Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Black Swan

Darren Aronofsky looks to have make the strangest ballet movie of all time.  Even the trailer is creepy.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Based on Brian Lee O'Malley's great series of graphic novels, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is about growing older and accepting responsibility... in a world where veganism leads to psychic powers, indie-rock powered monsters fight electronica powered double dragons, and spontaneous Bollywood numbers are the norm.  This is probably the most ridiculous movie I've seen all year.  You should go see it immediately.



This was probably the most fun movie I've seen all year.  Though the film does deal with some serious issues, the action scenes and dialogue are amazingly entertaining.  I was worried that the film would get bogged down with fight scene after fight scene, there are seven bosses for the hero to defeat after all.  However, the battles were so varied in their execution, and so tied to the progression of the story, that none felt extraneous.  Though there is only minimal development for most of them, the characters are all memorable and interesting.  Even the music, an essential element to the graphic novels, is done really well.

The film is very silly and there are innumerable references to video games and indie-rock (Scott's ex is essentially an evil version of the singer from Metric) but these elements don't subtract from the film. Rather they add an extra layer of humor over a really dense and very funny plot.  Just like you don't need to be an expert on zombie movies to find Shaun of the Dead funny, or a fan of Bad Boys 2 to find Hot Fuzz funny, you don't need to be a big fan of video games and anime to enjoy Scott Pilgrim.

If you are a fan of Edgar Wright's other work, I recommend seeing this (and soon, I doubt it'll last much longer in theaters).  Even if you aren't a fan, there is still plenty to like.  See it for no other reason than the prospect of an extended fight sequence featuring Michael Cera vs. Jason Schwartzmann.