Scott Airbender?

Edgar Wright tweeted about this last night. I love Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I love Avatar: The Last Airbender. So it was obvious I'd love this great little mashup.

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Daisy

A few people have put me on to this little film by Ro Rao who has worked with Curious Pictures  producing shorts for Amnesty International and music videos.

This short is a little on the gruesome side so be warned.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. Keanu Reeves

It's time for yet another Scott Pilgrim related post and it's all thanks to the incredible work of AEmovieguy. By splicing the soundtrack to the Scott Pilgrim trailer with clips from the Matrix trilogy AEmovieguy has created something incredible - a short film that makes the Matrix sequels look okay.

Do check out all of AEmovieguys other trailer mashups - my personal favourite is the Toy Story 3 / Clash of the Titans - pure genius.

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I am an idiom

jump the gun

- to do something too soon, especially without thinking carefully about it

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Ode to Royal Mail

This time last week I posted, by 'First Class' mail, my entry to the Birmingham Zine Festival Mail Art Exhibition. It has so far failed to arrive at it's destination.

I am somewhat unhappy.

 

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Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation

Well folks, it's time for another of my seemingly endless Scott Pilgrim related posts.

This time round I want to show you a short animation produced by Adult Swim that fills in some of Scott Pilgrims back story.

It's a really nice piece of animation so I hope you enjoy.

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Scott Pilgrim vs. Me

Scott Pilgrim the comic book has been a master class in storytelling. Bryan Lee O'Malley created an incredibly believable world. It is a world that reflects the dreams and ideas I had when I was a 22 year old, finding my way through life and love.

Edgar Wright began bringing his Scott Pilgrim vision to the screen before the comic version had been given it's ending. And although the two diverge slightly when it comes to wrapping up the story, Edgar and his team have managed to bring the snowy world of Scott's Toronto to the big screen just as it appears in the comic. Some scenes are perfect matches for their black and white counterparts. Edgar has also transferred the sounds of the comic to the screen, by taking some of O'Malley’s soundtrack suggestions (in each volume of the comic Bryan Lee O'Malley recommends a set of music tracks to accompany that volume) along with some of his own. It all works flawlessly, the perfect melding of sight and sound.

I'm not going to give you a full synopsis of the film, you can find that in most other reviews, but in essence the film is about finding the girl of your dreams and overcoming not only the physical barriers to making that relationship work but the mental ones we all put in the way of our true happiness. As an added bonus we get high octane video game/anime style fight scenes, fantastic acting, great music and a director at the top of his game, who understands his source material and his audience.

In fact, Scott Pilgrim has a lot in common with Spaced, the Channel 4 show Edgar directed over 10 years ago (it was written by and starred Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes). Much like in Spaced there is a character somewhere in this film we can all wholly identify with. And as in Spaced, the film understands the complexity of relationships and how we deal with them.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World may seem like an all out fantasy action film with all the pop culture bells and whistles, but the film, like the comic that inspired it, is really about people. It’s about how we deal with growing up, taking responsibility for our actions and dealing with the consequences. It’s about life and that is something that Edgar Wright has placed at the heart of his film.

I cannot recommend this film enough, its charm and wit shine. It wears its heart on its sleeve and it certainly walked away with mine. Go see it as soon as it opens in the UK on 25th August.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Directed by Edgar Wright

Produced by Edgar Wright, Marc Platt, Eric Gitter & Nira Park Written by Edgar Wright (Screenplay), Michael Bacall (Screenplay)

Based on the comic by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Narrated by Bill Hader

Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman

Music by Nigel Godrich

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Scott Pilgrim vs The World iTrailer

It's almost here - the cinema event of the year - Scott Pilgrim vs The World. If your not already convinced this will be the greatest film of all time then let me introduce you to the wonder that is the 8-bit interactive trailer. Introduced by director Edgar Wright the trailer takes you behind-the-scenes of the movie. Filled with easter egg, video game references and more, this is all the over excited geek fans of the film could want.

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The Mighty Thor!

Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of

THOR

 

 

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Sucker Punch

Following a showing at this years San Diego Comic-Con, Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch trailer has now appeared on-line, albeit in a slightly different form.

I've been impressed with Snyder's previous work, especially Watchmen and Sucker Punch is looking great, just check out that giant Samurai and dragons.

Sucker Punch is due for release, in the US, on March 25th 2011 and stars Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone, Carla Gugino, John Hamm, Oscar Isaac and Scott Glenn.

 

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Joaquin Phoenix's Spinal Rap?

Joaquin Phoenix has hit the news this week with rumours of him being in the running to take over the roll of Bruce Banner from Ed Norton in the upcoming Avengers movie. This all seemed to go against the fact that the actor had recently given up acting for a new career as a rap singer. But EW.com is reporting that all may not be as it seems.

Phoenix's friend and brother-in-law Casey Affleck has been documenting his sudden career change, which may turn out to be a ruse all along. Magnolia Pictures has picked up the rights to Affleck's directorial debut - I'm Still Here: The Lost Year of Joaquin Phoenix. The film reportedly shows Phoenix involved in a number of outrageous situations, including snorting coke off a prostitute, full-frontal nudity and apparently Phoenix being defecated on while he sleeps.  It's all beginning to sound like a hip-hop Spinal Tap but are Phoenix and Affleck really creating a film commenting on the absurdity of celebrity culture or has Phoenix really lost the plot. 

Check out this video of Phoenix's appearance on The David Letterman Show last year and see if you think it's likely to be hoax or not -

Magnolia Pictures are insisting its not a mockumentary but with a limited release scheduled for September in the US we'll know that truth soon enough.

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Betty White is God

Well that's not entirely true but if producer Jerry Weintraub has his way she could well be. Deadline is reporting that Weintraub is pitching the idea of a remake of the 1977 George Burns comedy Oh, God with the Golden Girls star is in line to take over the role of God.

Weintraub was producer on the Carl Reiner directed original and has been looking to get a remake out of development hell for a number of years and with Betty White currently a hot property in the US having recently hosted Saturday Night Live and with a starring role in the new comedy Hot in Cleveland, it looks like the timing could be right.

With Hollywoods current obsession with remakes, this pitch may just have that divine spark to get the green light.

Photograph - David Shankbone

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Despicable Me Boosts Universal

Universal's new animation division Illumination Entertainment seems to be doing the business. It's recently been reported that they are looking at Tim Burton to direct a new animated take on Charles Addams 'Addams Family' and in the wake of the box office takings of 'Despicable Me' (a $56 million opening weekend) they look on the brink of challenging Dreamworks and Disney/Pixar for a slice of the oh so profitable family film market.

As a result the studio is said to be pushing forward plans to cash in on the success of 'Despicable Me' and get several new animated films on the slate. A sequel is most likely for 'Despicable' with adaptions of Dr. Seuss' 'The Lorax' and Ricky Gervais 'Flannimals' also in development.

'Despicable Me' featuring the voice talent of Steve Carell and Russel Brand doesn't hit UK screens until 15th October 2010 but here's a taste of what  we can look forward to come the autumn- 

I think this could be the sleeper hit of the year and possibly the strongest challenger for Pixar come next year's animated Oscar race.

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The Wind in The Willows - Nightmare Trailer?

Well it looks like it time for yet another update of a classic children's story and this time it's Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in The Willows. Developed by RG Entertainment, directed by Ray Griggs with effects work by Peter Jackson's visual gurus Weta Workshop, this modestly budgeted adaptation is not looking like the cosy versions of old.

Bleeding Cool has this week revealed the first poster and trailer for this new 'Willows' and it looks like Badger, Mole and Mr Toad have been pulled into Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas Universe. This first dark and moody looking trailer even appears to use the font from Nightmare and has a very Danny Elfman sounding score.

The film itself is sounding interesting with 'man in suit' performances coupled with facial animation done in CGI, similar to how Spike Jonze rendered the WIld Things in Where The Wild Things Are. But is what appears to be a darker, more grim looking take on the tale the way to go - I must admit I'm intrigued to see how this one turns out.

Not much else is known at this point but there will be some presence for the film at San Diego Comic Con so hopefully we'll see more soon.

Thanks again to Bleeding Cool for signposting the YouTube version of the trailer -

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Bloggers of Sandwell Assemble!

Birmingham has a very active blogging and tweeting community. Jon Bounds excellent site BiNS has a blogroll that features a multitude of sites about Brum and the stuff that goes on in it along with links to blogs that are by people in Brum.

But here in Sandwell it would appear that we're just not that much into celebrating and shouting out about all the great stuff that is happening in our neck of the woods.

Search Google for 'Sandwell' and you'll be presented with a lot of links to very official looking websites, for the Council, the Primary Care Trust or other sanctioned groups. Look at the wikipedia page for Sandwell and you'll be overwhelmed by the amount of information available there (at this point I am being somewhat sarcastic).

Why are the people of Sandwell so shy about what we do? I know there are people out there with twitter accounts. I know there are people out there with blogs. I know there are people out there with Flickr accounts. But it seems that we (and I'm as guilty as anyone) just don't say that much about Sandwell.

Sandwell mostly seems to get talked about in a negative light, just look at what the media usually says about us - it's always deprived this and derelict that, but I know that this isn't the full picture. There are great things happening in Sandwell, just look at what has been happening with the recent 'Be Proud of Sandwell' campaign. People have been taking the time to post comments about what makes them proud of Sandwell and it's all great stuff. It's all stuff that our colleagues in Birmingham and Wolverhampton should sit up and take notice of.

The Public building in West Bromwich has taken some stick in the past for reasons I won't go into here, but we should be embracing it and make it work for us - the people of Sandwell. It should be our mac, our Lighthouse or even our Ikon. A place where people and culture come together without division, sharing experiences and using it for our benefit.

I'd like to see more people standing up and celebrating Sandwell - telling people about the good and great things that are happening here. Isn't it about time we had our own version of BiNS? If such a thing already exists I'm having a hard time finding it - but I'd like to see it happen soon because I believe the people of Sandwell have a lot to offer and should be recognised and applauded.

So I put out the call 'Bloggers of Sandwell Assemble!'

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International Pilgrim

Excitement for Edgar Wright's adaptation of Scott Pilgrim continues to mount and this week has seen the release of the new international poster for the film.

But better than that is The Playlists track by track review of the album that will accompany the release of the film. The album is produced by Godrich (Radiohead, Air, Beck) and feature songs from Beck, Broken Social Scene and Metric. Best of all where there is an audio link The Playlist has included the audio for that track. Many of the tracks are those suggested by original creator/writer/illustrator of the Scott Pilgrim saga Bryan Lee O'Malley (check out the back of the Pilgrim books for his suggested soundtrack for each volume).

My favourites so far are the Metric and Rolling Stones tracks - but I can't wait to see how these songs will play out in the film. It's looking like this album will be my new Singles and really capture the feel of the film.

Anyway go have a read of what The Playlist thinks and listen to a few really great songs - take me to the track by track review.

 

 

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The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec

Now you may not have heard about this particular comic book adaptation, but French director Luc Beeson, best known for Leon and The Fifth Element, is bringing Jacques Tardi's heroine Adèle Blanc-Sec to the big screen.

Featuring a gorgeous heroine, action, adventure, pterodactyls, Mummy's and more the film is due to hit UK screens in September.

Take a look at the official trailer (with English subtitles) to get a taste of what's in store.

I also recommend you take a trip over to the official Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec website.

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River Tam and The Fireflies

Earlier today on Twitter, I posed a question about album artwork and if people would by it again with a digital download code replacing the actual vinyl. I have since stumbled across this blog post by Joebot who is producing a version of the 'Firefly' soundtrack on vinyl as part of the Crazy 4 Cult exhibition in Los Angeles. 

The reason I was thinking about album artwork is that since the takeover of CD and digital record sales, we are missing out on what is, for me, one of the joys of collecting music - album cover artwork. This is the beautiful album artwork Joebot has created for his 'Firefly' album.

You can see the back cover artwork plus the actual vinyl itself over at Joebot's blog.

I hope that one day we get back to having a large format music delivery system just so I can look at gorgeous cover artwork like this whilst listening to the music, just like a did with all those old vinyl records.

 

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Scott Pilgrim Avatar Creator!

In the run up to the release of what is set to be one of the biggest films of the year, the official Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World movie website is offering you the change to create your own Scott Pilgrim styled avatar.

This is me - Scott Pilgrim Style.

If you want to make your own head over to the Scott Pilgrim Avatar Creator! and get your Scott Pilgrim makeover. Then post it to Twitter and Facebook, I want to see Scott Pilgrim avatars take over!

This post was brought to you by the words Scott and Pilgrim.

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Avatar 1.5?

Here's the teaser trailer for a new film due summer 2011 that is taking the mix of 3D and realistic blue lifeforms of Avatar one step further.

 

 

 

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