Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Post Release - Page 25

This isn't cut off on the digital copy on my phone. TV SAFE areas strike again.

I have a bit of that cut off when I watch the blu-ray as well. Nothing is actually missing from the transfer on the blu-ray. It's simply because your TV isn't actually showing you the entire image due to the OTHER SCOTT card existing outside of the TV safe area.

If your HDTV has a JUST SCAN mode, switch to it. You should see every pixel of the transfer. If not... SUCK IT UP. Hehehe. That's what I have to do.

EDIT: Dammit, Dremon!!!

Watched the alternate ending on the DVD and... yeah, it doesn't work. The phone voice-overs are amusing, I'll grant that, but it's a huge disservice to Knives as a character. It's better that she becomes stronger and single rather than regressing thanks to her experiences. The line in the true ending, "I'm too cool for you anyway", says it all.

I think the entire cast deserves to be nominated for a joint award for their combined excellence. 2010 had a lot of really well-cast films but I don't think I enjoyed any single collection of actors working in unison together more than the cast of Scott Pilgrim. It's just clockwork. Every single character has a specific role and duty to plot and narrative and each actor completely owns their respective task and purpose and embraces their role fully. It's a thing of beauty.

For me, no one embodies this more that Kieran Culkin, but it's hard to lose with any "favorite" chosen out of the bunch.

I wanted to come in here and humbly eat my giant serving of crow on this, as I was one of the many initially deterred by the vigorous push of this movie upon the masses. I avoided the movie like a plague in theaters, but knew I'd give it a look when it came out on Blu and was pretty taken aback once it was all over. My reversal went as far as me not only watching it twice while as a Netflix rental but that I'm already looking to buy a copy. I don't know that it would hold as much emotional weight as many here experienced, though a lot of the ideas pointed out by you guys (like how much of the emotions are being physically manifested) have made me somewhat reconsider (I'm not dense, but was a bit too preoccupied with taking in the more visceral elements of the film). More than anything, I was impressed by the way Wright directed and edited the thing, with an energy unlike anything I've ever seen.

 

Anyway, enough rambling. That crow was tasty and I never knew how good it could feel to admit you were wrong. I hope it's not the last time.

I watched Scott Pilgrim for the first time over New Year's break.........WOW. I read the hype, and tried to stay as unbiased as possible. If nothing else, this was an insanely fun movie. I also feel it is one of (if not THE) best romance flicks of recent memory. Despite all the action, jokes, fancy dan-ness of it all.......this is a really honest and sweet relationship flick. I know some people hate Michael Cera, but I thought he was great (and I never read the graphic novels, nor do I plan to)....but I felt his performance and comedic timing (Cera is quite underrated in this department) were fantastic. This was an absolute joy to watch, and a rare movie that I honestly wished wouldn't end. While I don't feel this movie is a "game changer" and might not be for everyone, this is one I will watch many times over. Thank you Edgar Wright and company.

This thread is a fascinating read.

 

There's much to be chewed on in the film. It is inventive and fun. But, I'll echo the same basic complaint, I never felt that Scott and Ramona had any chemistry together. To me, it felt like they were talking about a relationship instead of actually being in a relationship. Which admittedly is the point of the ending, but also makes the "date" scenes lacking in meaning beyond the obvious. And lacking in excitement. We need to be invested in their relationship in some way to make the movie more than an intellectual payoff. Otherwise, the relationship scenes are just padding.

 

And, unfortunately, that's what they felt like to me. Basically exposition to move to the next fight level.

I've been reading this thread trying to see what I'm missing but I'm still not getting it.  Technically I think it's absolutely amazing, to the point where I would consider owning the DVD just for the behind the scenes stuff but.. it just had zero resonance with me, and I'm trying to work out why.

 

I've loved Spaced since it first aired, loved Shaun of the Dead and enjoyed Hot Fuzz but this one just left me cold. I watched it and was just waiting for the next fight and the next fight and the next fight.  I think my main problem is that I just did not like any of the characters in the slightest (except possibly for Young Neil). Scott himself was so far up himself.  His whole thing with Knives at the start, and the way he treated her I think set the tone for me and I just couldn't get over it. I thought he was just such an utter, self obsessed arsehole. 

 

I pretty much felt the same about Ramona as well and I certainly didn't buy them as a couple.  It almost felt like Scott was more in love with the idea of being in love.  And yes I get the point that the whole thing was him growing up, but frankly I didn't buy that either.  At the end he's still paranoid about his hair for example, it's almost like nothing has actually changed for him. And the fact that he kills the exes (metaphorically I know but in the context of the movie he definately kills them) without any remorse or 'holy shit I just killed someone' just doesn't sit well with me.  Especially the Todd Ingram death.  He basically kills his own exe's new boyfriend and totally fucks her succesfull band at the same time but just moves on. It all just adds up to the fact that it feels like nothing matters to Scott except Scott.  I think I'd have been more impressed if, instead of earning the Power of Self Respect sword, it went 'Scott climbed out from his own arsehole', in a 'Society' fashion.

 

I really feel like I'm missing out though - like I say technically it astounds me and I want to like the story as much as I admire it but I just can't get into it, even on a second viewing.  What confuses me more is that this should be tailor made for me.  I'm the right age group for the 8 bit games references, I was a huge comic nerd, I even played bass in a punk band in my mid twenties, but .. nothing.  Weirdly enough my 'old' mates who I basically went through my whole twenties with (from Uni and post Uni when we all lived in Edinburgh) loved it, but none of my 'new' mates made since we moved to NZ did.

 

I'm not trying to bag this movie at all, just understand why it does nothing emotionally for me.

"Admiring without actually liking" pretty much sums up my reaction to the movie, for the reasons listed by Andy and EvilTwin.

My main issue is actually with Ramona. To me she just comes off as a second rate Clementine, and MEW is no Kate Winslet.

 

I get that Scott is in love with the idea of Ramona instead of the actuality of Ramona. But, to me, Ramona is a cipher. And trying to start an honest, adult relationship with a cipher is just not going to have the same resonance as starting an honest, adult relationship with an actual character.

SCOTT PILGRIM is quite clever. SCOTT PILGRIM is a lot of fun. But anyone who thinks SCOTT PILGRIM is superior to the two movies Edgar Wright made before it is delusional.

 

P.S. I'm in the "Winstead was much too wooden" crowd. Not enough manic or pixie in that Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Rest of the cast was aces, though.

Ramona is neither manic nor a pixie, hence why she's sans those qualities.

 

Scott Pilgrim and My Infinite Sadness......

What a goddamn mess this movie was. It’s Spider-man 3 all over again when there was the potential to make another Spider-man 2.You know, just because a movie is based on a comic book, that revolves around 8-bit videogame references, it doesn’t mean that it has to move at such a pace that people with ADD would start saying “WOAH, slow down there buddy!”. I’ve been looking forward to Scott Pilgrim since I first heard that this was Edgar Wright’s next project and discovered that the graphic novels were excellent, with the exception of Volume 6, which was anything but Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. Let me explain.

What a disappointment that book was. I literally burned through it in 30 minutes and it felt just soo weak in comparison to the previous five books, which had soo much nuance and detail, while providing not only satisfying stories about Scott Pilgrim but also made sure to give the other characters their moments to shine. The thing that made the other books great was those little moments of identifiable human emotion that grounded the whole thing when there wasn't battles with ninja's, robots and evil Ex’es. You could look at, not only Scott, but all of the characters who were going through things in their lives that you recognized in your own. Then there was the way that O'Malley would subvert your expectations and twist the story in satisfying ways. None of that here. There are no great revelations and the “mysteries” that were set up in the previous books have no pay off apart from “oh yeah, you know that thing, well, this is what that was……” and each lands with a thud. Ramona mentions watching the X-Files which felt the exact same way. All set up with no satisfactory climax.

The book just feels like a piece of business designed to get the whole thing out of the way. Characters and events feel completely perfunctory. All the peripheral characters just sort of stand around and don't provide SP with any real sort of emotional or intellectual support except for a pat on the back. Speaking of the supporting characters, you could have taken them out of this book and I don’t think it would have made a bit of difference. I just didn’t feel the book at all.

The worst part is that we don’t get any sense of these people moving forward in their lives apart from some half-assed left turns in place of any real development. With each book, you felt that, at the end, all the characters (at least Scott) had some sort of breakthrough or realization. They learned something that allowed them to *ahem* get to the next level. Vol 6 is basically and literally “Must defeat Gideon and get back with Ramona….” And that’s all there is to it. Sure, some obstacles are in the way but the predictable “Happy Ending” was never in doubt and you could feel O’Malley adding as much shoe leather as possible to make it seem as though the story was more epic then it was. Oh and what was the point of having Envy Adam’s return? I thought her story was given sufficient closure even if Scott didn’t get a hug. She’s a perfect example of what I mean when I say that the characters have no forward momentum and learn nothing. At the end of Vol 3, you really felt that she had discovered some things about the world, herself and had changed. Maybe for the better.

Also, Gideon Gordon Graves was a pathetic character and a piss poor villain. The previous books gave him such a vibe of underlying menace and you felt that he was a part of some real darkness in Ramona’s life. Based on her reactions to what Envy said to her in Vol 3, and the vision of her that Scott saw in her head in Vol 4, I expected to find out that she had been involved in some sordid, lurid and sleazy activities related to her employment by Gideon. I guess O’Malley didn’t have the balls to go all dark on us and decided to pussy out with that half-assed “masterplan” GGG had going on. I had hoped that O’Malley would go very dark as it would give Scott the challenge of learning to love Ramona despite the thing’s she had done in her past while also providing a counterpoint to all the video game, anime and manga references which suggests a severe case of arrested development in Scott that I wanted to see him confront and conquer in Vol 6. That Ramona was a runner because of the things she had done, was ashamed of, and left because she wanted to tell her Ex’es, but couldn’t, for fear that they would reject her, so, she rejected them first. I know these are just graphic novels but I was really hoping for a bit more emotional complexity, especially given the excellent character work presented in the first 5 volumes. I’m less interested in the fight scenes then I am the catharsis and/or reconciliation that the characters earn through their trails and tribulations. I felt none of this in Vol 6.

Ultimately, I think it was less important that Scott and Ramona get back together then they both obtain a greater knowledge of themselves, gain some peace of mind and are both able to move forward with or even without each other. It’s not about living “Happily ever after…” then it’s about making the best of things and enjoying your time together while knowing when to let go and move on. That's what being in a relationship is about and, for me, Scott Pilgrim didn't make that leap. Game Over.

Getting back to the movie; Wright SHOULD have been the perfect man for this job as Spaced, series one, is an absolute masterpiece and I had hoped that Scott Pilgrim could have been the Canadian equivalent. How wrong I was to have hoped. I’ve been saying all along that SP should have came across as a mix of Clerks 2 and Kung Fu Hustle. SPVSTW fails to come even close to either of those moves. The thing that they had, that SPVSTW doesn’t, was a level of pathos and emotional development that came off as genuine and sincere in between the donkey show and fight scene’s.

There is nothing genuine or sincere about any of the so-called- character development in this movie. I’ve said this before but the thing that made the comic’s great wasn’t the fight scene’s, it was the recognizable moments of human emotion that were on display between all the craziness. You could see Scott Pilgrim grow and develop over the novels. In this movie, SP has to tell us that he’s grown and changed because we sure as fuck wouldn’t be able to tell without him explaining it to us.

Amazing fight scene’s and visuals mean fuck all if I don’t care about the characters and I couldn’t give a shit about anyone in this movie. What we are watching aren’t characters but caricatures. Wright was in such a rush to get from one fight scene to the next that the movie didn’t have time to breath and let these people become real. This is a really piss poor adaptation. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the comic’s deal with subspace (why did they even bother mentioning it when it played no part), robots, kung-fu battles and vegan superpowers but that doesn’t mean that some quality drama couldn’t have put into it as Christopher Nolan showed us that you CAN make great drama out of a man dressed as a bat fighting a psychotic clown.

SPVSTW fails because Wright has made it into a rapid fire miss-mash of pop culture/video game references in place of any real dramatic content. But then maybe the problem is with the original content itself as O’Malley himself failed to give any proper closure to these characters. At the end, of both the books and the movie, you have no sense that Pilgrim has moved forward apart from gaining a new sword and defeating the ex’s. Oh, both try to leave a question mark about Scott and Ramona’s future, but they still deliver the prerequisite “happy ending” which comes off as a cop out.

If I may make a comparison between the Scott Pilgrim movie/books and the Spider-man movies; Scott Pilgrim 1 & 2 feel like Spider-man 1, really good but not truly great. They hit the right notes more then they miss and, although very enjoyable, you get the feeling that it could be soo much more.

And then comes Spider-man 2/Scott Pilgrim Vol 3, 4 and 5. Superior in every way. Characters and story are better defined because the creators learned from their mistakes and crafted a much more mature and thoughtful piece of work while still being massively entertaining. Emphasis is placed on fulfilling the traditional structure of “good triumphs over evil” while also adding more emotional depth and moments of quiet introspection that make the characters feel more “real” which grounds them despite all the craziness going on elsewhere in the story. You also get a sense that everyone in the story learns from their own mistakes and grow as people rather than caricatures.

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour/Scott Pilgrim The Movie is the equivalent of Spider-man 3. There is little or no character development beyond the superficialities of fighting the bad guy while trying to save a failing relationship. Scott/Ramona=Peter Parker/Mary Jane Watson don’t feel like they have grown or developed by the end of the story nor have they moved onto another level beyond managing just to stay together. In both cases, I felt that their stories had came to the point where they would have been better off without each other and should have moved on.

Scott/Peter becomes (is) a self centered twat who is certain that he must be with the woman they claim to love which, in both cases, was based heavily on infatuation/lust, not on whether they had anything in common beyond physical attraction. Meanwhile, Ramona/M.J. both come off as aloof and, despite showing some affection and claiming to love Scott/Peter, they both seem perfectly willing to drop they’re boyfriends depending on which way the wind is blowing because neither feel like they had any real love for their men beyond what they were getting out of them, be it fighting evil exes or supervillians. Both Scott/Peter seem to be breaking their backs to prove their love for these women while both of the ladies seem to hitch their wagons to them simply due to convenience and nothing more, while being ready to bug out at a moments notice if things don’t suit them which isn’t surprising as they both seem self absorbed, never mind that neither seem to have a problem hooking up with other men.

Meanwhile, the villains come off as one note and their defeat feels less like a triumph over adversity then a necessary end to the story. The secondary characters have no development at all. Essentially, both Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour(Movie)/Spider-man 3 feel like nothing more then action scene’s punctuated by substandard plot devices and generic character moments designed to give the illusion that we are seeing these people progress as human beings when, by the end of the story, there has been no real change from where they were at the beginning of the comic/movie.

In both cases, the easy way out has been taken by providing generic “happy ending’s” because the comic/movie’s creator(s) didn’t have the nerve to buck tradition and provide a resolution that, although may come off as downbeat, would have felt more “real” and “true”, thus giving their stories greater depth and meaning while elevating them beyond being a simple comic book/movie which is exactly what had been achieved in Scott Pilgrim Vol’s 3/4/5 and Spider-man 2.

Furthermore, people have been claiming that SPVSTW is “Next Generation” stuff. BULLSHIT. What exactly was “next gen” about this movie? What, comic book style framing, text and transitions? Creepshow and HULK have already done it. Split screens? DePalma was doing that before my Father’s condom broke. Rapid fire editing? Michael Bay does that shit all the time and he, rightfully, doesn’t get any applause for it. Super slick fight choreography? Stephen Chow did it better in Kung Fu Hustle. Apart from adopting the aesthetics of 8-bit games, there was NOTHING revolutionary about this movie. Wright just took every trick in the book and put them all together. Too bad he didn’t have the content to back it up

FIGHT CLUB did the same thing over ten years ago and THAT movie truly felt revolutionary, not because of all the visual tricks that David Fincher employed, but because of the strength of that films ideas. It actually had something to say which is where Scott Pilgrim completely fails. If Wright had infused his script with some thematic subtext, apart from all the surface level gloss of taking responsibility for ones own actions (which I don’t think was even done all that well) then it could have been something special. Wright could have said something about the twentysomething generation of today. But he didn’t. He was more focused on the fight scene’s and jokes. Don’t get me wrong, Fight Club had plenty of action and lots-o-jokes, but it was always the idea’s that were driving that story. What’s driving Scott Pilgrim? 8-Bit video game references....

Scott Pilgrim had the potential to be a Kung Fu Hustle style masterpiece but it failed to come even close and here’s why; Firstly, Stephen Chows character makes a TRUE evolution through that story. He starts off as a shit and, by the end, he has realized his full potential and came to defend the very people he put into jeopardy in the first place. Scott Pilgrim, IMHO, makes no such transition, at least not to the extent that Chow’s character did, nor did the piddling character development of SP compare to the overwhelming emotional joy I had of seeing Chow get his shit together. The final scene where Chow and the mute girl become children, symbolizing their regained innocence, brings tears to my eyes every time. I felt nothing for Pilgrim and his bitch.

Two, Chow’s fight scenes are masterful. Cleanly directed where you could tell everything that was happening not to mention that they kept building and building to an epic crescendo while each fight scene’ topped the last, not only in scale and scope, but also in emotional weight. By the end you’re cheering for Chow to kick the Beast’s ass. I never felt anything like that in the fight with Gideon. It just felt like nothing was truly ever at stake and, as a result, I felt no tension. It might be a forgone conclusion that the hero will win but you have to make the audience feel that he is knocking his ass out in order to earn it. The protagonist needs to suffer in order for his triumph to taste all the more sweeter. Scott Pilgrim seemed to be only mildly inconvenienced.

In conclusion, the lack of proper character development is what robbed Scott Pilgrim of the emotional core it needed in order to fully engage the audience the way Kung Fu Hustle did. Stuff happens, then more stuff happens, the end. The protagonists were unlikeable which made me apathetic towards their plight and not once did I feel any emotional connection to them. All the fight scene’s, video game references and visual effects can’t cover the lack of real heart in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.
 

I'll accept that people might not think it's as good as Shaun of the Dead.  I'm undecided myself.  But it's head and shoulders above Hot Fuzz.  No contest.

 

As for your second comment, you either entirely missed the point of the film, or you have no idea what the term "manic pixie dream girl" means.  Take your pick.

HOT FUZZ is actually my favorite of the three!

 

As for missing the point ... hmm, it's possible, I suppose. But it feels like a problem when the romantic center of your movie is the least captivating girl in a movie full of captivating girls. (Seriously, how much does Kim rock with the little that actress is given to do?!)

 

Luckily, the rest of the cast is so good, and the visuals so enthralling, that it ends up being a minor weakness rather than a major one.

 

(Just for fun: HOT FUZZ - 10/10; SHAUN - 9.5/10; SCOTT PILGRIM - 8/10.)

Why do people insist on talking about the incredibly subjective aspects of this movie as if they were cold, refutable fact?

 

Some people like Ramona (like me), some don't. Some people can relate to the characters (like me), some can't. Some find Scott to be an irredeemable ass, I think he comes across as charming and well-meaning despite his dimness and there's plenty to indicate that he's growing up by the end. Some people are freaked out by Scott supposedly killing the exes (I actually sort of understand this, even though it's ultimately too silly to give it much weight. If it helps, remember they all willingly challenged Scott to a duel to the death and were very much trying to kill him.) 

 

And for the record, I think this movie is inferior to Shaun of the Dead, but that's just because Shaun of the Dead is a REALLY REALLY good movie. And it's about on par with Hot Fuzz, maybe a little better. But here, I admit that my own subjective baggage is weighting it a little. I mean, the movie may as well have been made just for me. I'm a comic book guy who loves Beck, played video games in the era that the movie mostly references, and has been part of the indie music scene in Toronto. And I spent my 20s aimless and poor. And I've had my own Ramona. Makes it impossible to emotionally distance myself from this movie, and I admit this.

 

By the way, watching the movie on DVD I was a little surprised to find it was only 1 hour and 50 minutes. Given that, I think they could have and should have added more. I feel like the transition from Todd to Roxy to the Katayanagi twins goes by a little too breathlessly--the twins in particular could have used a bit more setup or backstory, and more importantly Scott and Ramona's relationship seems to sour a bit too quickly. A few more scenes in there could have really helped with the complaints about chemistry, I think (I believe Cera and Winstead actually have great chemistry, it's just that the script has them butting heads a little too much). Also, I have no idea why they cut out the earlier foreshadowing of Nega Scott.

 

Like I say, I'm irrationally in love with this movie, but I have to admit I can't completely brush off the criticism that, by the second half, the relationship stuff is starting to feel like exposition to get to the next fight scene. I'm invested at that point, but I can see why some people might not be.

I'm going to be honest here: Shaun is honestly my least favorite Edgar Wright work. Don't get me wrong, I still dig it, but Pilgrim, Hot Fuzz and Spaced ultimately hold more value for me because I feel like I connect with them more because they center more around geeky things I love like kung-fu films/musicals, comic books, video games, British mysteries and gleefully over-the-top action films.

 

Hey, Greg, what's your opinion of Fuzz anyway?

My issues with Scott Pilgrim aside, I agree with this. I find Hot Fuzz to be a weirdly uneven film that, for a genre mash picture, it's maybe trying to be too many different things at once (a comedy, a high-octane action film, an Agatha Christie mystery, and bizzarely, though this may not have been the intention, a slasher film). 

If I rubbed out a genie and had my three wishes one would be never having to hear or read the term manic pixie dream girl again. There is no more horrendous concept or phrase in the entire world of art and entertainment. I want to put all of my fists through it then launch it into the sun.

I am with you bucho, but we are stuck with it. It is a female fantasy, and thus it will endlessly be re-heated and re-served to the teeny boppers this type of archetype appeals to.

 

Just like we men will always get a recycled james bond served to us (ladies man, license to kill), because it tickles the 12 year old self centered douchbag in all of us.

The MPDG is a male fantasy sold to male viewers. She's damaged but soulful, sexy yet single, creative enough to entertain herself but needy enough to need YOU. If there was one in movies last year she wasn't in Scott Pilgrim. Try Emma Roberts in It's Kind of a Funny Story.

If Ramona were a fantasy, she wouldn't come with the baggage that she does. 

Sure she would. So's the hero can SAVE HER!

I agree it's a male fantasy, not a female one... but Ramona doesn't serve that function in SPvTW, if for no other reason than Scott is too busy being selfish to ever think about if she could use some saving.  Her baggage is her own to deal with, and he has to grow up.  The coming to grips with each thing allows them, at the end, to meet in the middle, and restart at the beginning.

 

But he doesn't really "save her.".  And even if he did, that would have less to do with her baggage then it does with his baggage, really. 

so she's just the Maguffin.

 

On a purely superficial level I hated her hair.  As a charecter I just didn't get it.  She wasn't mysterious enough to be interesting, she was just up herself.  Women like that are just far too muich work.  I genuinely don't understand why she would be a fantasy figure for anbody.

 

And is manic pixie dream girl a real phrase or just created within this thread?

http://www.avclub.com/articles/my-year-of-flops-case-file-1-elizabethtown-the-bat,15577/

Thanks for the clarification.

I just re-watched SPVTW for the first time since it came out on Blu-ray and all of the problems that I saw in my original assessment still feels accurate. But may I add that I just got Gremlins on Blu-ray and that movie crystallizes exactly why SPVTW fails. Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers are totally unsympathetic assholes and I don't care about them at any time. The only sympathy I had for anyone was for Knives and Ellen Wong was heartbreaking in the scene where Scott dumps her. Wong was the best thing about SPVTW. PERIOD!

But, back to Gremlins; I was rooting for Billy Peltzer (Zach Galligan) throughout the whole movie because he’s painted as a sympathetic character that you want to see succeed. There was also a huge amount of controversy, at the time, about the scene where Billy’s would-be girlfriend Kate (Phoebe Cates) reveals why she hates Christmas as it’s when her father died, trying to climb down the chimney dressed as Santa, when she was a little girl. People think that it’s really out of place but I think it takes this one dimensional character and gives her a great deal of depth just due to that one scene while also providing context for why she hates Christmas and also making the case that Christmas isn’t always a time of joy and happiness for everyone.

But I never feel anything like that for Ramona and Scott is just a mean-spirited jerkoff. I have no reason to care about these people nor does the movie explain why I should at all. As I said previously, the lack of heart is what is missing from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Way, way late to the party, but man this film was a blast.  Definitely my favorite Wright film, although I'm probably alone here in liking Shaun the least of the three.  I would agree with some of the criticisms here in that Scott and Ramona's relationship wasn't an all-timer, mostly because the compression of the story made them pogo from the nascent stages to the break up to a reunion/retry without time for them to really be together.  Since they're never really together before they're breaking up, there's no time for our investment in her as Scott's dream girl to shift into investment in an actual relationship.

 

But I don't even close to care, because it could be a relationship between Norman Bates and Pol Pot's exhumed corpse and I'd still watch the movie twice for the supporting cast.  There's a saying I think is attributed to Ebert about whether you'd want to watch the characters in a movie just sit and eat lunch, and this movie has over a dozen that I would happily watch chow down.  Culkin is the most obvious scene stealer, but Alison Pill does almost as much with far, far less.  Watching it a second time, I went into convulsions at her doing absolutely nothing in the background of the opening shot of Scott and Young Neil at Julie's party.  I mean literally nothing.  She doesn't move a muscle for about 10 seconds, she isn't standing with anyone, doesn't breathe and doesn't blink (actually I'm almost positive she doesn't blink once in the entire movie).

 

I never got around to seeing Superman Returns, but all of a sudden I want Brandon Routh to be in everything.   I don't know why I slept on this for so long, but this is one of those times I thank God for Chud, or else I might never have made my way back to it after it slipped out of theaters.

 

 

Edited by Schwartz - 2/3/12 at 3:17pm