Scott Pilgrim VS. The World (2010)

Original Theatrical Release: August 13, 2010
Director: Edgar Wright

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) lives in Toronto, Canada and hopes to be successful with his band, Sex Bob-omb. He is still having trouble getting over his ex-girlfriend and has taken to dating a high school girl, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong), who is five years younger than he is. When Scott meets the much more mature Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), however, he entagles himself in a love triangle. But, that’s not all…if he wants to be with Ramona he has to defeat Ramona’s Seven Evil Exes…all with different sets of fighting abilities.

This is, of course, based on the Oni Press comics by Bryan Lee O’Malley of the same name and does a pretty good job (better than I expected, actually) of capturing the feeling of the book and artwork. The special effects are all pretty nice, aside from a few times where it looked pretty unrealistic (even in the context of the film…I call it the Storm-Syndrome because of Storm/Halle Berry flying up the elevator shaft in the first X-Men film…looked completely false and unrealistic and unnatural)

I thought Michael Cera was a good choice for Scott Pilgrim and also all of the Seven Evil Exes seemed to be spot on, especially Lucas Lee (Chris Evans) and Gideon Graves (Jason Schwartzman).

The movie moved at a pretty decent pace, I thought, but maybe could have either been shortened or made into a couple of movies if more detail was put in. Some viewers might think the movie is all flash and not be able to appreciate the novelty of the story’s premise.

There are, of course, tons of throwbacks to classic video games and that gives it a fun sort of edge.

JOE Rating: ★★★★

Movie Trailer For Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Bio-Dome (1996)

Original Theatrical Release: January 12, 1996
Director: Jason Bloom

Bud Macintosh (Pauly Shore) and Doyle Johnson (Stephen Baldwin) are two stoner best buds with environmentally conscious girlfriends; Monique (Joey Lauren Adams) and Jen (Teresa Hill). The girls play a prank on the guys after the slackers back out of helping them on Earth Day which sets Bud and Doyle in motion, ending with them mistakenly thinking the Bio Dome is a mall, when in actuality it is an eco-project with doors that seal for an entire year once closed. The hapless duo find themselves inside and they must show their eco-conscious ladies that they have the chops to care for Mother Earth or risk losing them for good.

Okay.

I hadn’t seen this in a very long time and from what I remembered even back then, I didn’t like it (and I was probably 12 at the time).

Pauly Shore actually doesn’t annoy me as much as some other actors *cough*RobertPattinson*cough* but really, if I’m honest with myself, the only films I ever liked that he had any involvement with were Encino Man and probably Son In Law. This one, not so much.

Shore and Baldwin were trying to play up the Bill and Ted aspect, to little effect, and at times I was embarrassed for the two actors (especially Stephen Baldwin). Then, I remembered that neither of them have been in anything terribly good aside from Baldwin (The Usual Suspects…amazing film and performance from him). This movie seems to have killed Shore’s career, so there’s that.

The story itself was harebrained and inconsistent. I was pleasantly surprised to see Tenacious D in the movie (Jack Black and Kyle Gass) along with Phil Lamar and also brief appearances from Kylie Minogue and Rose McGowan. (Hawt!)

Aside from a few chuckles at random intervals, I actually couldn’t wait for the movie to be over with.

JOE Rating: ★★

Movie Trailer For Bio-Dome