Quick Takes: "Pulp Fiction", "Scott Pilgrim", "The Social Network", "Spirited Away"

"Pulp Fiction" (***1/2)

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

I get the impression that "Pulp Fiction" is the most widely accepted of Quentin Tarantino's films, and it rather understandable to see why. The film rams out charismatic dialogue that doesn't cop to single-quote tactics, and is actually more of a dialogue between characters. In coming back to it, it is rather understandable to notice a slightly purposeless feeling about proceedings, since it renders characters quite easily dispensable in spite of their rather passionate segments. That being said, those segments are rather exciting pulp entertainment, like the title pronounces quite fervently. However, there's not so much more I can say that hasn't been said already. It's a rather simple film, to be perfectly honest and with no mark against it.

"Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" (***)

Directed by Edgar Wright

I'd already relegated a great deal of skepticism post-viewing regarding this film, as is no doubt easy to happen with a film that has such an ardent following. In any case of that happening, a film is cheapened by the hype around it. All that said, "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" is a hilariously quirky ride, and among the few "quirky" films that manages not to turn me off. Usually "quirky comedy" is a condemning phrase, because it's all quirk and no passion in the works. Edgar Wright never goes quite to the level of passion, but he is rather invested, and as such this film isn't so hollow. It's quite fun, and worth it simply for Kieran Culkin's fantastically single-faced performance that soars further than it has any right to.

Film Review: "The Adventures of Tintin"

Let it be known, that the Spielbergian adventure flick has not gone out of style. Three years after he stained his career image permanently with "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull", Spielberg puts out two films this year. One of them is the Oscar play, as much expected and maligned by myself. But to be perfectly honest, it's always been his more commercial plays that caught my attention, which is an ironic reversal of how things usually work. It's when he's not searching for meaning, and rather searching for thrills, that he strikes his strongest films, and also his weakest, but they are anything but banal. How is he the exception to the rule? An experience in cinema that is both his gift and his bane.

"The Adventures of Tintin" isn't an explosive return to greatness for Steven Spielberg, but it is a rollicking ride of a film. Based on the Herge comic series, the first film in Spielberg and Peter Jackson's co-operative film trilogy spends no immense amount of time establishing the Tintin character. From the first minute after the uppity animated opening, he's shown as eager, ambitious, and pretty much your zero qualms protagonist. Does he need to be a lot more? No, but we would damn sure like him to be. If Herge never gave him ample dimension, writers Steve Moffat, Edgar Wright, and Joe Cornish could have taken a bit of license with this one. But it's never really distracting, so there's that.

For Your Anticipation: You're Gonna Need A Weapon

I wonder how many people are going to hand Attack the Block spots on their Top Ten of 2011 list, much like they did for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. That's not to say there's already something so massively wrong with the film, but you might have noticed that my interests aren't as lenient as other moviegoers. I'm still looking for an action film that surpasses Thor in quality, and we're clearly not getting it this Summer. Aside from the fact that this is playing in limited release, it looks like the exact sort of overtly hip genre trash you'd expect from Edgar Wright, and I don't have much intention from seeing this one.

Saturday-Sunday: Shaun of the Dead

How the hell have I not seen this film until now. Shaun of the Dead is one of the first films from Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), and as soon as this film came out it was the zombie comedy that every following zom-com would be graded against. If you don't already know, the plot of the film is pretty much identical to Dawn of the Dead, which I will be seeing tomorrow evening. The zombie apocalypse has hit, and there is only one safe place left on earth: the Winchester pub. From there slacker Shaun and his friend Ed try to get Shaun's family, friends, and ex-girlfriend there as soon as possible.

Wright has always shown a spectacular sense of humor, and the actors he chooses to work with know exactly what to do with the dialogue their given. There really is nobody else who could've made this film the way it is. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are a natural team, and most of the greatest scenes in this film are of the two. The film is occasionally frightening, as usually comes with the zombie genre. It also deals with exactly what it means to be human, albeit in a comedic way. Personally, I'll always have a specific place in my heart for Zombieland, but this is a very close second.

B+

Film Review: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

After years of depressingly awful video game adaptations, Edgar Wright gives the nintendo 64 generation something to be proud of. The first explanation of people's feelings on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will most likely be that it is a video game movie. However, it's so much more than that. It's fast-paced, super-kinetic, action-comedy of the highest degree. Only Edgar Wright is capable of doing films like this anymore. He's dealing with the same sort of territory that he was with Hot Fuzz, but with a more romantic edge to it. The best way I can put it is that it's an R-Rated film, despite its PG-13 rating.

You know the plot by now. Scott Pilgrim meets his dream girl, and has to overcome her seven evil exes in order to be with her. Along the way he deals with hostile exes of his own, and his own personal problems. It's the story of a boy becoming a man, and killing people. There is action in this film that would make Quentin Tarantino proud, and it apparently does. People die in this movie, and nobody really cares, or at least nobody in the movie. That's the universe that Edgar Wright lives in, and it's a fun place to escape to for a while.

Now as much as I love Scott and Ramona, and how their romance is really the backbone of the film, they aren't my favorite characters. The three characters the three characters that make this film so amazing are Wallace, Scott's gay roommate, Scott's 17-year-old ex-girlfriend Knives Chau, and Kim, the drummer in Scott's band. Wallace is pretty much the coolest gay guy in the world. He's like Barney Stinson for men. A great deal of the laugh out loud parts of this movie are due to him.

Knives is the personification of the audience. She's one of the geekiest characters put on screen, and props to Ellen Wong for pulling this off. If there's a part of this film that scared me the most, it's her, and that's a compliment. And then Kim is just a great character who doesn't get enough screen-time. Literally every scene she's in, she steals. It's something that you have to see for yourself. Most of the actors in the film give pretty good performances, and for once I didn't hate Chris Evans. He plays a total jerk, but I actually liked him. Maybe this bodes well for him.

Either way, you won't be seeing this movie for the performances. You're here for the comedy and the action, and both are delivered in full. A few jokes don't quite hit their mark, but there's nothing dislikable about it. The action is obviously similar to that of video games, but it's got its own unique flair. Every time they break into fighting, the crowd is watching with full attention. Ultimately, while the film may not be up to the same calibur as Inception or Toy Story 3, it's still better than most films out there.

B+

3 to See in August!

As the summer comes to a close, we begin to enter Oscar film season. In the first seven months of the year, we have three or four films that could be nominated, and I don't think we're likely to get many more out of August. We don't have the comfort of Neill Blomkamp or Quentin Tarantino. On a side note, when is Quentin going to get back to making movies. He's had a solid year off. It's time to get back to work. As for August, it's really hard to find three films I might be looking forward to seeing, but I'll do my best.

3. Eat Pray Love

In a Summer this bad, this film somehow finds its way onto this list. The film focuses on a woman who goes on a journey of self discovery in some other country, I think somewhere in Africa. The film stars Julia Roberts, so it should have little trouble getting women to see it, and they'll probably drag their man friends to see it. I wasn't planning to see this film at all, and it's very likely I still won't. However, I did learn that Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee has written and directed the film, so maybe it won't be all that bad. It has Javier Bardem in it, so how bad can it be?

2. The Other Guys

This has the potential to be the rare Will Ferrell or Mark Wahlberg film that I don't aggresively hate. Adam McKay is directing, which opens up some obvious opportunities for great, or at least good comedy. I don't see this film being spectacular, but I can see it being fun. It has Samuel L. Jackson in a comedic role, rather than a serious one. Lose Dwayne Johnson, and I'd be there opening weekend. As it stands, I'll probably be there opening weekend anyway, but what's the alternative? Step Up 3D? Go see Inception for the seventh time?

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Usually the most anticipated film of the month has a lot going for it, but in a Summer that's mostly bummer, there's no guarantees, certainly not for Michael Cera. Cera is one of those actors who plays the exact same guy in every movie, which works because he's good at it. Still, this is kind of an action movie, so it's got something more than just comedy fueling it. It's written and directed by such a great director as Edgar Wright, so there will definitely be some great comedy. Whether it will resonate emotionally is unsure. This film is still very up in the air, but it's got more of a shot than most films in August.