If you’re in the Los Angeles area you may be in luck. Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema has announced that they’ll start hosting a monthly midnight screenings of Edgar Wright’s modern cult-classic, Scott Pilgrim vs the World. It feels so weird calling it a classic, but the film’s cult status can’t be denied. At least some of you might actually get to see it in theaters for the first time. and judging by its ticket sales, that’s probably everyone you know. The first screening will take place on Friday, September 23rd and attendees are encouraged to come dressed in costume. For more info regarding future screenings, check out the New Beverly Cinema’s official site for a full calendar of upcoming events. It’s a shame that its only happening in Los Angeles, but I still hope to attend at least one of those screenings at some point.
It’s a shame that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World flopped at the box office. It wasn’t a terrible movie, and the entertainment industry as a whole would have benefited from it success. While I can’t build a time machine and take back to the opening weekend, you can do the next best thing and buy a copy of the DVD or Blu-ray that hit stores this week. I’m not sure if they’re planning on throwing this clip in the extras or not, but for whatever reason, director Edgar Wright decided to have the actors film the opening scene with British accents. I thought it was pretty funny even if Michael Cera couldn’t quite pull it off. If you’re curious as to why the video quality isn’t quite up to par, it’s because this test footage was apparently shot with a Lumix. Read more…
I see it time after time again: A new film opens packed with hype, does poor box office and then fades away within a week. A good pulse check of this is if you see any cosplay related to said property even a month after the film is heading to video — so I was very pleased to see the above Scott Pilgrim cosplayer at New York Comic Con on Friday. I think too many reviewer got lost with the videogame story telling style and lost fact that Pilgrim is really an A+ geeky romance film that speaks to a generation (or two).
By now, someone has probably told you to that you absolutely have to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World — and they’re right, you must. Aside from being hilarious, and filled with plenty of the over-the-top action you’d want from your typical Hollywood blockbusters, the film’s roots as an independent graphic novel make the film particularly important in that it holds the potential to pave the way for others. In fact, Michael wrote a fantastic article about that which you can read here. For now, sit back and enjoy this amazing Scott Pilgrim/Matrix mash-up by YouTube user AEmovieguy.
Come Monday those in power in Hollywood will be looking at the box office from this weekend and the stakes are high. If Scott Pilgrim vs. The World does badly you can bet that Hollywood will never touch an indie comic book for many years to come — but on the other hand if it does well it may open the door for other indie comic books to be made info feature length films. Right now when Hollywood thinks of comic books they just see action adventure films with superheroes running around into their underwear, however if Scott Pilgrim can score stories that aren’t about “stuff blowing up” might have a fair chance at the screen. In return that would encourage more folks to read indie comics and then the big guys like Marvel and DC might take more chances. And the price for this? Just one movie ticket and a bucket of popcorn to change the world a little bit.
