Michael Cera vs. My expectations

Point Cera, with an assist from Edgar Wright.

As you will know if you've been reading for awhile, I've been looking forward to this movie for quite some time. However, I'm not the biggest fan of Michael Cera (this is more out of apathy than dislike). So I was reasonably concerned that I would not enjoy the film, even though I have enjoyed all of Edgar Wright's films thus far. What I didn't allow for was that I wasn't familiar with the source material. And if the film is any indication, I need to get familiar with the source material.

Based on the graphic novel from Toronto born artist/writer Bryan Lee O'Malley, Scott Pilgrim vs. The world follows a twenty something bassist whose band, the sex bab-ombs is struggling to make a name for themselves in the wake of Scott's heartache. With the story centered around Scott's love life, it runs the risk of getting too cutesy but O'Malley's humor deftly deflects any discomfort one might be feeling from the schmaltz. The humor does rely heavily on some basic old school gamer knowledge but manages a certain inclusivity by not being heavy handed about it. In addition to which, the meta humour that is peppered throughout is truly one of the film's strongest points and allows for even the regular moviegoer to enjoy.

Fun and quickly paced, Scott Pilgrim vs. The world is just good natured fun. And it doesn't hurt that it's set in Toronto.

Enjoy!

Summer offerings a little less than "A"-okay...

I'm usually a big summer moviegoer. Certainly the summer is the time when the most anticipated blockbusters are usually released. But it seems like this year the offers are a little slim.

The Losers, an action comic originally conceived as a parody of the A team, has the unfortunate timing to have come out the same year as the new A team led by Liam Neeson. In addition the A team movie seems (in trailers anyway) to play like a parody of itself, aping the lines made famous by Mr T in the eighties. All the while another "A" team is being introduced in the adjacent movie theatre as Robert Downey Jr. and every famous person they could find to appear romp through Iron Man 2, which ends up amounting to a glorified trailer for the forthcoming Avengers film.

Having said that, I do think it will be a decent summer for documentaries and foreign films and with the general lack of big blockbusters that interest me I may actually manage to get out and see them. The trailer for Waiting for Superman nearly brings me to tears every time I see it and Disney's Oceans is poised be incredible. In addition there are plenty of docs that came out this year I have yet to see as I've been shirking my movie watching responsibilities in favour of television (which has been increasingly compelling of late).

So in the end, it seems, there may be enough alternatives to the summer blockbusters that I will be able to curb my appetite for film. And of course there's always Scot Pilgrim vs. The world ;)