Tuesday, March 30, 2010

An Epic of Epic Epicness



Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is a story about Toronto resident Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who is the bassist for the Sex Ba-bombs. He meets the girl of his dreams (literally) only to find out that he has to defeat her 7 Ex-Boyfriends in order to date her.

The movie is based off of a series of graphic novels and is a very highly anticipated film, so when my friend asked me if I wanted to go I was like "Hells yeah!" This movie has been on my radar for awhile now, even without having read the graphic novel beforehand. I knew Michael Cera was in it and with Edgar Wright as the director I had a hunch this movie would be good. I was not disappointed one bit.

The screening theater was not as packed as I thought it would be, but everyone in there was very excited. We were told right off the bat that the movie was not completely finished yet: the credits were still being created and wire-work was visible in some of the fight scenes. Luckily, it didn't take away from the film at all and a lot of the gaming and graphic novel related graphics were already included.

The movie opens just like you'd expect, with gaming music and a pixelated version of the production company's logo (I believe it was Universal). The audience applauded and laughed from the start and we continued like that for 2 hours. I was amazed at the detail that was put into the movie, from the music, to the graphics, to the text on screen detailing different aspects of each character - everything that was included gave that extra punch.

Each character was hilarious and the actor's portrayals were awesome. Michael Cera was definitely good (he's got the "weird" thing down pat) but the real scene stealer was Ellen Wong as the young and lovestruck Knives Chau. The moment she appears on screen she had us laughing and "awwwing" at the same time. She gets a tad crazy as the movie progresses, but remains cute throughout the story.

Brandon Routh and Chris Evans, who both played an ex-boyfriend, also stood out. Routh's character Todd Ingram derives his psychic power from his vegan-ism which is hilarious because of the relevancy to our time. Evan's character Lucas Lee is an action star whose one-liners are noteworthy and definitely "CSI: Miami cheesy".

Everything else about Scott Pilgrim vs. The Word was 4 star including the screenwriting (dialogue was spot-on "If I pee my pants will you pretend it was from the rain?") the editing (the cuts and transitions were phenomenal). Overall, I highly recommend this movie and can't wait to see it again in August.

I seriously cannot talk this movie up enough. The trailer was released on the same day I saw the movie and it does not do it justice.

Click for trailer

Sunday, March 7, 2010

2010 Oscar Predictions

I'm too tired to go into the whole experience at the AMC Best Picture Movie Showcase I went to yesterday, so I'm just going to post my Oscar Predictions for now. These are the movies I think will win, not necessarily the movies I think should win.

Best Picture: Avatar
Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Best Actor: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
Best Actress: Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Best Original Screenplay: Inglourious Basterds: Quentin Tarantino
Best Adapted Screenplay: Up in the Air: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Cinematography: Avatar: Mauro Fiore
Editing: Avatar: Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
Art Direction: Avatar: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
Costume Design: Coco avant Chanel: Catherine Leterrier
Original Score: Avatar: James Horner
Original Song: Crazy Heart: T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham("The Weary Kind")
Best Makeup: Star Trek: Barney Burman, Mindy Hall, Joel Harlow
Best Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker: Paul N.J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett
Best Sound Editing: Avatar: Christopher Boyes, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
Best Visual Effects: Avatar: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andy Jones
Best Animated Feature Film: Up: Pete Docter
Best Foreign Language Film: Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte (Germany)
Best Documentary Feature: The Cove: Louie Psihoyos, Fisher Stevens
Best Documentary Short: China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province (TV): Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
Best Live Action Short: The New Tenants: Joachim Back, Tivi Magnusson
Best Animated Short: Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' (TV): Nick Park

Bam! done and done. Now, time for a nap!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Sucktastic

The thing that sucks about being unemployed is that it's always hanging over your head. No matter what I'm doing, I'm still unemployed and I always feel like I should be doing something to not be unemployed. If I'm out doing laundry, I'm thinking about how I should be applying for jobs. If I'm at a museum, I'm thinking about how I should be preparing for an interview. It's like never-ending homework!

But, while there are sucktastical things about unemployment, there are some good things too. Such as dinosaurs.