scott pilgrim vs. the world

Farewell to Nerds: The Big Studios & Comic Con…

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Darren

Last year, around this time, I was discussing how great it was to be a nerd or a geek. Hell, Comic Con in San Diego seemed like an obligatory stop-off point for the major studios promoting their latest blockbusters to an overly geeky crowd, debuting the trailer for Tron: Legacy or announcing the cast of The Avengers, not to mention footage and panels based around any number of big-screen blockbusters designed to cater towards the geeks and nerds in the movie-going audience. So it feels like a rather dramatic shift that very few of the major movie studios appear to be planning much for the iconic (or, at least, briefly iconic) Hall H in San Diego this year.

Does this mean that the era of the geek is over?

Will Stars stop Trekking to Hall H?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: appeal, audience, box office, Christopher Nolan, comic con, comiccon, dreamworks, fans, geeks, hollywood, jon favreau, nerds, New York Times, San Diego, San Diego Comic-Con International, scott pilgrim vs. the world, tron: legacy, universal studios, weinstein company | 52 Comments »

10 out of 10: The Ten Best Movies of the Year

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Darren

Contrary to popular opinion, I was actually relatively impressed with 2010 as a year in cinema. It was no 2008, with a consistent string of impressive hits (both big and small). However, it wasn’t as bitterly disappointing as 2009 was, with letdown after letdown. Sure, there weren’t that many hugely successful sequels or reboots, but the vast majority of them weren’t soul-destroying wastes of film. So I’m quite happy. This year I actually had to cut several items from the list to get it down to a perfect ten.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2010, 2010 in movies, arts, disney, Easy A, edgar wright, films, george clooney, i love you phillip morris, Inception, kick-ass, Movies, Princess & The Frog, scott pilgrim vs. the world, Shutter Island, the social network, top ten, toy story, toy story 3, tron: legacy, up in the air, Warner Brothers | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hot Fuzz

Posted on November 19, 2010 by Darren

“You haven’t seen Bad Boys II?” a character states in complete disbelief to police ~~man~~ officer Nicolas Angel. I’m fairly sure that Hot Fuzz is consistently clever and entertaining even if you’re never seen a testosterone-laden big-budget explosive action cop movie, but Edgar Wright’s parody/homage is absolutely ingenious to anyone remotely familiar with the concept. At its most basic, the movie asks what would happen if you asked Michael Bay to make a balls-to-the-wall action movie in a small English village. The result might look a little bit like this, but I bet it wouldn’t be half as charming.

Timothy Dalton takes the biscuit...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: edgar wright, film, Hot Fuzz, jim broadbent, michael bay, Movie, nick frost, non-review review, Paddy Considine, review, scott pilgrim vs. the world, shaun of the dead, Simon Pegg, spoof, timothy dalton | 4 Comments »

Remember Me: The Box Office & Pop Culture Longevity…

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Darren

I was reading an interesting article on Rope of Silicon which pondered whether Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was our generation’s iteration of The Big Lebowski. Much like the comparisons between The Social Network and Citizen Kane, it doesn’t matter whether the question is downright ridiuclous or even improper, it simple serves to illustrate the type of movie that people think of when they see these modern films. That people would even utter “Scott Pilgrim” and “The Dude” in the same sentence is a huge compliment to the latter, no matter what the literal result of the comparison. Of course, this is small comfort to the studio which is no doubt disappointed by the less than stellar box office returns. However, ignoring the obvious immediate and practical impact of box office receipts, do they speak at all to a film’s longevity?

Does the box office disappointment mean "game over" for Scott Pilgrim?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Big Lebowski, box office, Citizen Kane, Eat Pray Love, film, Frank Capra, Movie, Movies, ridley scott, scott pilgrim, scott pilgrim vs. the world, the social network | Leave a comment »

Scott Pilgrim Treasure Hunt!

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Darren

I just thought I’d pass on this sort of competition-y bit of news, because I’m a big fan of viral marketing. Anyway, the wonderful folks over at Universal Pictures Ireland have put together an internet competition – in fact, a “treasure hunt” – for on-line fans of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (which I wholeheartedly recommend), with the winner receiving a trip to Toronto. Check out their facebook page here.

If the entire movie had a sound effect, it would be "Awesome!"

Incidentally, yes, I originally hoped to be part of this treasure hunt – but it was not to be (difficulties with wordpress). You can still see little snippets dotted around the site which were meant to be part of all this – it’s a shame it didn’t work out. Ah well, maybe next time.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: competition, scott pilgrim, scott pilgrim vs. the world, toronto, treasure hunt, universal pictures ireland, viral marketing | 7 Comments »

Lee Lucas Film: The Background Posters from Scott Pilgrim

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Darren

I love little pieces of movie marketing magic – particularly those which offer little easter eggs of films coming out. It’s nice to have some hype material which manages to avoid spoiling the film, but also adds a little texture to the fictional universe. And so, from the minds behind Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, we have the fictional filmography of Lee Lucas, the second “evil ex” that Scoot must vanquish. Played brilliantly by Chris Evans in a performance that would make William Shatner blush (really, like Brandon Routh, he’s clearly having the time of his life), he’s a “sell out” – a skater turned movie star. And here are some of his hits – as presented by the guys at Empire. My favourite, and a movie which needs to be made now? Doctor Action.

“The good news is… you’re going to live.

The bad news is he is going to kill you.”

Click to enlarge.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 88 minutes, action doctor, fake films, films, lee lucas, make this movie now, Movies, oscar bait, posters, scott pilgrim, scott pilgrim vs. the world | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Darren

If it weren’t for Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World would be the most visually impressive film of year. Maybe it still is. This tale of adolescent irrelevence might have a bit of difficulty finding an audience, but it certainly deserves one – it’s a pure kaleidoscopic sugar rush of youthful exuberence and energy, all focused through a simple but effective emotional narrative. Indeed, perhaps its closest companion is (500) Days of Summer, the breakout romantic comedy of last year – except this time the emotional complexity is dialed down and the visual flair way up. And neither of those are bad things. In fact, as part of Edgar Wright’s latest film, they are actually quite genius.