"That's it! You cocky cock! You'll pay for your crimes against humanity!" -OR- "She geeks, she geeks. She has the capacity to geek."

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, 2010. Three Stars.

BACKSTORY!!! I like a lot of the stuff that Oni Press publishes, so even though it looked like it could be obnoxious, I decided to give a book called "Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life" a shot (yes the backwards-facing quotation mark on the cover irks me, but I'm like that!). AND I LOVED IT. The art style is amazing. It's really fun. And really funny. All the characters are dorks and like music (who does that sound like??). And the main character has to fight his girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends, and all the battles are like video games. OH MAN! I'd alternate in between spazzing out about it and forcing it on anyone I could to read it! That was back in 2004; for the past six years I'd been impatiently waiting for all six volumes to come out (they ended up being released pretty much one volume a year; the final volume came out in July).

FAN BOY ALERT!!! If you know me, you know I never shut up about this. But I think this is still so unbelievably cool: So, before Volume 3 came out, I happened to be on the internet the same time Bryan Lee O'Malley was on it, asking fans for photos to use on billboards in the book. I exuberantly sent at least 15. Check out Chapter 15, 14th page: IT'S ME!!!

THE MOVIE!!! Firstly, I knew Bryan Lee O'Malley was involved in writing the screen play, and I'm a big fan of Edgar Wright, but I had serious doubts as to whether this comic that became so near and dear to my heart could successfully be adapted to movie form. I didn't wanna see any trailers, I didn't wanna see any clips, I didn't even wanna talk about it, so that I'd have zero expectations for this movie. Because if I let myself, I would totally nerd out and get really excited for it, inevitably getting my expectations too high, then be inherently disappointed when I finally did see it.

But, my super friend Alex got a few of us sneak preview passes to see it last night! So I finally let myself watch the official trailer on the website yesterday. And, it didn't look half bad!

The movie had me at the 16-bit Universal Studio logo. Mamma Jamma.

I can't believe Michael Cera pulled off being Scott Pilgrim. He was good! And Ann from "Arrested Development" was one of the evil exes! Reunited!

All the actors in this were superb. This review would be even longer if I wrote about every single one of them, so I won't. But I have to say that the girl that played Knives Chau was exceptional. I was very impressed with her performance!

I just absolutely love Aubrey Plaza, and I'm so happy she's in this movie. She's a perfect Julie. Uncanny in appearance, and she nailed the character.

Also, Jason Schwartzman is the perfect Gideon. I had my doubts about Kieran Culkin as Wallace (I thought he looked too slobby when I saw the trailer), but he ended up being perfect too. I can't remember if I saw Superman Returns or not (must not have made a good impression on me if I did...), so I was always like "Oh Brandon Routh's playing Superman, so he must just be another boring Hollywood actor." But then I saw this, and I was intrigued... His being Todd in this movie has sealed the deal on my small infatuation with him!!

Why didn't they have the real Comeau play Comeau? Nelson Franklin did just fine, but, there's a real Comeau so how cool would that have been?

Thomas Jane is the Vegan Police!!!

I liked the comic book-y graphics they added; I wasn't sure how it was going to work out, but it ended up looking decent and fun. Really appreciated how they incorporated some of the text from the book, especially the names/descriptions/ratings boxes. And there was a good ratio of real-life scenes to fastly-cut-fantastical scenes.

Hey, is that Gideon the cat on Scott's mug in the first scene?

I have lots of little details I'd really like to talk about, but I think I have to stop here. But maybe someday, if you see the movie, we will talk about it!

Because I'm such a fan of the comic and already knew the story, I knew what was going to happen in the movie and I knew what kinds of things to expect. So I can't say if it was good or not, or even if the story was cohesive or if the pacing was effective. But I can definitely say I really really enjoyed it. They did a really good job of taking a six-year labor of love and adapting it to a 1 hour and 45 minutes movie.

If you've never read the book and know nothing about this, and you see this movie, please tell me what you think?

I want to watch it again right now.

BTW, at the end of the screening, Edgar Wright, Anna Kendrick, Michael Cera, and Jason Schwartzman came out and took questions about the movie. They talked about behind-the-scenes stuff, and Edgar talked about how they did the music stuff for the movie, and such. Cool!!


Hee hee hee.

Also, read the book some time! scottpilgrim.com




Can I please be a "Music Supervisor" for movies?????

"Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me."

Harvey, 1950. Three Stars.

I've wanted to see this movie ever since hearing Weird Al's "Harvey The Wonder Hamster" when Alapalooza came out in 1993. I grew up with Weird Al's song-based hilarity (even though Al TV always managed to escape my youngster radar, I don't know how!!). But Alapalooza, along with the film Jurassic Park*, went hand-in-hand in creating my pre-teen, 5th-grade world, so as weird as it sounds, it was kind of a seminal part of my life. Explains a lot, eh? :D

Somehow, Harvey the Wonder Hamster got me hipped to this movie Harvey. I knew it wasn't hamster-related, but maybe the grown-ups in my life were like "Oh yeah, Harvey. He's an invisible 6-foot rabbit." Anyways, this Weird Al song had somehow led me to knowledge about this movie starring a guy who had an invisible giant rabbit friend. And I thought it sounded great, so I wanted to see it.

Last week I was flipping through the TV guide and I saw that it was on HBO. So I set up a DVR recording for it and watched it. It got four stars so, because of that and because I had heard about it for over half of my life, I thought this movie was gonna be killer. And, I liked it. I wasn't head-over-heels about it, but it was very well-done, and pretty enjoyable. I think it has a really nice and unique point-of-view, and maybe it was, like, super-duper uproarious back in it's day. But, I liked it and I'm really happy that I saw it. If you get a chance to see it, I recommend checking it out.

Everyone in this was great, especially Jimmy Stewart. Also I really liked the script lettering used in the beginning credits.

I didn't know this: it was based on Mary Chase's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, and I was glad to see that she co-wrote the screen play. I'd love to see this on stage. This movie adaptation felt like a movie and was pretty open, rather than just feeling like something that was created for stage, so it'd be interesting to see how it's played out in its original state on stage.

I found out that Harvey was re-done for TV in 1972. It seems like the only real notable thing about it was that it was Madeline Kahn's TV debut (and third film). I love her!! Also Jimmy Stewart continued to play Elwood P. Dowd on stage (and in this '72 re-do). I guess if you're awesome at something, stick to it.

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, Doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it. "

*I was in a public school academic enrichment program in 5th grade, you Quincy kids will remember it as "E.L.C." That's right, I was a "labbie"!! (And to this day I still get shit from people like TIM about it, haha!) One day a week me and a few other kids in my class would take a bus to another school and meet up with other kids and learn rad stuff. Like how to use computers, paint watercolor landscapes, do word problems (they sucked but they were way less sucky than doing regular math problems), and do calligraphy... Basically a bunch of interesting and creative things that most public schools usually aren't able to offer. It also taught us responsibilities by giving us responsibilities around the classroom (but apparently didn't teach me how to use a thesaurus to not use the same word twice in a sentence, ha!). And we did a few big projects, like we learned how to write giant multi-paged reports! And I did mine on my young love: basketball! With a diorama of offensive and defensive positions! And I wrote letters to my favorite basketball-related peeps about basketball, and Jim Calhoun wrote back to me! And so did Red Auerbach, on official Celtics stationery! So cool! ANYWAYS, for one of our projects we were split in to groups and had to figure out how to solve the world over-population problem if it ever happened. The group with the best solution got to go see Jurassic Park. My group's underwater biodome KICKED ASS and we won!! So, not only was Jurassic Park a flippin' cool-ass movie, but I got to see it for free as a result of an academic achievement. And that's one of the reasons Jurassic Park means a lot to me. And also we got pizza after the movie. I love pizza! Double score!!!!

"They're pissing on us and not even giving us the courtesy of calling it rain."

Avatar, 2009. Three Stars.

The general public seem to go ape for this movie. Since I Don't Believe The Hype, I knew I probably wouldn't like it.

Also I have a few friends that haaaaaaated this movie. Even though I avoided hearing their reasonings in order to preserve a fresh outlook on it when I finally did see it, it's another reason I knew I probably wouldn't like it.

If I did end up seeing it, it would be in IMAX in 3-D to see all the fancy visuals... And thanks to a friend's suggestion on a cold Friday morning, that's what I did.

And I liked it.

I normally can't stand CGI when CGI takes over where costumes/puppets/analog would have been better (Iron Man, I love you, but you already had an Iron Man suit made, why not just use that??). But the CGI in this was appropriate and couldn't have been done as good in another way, and it looked GOOD. The story was not original, but it was strong, and was not as trite as I was originally lead to believe. Also I like when good guys win, and I like Ewokian battles.

The 3-D felt a bit wonky at times, maybe it's because there was a lot of extreme foreground-background stuff going on. Maybe it's because I'm not used to 3-D and expect it to be perfect. It's probably because I was wearing my 3-D glasses over my regular glasses. Six Eyes.

Here's something weird. I don't mind violence in movies most times because it's not real life, just a movie. And I actually think over-the-top violence/gore (Shoot 'Em Up, Dawn of the Dead, District 9) is fun! But because such a good job was done making this world realistic, both visually and its compatibility with reality, that the death and destruction ended up shaking me up.

Pretty much fell in love with Neytiri, Zoe Saldana did a great job as her.

It was awesome to see Giovanni Ribisi as a corporate dickhead (I first saw him in an X-Files episode, that was like a lifetime ago!). But I'm a little sick of seeing Joel "I'm typecast as a plucky nerd" Moore, he seems to be cropping up everywhere lately for me. I get so happy when Sigourney Weaver is in a movie. Michelle Rodriguez wasn't obnoxious in this.

I didn't know that the guy that played Jake Sully was also Marcus in T4. Did he lose half a person for this role?? I remember him being pretty huge as a half-Terminator...

I only gave this movie three stars because even though it's good, it's just another big Hollywood box office smash. And it's hard for me to get emotionally attached to those kinds of movies. I don't think it has what it takes to make that huge impact on me that it has with other people. I'll leave it up to other people to give it four or five stars, which they will.

"Oh, that's pretty, Mr. Grimsby." "Yeah, it's a bit mild. I think I ought to tear her dress off her other shoulder."

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, 1947. Three Stars.

I remember reading the book in high school, and I liked it, even though I thought it was pretty sad. Part of the reason I liked it (and part of the reason I was actually frustrated while reading it) was because, sadly, I could relate to Walter Mitty. I don't remember the details about the story, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't as fun as this movie.

I was expecting a kind of dark flick. But it was actually really funny and enjoyable! Both the characters and fantasies were played with satirical and fantastical intent, which made it all fun. Danny Kaye's little reactions to things were priceless. And, Mitty turned out to be a hero and taking control of his life, which this sap loves.

This is the first time I've ever seen Danny Kaye in something, I think. Strange, huh? He was great! At first I got him confused with Donald O'Connor (who was always my favorite actor from Singin' in the Rain!*

Also, Boris Karloff is in this! Most excellent!

I really like the opening credits, with the "credits" on panes of glass that swing open. I'd like to know how they did that. And I loved that dog, "Queenie". What a good actor, behaving then barking on cue! One of my favorite parts, though, is the fantasy number where Mitty's a hat designer. It's funny and unique and racy. It was weird, though, to see only like two "musical" numbers (rather than this being either a total musical or a straight-ahead non-musical venture).

"Your small minds are musclebound with suspicion. That's because the only exercise you ever get is jumping to conclusions."


...OH NO there's a Secret Life of Walter Mitty re-make scheduled to come out this year? Starring Mike Myers as Walter Mitty?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Sounds awful!!


* My gramma and my dad used to make me and my sibs watch musicals when I was little. My gramma would have us watch stuff like Lil' Abner and Bye Bye Birdie (which is another favorite of mine). And to this day, I've only seen the first half of The Sound of Music, because it used to come on two VHS tapes, and my gramma made us go to bed after the first tape (no complaints from me though, it was boring!). My dad had us watch stuff like West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He also introduced us to movies like Taxi Driver, Midnight Cowboy, River's Edge (which I got to stay up late on a school night to watch!), and Blue Velvet (which I think he showed us by accident!). My mom, on the other hand, introduced us to B-grade sci-fi/horror flicks, and she used to watch "MST3K" with me back in the day. I partly give my family credit for my eclectic taste in movies!

"Our enemy has realized that they are fighting guys from the future."

Body of Lies, 2008. Three Stars.

Tim and I found ourselves randomly tuning in to the middle of this movie on TV. After both professing that we'd both been meaning to check out this flick, we found it on On Demand and watched it from the beginning.

I don't, and can't pretend to, know how accurately all of the different cultures, governments, and actions are portrayed in this movie. So I'm going on how good the actors are, and how engaging the story is.

So, I was pretty engrossed with the story and the characters. And yup, all the actors are great! It's always nice to see Leo in a good movie, and I was thrilled that Russell Crowe played a not hot guy. And I'm always happy to see Mark Strong, he seems to crop up in the darndest places. And Golshifteh Farahani! She is so pretty, and seems so cool in real life. Among other things, she's currently living in France and furthering her music career with musician Mohsen Namjoo; she had previously been in the Iranian band "Kooch Neshin" (which I think means "Nomads"?), which had remained underground in Iran since rock music and lady singers are forbidden.

Mike Patton (yay!) does a song on this soundtrack (with Serj Tankian, yuck), and the end credits feature a not very Guns N' Roses-y Guns N' Roses song (yuck).

"It's almost a shame to smoke it. It's like killing a unicorn. It's like... a bomb."

Pineapple Express, 2008. Three Stars.

This movie was funny! And good!

I wasn't sure that I was going to like it; even as a non-stoner, I still enjoy stoner humor... most of the time. Sometimes it gets a little grating and unimaginative. So even though it has a good cast and writers that I like, I wasn't sure if this would be good, or just average.

Yeah, it definitely went where I didn't expect it to go. And it was so so funny.

Unsurprisingly, I had a crush on James Franco in "Freaks and Geeks". It was great to see him in something not serious, and also working with Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow again!

And My Guy's in it! If you didn't know that I've been a tremendous fan of his since seeing him in The Warriors, then now you know.

I could watch this movie several times in a row and not get sick of it.

"Time to go suck today's dick."

"Yeah it was funny, it was a fart-free set!"

Funny People, 2009. Three Stars.

This movie is very good. But I thought there would be more focus on the comedy since there were so many good comics and actors in it (plus I had spent a lot of time on RAAAAAAAANDY's website). Also, there's a lot of dick talk. I'm normally fine with stuff like that, but after awhile it got a little excruciating, especially from Adam Sandler's caustic character.

Anyways, the comics are funny, the cast is perfect, and there are lots of great cameos. James Taylor's appearance was probably one of the funniest parts! But this movie ended up getting surprisingly serious. And a little scary. And sad. And it felt like a very long movie. And it got pretty painful to watch. But still, it's good and I'd recommend checking it out if you come across it.

I'm starting to get excited about Aubrey Plaza. I love her in "Parks and Recreation", and she's great in this too. And I just found out that she's going to play Julie Powers in the Scott Pilgrim movie (so perfect!). Which I'm still not looking forward to. I love everyone involved but I don't think it can do the comic book that I love so dearly the justice it deserves. But I'll still see it. Hopefully by not keeping up with the video blogs and all that jazz, everything will be a surprise and I'll love it.

"Not you, Fat Jesus. Slide it on back."

The Hangover, 2009. Three Stars.

The trailers for this made it seem like a basic "men are miserable when they're married so let's have one last hurrah before we get married and our lives are over" kind of movie. I had no interest in seeing it. (Even though Ed Helms is pretty awesome!)

But then I heard from many people that it was very funny. So when it came out on DVD, someone let me borrow it.

This movie heavily depends on the "here's this unexpected ridiculous thing!!" technique, which I'm big fan of. But, since people were kind of freaking out over it so much, I was expecting ridiculous things. So I wasn't surprised by the ridiculousness. So I didn't laugh very much. But I did enjoy this movie a lot, and I still thought it was funny.

The best part, though, are all the pics from that night that are shown through the end credits. Genius!

Also, A NAKED SEÑOR CHANG is in this!!!!

It was nice to see Heather Graham in a movie again! But I just looked at her imdb.com profile, and she has been in lots. Just stuff I haven't seen. Oops. Still, nice to see her. And Jeffrey Tambor! I like him! And yay for Rachel Harris playing a bitch, too!

I first saw Zach Galifianakis in "Bored to Death" (which I'll write about if I can ever bring myself to finish the first season), and I look forward to seeing him in more stuff.

I can't get Ken Jeong off my mind though. He steals the show almost every time I see him!

"No, don't tug on that, you don't know what it's attached to."

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, 1984. Three Stars.

How has this movie not been in my life until now? Buckaroo Banzai is a scientist and doctor who also races cars and is in a rock band, and he and his friends battle sinister beings from another dimension. I love this.

Amazing people are in this movie too.

Like, ROBOCOP!!

"I'm sorry, are you from the past?" -OR- "Hello Computer."

"The IT Crowd", Season 1, 2006. Three Stars.

I had heard about this show a few years ago and was eager to watch it. Between then and now, though, boy was it over-hyped! So I didn't really know what to expect.

What I definitely didn't expect, though, was the laugh track. Laugh tracks nearly ruin most anything. And, there were a lot of "Hey, this is a funny part!" moments in the show that just really got on my nerves. It took away from the actual funny, bizarre, and original moments.

Which existed! The characters are stereotypes (I especially can't stand stereotypes of women and nerds!) and a lot of the big jokes are lifeless, so when I first started watching the show, I was practically insulted. But, some of the character's actions and what they were saying were genuinely funny... was it a fluke? Or are these stereotypes just a canvas for actual hilariousness? I had to keep watching.

No one told me that Noel Fielding plays the goth IT guy that stays locked in the back room! His appearance was so refreshing, and after his first appearance, the series really picked up for me. If they can have Vince Noir playing an ex-Executive whose obsession with Cradle of Filth has turned him into a nocturnal goth that's hidden away in the IT office... then maybe those little glitters of bizarre humor are on purpose!

The show ended up growing on me, and even though I don't really like the characters, I like what they say and how they react to stuff. I still get irritated sometimes, like with Moss's annoying "He's so stupid, isn't he funny"-ness, but his actual funny moments make up for it. Plus he's Saboo, so he can do anything he wants really. Also, the boss is amazing!

Is that a Jimmy Corrigan doll behind Roy's desk??????

By the way, I really like the DVD warning and menu, and the opening theme (both music- and graphics-wise). And I'm such an 8-bit weirdo that I spent lots of time with the DVD options to see what would happen. I really like how it was done.

I'll probably check out the other seasons of this show!

OH, I watched the "Behind the Scenes" too; it's pronounced "The It Crowd" and NOT the "I.T. Crowd"? Or is that a joke? Because I think the ironic reference to the phrase "The It Crowd" still works if you pronounce it "I.T.", plus it makes more sense with the show. I think about these things.