This is going to be the best film of 2010

[Seb Patrick]

Without question.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/scottpilgrimvstheworld/

Topic

[Danodin]

Hey you, get your damn hands off her…

The BTTF music is enough to get me fired up, it makes my spine tingle! Even the Huey Lewis music (which I know some people absolutely hate) gives me chills. Seriously, does a more perfect movie exist??

[Pete Part Three]

No.

[Danny Stephenson]

No.

This.

I can’t believe I actually copied and pasted that in order to quote it :)

[Danodin]

Okay maybe there IS one flaw – how perfect Marty’s family is at the end. It’s not a huge gripe but even after all that happens it still feels like Marty has it all handed to him, it’s almost like cheating, not earned.

My alternative version would be…Marty returns and everything is exactly the same as it was. However, he opens the garage door and, to his amazement, the 4×4 is sitting there. George then appears and says that he was hoping it was gonna be a surprise. Marty asks how he could afford the car and George goes to a box in the garage and pulls out the sci-fi novel, it pans down to reveal the name ‘George McFly’. George then says ‘a good friend of mine once told me, if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything…’

[Smeg4Brains]

> it still feels like Marty has it all handed to him, it’s almost like cheating, not earned.

Now you come to mention it, I’d quite like to punch Marty in the face.

[Ben Paddon]

I saw Scott Pilgrim today. Bloody marvellous. Also, my girlfriend has Synesthesia and she says this movie overloaded her brain. But in a good way.

[peas_and_corn]

>Now you come to mention it, I’d quite like to punch Marty in the face.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpNtbyz3DEE

[Fluffy Wok]

I always thought that with the whole causality thing Marty’s perfect family at the end would mean that Marty would come back different (richer, more like he hadn’t been raised by an alcoholic mother and a spineless father) although the time travel rules in Back to the Future have never really followed logic rigorously.

[Pete Part Three]

Strange that he’s still living in the same house, really, even if it has got nicer furniture.

[Seb Patrick]

Nope, BTTF is basically perfect.

Aaaand I’m going to a press screening on Thursday. Lovely stuff.

(That said, after a second viewing, I’m still completely in lesbians with Scott Pilgrim)

[Seb Patrick]

Okay maybe there IS one flaw – how perfect Marty’s family is at the end. It’s not a huge gripe but even after all that happens it still feels like Marty has it all handed to him, it’s almost like cheating, not earned.

My alternative version would be…Marty returns and everything is exactly the same as it was. However, he opens the garage door and, to his amazement, the 4×4 is sitting there. George then appears and says that he was hoping it was gonna be a surprise. Marty asks how he could afford the car and George goes to a box in the garage and pulls out the sci-fi novel, it pans down to reveal the name ‘George McFly’. George then says ‘a good friend of mine once told me, if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything…’

In terms of the overall message, though, is your way any different from the actual film? At the end of the day, George McFly becomes a successful author precisely because Marty told him that. Marty had a positive impact on his father’s life, and as a result was able to reap the rewards. I’m not sure it’s “unearned” at all.

[Danodin]

Well you can’t have Marty’s jaunt in the past having no effect at all. I just think it would be better if it was more subtle. George and Lorraine would act exactly the same as at the start of the film. Maybe it could be played that George always had written the book even without Marty’s involvement in the past.

[Andrew]

Unsurprisingly – given that we’re taking about changes to the only Oscar-nominated sci-fi-comedy screenplay in film history – I don’t much care for the mooted alternative ending.

The family’s set up as one full of issues precisely because it’s going to be solved at the end. If you’re not planning that ending, you don’t write the mother as a drunk, the dad as a nervous drip, the kids as drop-outs and losers. The end’s built into the start – you don’t change one, you change both.

Or, preferably, neither.

George McFly buying the same house is within the (admittedly nonsensical) rules BTTF choses to establish – there’s never any question that getting his parents back together will cause Marty and his siblings to be born, and be born the same, despite that being unlikely in a ‘real’ buttefly-effect time travel situation. Old man Peabody’s farm gets turned into the same (name aside) mall despite an ‘alien landing’ on the premises in the 50s.

Time’s a hardy thing in BTTF, and it has a whiff of destiny about it.

But why would George become a novelist…then keep it from his family? To buy Marty a 4×4 down the line? How about paying for Elaine’s rehab and straightening the kids out?

The change suggests that ‘Marty’s life getting better’ is the goal of the film. But it’s also about happy-ever-afters for George and Elaine. They were, however unwittingly, with Marty on his journey to solve the future. They get rewarded too for doing the right thing.

That gain isn’t financial, it’s not about paying for a car. It’s emotional – George’s sense of self-respect and confidence, Elaine’s happiness in ‘choosing’ a hero rather than marrying for pity. Kids raised in a happier environment, Marty able to talk to his parents about who he’s dating rather than hide it. All that stuff.

You’d have to take those issue out of the script, too, for the suggested new present-day ending. And since all those things are woven into the film in the early set-up and represent the character arcs for the bulk of the secondary characters, to take them out would be to collapse most of what makes BTTF such a strong character piece.

[Seb Patrick]

Listen to this dude Andrew, he knows what he’s talking about.

[Pete Part Three]

Apart from the Elaine bit, obviously.

[Andrew]

Why the hell did I type ‘Elaine’?! OVER AND OVER AGAIN?!

a) The promised Seinfeld/BTTF crossover is finally happening.

b) Fucking idiocy.

[Danodin]

Darn it, Pete, you had to get in there first… (methinks th’Ellard had Seinfeld on his mind) and Seb, how dare you bring a Bill & Ted reference into this!! *stamps foot*

Btw Andrew, just because BTTF’s screenplay was Oscar-nommed doesn’t make it right!

Okay…the original ending obviously works really well in terms of viewing it as a pure entertainment piece (if it doesn’t give you that warm fuzzy feeling you are cold, so very cold), which, duh, BTTF is meant to be. If you went with my ending (which btw I’ve just emailed to the two Bobs to get their feedback), or one similar, you definitely would have to change how George and Lorraine are at the start, as well as the way Marty views them, both in the present and the past. You would end up converting the whole thing into an afternoon family drama more concerned with ‘daddy issues’ payoffs than the sheer fun of BTTF’s story and setup. Suddenly it all becomes less entertaining, less interesting, more shit…*sigh*

‘I figured…what the hell!’ is my favourite moment. It sums up the whole screenplay, if you think about it. You can poke holes in it left right and centre but what the two Zemeckis and Gale blatantly understood (and you can tell it’s where loads of writers go wrong) is that they were not writing Shakespeare, they were having a lot of fun with clever ideas. RTD is also pretty good at this, even though he gets the shit ripped out of him for even daring to write with that attitude.

[Andrew]

> Btw Andrew, just because BTTF’s screenplay was Oscar-nommed doesn’t make it right!

I feel I have been taught a valuable lesson. Thank you.

[Ridley]

Why the hell did I type ‘Elaine’?! OVER AND OVER AGAIN?!

a) The promised Seinfeld/BTTF crossover is finally happening.

b) Fucking idiocy.

You are her density.

[Pete Part Three]

You’ve only got to look at Hot Tub Time Machine’s shoddy conclusion, to realise that BTTF’s ending is pretty much perfect.

There’s really only one thing I’d dare change about the film and that is:

“Lorraine, if you ever have a kid that acts that way, I’ll disown you”

I HATE that line!

[Danodin]

God that is a bad line. I also don’t like the TV conversation, ‘what do you mean you’ve seen this? it’s brand new…’ It’s one of the few parts where the dialougue’s hitting your over the head rather than letting you enjoy it. Also…’who the hell is John F. Kennedy??’ cringe!

[Ben Paddon]

Yeah, if someone said a name to me that I didn’t know I would just nod sagely.

Sigh.

[Phil]

…and now Scott Pilgrim’s not in theaters anymore. At least not by me.

Mother pusbucket.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

I saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World a few weeks ago, the day it came out in UK cinemas if I remember correctly, and I effin’ loved it! Want to see it again! Just genious, beautiful work from Edgar Wright IMO.

[genericnerdyusername]

Saw it for the fourth time last night, and it was just as amazing as the second and third time! The first time gets an extra point though, seeing as I wasn’t waiting for Matthew Patel to show up. Not that the beginning of the film is in any way boring or unfunny, I just love Matthew Patel.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

I still can’t get over the fact that Kieran Culkin (the bed-wetter from Home Alone 1 & 2) plays Scott’s gay roommate. He was great in it!

[Pete Part Three]

Fuller, go easy on the Pepsi!

[Seb Patrick]

I saw K Culkin years ago onstage, he was great (and I believe he was very good in Igby Goes Down, though I’ve never seen it). Clearly the most talented Culkin, and yeah, he’s brilliant in SP.

(well done, gnun, you win with four – so far the most I’ve known anyone do, me included, is three. And one of those was free.)

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

A friend of mine recently gave me a copy of Igby Goes Down, still have yet to watch it, maybe tonight or some point this week. She said “…and BE HONEST” when I let her know what I think of Igby, so I’m guessing it’s one of those flicks you either love or hate.

[Dave]

>I saw K Culkin years ago onstage, he was great

Me too, he was in Our Nation’s Youth and stole the show.

[Seb Patrick]

That’s the one! All three were great (I’ve been a big fan of Colin Hanks ever since, too – odd seeing him pop up in the season two ep of Mad Men I’ve just watched), but he especially stood out. Was pleased when he was cast as Wallace, and he didn’t disappoint.

[Seb Patrick]

Except now that I think about it, wasn’t it called This Is Our Youth?

[Dave]

>Except now that I think about it, wasn’t it called This Is Our Youth?

Yes, you’re absolutely right.

The only line I remember was Culkin’s character opening a door for the female character and saying: “Chivalry isn’t dead, it just smells funny”.

The night I saw it, Colin Hanks’ dad was in and in the interval a ripple went through the audience and they spent the next twenty minutes craning to see him.

[Nick R]

Trailer of the year? I think so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uco41pOKeJg

[Seb Patrick]

Wouldn’t go that far, but it looks pretty strong. I’d always rather the Coens be writing original stuff than doing adaptations, though.

Also, here’s a gripe of mine – Matt Damon is not an Academy Award Winner(TM) for acting. He’s an Academy Award Winner(TM) for writing. Therefore, if he’s acting in your film, and not writing, and you call him “Academy Award Winner(TM) Matt Damon” in the trailer, it’s MISLEADING. That is all.

(I mean, I like Matt Damon. That just annoys me.)

[Carlito]

To be fair, I think Damon is well known enough for it not to be a deciding factor for the majority of cinema goers. I doubt anyone would go see a Matt Damon movie on the basis of his being advertised as an Oscar winner, only to later find out he actually won his Oscar for writing and feel cheated and betrayed.

I totally agree with you on principle, though. I hate misleading advertising of any kind. For example, don’t even get me started on these “unlimited” mobile phone packages… which have “fair use policy caps” and are, therefore, y’know… limited. That kinda shit should be outlawed!

[Danodin]

While No Country For Old Men was a tad overrated (okay maybe I’m still annoyed that There Will Be Blood didn’t pick up Best Picture…bastard from a basket!) True Grit does look like something to get excited about (Jeff Bridges = teh won).

Trailer of the year? You’ve gotta be frakkin kidding me!

Also, if only for the Eddie Olmos…

[Author]

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