wazoo » Mon Mar 29, 2010 7:07 pm

I felt both actors gave pretty good performances. Michael Cera takes a break from playing Michael Cera and actually plays a character here, though the Cera comic timing does work when it's trudged out. His general waifyness also works well to make his ridiculous, bombastic fights much more amusing. His generic look is perfect for Scott.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead makes for an intelligent, desirable Ramona. The character is seemingly supposed to be the sexy-cool-hipster-dream-girl archetype and she pulls that off well. She is relegated to the "straight man" role in the film, but it works.

I enjoyed all of the "evil ex's", especially Brandon Routh's telekinetic Vegan. But I still cannot help but despise Chris Evans in any role. Somehow, despite being in a film in which defeated foes turn into coins, he comes off as too silly/over the top. Though I may be a bit biased.

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Anhedionisiac
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#33 Post by Anhedionisiac » Mon Mar 29, 2010 9:38 pm

Grand Wazoo wrote:But I still cannot help but despise Chris Evans in any role.
Does not compute. Does not compute!


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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#35 Post by domino harvey » Mon May 31, 2010 9:20 am

New trailer Surely this dispels the fears of Wright not getting the tone?

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#36 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Mon May 31, 2010 11:24 am

Jason Schwartzman looks pretty good as Gideon.

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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#37 Post by domino harvey » Mon May 31, 2010 11:37 am

I'm glad they're keeping the library fight between Knives and Ramona, that was my favorite one in the books and I thought they might have cut it for time

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#38 Post by karmajuice » Mon May 31, 2010 11:42 pm

I have not read the source material, so I have no basis of comparison. The trailer has lots of Nick and Nora-esque rom-com moments which make me a little hesitant, but I suppose those elements are necessary for the genre twisting that the film inevitably moves toward. Still, this undeniably looks like a lot of fun and I'm optimistic about it, especially after the second trailer.

I must say, I love the moment in the trailer (second one) where the sound effects synch up with the beat of the song. They have four instances with three successive beats: with drum beats, then a fist-fight, a sword-fight, and once more toward the end with Pilgrim slaying some minions. Really helps drive the trailer. I love trailer-isms -- those editing choices and juxtapositions that can't occur in the feature.

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gokinsmen
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#39 Post by gokinsmen » Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:25 am

I've never understood trailer-mania ("This looks great/okay/terrible!"). All it takes to make a good trailer? A catchy pop song (preferably "indie"), some sexy ladies or guys, a pretty visual, and one funny line of dialogue. Maybe two. If your film can't provide that, heaven help you. I'd go as far to say that *most* films not starring Ryan Reynolds or Katherine Heigl do this pretty decently. Even The Nightmare on Elm Street remake looked good from the trailer! Meanwhile, great (even crowd-pleasing) films can have terrible trailers if they're aiming for a certain demographic or have a lazy/terrible editor.

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#40 Post by karmajuice » Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:00 am

That's precisely why trailers fascinate me -- because they're different from the feature. Certainly it isn't extraordinarily difficult to make them, but I like when an editor finds something distinctive in the sea of footage and makes something of it, something which doesn't (or can't) appear in the film proper. Yes, trailers tend to be cookie-cutter, but they are quick, harmless fun. This one isn't exceptional, as much as I like the moment I mentioned. However, some trailers do pretty incredible things. The trailer for Alien is phenomenal. I may like it more than the film, and I really like the film.

So yes. I am a sucker for trailers. But they seldom determine whether I end up seeing a film. In this case it's helpful, because I know nothing about the source material or what to expect, but Wright directing is more of a draw than anything in the trailer.

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tenia
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#41 Post by tenia » Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:39 pm

For music, we can hear some singles on the radio.
For books, we can read first pages.
For movies, we have trailers.

I still think it's funny, in fact.

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#42 Post by JamesF » Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:23 pm


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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#43 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:43 pm

Wow, you can really buy him as Scott Pilgrim there! Big laugh on the Wallace line too. God I can't wait for this

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#44 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:23 pm

I never would have guessed that Michael Cera was so good at getting beat up.

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#45 Post by cdnchris » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:40 pm

Probably asking a stupid question but I'm not familar with the source material. I'm assuming this is supposed to take on, oh, how do you say, the spirit of a video game? Each of the exes are like a stage "boss" of sorts?

It does look like fun.

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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#46 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:17 pm

cdnchris wrote:I'm assuming this is supposed to take on, oh, how do you say, the spirit of a video game? Each of the exes are like a stage "boss" of sorts?
Right on. Jason Schwartzman plays the ultimate boss, Gideon. The Nintendo references throughout the books are especially endearing if you care to read them.

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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#47 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:03 pm

International trailer with a lot of new stuff

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#48 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:12 am

Broken Social Scene (alas, my suggestion that it be Islands instead) make an appearance in the movie as Crash and the Boys. I have no clue if they'll appear as a three-piece (as in the book) or not. Details here from Brendan Canning on working on the soundtrack. Abkco has the soundtrack listing here. Of all the Stones songs they could get, why "Under My Thumb"? :x

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#49 Post by Grand Wazoo » Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:55 am

Jean-Luc Garbo wrote:Broken Social Scene (alas, my suggestion that it be Islands instead) make an appearance in the movie as Crash and the Boys. I have no clue if they'll appear as a three-piece (as in the book) or not. Details here from Brendan Canning on working on the soundtrack. Abkco has the soundtrack listing here. Of all the Stones songs they could get, why "Under My Thumb"? :x
Well, we are dealing with a video game-themed pseudo love story after all, and the lyrics are quite fitting to the action, as well a the "thumb" relating to game controllers.

Not a particular favorite Stones song of mine, though....

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domino harvey
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Re: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright, 2009)

#50 Post by domino harvey » Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:23 pm

So, where the book-readers at? Any thoughts on the final volume? I'm still digesting but I can definitely say that changing the ending from what happened in the book to this:
Anhedionisiac wrote:Well, the ending of the script (which admittedly could be altered during shooting) goes as follows:
SpoilerShow
Neither Kim nor Ramona. It turns out his real true love is Knives Chau. Which is wrong for all kind of reasons including the fact that it posits Scott as some sort of King Dick who finally learns to be content with a girl that's not out of her league. Um, yay?
What's even weirder is that Knives actually takes him back. It seems that loser exes are really sexy.
Is enough to make me seriously question the film, despite all its outward charms in the previews. I mean, the above is possibly the worst way to change the material and doesn't make sense at all within the context of story as we know it-- surely that early draft's ending has been altered to something else!

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