They say that the 21st century belongs to the geeks. If that’s the case, then Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World may just be the film of the century.

Sound absurd? Maybe. But at the very least, this action-romance-comedy is the quintessential film of the geek generation.

Director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) once described this movie as a cross between Say Anything and Kill Bill. It may sound ridiculous, but it’s an apt description for this deliciously fun movie based on Brian Lee O’Malley’s six volume graphic novel series.

Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim, a 22 year old Toronto slacker who is currently “in-between jobs.” He’s the bassist of a band with his friends and they have aspirations of signing a record label contract and making it big. On the personal front, Scott’s recently started dating  high-schooler, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), as his way of rebounding from a heart-wrenching breakup he had just gone through. Scott meets the girl of his dreams, Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), at a party and is immediately smitten by her. Unfortunately, Ramona comes with some heavy baggage in the form of “seven evil exes” which Scott must defeat in battle if he is to date her.

Sounds like a reasonable premise for a movie, right? If you can buy into that, you’re going to love this film. (If not, well, you’ll probably feel like this fuddy duddy did.)

What Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World does best is encapsulate all the things I liked about my childhood into one very nostalgic and fun film. References to video games, comic books, television, music, and pop culture naturally pepper the film throughout without seeming forced. Co-Screenwriter Michael Bacall explains the film’s secret in handling references as “…trying to make it punctuation as opposed to prose.”

Did I love every single one of the references the movie makes? Of course not. I didn’t particularly care for the pseudo Dance Dance Revolution-ninja game Scott and Knives play together, but it was a necessary plot device in the film to show a visceral video game rather than a couch/controller based one. There’s also a much ballyhooed Seinfeld reference that I didn’t LOL at personally, but I did respect the fact that they got the rights to Jonathan Wolff’s theme music from the show while also shooting the scene like an authentic Seinfeld scene.

That’s the key here – authenticity. See, the internet generation can smell a phony a mile away. A lot of the drek Hollywood has put out in the last decade reeks of cashing in (Gamer, anyone?) on what studio executives perceive as the “geek culture.”

One of the reasons why Scott Pilgrim works is because it’s crafted by geeks (Brian Lee O’Malley and Edgar Wright) who grew up with the very same things the film refers to. These people have played those video games, read those comics, watched those television shows, and listened to those bands. They just happen to be accomplished writers and filmmakers with the means and creativity to share highlights from their formative years.

Most of the video game references are general enough that people who aren’t avid video game players will enjoy them. Do you get the concept of receiving points for defeating  an enemy? Ok, how about the concept of landing multiple punches in a row on an enemy constituting a “combo”? Not so obscure, right? Now, let’s take it a step further. What if defeating an enemy turns them into a bunch of coins that fall to the floor? I hope you see where the film goes with this.

For people who have played a lot of video games in their childhood, boy are you in for a treat. It starts with a smirk or maybe even a chuckle at the opening Universal logo ditty rendered completely in 8-bit sounds. Your ears will perk up when you hear the “finding a secret” sound from Zelda in the opening scene. You may even fist pump when the ethereal “choose your Zelda file” music plays during an early dream sequence.  By the time you hear the announcer from Tekken exclaim “KO!” as Scott defeats the first evil Ex you’ll undoubtedly have a shit-eating grin on your face.

My personal favorite, though, was a scene in which Scott tries to deflect attention away from his girl issues by exclaiming to his band, “Hey guys, I learned the bass line from Final Fantasy II!” He then proceeds to play the battle theme from Final Fantasy II on his bass guitar!

Edgar Wright earns +999 geek credibility!

While Scott Pilgrim Vs The World’s video game references may receive the lion’s share of attention, music also plays a huge role in the film as well. Besides the core love story, the film is also about Scott’s band, Sex Bob-Omb (+200 points if you can name that reference), as it progresses through multiple battle-of-the-bands competitions in its quest to receive a lucrative label deal.

Sex Bob-Omb’s music is actually done by Beck and he hasn’t sounded this lo-fi and raw since 1994′s “Loser.” There’s no shortage of actual musical talent standing in for the other in-film “bands” either. Members of Broken Social Scene play Crash and the Boys’ music while Canadian indie rockers Metric stand in for the heavenly Clash at Demonhead. To top it all off, renowned producer Nigel Godrich (Radiohead’s “sixth member”) composes an 8-bit infused punk score for the film.

Eagle-eyed viewers will notice Scott Pilgrim wearing different band T-shirts throughout the film. Plumtree and The Smashing Pumpkins (with the apropos “SP” logo) come to mind. Hell, there’s even a Tragically Hip acknowledgement in the movie! (The movie is set in Canada, after all)

The film itself is a fantastic concert of grin-inducing visual and audio effects, endearing acting, and witty repartee. Edgar Wright’s previous two films have shown that he’s a master of quick edits, scene transitions, and comedic timing. These skills allow him take Scott Pilgrim’s visual panache to dizzying heights.

It may sound trite at this point to declare that a movie is like a comic book brought to life, but it’s truly appropriate for this film. This movie is like a comic book brought to life.

Seriously, no other film this side of Sin City has come this close to imagining what a comic book would look like with live on-screen characters. Verbs and phrases in stylized lettering slickly animate onto the screen when the action calls for it. Multiple split screens capture character reactions, evoking images of split comic panels. Scenes quickly cut from one to another seamlessly, giving the feeling of hurriedly flipping to find out what’s on the next page. The film’s style is just as much of a star as any of the actors and will quite probably be the focus of word-of-mouth buzz.

image courtesy of entertainment weekly

Scott Pilgrim’s cast is a veritable who’s who of a new generation of talented Hollywood actors. Many will talk about Kieran Culkin stealing the show as Scott’s gay roommate, Wallace, and deservedly so. His grounded wisdom and comedic chops would make even a straight man want to sleep in the same bed with him. Ellen Wong is an adorable manga character come to life as Knives Chau. It’s hard to imagine that this is her film debut, as she nails every scene she’s in.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays a confident and cool Ramona Flowers – I just wish there was more time to fall in love with her. The film clocks in at just about 2 hours, but between squeezing in 7 epic fight scenes and establishing Scott’s world, there’s not much time for Ramona’s character to breathe and develop fully. Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Mark Webber, Alison Pill, and Johnny Webber round out Scott’s group of friends and they all lend their own charm to the film.

On the dark side of the room, Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and Jason Schwartzman delight in tormenting our precious little Scott Pilgrim. Evans in particular is memorable as an over the top skateboarder/movie star whose voice can be only described as Gob Bluth mixed with Christian Bale’s Batman. Even “unknown” actor, Satya Bhabha, has an epic Bollywood-meets-mystical-internet-humor fight scene as Ramona’s first “Evil Ex,” Matthew Patel.

I realize that the Michael Cera backlash is out in full force, but please don’t let whatever feelings you may have on him stop you from seeing this film. His performance is decidedly Ceran, but he does do the Scott Pilgrim character justice. If you want to, you can even talk yourself into believing that Cera has increased his acting range to include nerd-rage and almost-asshole.

Plus, if you’re an Arrested Development fan you won’t want to miss the George Michael/Ann reunion during the film. Yes, Mae Whitman is in this movie and no, she’s not quite as…homely.

I’m 28 years old. I’ve seen movies in the past that I could partly relate to as a portrait of a generation. Cameron Crowe’s Say Anything comes to mind as a particular highlight. I just wasn’t born in the right era to call it my own.

With Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, my generation finally has it’s Say Anything. Well, if Lloyd Dobler could wield a flaming sword and inflict a 64-hit air combo on Diane’s dad.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World opens in US theaters on August 13th.

This is kinda cool.  Plasmic Studios have created a nice Flash presentation comparing original panels of Watchmen comic pencils to the “live action” movie posters that were created for the upcoming film release in 2009.  Ozymandias looks a little scrawny and malnourished, but other than that, the “real” renditions look pretty bad ass.

I can’t wait for this movie.

With all of the brouhaha over last year’s No Country For Old Men, it’s hard to remember that the Cohen Brothers actually have some chops making comedies.  The above trailer for their upcoming film, Burn After Reading, will remind you what it was like to smirk, nay, grin again.

On an anticipation scale of 1-3, I’ll give this one a “Maybe Want.”

Variety is reporting that Pirates of the Carribbean director, Gore Verbinski, is attached to direct and produce the Bioshock movie.

“Bioshock” publisher Take-Two Interactive is getting a multimillion-dollar advance against gross points on the pic. It’s believed to be the biggest videogame-to-movie deal since 2005, when U and Fox signed onto the since aborted “Halo” pic, for which Microsoft got $5 million against 10%.

Bioshock was unquestionably the most cinematic game to come out in 2007.  The game juxtaposed some strong imagery with uncomfortable themes.  With it’s strong narrative and memorable setting, it makes sense that Hollywood would be quick to jump on it.  While it could be argued that the Pirates sequels were a bit plodding, Verbinski’s talent in creating visually stunning blockbuster movies is unquestionable.

Given the poor track record of video game movies, I’m going to be cautiously optimistic about this one.  I currently have my expectations set roughly on par with the Wachowskis’ V For Vendetta film adaptation – solid, but not quite up to the standards of the original.

Read the Variety article [variety.com]

I’m a big proponent of movie studios releasing the first 10-15 minutes of movies for free on the web. It’s perfect for movies like Speed Racer where I’m on the fence about whether I want to see it or not.  Sometimes the trailer just isn’t enough to give you a good idea of the film.

As for the movie, despite the obvious green screen/Saturday morning cartoon feel, the F-Zero-like racing sequences seem fun enough that I would watch it.

This year’s Oscars were serviceable if uninteresting. Stewart was good, but not particularly memorable. Which, I guess, is a pretty solid performance. None of the awards got me riled up except for a slight twinge when No Country For Old Men won out over There Will Be Blood for Best Picture. Personally I thought There Will Be Blood was far and away the best picture of the year, but I’m fine with No Country For Old Men as it would have been my second choice. At least Atonement didn’t win.

What really saved my Oscar watching experience, though, was being involved in an Oscars pool. Of course I failed miserably, but it definitely made the show more interesting. Only after the fact did I discover that along with being the coolest guy on the planet, George Clooney is also an expert at picking Oscar winners.

Mein Gott. He was on the fucking dot in every category! He didn’t pick the right actresses, but he did talk about them in depth on the little blurb in that Time article.

Is there anything this man can’t do?

Read George’s picks [time.com]

Both Best Buy and Netflix gave the ol’ press release one-two punch today by announcing plans to phase out support of the HD DVD video format in favor of Blu-ray. Best Buy’s press release basically says that starting in March, they will give better product placement for Blu-ray discs and players while also having salespeople recommend the format to prospective consumers. They still say they will sell HD DVD discs and players, but it’s quite obvious that come this time next year we probably won’t be seeing much of our red-boxed friends. Netflix’s press release has more decisive language, with definite plans to stop buying new HD DVD immediately while also removing existing HD DVD titles from circulation by year’s end.

So is this why they didn’t ship me Gone Baby Gone on HD DVD today? I was kinda pissed about that. As a recent new owner of an HD DVD player, I can say I’m a little surprised how quickly things are shaking out in this format war. I’ve watched enough movies via Netflix in the past month to justify my purchase already, but I didn’t expect Netflix to drop the format completely so quickly.

Oh well, I guess the next step is to wait for the blowout clearance sales for HD DVD titles so I can grab some titles before we inevitably get gouged by monopolistic Blu-ray prices.

Netflix goes Blu-ray exclusive [hi-def digest]

Best Buy recommends Blu-ray [hi-def digest]

Don’t go to the Website, don’t watch the trailer, stop reading this right now and get your ass to the THEATRE!

Apparently he enjoyed it.  So much so that he did what is quite possibly the pottiest thing a human can do at a movie theater:

I thrust my arm in the air and sang along even though Felice and I were the only people in the theatre!

Much love to Felice who was probably shaking her head at lil’ Bobby.

That being said, I’ve viewed the film myself and I must say it was simply amazing.  3D films have an unfair stigma of being cheesy/corny/gimmicky, but this film is certainly none of those things.  It’s the closest experience to actually being at a live music concert.  Now, that may seem like a trite statement, but I mean it in full earnest.  The 3D effects in the film are tastefully done, so much so that you almost don’t even notice them there.  It just feels natural.  Yet you’ve never experienced something like it before.  That, my friends, is a true mark of innovation.

I’ve seen U2 four times and each time I waited 8 hours in front of the venue in order to get a prime spot in the pit for the show.  Does the movie match that experience of the concert?  Of course not, there’s just no way to replicate the vibe, the intensity, the MUSIC of being there in person.  But you could argue the experience of the movie might exceed that of being in the nosebleed seats, and Lefsetz, in fact, does mention this.  I got goosebumps and chills while viewing the movie as if I was at a real U2 show.

While I can’t bring myself to slather on anymore hyperbole, I will say that Lefsetz is right about this one.  Whether or not you like U2, do yourself a favor and go see this film.  You won’t regret it.

Read Lefsetz on U2 3D [lefsetz.com]

What makes this movie so good then? Each of its major contributors does his job magnificently. Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance is simply unparalleled. The man is in virtually every scene of the film and he absolutely fucking KILLS it. It’s the performance of his life, and probably of a generation as well. Paul Thomas-Anderson’s direction is magnificent. Not one line of dialog is unnecessary or forced. In fact, every verbal exchange has extreme gravitas. The landscapes and camera angles PTA employs are utterly breathtaking and unique. I’ve never seen a PTA movie before, but you can bet your sweet behind I will go through his filmography now. Finally, Radiohead’s own Jonny Greenwood composes a score that is surprisingly apropos and gripping. The film begins with a string crescendo that swells and swells until it becomes an almost shrieking cacophony. You want to avert your ears but you can’t. You’re forced to bear with it until it subsides. This is Daniel Plainview’s theme and it mirrors his soul perfectly. He does some truly deplorable things that you know are plain wrong, but you can’t ignore his actions.

Normally I hate period pieces, because they just bore me to death. Not this film, though. It fascinated me. I’m glad I got myself in the right frame of mind to see There Will Be Blood, because this was just a simply stunning work of art. I almost wish I was in film study because there’s just so much to talk about and analyze here, even days after viewing the movie.

That’s the mark of a truly great film.

I’m not the only one to feel this way either. This is a movie that is universally considered to be a masterpiece.

If I had seen this last year, it would have definitely vied for a top spot in my entertainment experiences list. An amazing achievement in film making.

1. The Bourne Ultimatum
2. Stardust
3. Ratatouille
4. Transformers
5. Knocked Up

* God, I don’t even think i saw ten new releases last year. I might have, but then it’d be just listing every movie I saw, and that takes no editorial skill. So you get five.

Top Ten Music Albums:

1. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
2. The Shins – Wincing The Night Away
3. The Field – From Here We Go To Sublime
4. Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero
5. Radiohead – In Rainbows
6. Underworld – Oblivion With Bells
7. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
8. Say Anything – In Defense Of The Genre
9. WinterKids – Memoirs
10. Burial – Untrue

Top Ten Television Series:

1. Battlestar Galactica
2. Lost
3. Chuck
4. 30 Rock
5. Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
6. Heroes (Season 1)
7. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
8. Curb Your Enthusiasm
9. Entourage
10. South Park

Stuff I didn’t get to that I wanted to: Californication, The Sopranos, Dexter, Friday Night Lights

Top Ten Video Games (platform):

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
2. Halo 3 (360)
3. Bioshock (360)
4. Rock Band (360)
5. Portal (PC)
6. Call of Duty 4 (360)
7. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
8. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (Wii)
9. Mass Effect (360)
10. Crackdown (360)

Stuff I didn’t get to finish: Crysis

Top Ten Comics (Overall – Story Arc or Ongoing):

1. The Sinestro Corps War (Green Lantern/Green Lantern Corps)
2. All-Star Superman
3. Captain America
4. Messiah CompleX (Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men, X-Factor, X-Men)
5. Justice
6. Powers
7. The Killer
8. 52
9. Astonishing X-Men
10. X-Factor

Stuff I didn’t get to but are on my to read pile: The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite, The Dark Tower: Gunslinger Born