Synopsis:
 
Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob-omb, the 22-year-old has just met the girl of his dreams…literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Genre-smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
 
Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass–and now is back in town–to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.
 
As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past–from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if he hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

 
Photo By:
Kerry Hayes
 
Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original international release of the film. © 2010 Universal Studios. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
 
Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile
 

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The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Sunday, September 13, 2009

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The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was one of the last movies I saw play at Cannes this year. Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits ranks as one of the most impressionable movies I saw as a kid that helped give me my great passionate affinity for the power and magic of cinema. Gilliam’s body of work is such that whatever he does I’m more than eager to check it out as was the case with this latest effort as word of mouth was very strong.

Heath Ledger turns in his most unique and soul searching performances to date. Coming off playing the Joker and perhaps recognizing how audiences perceive him, he goes in a completely different direction to really dive into the character of Tony and this story by Gilliam. He does anything but play it safe or try and walk ground we have seen him walk before which if nothing else will bring back his fans to watch this again and again.

Lily Cole and Christopher Plummer in particular I thought were exceptional and really help to give the effort more emotional attachment and energy.

The assemble cast that inhabits Ledger’s shoes are all interesting in their own ways but I think it would have been far better had Ledger been able to finish it and we have seen his complete character arc, which is a shame as I’ll always wonder how and where he would have taken Tony as the film raced towards its final act. Law, Farrell and Depp make the most of their screen time and their most to blend right in.

As I watched the first half of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus unfold I was completely surprised by how well everything came together and was into the film, its world and characters. When the effort moves into the second half and becomes incredibly manic and the revolving door of who plays Tony next really starts swinging open again and again, I just failed to connect with it. It’s an admirable effort at just what was able to be carved together yet this part feels to sprawling and out of control. It adds too much excess in its second half in an otherwise engaging tale. One or two more passes in the edit room and its second half excess trimmed out and this would be one of the years best and I’m really looking forward to seeing its updated cut at Sitges Film Festival. If I’ve learned anything from titles that played at Cannes is that post their showing there they are often re-cut or evolve into different prints that work far superior.

Image Source:
Official stills that were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

The Daily Movie Wallpaper
Saturday, September 5, 2009

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This Guillermo del Toro produced sci-fi thriller from filmmaker Vincenzo Natali will screen in competition at the upcoming 42 Sitges Film Festival and count me in as being very excited to see it. I was lucky enough to get one of the promotional books for this film back at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008 which were pulled rather quickly once they realized how many huge spoilers were contained in it (well I probably have 3 or 4 books actually). The character designs and attention to detail was staggering and it seemed like this film was a real labor of love that could be something special. I have no idea how this film will turn out, the images like this one look outstanding and I covered my ears from those that saw a working print while at screenings in Cannes this year.

Related Coverage:
::: 42 Sitges Film Festival

Image Source:
Official still that was used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I’m not a fan of school rampage movies or those that dwell on its subject matter at all. Having said that Denis Villeneuve’s black and white film , Polytechnique, serves as a torch in the form of cinema to offer remembrance and a deep soulful look at the Ecole Polytechnique Massacre and the lives it ended, touched and changed forever. It’s a very powerful film and easily the most moving one I’ve seen this year. Films that deal with tragic events and especially those that deal with this type are really impossible to pull off or bring about anything worthwhile, yet here we get this torch given to us by Villeneuve our own lives are forever changed and moved by watching it. With this torch he allows us to experience this event and lives lost while prompting reflection in how we will live out our days before our own curtain comes down. In so many films death is treated rather emotionally innocuous and here each death carries weight and sadness that you feel. It’s a very harrowing and soul searching film that understands the weight of the story its carrying. By no means is this the easiest film to sit through but it’s one of the most important films of 2009.

Villeneuve weaves some non-conventional narrative choices into it that at first have you scratching your head wonder what is going on before he starts to connect everything in very inspired fashion, just beautifully done.

I saw this in the official Cannes Directors’ Fortnight (link) section and do believe it will be one of the films selected for the Academy Awards’ foreign-language film selection.

Related Coverage:
::: Cinema is Dope: Best of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival

SYNOPSIS:

Based on the true events that occurred on December 6, 1989, at Montreal’s Polytechnique School…

The movie tells us about that specific day through the eyes of two students, Valerie and Jean-Francois, whose lives were changed forever when a young man entered the school with one idea in mind: to kill himself and take with him as many women as possible.

Image Source:
Official stillsthat were used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

Vintage Movie Wallpaper of the Day
Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Death to Videodrome! Long live the New Flesh!

Insert favorite Videodrome quote here… and please note the super larger version of this poster I’ve linked to below for fans of this film and bloggers. This is definitely a great poster to preserve and glad I can share it.

I really like this Japanese poster for Videodrome (wiki) that dates back to its original release in Japan. Perfect!

Note to Fellow Bloggers & Fans of Videodrome
Now for all you fellow bloggers and fans of this movie who are looking to promote this film, I have set aside a special poster only version of this for you that is saved as a PNG file (download here). If you use this I do ask that you link back to my post here. Additionally if anyone needs this poster at a different size for promotion on their site please let me know. Usually when I do this I don’t get much credit back so if this goes well I’ll definitely consider doing this again in the future.

Related Coverage:
::: Japanese Poster Celebration Month – January 2009

Image Source:
Official artwork that was used in the original Japanese poster for the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile