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GeekNights 20100819 - Scott Pilgrim: The Movie

edited August 2010 in GeekNights

Tonight on GeekNights, we bring to you our thoughts on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. We also consider laws against talking to strangers or talking at all.

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  • Gideon the cat was on Scott's mug in the first scene. :3

    Also, if you ever do get an answer about the hanging Utena thing, I'd love to know. It seems that that thing couldn't possibly be an accident.
  • edited August 2010
    I don't know anything about Scott Pilgrim, but if we are to take the title seriously, shouldn't we all be his enemies?

    It is Scott Pilgrim vs. all of us, after all.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • edited August 2010
    I'm kinda surprised iTunes didn't grab this one for me when I opened it up this morning, but then again if it didn't go up until 11:00 EST that was long after I left the house this morning. *downloads*

    Geeknights 20100819 - Scott Pilgrim: The Movie

    Expanded Show Notes - Show Run Time: 00:56:09

    Time | Notes
    ---------+----------------------------------------------------------
    00:00:00 | Intro
    00:00:28 | Opening Chit-Chat
    | - Rym is fed up with buying things in person
    | - On supporting local stores
    | - What counts as being a "pain in the ass"
    | - Rym breaks stuff on purpose?
    | - Audio recording and calibrating
    | - On shit-talking and getting things done
    | - Settling up old debt
    00:06:01 | News
    | - Coprolites & shark tooth marks (See the ToTD)
    | - Discussion on poop and rocks (Scott doesn't understand fossilization?)
    | - California law prohibiting conversation with strangers in a public space struck down
    | - Discussion of commerce law banning solicitation
    | - Poorly written laws are a problem
    | - On handling people who are annoying you in public
    | - Rym on the smell in New Brunswick and NJ Public Transit
    | - Policies in NJ public transit - designated Quiet Cars
    | - Social Mores versus Freedoms
    | - Fractured culture and enforcing the rules
    | - What constitutes harassment or acceptable behavior?
    00:21:46 | Things of the Day
    | - On the excellence of Collegehumor videos
    | Scott - Pictures for Christians
    | - Fark and paint-huffin'?
    | Rym - Poor Patrick Tribett: A True Warrior
    | - Even Fark didn't make fun of him this time.
    00:26:41 | Meta Moment
    | - Book Club: The Golden Apples of the Sun by Ray Bradbury
    | - Conventions: PAX, NYCC/NYAF, 10-10-10
    | - PAX Late Night - Alex Albrecht, Jon St. John, three members of Rooster Teeth, secret musical act and video
    00:30:14 | Main Topic
    | - No complaints about the movie, but no spoilers
    | - The book was better, but condensing the books into one movie was an amazing feat
    | - No development of the side-characters
    | - Once the fight scenes start it's fights from there on out.
    | - For the whole series to be done properly it almost would have had to be a trilogy
    | - Saddened by how poorly the movie is doing
    | - Discussion of how well the movie is doing and what was the typical draw for the film
    | - Poor turnout in the cities despite heavy marketing - weak marketing outside the cities
    | - Suggestion that the preview screenings may have harmed the box-office take
    | - Not a lot of hate on the movie - hate on the generation that spawned the movie
    | - Kim Pine in the book versus Wallace in the movie
    | - Discussion of side characters in the movie
    | - Wallace was the win in the movie, especially when drunk
    | - Scott Pilgrim realizing the mistakes of his past and fixing his screw-ups
    | - Character development in the movie
    | - Discussion of the DDR game in the movie and games at the shore
    | - *** SPOILER LINE ***
    | - Moral: Scott overcoming his own BS
    | - All the other characters had similar arcs in the book
    | - Characters were turned into side people in the movie to shrink the story to fit
    | - Scott fighting the evil ex-es was a metaphor for him overcoming the memories of previous people
    | - At the same time he was generating his own evil ex-es and he didn't know it
    | - Scott's poor memory was left out of the movie
    | - Movie didn't focus on stupid details like some superhero movies do
    | - Everything in the movie is there for a reason
    | - The movie was two hours but didn't feel like a long movie
    | - A lot of the scene transitions in the movie were quick jumps
    | - Discussion of music in the movie
    | - All the songs in the movie where Michael Cera sang, he actually did the vocals
    | - Discussion on Beck as a songwriter and his involvement in Scientology
    | - Discussion on how Scientology hides its seedy side from the celebrity members
    | - A lot of the little touches in the movie helped make the movie
    | - The first fight was very well done
    | - Discussion of the fights in the movie
    | - The fight with the twins was boring due to lack of the super robots
    | - Not a lot of outdoor shots during the movie - the movie was very closed-in
    | - Was the scenery in the end of the book & movie inspired by Utena?
    | - Brian Lee O'Malley wasn't expecting the movie to be good, but it was
    | - Discussion of the cat in the book versus the movie
    | - The comic isn't all video-game references, but the movie has them coming rapid-fire
    | - Who could catch all the references besides hardcore gamers?
    | - Is it worth seeing twice? Very possibly
    | - Rym: Zero complaints about the movie due to the impossibility of packing everything into a single film
    | - Scott: Would have cut down the number of evil ex-es but would have put in more between-fight scenes
    | - Animated Scott Pilgrim TV show would be excellent
    00:55:06 | Outro
    Post edited by Techparadox on
  • Got a link to the college humor video? That was Scott's thing of the day, not the shark bite poo.
  • The soundtrack of the movie is amazing. I concur with Rym regarding the "Black Sheep" by Metric might be the best song on the CD

    Coming on a close second is "It is Getting Boring by the Sea" by Blood Red Shoes:

    I did like that all the main characters actually played their respective song, I mean on the soundtrack it says the "We are Sex Bob-Omb" was performed by Sex Bob-Omb which is conformed by Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim), Allison Pill (Kim Pine), Mark Webber (Steven Stills), and Jonny Simmons (Young Neil).
    I seriously can't wait to watch the commentary of the film when it comes on blue ray.

    By the way I would recommend to re-read the comics while listening to either the soundtrack.
  • edited August 2010
    Got a link to the college humor video? That was Scott's thing of the day, not the shark bite poo.
    Here it is. (at least, I think this is it)
    Post edited by Diddgery on
  • edited August 2010
    Gideon the cat was on Scott's mug in the first scene. :3

    Also, if you ever do get an answer about the hanging Utena thing, I'd love to know. It seems that that thing couldn't possibly be an accident.
    Haven't listened to the episode yet, so I don't know what exactly was said on this subject. I will say, though, that I'm convinced Bryan Lee O'Malley had at least some influence from Utena, yeah. Not only due to the swords-out-of-chests thing, the hanging castle-like structure, and all the thematic similarities, but also because of something much simpler. There is an Utena poster on Natalie's wall in one of the flashbacks in volume 3. It's faint and hard to see, but it's there. (There's also a Porco Rosso one!)

    EDIT: Found it. Page 29, panel 2.
    Post edited by Eryn on
  • edited August 2010
    "Rounding out the top ten was Universal's comic disappointment Scott Pilgrim vs. The World which dropped 53% to an estimated $5M for a weak ten-day tally of $20.7M. The verbal love from fans is not translating into box office sales. The final domestic take for the $60M production should reach only $30-35M."

    This is why we can't have good movies :-p

    Why Scott Pilgrim did not find an audience (actually a great point)
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • At least Universal expected it wouldn't make much, so they prepared for that.
    Uni tried to hype the genre-bending pic as too cool for the room and claim it didn't know if Scott Pilgrim would make $5M or $15M this weekend. But the pic will do exactly what Uni execs predicted to me it would: a pittance. "Regardless of the perceived outcome, we are proud of this film. Studios need to continue to offer audiences good and original ideas/films," Uni said today. "We do wish a greater number of people went to see the film."
    That's how you do it, as has been said tons of times on other subjects: you make bank on bigger projects, then use the profits to do your awesome niche titles that you hope will do well, but are much less likely to find big success.
  • edited August 2010
    "Rounding out the top ten was Universal's comic disappointment Scott Pilgrim vs. The World which dropped 53% to an estimated $5M for a weak ten-day tally of $20.7M. The verbal love from fans is not translating into box office sales. The final domestic take for the $60M production should reach only $30-35M."

    This is why we can't have good movies :-p

    Why Scott Pilgrim did not find an audience (actually a great point)
    Yyyeeaahh, see, a couple of those points just don't add up.

    I understand that some people (read: most) don't like Michael Cera playing the same character over and over. But I think it's important to state that this character is actually different from his other roles. Scott is impetuous, selfish, outgoing but quirky, and has a lot more energy than his previous roles. It isn't a huge departure, no, but it's not a side I was sure he could play after experiencing his previous films. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised.

    Next off is this idea that GEEKS don't get it. I'm sorry, but this entire film had more than enough cred for geeks, nerds, dorks, and shut-ins alike to grasp onto. Not enough WoW? Not enough Starcraft? I call bull. If Scott's more awkward moments and the outrageous fighting sequences didn't do it, the many sound choices and spoken/shown game references did.

    Lastly... Scott Pilgrim is a musical told through fight-scenes? ... Well, as cool as an interpretation as I find that to be, I don't think it really hurts this film. The idea that aging gamers don't like musicals effecting this film is ridiculous. It's honestly hard to form a decent retort to this because it's so hard to comprehend what he's getting at. That the narrative wasn't apparent enough to people not familiar with the format of musicals?

    I find the whole list sounds like over-analyzing, to me.

    Edit: I thought I'd add another reason Scott Pilgrim has suffered: It was released alongside The Expendables and Eat, Pray, Love. Big action movie with a bunch of big stars and the big chick-flick of the month/summer; two films designed to strike cords with each respectable gender. So, with the average movie-goer split between these two other films, what was Scott Pilgrim left with?

    Intelligent people.
    Post edited by KaiserNeko on
  • I thought I'd add another reason Scott Pilgrim has suffered: It was released alongside The Expendables and Eat, Pray, Love. Big action movie with a bunch of big stars and the big chick-flick of the month/summer; two films designed to strike cords with each respectable gender. So, with the average movie-goer split between these two other films, what was Scott Pilgrim left with?

    Intelligent people.
    That's pretty much my theory for why it failed. Against those two movies it didn't really have a chance. This probably should have been released in the fall or winter, not late in the summer like this.
  • Listening to the podcast, the beginning of it makes me think that Scott somewhat puts on this antagonistic personality for some type of act. Still wondering if that is true...

    In terms of the movie, it is wonderful, Edgar Wright was the absolute best person for the job. I do think that they could have embellished more with the side-characters, but I feel like speeding through the plot gets rid of many of the hanging annoyances. And the fights and the out-of-this-world atmosphere works better in the movie form, so I can see why they focused on them. I think the only flaw for someone who never read/knew about the comic who saw the movie, wouldn't like those beginning 20 minutes, like Scott talked about. I think they wouldn't like the setting or the people in the movie, but the fights indicate that you shouldn't take anything seriously. That's probably why many critics complained against the audience with the movie.
  • Finally listened to this episode. I just played Tank! Tank! Tank! at Gameworks in Las Vegas last weekend, it is sooo awesome. Mission mode is especially great. My friend and I played it over and over. Couldn't get past the living buildings, though.
  • The bass battle was the best: "Tell it to the cleaning lady on Monday." This movie is rated 8.2 on IMDB.
  • The bass battle was the best: "Tell it to the cleaning lady on Monday." This movie is rated 8.2 on IMDB.
    Indeed. The Vegan Police made me smile, especially when it was Thomas Jane and when he high-fived afterwards.
  • The bass battle was the best: "Tell it to the cleaning lady on Monday." This movie is rated 8.2 on IMDB.
    Indeed. The Vegan Police made me smile, especially when it was Thomas Jane and when he high-fived afterwards.
    I find this even more hilarious considering that he played the Punisher.
  • It's milk and eggs, bitch!
  • Chicken isn't vegan?
  • You punched the highlights out of her hair!
  • *Vegan police high five* YEAH!!!
  • I love how every time Scott woke up from a dream, more and more people were in bed with him and Wallace.
  • I love how every time Scott woke up from a dream, more and more people were in bed with him and Wallace.
    Who is also Mcauly Culkin's brother.
  • Did everybody realize the lesbian chick was Anne from Arrested Development? Because I just realized it.
  • Did everybody realize the lesbian chick was Anne from Arrested Development? Because I just realized it.
    Really?????
  • Did everybody realize the lesbian chick was Anne from Arrested Development? Because I just realized it.
    Really?????She also played Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • She also played Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
    Well, she wanted to, but M. Night's tragic death sadly prevented the movie from ever being filmed.
  • Well, she wanted to, but M. Night's tragic death sadly prevented the movie from ever being filmed.
    She was Katara's voice actor in the animated series, so it's safe to call her Katara. ....The only Katara.
  • Well, she wanted to, but M. Night's tragic death sadly prevented the movie from ever being filmed.
    She was Katara's voice actor in the animated series, so it's safe to call her Katara. ....The only Katara.
    That explains her attitude in the series; She was bi-furious the whole time.

    DISCLAIMER: I've only seen maybe 3-4 whole episodes of Avatar:The Last Airbender, and she was snarky in all of them.
  • Did everybody realize the lesbian chick was Anne from Arrested Development? Because I just realized it.
    Really?????
    I knew that the whole time, Edgar Wright really knew people to cast. Egg vs George Michael Bluth!
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