Friday, July 20, 2012

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)



Number Rolled: 1
Movie Name/Year: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)
Genre: Action & Adventure
Length: 113 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Edgar Wright
Writer: Michael Bacall, Edgar Wright, Bryan Lee O’Malley
Actors: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman, Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Mark Webber, Ellen Wong, Mae Whitman, Satya Bhabha

In order for me to properly review this movie, I think I need to write a little bit about myself. I am a self-proclaimed geek. I read comic books (especially of the underground variety); I play video games; I like to spend my free time role-playing, reading and even writing a blog that maybe three people read (which you might have noticed). Me and my best friend constantly discuss our escape plans for the zombie apocalypse and my favorite time spent with my boyfriend is watching movies for this oh-so-obscure blog, playing board games of an equally obscure nature or playing video games. I participate in tournaments for Magic: the Gathering and Heroclix. Lastly, I always wear a d20 around my neck with several other sided dice in my pocket because you never know when one will come in handy. I am a geek to the fifth power. That being said, this movie was almost (almost) too geeky for me.

If you’re a fan of old school video games (Zelda, the first four Final Fantasy games, etc) you’re going to definitely notice a couple of references. In fact, the movie itself is like one long reference – though mostly to comics.

It’s designed like a comic, which shouldn’t come as a shocker since it’s based off a series of graphic novels. However, Spiderman was also based off of comics and that was one continuous story. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World almost seems to be cut up and filmed in panels. I can understand why the critics flamed it, but I also think they were resistant to difference and, quite frankly, closed minded jack-offs. As you may be able to tell already, I can also tell why there’s a cult following for the movie.

It’s different, it’s fun and entertaining. Tell me, what more do you want from a movie?

The best part is that not only does the movie do it without throwing an underlying lesson in your face, but if you search deep enough you still find that meaning there. I mean, what would you rather do when meeting your significant others ex? Have that awkward meeting/conversation where you’re trying not to say too much and sizing each other up or bust out some wicked magical powers and start zapping each other in the ass until one of you bursts into coins and gives the other some massive life-points? The latter is just so much more fun.

Overall Opinion – 4.5/5

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Chicago (2002)



Number Rolled: 36
Movie Name/Year: Chicago (2002)
Genre: Music & Musical
Length: 113 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Rob Marshall
Writer: Bill Condon, Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb, Maurine Dallas Watkins
Actors: Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs, Dominic West, Lucy Liu, Denise Faye, Colm Feore, Deirdre Goodwin, Mya, Susan Misner, Ekaterina Chtchelkanova

Chances are, if you haven’t seen some version of this movie, you’ve still heard a song or two. Maybe caught a quote from somewhere. There is no doubt that the script and base of Chicago is a classic. Attractive women dancing in near-nothing and killing jerks – all to a catchy musical score? What’s not to like?

Personally, I liked Catherine Zeta-Jones much better than Renee Zellweger. For the basic casting, her body type is just better for the time the script is supposed to be set in. I also think she has a better range throughout the movie where Zellweger has her moments but is otherwise flat.

I wish I had something to compare this version to. I’d love to say I’ve seen it on Broadway or in one of the older movie adaptations, unfortunately I haven’t. After seeing this one, however, I will. It may have had its flatter parts, but I still absolutely loved it.

Overall Opinion – 4/5

Monday, July 16, 2012

Anger Management (2003)


Number Rolled: 47
Movie Name/Year: Anger Management (2003)
Genre: Comedy
Length: 106 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Director: Peter Segal
Writer: David Dorfman
Actors: Adam Sandler, Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Luis Guzman, Allen Covert, Lynne Thigpen, Kurt Fuller, Jonathan Loughran, Krista Allen, January Jones, Woody Harrelson, John Turturro, Kevin Nealon

We all know that some of Adam Sandlers movies can be… well… childish. There’s no denying that. And in watching this movie it is easy to see some of that floating around. But, opposite Jack Nicholson, a bit of growth is given to his comedy and it finds a happy medium.

I had the benefit of having watched the last half of the movie a while back before today, when I watched it from the beginning. Normally that would hinder ones outlook on the movie – but not this one. I watched today with my boyfriend and my best friend. My best friend and I knew the ending, but my boyfriend had never seen it before. About a half hour in he was staring at the screen with a weird look on his face. When I asked him what was wrong he said something along the lines of “I thought this was supposed to be a realistic type movie… I’m not sure what’s going on.”

Now, my boyfriend is a bright man so I tried to see it from his point of view. That’s when the epiphany hit. If I had watched this from beginning to end I would have hated it. I would have thought it was a dumb and dumber rip off only worse. Yet if they had made the movie any differently it would have sucked. Interesting, right?

So here’s my advice to you. Go find the movie. Rent it, watch it on TV, buy it, whatever. Then before you watch the whole movie, watch just the ending. Then you’ll figure out what I mean.

Overall Opinion – 3/5