Let’s face it, Edgar Wright had huge directorial boots to fill when he shot Scott Pilgrim, as he previously brought us the wonderfully silly but nonetheless fantastic Hot Fuzz. He managed it to trump his earlier film though, by a huge margin.

Scott Pilgrim is a great new film with a lot going for it – two very convincing leads (Cera’s apparent inability to play any other type of character doesn’t detract from his individual films), great music, superb visuals and an outstanding cast of supporting actors.

The great thing about Scott Pilgrim is that it has so many opportunities to drag, plot-wise, but instead keeps an upbeat pace throughout. The comic touches added (‘POW!’ in big cartoon letters when somebody’s punched) are very well received and there are lots of light dialogue which really make the film.

Wallace Wells: If you want something bad, you have to fight for it. Step up your game, Scott. Break out the L-word.
Scott Pilgrim: Lesbian?
Wallace Wells: The other L-word.
Scott Pilgrim: …Lesbians?

**

Kim Pine: Scott, if your life had a face, I would punch it.
Scott Pilgrim: Hahahaha… wait, what?

**

Wallace Wells: Guess who’s drunk!
Scott Pilgrim: I guess Wallace.
Wallace Wells: You guess right!

“..This movie is like the entirety of American youth culture crammed into a single package: It’s about love, alienation, video games, comic books, chord-grinding indie/punk rock, texting, dead-end jobs and evil ex-boyfriends..”

Read Charles’ review too!

Image Credit

Review of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World coming soon. Watch this space!

“I was so in love, I went into my room and drank half a bottle of Robitussin.”

Under the Wolf, Under the Dog is a young adult novel written by Adam Rapp. Released in 2004, the novel is in diary form, written by Steve Nugent, as he chronicles his return to normality from being institutionalized after his brother commits suicide. Rapp displays several engaging techniques which he also shows in other books – 33 Snowfish and Missing the Piano.

The book begins with Nugent’s description of how he found his brother’s corpse and his subsequent induction into a mental home. The rest of the book is told in haphazard flashback form of the events leading up to the murder. It details his sordid attempts at having a girlfriend and also the bizarre friendship our main character strikes up with a 12 year old girl he meets at a diner.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel for its realistic descriptions of someone living on the street and how one can find companionship in the most unlikely of places. The frenzied thought-processes of Steve are quite gripping as we desperately read on to make sure our main character is ok. The book is also very interesting because it goes against the grain of usual novels in that our lead character is not a ‘knight in shining armour’; and trying to pick out who is the ‘good guy’ is a difficult decision which each reader must decide for themselves. Furthermore, the lines between protagonists and antagonists are blurred almost beyond recognition. The pace of the novel is one of a runaway train – possibly symbolizing Nugent’s crashing toward the mental breakdown he experiences in the middle of the book.

I would recommend this novel to mature readers above the age of 15 who enjoy realistic and gritty novels, as I do. However, the book does contain some disturbing elements which some may find upsetting. The book is available from Amazon.com for $8.99. Although I wouldn’t recommend ordering it just yet what with the ash cloud and whatnot :)

I was there to see Orla and Áine, and while we were all together we decided to see County Wexford Youth Theatre’s production of rock opera RENT.

How was it?

Simply put, phenomenal.

After seeing it in America back in November, one would think that the original cast would trump all. Like a friend put it, why go see a Rolling Stones cover band after seeing Jagger live?

Because sometimes Alan McHale (Mark in this production) can better Mick Jagger… or Anthony Rapp (original Mark on Broadway) as the case may be.

Everything about this production oozed perfection. The leads brought freshness to their roles without neglecting core aspects of their characters while the ensemble were a mighty engine roaring behind them and supporting the entire show from Tune Up #1 right through to Finale B.

The crew must also be commended for their part in the awesomeness too. The stage was magnificent — the metal structure-cum-christmas-tree-cum-church-steeple was an excellently put together piece of scenery that jumped out at everyone the moment they walked into the theatre.

The band also get major kudos. The drummer in Providence had a screwup caused by either overeagerness or simple sound problems which caused him to be louder than everything else, leading to the vocals in songs like Out Tonight and What You Own to not so much be drowned out as obliterated in a cataclysmic explosion. Guitarists and keyboardists in the Wexford production were fantastic too, as well as the little mentioned operator of the sleigh bells during Christmas Bells. :)

Finally, special brownie points go to whoever controlled the lights during the show. Truly spectacular things were done with those lights, including during Seasons of Love as you can see in the picture.

The show’s going to be in the Cork Opera House from 3-6 March, and I wholeheartedly recommend going to see it. Tickets available here from €21.

Thanks to the swine flu, I didn’t leave the house all week, starting Sunday evening. By Saturday though, cabin fever was threatening to raise my actual temperature back into the danger zone. I decided that the cinema would be an excellent escape, and loaded up the local cinema’s ‘Now Showing’ website to see what was on. I’d read a review of Fantastic Mr. Fox that morning which looked promising. (Demolitions expert? Since when?). That was on at 9, but since it was 6, I wasn’t sure if it would be booked out, so I looked at other films. Up was on at quarter to 9, so I decided to arrive at the cinema at 20 to 9, and see what the story was with being booked out. I tweeted the plan and got several responses recommending Up.

In the end, we arrived at about 25 to 9 and chose the earlier film, purely because it was earlier.

Up begins with this queer little short video. I loved For the birds but this one confused me. It details some clouds who make babies for all the animals, and then the storks deliver them. There’s this one cloud, though, who’s grey to their white, and gets all the crap babies – the alligators and porcupines. It’s odd, to say the least. Not helped by being totally factually incorrect too.. Babies don’t come from clouds, my mom told me one day.. they come from cabbage plants!

After that, the movie started. I won’t be all spoilertastic here, and go into specifics of everything, but I’ll give you the gist.

An old man who’s always longed for adventure finally goes on one, accompanied by a stereotypical kid played for laughs. They come across a talking dog (and *that*, ladies and gentlemen, is where all the SQUIRREL! jokes come from: talking dog + no attention span…) and a bird called Kevin.

That’s fleshed out over its 96 minute running time, of course, but that’s what’d go on the DVD’s back cover, anyway.

The kid is done well, with the boundless energy we all love/hate. The man is a stereotypical grump, but who becomes more lovable as the movie. We’ll never get along though; he has a cooler cane :( (see picture)

The best parts I found were the ones with the dog, Dug. He was the comic relief though, so there you go. He was so good, in fact, the best thing about the movie.

At this stage, after Ratatouille and now Up, I’m convinced that Pixar are the ones you go to for kid’s movies, which also appeal to dads too. With music, I often talk about the ratio of good songs per album. Adam Pascal’s Civilian is an example of a high ratio, while The Blizzards only have about 5 good songs over 2 albums, which is a low ratio. Pixar’s good to bad movie ratio is very high indeed, which, I believe, is the true mark of talent. Anyone, after all, can be lucky with a once-off hit.

Go check it out :)

Photo owned by moonhouse (cc)

Bolt is a dog who believes himself to be a superhero. In reality, he’s the star of a hit TV show, but thinks it’s real life. Voiced by John Travolta, he’s cute, lovable and appeals to both adults and their soon-to-be-adults alike. Miley Cyrus (of Hannah Montana infamy) lends her Tennessee drawl to his owner, Penny. You can’t tell who she is until her duet with Travolta at the end, but that’s totally within reaching-for-the-remote-to-turn-the-TV-off time.

The film concerns itself with Bolt’s struggle to find his owner, Penny, who was kidnapped as part of the TV show, which Bolt thinks is real. He begins the long and arduous journey across the USA to find his beloved, aided by a cat named Mittens (that’s fine..) and a hamster named Rhino (wait, what?) who even has his own iPhone app (that link will open the iTunes App Store, mind you).

Quite funny, and if the film doesn’t tickle your fancy, do check out the soundtrack.

I’m telling you, though. Anything Pixar touches turns to gold, starting way back with Toy Story, continuing with Monster’s Inc and Finding Nemo, culminating in Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E and Bolt last year.

++

Plot

Will Freeman, the bachelor, is living in a swanky London apartment, spending his days lounging round the place reading, smoking and watching old Countdown episodes. He doesn’t have to work because he lives off the royalties of the song his father composed, Christmas Carol Santa’s Super Sleigh.

Marcus Brewer lives at home with his depressed mother and struggles through life coping with the rocky home relationship as well as getting bullied at school. Early on in the film, she attempts suicide so Marcus starts hanging out with a friend, Suzie.

Meanwhile, Will, always on the prowl for lady friends, has joined SPAT -Single Parents Alone Together- to hook up single moms – which he describes are great because of the passionate sex, ego massages and a guilt free parting!. To do this, he must have a reason to go to these SPAT meetings, so he invents an imaginary son. Enter, Ned the 2 year old. While there, Will is attracted to Suzie, a single mother as well, and that’s how Will and Marcus get to know each other.

The rest of the film continues these lines, with Marcus and Will becoming friends and the repercussions because of it.

My opinion

Hugh Grant steals the show.

The other actors are fine, good in fact, but Hugh Grant is by far the best. That could be because he’s given the best lines but there are other things, like how he delivers his lines or how he holds himself. His facial expressions, even.

The film is very witty, so it’s a pity Grant gets the best lines, because then any scene without him feels bland and boring and let’s-get-this-over-with.

Despite that, it’s a very good film, I’d totally recommend it. Go watch!

Currently attempting to procure a copy of the soundtrack, so I’ll review that once I’ve had a chance to listen :)

Card Shark Solitaire (free) iTunes Link (will open in iTunes)

All iPhone apps, none more so than games, are, or at least should be, designed to be playable for 30 seconds, then put away. That 30 seconds when you’re waiting for a bus, or a dentist’s appointment, or the groom to show up at a wedding, iPhone games should and most certainly can fill.

That means, of course, that your app shouldn’t take forever to load it up. Snappy, that’s a good word for it. Your iPhone game should load up snappily. That goes for most all iPhone apps, actually!

Anyway, Solitaire is a good app because you pop it open, move some more cards around, and you can easily quit the game if your bus arrives, your dentist calls you, or the groom finally shows up.

The thing that most impresses me about Card Shark Solitaire is the fluidity of the user interface. The clean way you drag and drop cards around the place, and the little pop as they join the aces at the top.

It’s actually a Lite version. Getting the Pro version opens up more games like Hearts and Poker, and is 79c. iTunes Link

Klondike-1 refers to style of play -you can also have mirrored, or use two decks, and so on- and 01:43 is my time. My best for completing an entire game is 3 minutes 20.

Can you beat me? :)

Disclaimer: I’m not affiliated with Philip Stroffolino (the developer) or anyone in Card Shark. I wrote this review because I was seriously impressed with this app. But, if they read this and wanted to give me a gift voucher for the deluxe app, I wouldn’t say ‘no’ :P. And now no-one believes me when I say I wrote this purely out of impressed-ness. Ah well