We Just Saw Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Here's Our Reaction
Kyle: So, let's quickly recap the movie for people who might be unfamiliar with it (and for those people, they have NO idea what they're getting into...). Michael Cera plays Scott Pilgrim...but basically, he's still playing Michael Cera.
Dixon: Which is the one part of the movie I found lacking.
Kyle: He falls in love with a blue-haired girl who's not big on the talky-talk, while trying to shake his adorable, underage kinda-girlfriend. Wait, I should say "multi-color-haired girl."
Dixon: YOU SHOULD. She's like a rainbow!
Kyle: So then he must fight his new, rainbow-colored girl's seven evil exes, throwing down as if each was a video game boss battle.
Dixon: Exactly, but all of this is just window dressing. At its heart, it's a story about a young guy learning to grow up, take responsibilities for his actions and not be such a passive actor in his own life. It just helps that there's kung fu and shit in there.
Kyle: And let's talk about that. Which battle with the evil ex did you most prefer?
Dixon: Well, I have to say that all of the battles are very faithful to the books (except for the last one, which I have not read yet), but if I had to pick a face, it would be the whole last battle with Jason Schwartzman and his evil henchmen. It reminded me a little bit of Uma Thurman's fight at the end of Kill Bill Vol 1, except not as masculine.
Kyle: I liked the very first battle, simply for providing ample warning of just how insane the movie would get, but I also liked the one where Mary Elizabeth Winstead goes up against Mae Whitman. It's the most ingeniously staged and almost the most musical...it becomes like a dance. And I appreciated that Winstead's character actually got to take part, instead of standing on the sidelines all inscrutable.
Dixon: Indeed, and on the subject, let's have a brief moment of silence for the reunion between George Michael Bluth and Ann.
Kyle: Her? You know, as a Nintendo fanboy from back in the day, all I needed was an audio sample from A Link to the Past on the soundtrack, and I felt any resistances slipping away. Still, it's interesting. I mean, this is a film that is just densely packed with everything, including nostalgia, which: easy points. People laugh when they hear the Seinfeld music. They smile when they recognize the Triforce theme from Zelda. If the movie rested on those laurels alone, it'd be insufferable, and I wonder, for an audience not well-versed in this very specific cultural soup, WILL those things seem insufferable?
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In Kill Bill The Bride's title is bleeped whenever mentioned in Vol. 1. Even so, her title appears written twice inside movie. The 1st time is right appropriate after she takes off in Buck's truck. Inside the next scene, she buys a plane ticket from El Paso, Texas to Okinawa where she visits Hatori Hanzo. She says, "Okinawa, one way" to the ticket attendant, who slides her the ticket. If you pause the movie at this point, it is possible to read the name on the ticket as Beatrix Kiddo, which is revealed to be the Bride's real title in Vol. 2. The second time her name appears in when she buys one more plane ticket from Okinawa to Tokyo. Her title is once again visible, but not as clearly.
Fascinating piece of writing, thanks. Could you expand on the second part in a little more detail please?
Just a heads up... your blog looks very odd in Safari on a mac