I had a pretty terrible nightmare last night. I dreamt that me, Ryan, and Viga went to see the movie (which we are definitely going to do after Otakon) and it was a failure on every single level.
Jhonen Vasquez tweeted last night that he liked the movie. I have no fears from here on out.
Duly noted. Ever since that movie, I'm now very guarded in my opinions and expectations from now on. It was the biggest discrepancy between what I expected in a movie and what I got. In short, it was my Warioware: Smooth Moves.
I still don't get Scrym's dislike of that. They said you just have to wiggle the Wii Remote around, but I found that entirely untrue. My brother and I had tons of fun from the game.
I still don't get Scrym's dislike of that. They said you just have to wiggle the Wii Remote around, but I found that entirely untrue. My brother and I had tons of fun from the game.
Other than their claims of the game not using the Wii Remote intuitively enough, all they whine complained about was Nintendo scrapping the multiplayer.
The single player was fun, it's just that stupid multiplayer. Touched! was definitely better than Smooth Moves. The GBA/Gamecube game is still the best one. Wish I could find my cart.
Duly noted. Ever sincethatmovie, I'm now very guarded in my opinions and expectations from now on. It was the biggest discrepancy between what I expected in a movie and what I got. In short, it was my Warioware: Smooth Moves.
I don't know what bothers me more, nightmares, or the fact that I don't experience dreams anymore. I'm sure I have them, but I don't know about it, it's like I'm taking a six hour blink.
At the 2010 San Diego Comicon, Alison Pill (who plays Kim Pine in the movie), revealed that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media. "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim," she claims. [15]
At the 2010 San Diego Comicon, Alison Pill (who plays Kim Pine in the movie), revealed that her character's past relationship with Scott will be explored in other media. "There will be a little something-something that will air on Adult Swim," she claims. [15]
I've officially finished the series now, and all I can really say is...Meh. I'm with everyone else, I loved how Knives came out in this new volume, but all around the whole series just doesn't feel as epic as possible. I'm glad how a lot of things have developed with how Scott and Ramona discovered things about themselves, but overall, the series just feels kind of hollow.
What would have made it less "hollow" to you? I don't mean to white knight or anything, but you also suggest that the story could have been more "epic" which to me sounds like you wanted there to be cooler fights or more gaming references or something, and I feel like those things would have made it feel hollow.
Yeah, the comic is and isn't all about the fights. It's about Ramona and Scott fixing themselves and each other, in fact, I actually think that each of Ramona's Evil-Exes represent a problem that Scott needs to solve before they can become a couple.
[22:59] doc shinryuu: The people who came a long way to Hollywood in order to watch the Scott Pilgrim premier. [22:59] doc shinryuu: Would you say they went on a Scott Pilgrimage?
I've officially finished the series now, and all I can really say is...Meh. I'm with everyone else, I loved how Knives came out in this new volume, but all around the whole series just doesn't feel as epic as possible. I'm glad how a lot of things have developed with how Scott and Ramona discovered things about themselves, but overall, the series just feels kind of hollow.
What would have made it less "hollow" to you? I don't mean to white knight or anything, but you also suggest that the story could have been more "epic" which to me sounds like you wanted there to be cooler fights or more gaming references or something, and I feel like those things would have made it feel hollow.
Well, granted, I did go into the series believing that that's what I would get. And yes there are video game references and fights, but I feel like those are the series' strong points.
I know it's a character study and romance for the most part, but it doesn't really get deep. A lot of Scott's friends with the exception of Young Neil are really irritating people, be them whiny or just assholes in general. And do we look into them for the series? No, not really. The only ones we really get detail on are Scott, Ramona, Kim and Envy. I just find that there's a serious lack for motivation and reason for any of these people to be together or to give each other such flak. And the romance here, it's just physical and everyone falls into the tropes of "Oh, I can't commit" and "Oh, I'm dumb and can't understand tension."
The other issue with the series is how serious it wants to take itself relating to the video-game-type world they are living in. It made the whole issue of fighting the evil-exes important and that there are fantastic things going on in the world. But around Book 6... "The whole idea of the world they live in, is unnecessary. It's not used to it's fullest potential, and when it does get serious, most of the characters have that same, lackadaisical attitude about everything. And fighting the evil-exes really, wasn't necessary except for Matthew Patel and Gideon. If anything, it made me feel bad for Chris Evans, Roxy, and Todd Ingram to an extent because they died, no one cares and everything is good. While when Scott died, it's a big deal and really bloody. And even then, people have that attitude of "Oh, no big deal, he grabbed a 1-Up." In the end, I feel like there isn't really a need for the over-exaggerated attitude of it all. People have relationship issues with former or current people they know, but I didn't find that the need to make it so ridiculous or extravagant proved anything or supported the claims.
I don't really find that there's much reward for getting through the whole thing. I understand that it's a story about growing-up or fixing your situation, but it just felt like it didn't use it's sources to the fullest potential. And while there is gamer referential humor, it just made me reflect on how this kind of world wasn't necessary to make those kinds of jokes.
The whole idea of the world they live in, is unnecessary. It's not used to it's fullest potential, and when it does get serious, most of the characters have that same, lackadaisical attitude about everything.
I'm quoting this part because it's not really a spoiler. I keep hearing this complaint, but I keep feeling that it stems from the fact that people just don't "get" the concept of magical realism. It's not some sort of mistake that the characters don't draw attention to the fantastical things that are happening around them.
The whole idea of the world they live in, is unnecessary. It's not used to it's fullest potential, and when it does get serious, most of the characters have that same, lackadaisical attitude about everything.
I'm quoting this part because it's not really a spoiler. I keep hearing this complaint, but I keep feeling that it stems from the fact that people just don't "get" the concept ofmagical realism. It's not some sort of mistake that the characters don't draw attention to the fantastical things that are happening around them.
It's not really a spoiler, but I think it somewhat relates to my other issue with the attitude. I feel like while the characters would be used to these kinds of magical elements, and would not be phased by them does make sense, but it comes off as annoying to the reader. Combined with the characters natural attitude, I just gave off an aura about "trying to be ironic" or "whiny and unappreciative."
I don't really find that there's much reward for getting through the whole thing. I understand that it's a story about growing-up or fixing your situation, but it just felt like it didn't use it's sources to the fullest potential. And while there is gamer referential humor, it just made me reflect on how this kind of world wasn't necessary to make those kinds of jokes.
I'll give you a hint. Did it occur to you that maybe the world, the fighting the exes and all that videogame stuff was used as a metaphor? I felt the fact that the people were not perfect was kind of the point of the whole thing, and whole thing about leveling up was point blank telling you when Scott understood something about relationships and became a more mature person. This kind of embodied the 20-something urban indie-music people group dynamic in my opinion. It was kind of like being dropped into a group in media rez, like hanging out with someone else's friend group. There was no backstories for most, there were no long introductions. A name card and a few unexplained references to past events and that was about it.
I keep feeling that it stems from the fact that people just don't "get" the concept ofmagical realism. It's not some sort of mistake that the characters don't draw attention to the fantastical things that are happening around them.
Totally. I think part of the reason I like it so much is because magical realism is something that I really, really like.
Pick ANY Miyasaki movie. They pretty much all use magical realism. Why does Scott Pilgrim come off as "trying to be ironic" or "whiny and unappreciative" if his movies don't? Pinpoint the difference and what bothers you.
I don't really find that there's much reward for getting through the whole thing. I understand that it's a story about growing-up or fixing your situation, but it just felt like it didn't use it's sources to the fullest potential. And while there is gamer referential humor, it just made me reflect on how this kind of world wasn't necessary to make those kinds of jokes.
I'll give you a hint. Did it occur to you that maybe the world, the fighting the exes and all that videogame stuff was used as a metaphor? I felt the fact that the people were not perfect was kind of the point of the whole thing, and whole thing about leveling up was point blank telling you when Scott understood something about relationships and became a more mature person. This kind of embodied the 20-something urban indie-music people group dynamic in my opinion. It was kind of like being dropped into a group in media rez, like hanging out with someone else's friend group. There was no backstories for most, there were no long introductions. A name card and a few unexplained references to past events and that was about it.
Well, in Book 6..."I felt like the metaphor of the magical reality did WORK when they explained Scott and Kim Pine's relationship. I think I was really with it around there. However, when they moved to Gideon, that's when they lines start to blur up again when Gideon explains his own backstory, the way he controls everything else. It takes away all immediacy of the situation, when we learned why Ramona had disappeared and that Gideon was just another moron who couldn't let go of his relationships. But considering how blown of proportion everything is and the overall likability of all of these characters? I can't sympathize for them, with the exception of Scott who DOES develop throughout the series. "
Pick ANY Miyasaki movie. They pretty much all use magical realism. Why does Scott Pilgrim come off as "trying to be ironic" or "whiny and unappreciative" if his movies don't? Pinpoint the difference and what bothers you.
Because of the setting and the characters, it's that simple.
Can you explain why you don't like the characters besides Scott? Like, specifically. Why don't you like Steven Stills? Why don't you like Kim? Wallace? etc.
e: I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm genuinely interested in why you didn't like them.
Pick ANY Miyasaki movie. They pretty much all use magical realism.
I think that that's fantasy, rather than magical realism. Magical realism is generally used to describe a certain literary movement started by the publish of A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel GarcÃÂa Márquez and is generally a Spanish speaking movement. The purpose of magical realism is to take a real life setting or situation (oftentimes magical realist stories are set in small, isolated Latin American towns) and add fantastic elements which leads to a deeper understanding of reality. There is often a "multi-planer" storyline which may present a realistic view and then a fantastic story which conveys the same theme, often one which is critical of society, especially Latin American society. Also, because it is part of the modernist movement, there are often modernist trademarks like technically incorrect sentence and paragraph structure and elements of meta-fiction. If you're not like me and the discussion of modernist literature doesn't set you off, a modern semi-mainstream example of magical realism is Pan's Labyrinth.
Now, I have only read about two volumes of it, but it is my considered opinion as a literature fan that Scott Pilgrim is not, in the strictest sense, magical realism for three reasons: First, and this is the main reason, there is no shadow of a doubt that what the comic is describing absolutely happened (in true magical realism, there would be some sort of insinuation that what is being presented is not actually what's happening), Second, one main difference that separates magical realism from Sci Fi/Fantasy is that the mechanisms behind the fantastic elements are never explained and rather evoke mythological, religious, or cultural imagery to enhance the presented themes, which obviously puts Scott Pilgrim in the latter category, Third, it is, at the risk of sounding pretentious, mostly an action/comedy/romance series filled to the brim with hipster culture jokes that doesn't take itself very seriously, if something does not take itself seriously, there is no reason why one should treat it seriously, Finally, and this is a silly reason, Scott Pilgrim is not in Spanish.
I welcome your own considered opinions.
P.S. I should probably add that I liked what I read of Scott Pilgrim.
Can you explain why you don't like the characters besides Scott? Like, specifically. Why don't you like Steven Stills? Why don't you like Kim? Wallace? etc.
I'll narrow each character down for the most part about how I've seen them through the comics.
Scott: I didn't even care for Scott for the most part until Book 4, where he starts to get his life on track. He's definitely absent-minded and lacks clairvoyance, but he at least tries and is well meaning.
Ramona: I don't feel like Ramona is a bad character, but there's a general lack of her initially. And while everyone else has some knowledge about the others at first, Ramona truly enters the book as someone new. But do we know much about her personality or why she wants to be with Scott? No. There's really nothing much there other than Scott's initiative to have an awesome girlfriend. And all we truly know about her is how she dealt with boyfriends and how she deals with drama.
Kim: Again, thanks to Book 6 we fully learn things about her. But she constantly has that sour attitude towards EVERYTHING. She complains, complains and continues to do so even within her parent's presence. We learn that she still has affections for Scott with Book 5. But does it all really follow or click? Not really. She clearly has issues with Scott because of what we learn from Book 6, but it makes me feel odd that she still cares for him so much, since she can only talk to him and just about everyone with the sarcastic attitude.
Wallace: Wallace really doesn't provide much to the story aside from exposition and knowledge about other characters. He's more of a provider than anything and I find that he's also very irritable towards Scott and acts obnoxiously promiscuous about sex or other people having sex. It's making me think that Scott Pilgrim as a whole could of worked better if it were longer.
Stephen Stills: Again, I don't see why him and Scott really are friends. Still spends a lot of time focused on the band (rightfully so) or complaining about Scott's ignorance. And he's been in a relationship with a horrible girlfriend that's been on and off forever. They are band mates and nothing more and I feel like it hurts the two of them.
Knives: Knives I like too, but that's thanks to the 6th Book. She matured, she understood what was happening in her life. I can get how she fell for Scott because he was a bass player and acted crazy, but because she developed, I love her and lots of people in the forum do too.
I mostly feel like I would have such an issue with the characters, if most of their dialogue didn't consist of "Our band sucks" or "Scott, you annoy me for this reason." And there's so much focus on this, I just feel like they are all kicking the dog when they make no effort to improve themselves. I don't have animosty towards them, but do I really want them to sit around and mope about their lives? No.
Re: Magical Realism: Id din't realise there was actually a term for that. I though it was just wacky hyjinks. What's the opposite called? You know, when magical things happen and the first things that happens is someone calls in the army and police.
Comments
My kind of bitch, that is.
I know it's a character study and romance for the most part, but it doesn't really get deep. A lot of Scott's friends with the exception of Young Neil are really irritating people, be them whiny or just assholes in general. And do we look into them for the series? No, not really. The only ones we really get detail on are Scott, Ramona, Kim and Envy. I just find that there's a serious lack for motivation and reason for any of these people to be together or to give each other such flak. And the romance here, it's just physical and everyone falls into the tropes of "Oh, I can't commit" and "Oh, I'm dumb and can't understand tension."
The other issue with the series is how serious it wants to take itself relating to the video-game-type world they are living in. It made the whole issue of fighting the evil-exes important and that there are fantastic things going on in the world. But around Book 6... "The whole idea of the world they live in, is unnecessary. It's not used to it's fullest potential, and when it does get serious, most of the characters have that same, lackadaisical attitude about everything. And fighting the evil-exes really, wasn't necessary except for Matthew Patel and Gideon. If anything, it made me feel bad for Chris Evans, Roxy, and Todd Ingram to an extent because they died, no one cares and everything is good. While when Scott died, it's a big deal and really bloody. And even then, people have that attitude of "Oh, no big deal, he grabbed a 1-Up." In the end, I feel like there isn't really a need for the over-exaggerated attitude of it all. People have relationship issues with former or current people they know, but I didn't find that the need to make it so ridiculous or extravagant proved anything or supported the claims.
I don't really find that there's much reward for getting through the whole thing. I understand that it's a story about growing-up or fixing your situation, but it just felt like it didn't use it's sources to the fullest potential. And while there is gamer referential humor, it just made me reflect on how this kind of world wasn't necessary to make those kinds of jokes.
e: I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm genuinely interested in why you didn't like them.
Now, I have only read about two volumes of it, but it is my considered opinion as a literature fan that Scott Pilgrim is not, in the strictest sense, magical realism for three reasons: First, and this is the main reason, there is no shadow of a doubt that what the comic is describing absolutely happened (in true magical realism, there would be some sort of insinuation that what is being presented is not actually what's happening), Second, one main difference that separates magical realism from Sci Fi/Fantasy is that the mechanisms behind the fantastic elements are never explained and rather evoke mythological, religious, or cultural imagery to enhance the presented themes, which obviously puts Scott Pilgrim in the latter category, Third, it is, at the risk of sounding pretentious, mostly an action/comedy/romance series filled to the brim with hipster culture jokes that doesn't take itself very seriously, if something does not take itself seriously, there is no reason why one should treat it seriously, Finally, and this is a silly reason, Scott Pilgrim is not in Spanish.
I welcome your own considered opinions.
P.S. I should probably add that I liked what I read of Scott Pilgrim.
Scott: I didn't even care for Scott for the most part until Book 4, where he starts to get his life on track. He's definitely absent-minded and lacks clairvoyance, but he at least tries and is well meaning.
Ramona: I don't feel like Ramona is a bad character, but there's a general lack of her initially. And while everyone else has some knowledge about the others at first, Ramona truly enters the book as someone new. But do we know much about her personality or why she wants to be with Scott? No. There's really nothing much there other than Scott's initiative to have an awesome girlfriend. And all we truly know about her is how she dealt with boyfriends and how she deals with drama.
Kim: Again, thanks to Book 6 we fully learn things about her. But she constantly has that sour attitude towards EVERYTHING. She complains, complains and continues to do so even within her parent's presence. We learn that she still has affections for Scott with Book 5. But does it all really follow or click? Not really. She clearly has issues with Scott because of what we learn from Book 6, but it makes me feel odd that she still cares for him so much, since she can only talk to him and just about everyone with the sarcastic attitude.
Wallace: Wallace really doesn't provide much to the story aside from exposition and knowledge about other characters. He's more of a provider than anything and I find that he's also very irritable towards Scott and acts obnoxiously promiscuous about sex or other people having sex. It's making me think that Scott Pilgrim as a whole could of worked better if it were longer.
Stephen Stills: Again, I don't see why him and Scott really are friends. Still spends a lot of time focused on the band (rightfully so) or complaining about Scott's ignorance. And he's been in a relationship with a horrible girlfriend that's been on and off forever. They are band mates and nothing more and I feel like it hurts the two of them.
Knives: Knives I like too, but that's thanks to the 6th Book. She matured, she understood what was happening in her life. I can get how she fell for Scott because he was a bass player and acted crazy, but because she developed, I love her and lots of people in the forum do too.
I mostly feel like I would have such an issue with the characters, if most of their dialogue didn't consist of "Our band sucks" or "Scott, you annoy me for this reason." And there's so much focus on this, I just feel like they are all kicking the dog when they make no effort to improve themselves. I don't have animosty towards them, but do I really want them to sit around and mope about their lives? No.