Culture Blues

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Culture Blues Editors

When Jeff and Jeremiah returned from a “super secret” advance screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World at the “critic’s club,” they were both pretty excited. When I made the mistake of asking who was going to write the review, they both yelled “Not it!” and then started to complain that “internet moguls” shouldn’t have to write reviews. When I reminded them they were the only ones to have seen the film, they told me to grab a pen and get ready to record some more “gems of genius” because the situation was about to get “critical.” I’m serious. They used that pun.

Jeff:  Oh man, I don't want to come off as gushing, but I'm pretty sure Scott Pilgrim is the best movie of the summer. A lot of people are going to be like whoa man what about Inception? That movie like opened my mind, bro. I need to see Inception like ten more times to figure out everything that was happening and shit. Well, to those people, I'd like to say pffffffttttttt.

Jeremiah:  What is it with the internet generation's inexorable desire to "rank" things. Who cares?

Jeff:   So curmudgeonly already. Why do you hate the internet so much? I guess you don't pick a "Video of the Month" for your monthly Ludacris tribute column, huh hypocrite?

Jeremiah looks hurt.

Jeremiah:  That’s outside the purview of this conversation. Look, we're lucky just to have two movies that original and satisfying in one summer at this point. Why do you have to force a comparison?

Scott Pilgrim is loaded with wacky special effects

Jeff:  Just accept it. It's been going on since the baby boomers decided to rank the World Wars. Still can't believe they underrated the Axis like that!

Jeremiah:  Ugh, anyway, Scott Pilgrim is funny, it has some great, visually dazzling action sequences and it’s actually pretty touching in a mostly not-groan-inducing way. Style and substance meld into a cohesive package. That's what summertime movie making is all about!

Jeff:  I'm glad you used the term groan-inducing, because there was a lot of potential for that with Scott Pilgrim. Have you ever read the graphic novels?

Jeremiah:  There are Scott Pilgrim books? Oh god. Is that why words kept popping up on the screen? How original.

At this point Jeremiah winked at me to indicate sarcasm, and then nudged me with his elbow to indicate something else. I’m not sure what.

Jeff:  I’ve never read the comics either, but my impression is that they’re emo and dorky. Really popular with the hipsters. And all the characters have really big eyes. So yeah, I was expecting a lot of aww man the nice guy never gets the girl crap, which would’ve been groan-inducing. Also, the Michael Cera quotient is high and I'm still not really sure how I feel about him.

Typically hipster-ish

Jeremiah:  Cera may reach "self parody" status quicker than any other actor ever. It's going to be like A-Rod hitting 600 homers.

Jeff:  Except instead of steroids Cera takes some kind of estrogen cocktail that keeps him thin, hairless, and adorable.

Jeremiah:  He provides a lot of laughs in this. I don’t know about all these people saying Scott Pilgrim is a bit of a different character for him. That's pretty bold. The differences are slight. In the end, no one should be rooting against Cera except for Jason Schwartzman superfans (me). Cool Ethan rules!

Jeff:  You’re right, it isn’t that far outside of Cera’s wheelhouse. But he’s at his best when he can play the hangdog everyboy and still manage to be super smug. That’s the Scott Pilgrim character. Sure we root for him, but he’s also a bit of a douchebag. It works really well. And that Edgar Wright fellow sure is innovative.

Jeremiah:  Nice segue. Scott Pilgrim is definitely a new kind of filmmaking. I think at a certain point that starts to work against it though. The incongruous edits are good for laughs at first, but they're so prevalent you start to expect them. And the movie moves at such a breakneck pace I found myself wanting to spend more time with the characters, which were the funniest part for me. I don't want to play armchair director here, but I think the more is more approach catches up with Scott Pilgrim in the end.

Jeff:  MORE IS MORE!

Jeff throws a coffee cup he was holding a moment ago. At me.

Jeremiah:  Calm down.

You're still a super man to us

Jeff:  But it is. I don’t think Scott Pilgrim would work as well as it does if Wright hadn’t gone completely balls out. Every frame is colorful and alive – it’s exciting. The whole film is relentlessly over-the-top and yet it still manages to feel sincere. Also, before I forget, Brandon Routh totally steals the show. Even if you hate video games, and comic books, and Michael Cera, and fun in general, you should still probably go see Scott Pilgrim just for Brandon Routh.

Jeremiah:  Agreed. Routh is awesome in this. Too bad his other comic book venture didn’t work out. You mentioned people who hate video games. Man, I hate those people. Video games are the best. I just wish they had referenced even more games. Where was Streets of Rage (preferably 2)? What about Road Rash? And Tecmo Bowl?

Jeff:   I also really liked the part where Cera plays the Final Fantasy theme on the guitar, that was--

Jeremiah:  And Gain Ground! How could they forget about Gain Ground?!?

This led to a discussion about whether Gain Ground deserved to be referenced in the film, which got pretty heated and in turn led to them reminiscing about the Sega Genesis Collection on PS2 which led to them digging up their copy, making me hook up the Playstation and them trying once again, in vain, to beat Golden Axe “the old fashioned way,” whatever that means. Scott Pilgrim opens this Friday.