The curse of the fickle

Sorry if your pants are wet. You likely didn't have a nighttime oopsie; it's probably just from wading through the tears of the entire online film community, who have been sobbing relentlessly since the flopitude of Scott Pilgrim was revealed. So much ink has been spilled on the subject, you'd think BP was involved. I've read articles that blamed the fickle nerd audience, the fickle hipster audience, the marketing, the release date, the prerelease strategy, the subject matter...everything. They probably all contributed in some way, but to me the largest problem is that in order to transcend genre restrictions, the movie has to appeal to everybody...and it has to be incredible. It can't be good, it has to be beyond that. I thought it was very good, but not transcendent. Most of that has nothing to do with Edgar Wright, who wrote and directed Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead. Not only were the visuals in Pilgrim beautiful, not only was the film paced absolutely brilliantly, but almost all the performances were spot on, with the only real problem being, you know, the lead. Cera has the diversity of a Toby Keith concert; he's so one-note that he's the only thing worse than Nickleback. You get the idea. What I'm trying to say is that when Vanity Fair talked to Wright about Ant-Man, the smaller (teehee) staked Marvel superhero film he's been attached to for an eternity, I still get hopeful.
He describes it as a "super spy movie" with someone who just happens to have a "very particular power," namely shrinking, which would honestly come in quite handy if you were a spy I would imagine. What I liked most about his comments were that he referenced how every "shrinking man" movie (and every comic book movie really) is now all about what is happening to that particular character and not a bigger issue. I'd love to see them cover Ant-Man's deep, deep origins (he's a scientist who created something that lets him shrink, the end) over the credits and have us explore an adventure from the character right away. I will say that part of me got really hopeful when Marvel was bought by Disney (which hasn't brought about the apocalypse others predicted just yet) was the idea that someone like Pixar could capture one of these (ahem) tiny characters and make a movie out of them. I still think this is the best choice for that, but if they want to give it to Wright, so be it. So, to wrap up, Scott Pilgrim was good but not great, hipsters are fickle, I like ant people, and your pants are wet. That should cover it.

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Michael Cera will kick your ass

I'm about to be shunned by two groups: (1) people who don't really like or read comics at all, although those people probably don't read this blog with frequency, and (2) people who really love and read comics all the time. I've never read the "Scott Pilgrim" graphic novels. I always meant to, but I'm a lazy bastard with limited financial resources, so it never happened. That said, I have been looking forward to the film adaptation with great enthusiasm, most notably because director Edgar Wright has yet to make a bad movie. Hell, he has yet to make an average movie. The buzz surrounding the film has been somewhat legendary, with well-known directors making it known that they'd totally make sexytime with the movie if it were a person. The biggest thing I heard was that it was "groundbreaking" in its use of playful violence. Well, part of the wait is over...here is the trailer.



Things I loved:

The fake-out "this is another Michael Cera indie-romance-love-movie where hipsters you kind of hate make out."
The smokin' hot Mary Elizabeth Winstead with her inexplicably hot multicolored hair.
The use of comic book words like WHAP that haven't been displayed like this since the original "Batman" television series.
The music, which I believe is new Beck.

Things I'm not so in love with:

Michael Cera. I'm still pissed about Year One. Asshole.
The tone of the acting isn't quite clear yet, but they need to be quite serious and not self-aware. The film will collapse if it's all wink-and-noddy.

I'm excited, I really am. I think it looks like a total blast, but it does not look "revolutionary." This looks like a fun version of Sin City. I don't want it to sound like I'm bagging on it, I'm not. I'll be there opening weekend if only because I love me some Edgar Wright...but as we learned from Avatar, let's not be saying "game changer" when we mean "good movie." It looks good. The teaser teased me appropriately.

Tweet-hype is Reit on

I have to admit something that makes me a leper among the leper colony that is comic book nerd-dom. I have never read any "Scott Pilgrim" stuff. I know, I know, I'm a lame-O. Still, I am excitedly anticipating the Edgar Wright-directed adaptation of the comic...the synopsis of which is easily gleaned from the poster below.

Yeah, so basically it's like a video game where Scott must fight his gal's ex-boyfriends. That sounds great, right? And Michael Cera is in the lead, seems pretty much tailor made for him. Then comes word via Jason Reitman's twitter feed, and I love me some Jason Reitman (you direct Thank You For Smoking and Juno and you get my love), that the sample that Wright showed his buddy (Reitman) was squeal-inducingly awesome. To say it exactly as he did:

"@edgarwright showed me 30min of Scott Pilgrim. While sworn to secrecy (so much, surprised blood wasn’t demanded) I will say this: It is a game changer for Edgar and the genre. It moves the speed of light and carries more unadulterated joy than Ive seen in recent cinema. It does what everyone our age has been dreaming about: achieves the first all encompassing film of the joystick generation. I’m in awe of the sheer control in the filmmaking. It feels like a Matrix for love and how willing we are to fight for it. If I had a movie coming out next year, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it. Hats off my friend. Can’t get it out of my head."

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, that is some natural hype. This isn't some fan boy spouting off at the mouth, this is a seasoned, intelligent director who is clearly speaking from the heart. Good God I am hyped for this one now.