Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Host Andy and guest Producer Chris from WATP dive deep into Edgar Wright's beloved film "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World," praising its genre-blending mastery of video games, rock music, romance, and comic books, while highlighting its passionate creation and relatable themes of immature relationships, toxic exes, and personal growth. They connect it to Wright's earlier work in "Spaced," noting recurring tropes like dance sequences and character dynamics, and discuss the film's star-studded cameos, stellar soundtrack by Beck, and innovative visual effects. The conversation touches on the characters' flaws, particularly Scott and Ramona's unlikability yet charm, and contrasts it with Wright's Cornetto trilogy, emphasizing Simon Pegg's writing influence. They wrap up with excitement for Wright's upcoming "The Running Man" remake and reflections on the original film and novel.

Creators and Guests

Host

Trucker Andy

Guest

Producer Chris

What is The Director's Chair Network?

Join Ryan and many featured guests and other hosts as they break down and review a variety of directors and their films!
So far, this podcast has featured films from Edward Zwick, John Hughes, Brian De Palma, and Michael Mann.
Soon, we will feature Edgar Wright, Sam Peckinpah, Paul Verhoeven, and David Fincher!

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That's right. You've pressed play on All the Right Moves, a limited podcast
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series from the director's chaired network about the filmography of Edgar Wright. This week, a big week, we're
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talking about my favorite Edgar Wright movie, Scott Pilgrim. And I could not
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talk about a bass playing dildo without the biggest bass playing dildo that I
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know. Uh, please welcome producer Chris from WATP to the show.
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Producer Chris, how are you? I'm great, man. Thank you for having me. What a great intro. What a great film.
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I'm so happy to be here. Yeah. And I didn't think that I would
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react that way about Scott Pilgrim until I rewatched this movie. I I've
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seen this movie many times. And now that I am sitting down and watching these
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films with a critical eye, I I it's it's been very interesting and because on the
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surface I've they're beloved to me, but then once I sit down and really drill
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down about what I like and maybe what the the shortcomings of these movies are, uh I'm I'm discovering things that
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I had not picked up on before. So, it it's been educational in in the most fun
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and best way. Sure. Sure. I just want to say when it comes to shortcomings with this movie, it's not
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long enough. There's it I I could watch it and watch it for [ __ ] ever. And
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and I didn't full disclosure, my girlfriend at the
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time 20 years ago when this came out or whatever the [ __ ] what is it, 2002?
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Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Um I didn't want to hear any more about how
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great this was. And you ever have someone that loves a band
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so much that they almost ruin it for you? That's how this was for me. I went
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in not wanting to like it and upon re-watching recently,
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oh my god, it is an almost perfect movie. And I don't say that very often.
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It is insane how much of a passion project this movie is for almost
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everyone involved, including the people that watch it. Absolutely. It It's about love and it's
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made with love. You can tell, right? And it is a genre blending
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movie that's on full display. There's so many. It It is a video game passion
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project. It is a rock and roll passion project. It is a romance passion
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project. It is a comic book passion project. It is a callback.
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like all the tropes of Edgar Wright that we've been talking about with Shawn and
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Hot Fuzz, it is just it's jampacked
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with movie making to me. Am I wrong? Well, yes. And here's why. No, I'm just
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kidding. Uh, it's [ __ ] like I said, it's an almost perfect film. There's not much more. I I think our review is done.
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But uh the only way you could watch this and not adore it is to be like, "Oh, well, I
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never played video games before." Sure. Yeah. Comic book. Yeah. I never watched Batman.
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Yeah. Um, but before we get there's so much to say
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there's so much to say right that that we should really take it back to roots
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and start with spaced because a a segment of every episode is how
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space in spaced informed these bigger productions and it
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certainly did in this case. So the way that we are chronologically going
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through the filmography and the episodes of Spaced, this one lands perfectly on
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the season finale of season 1, which is the episode called ends. And um at this
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point, the will they won't they dynamic between Tim and Daisy is kind of coming
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to a head as Tim's ex is reaching out to him to
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uh get in get in touch with Tim for some kind of an unknown reason. That's the
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crux of the plot of the season finale of season 1.
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Sarah, she wants to see me today. Wonder what that's all about.
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Maybe she wants a CD playback. Maybe she's getting married.
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Maybe she's pregnant. And um there's a few relevant things to
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the filmography that are that I want to bring up. One being that um I'm kind of
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recording these things out of order, Chris. So, I have rewatched Last Night
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in Soho at this point. And when you watch,
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don't Yeah. Don't uh you know, pull back the curtain and break the fourth wall too much. But when Daisy is visiting
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Marsha, and Marsha wants Daisy to live at the apartment for the rest of her
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life and basically become Marsha. I like having you here. I feel like
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you've always lived here. I hope you never lose. Never lose. Never
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[Music]
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that is the the seed that they plant for what will go on
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to become Last Night in Soho. So having having watched that and watched this,
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it's because you see that a lot in space, how we've talked about space be
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just being Shaun of the dead without zombies, you know, and
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well, even with some in at least one particular episode, but yeah, go on.
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Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's uh season or episode three or something like that. But um you so you see all
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these things that Edgar is going to pull from the series and eventually use later
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on all the way up until his most recent film. So when Daisy is envisioning
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herself as an old woman trapped in an apartment, it
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conjures Last Night in Soho to me. Have you seen Last Night in Soho? I have not.
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Yeah, that scene of Daisy envisioning herself in the apartment is very
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reminiscent of Last Night in Soho. And if you haven't seen it, maybe that doesn't register with you, but it's it's
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relevant. And I'm only bringing it up because so much of Spaced is relevant to all of Edgar
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Wright's movies. And uh even Tim in the end of this episode brings up Soho. Uh,
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I don't know if you remember that part where he's kind of saying he left, he decided that his ex wanted to get back
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or his ex wants to get back together with him and he says no and he is sort
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of lamenting the last year of his life and he brings up Soho. So, it's just
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another call out to something that will bloom into a whole movie eventually, you
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know, years later that Edgar loves to cultivate these little tropes from space
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and uh expand them out into full movies. You see, uh things that he features in
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episodes of space that go on to be in Hot Fuzz and go on to be in Shaun of the
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Dead. So, uh, there are definitely those references in the season finale of
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season 1 of Spaced. Yes. Um, what what was your takeaway from
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watching Space? You said that you were aware of the episode or the series as a
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whole, but you were revisiting it, right? Yeah. Back when it was new, I had a
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friend who wouldn't shut the [ __ ] up about it. And I'm so glad that he didn't
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because uh it was so great. And re-watching that
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episode that you gave me for homework rekindled my love for the show. And it
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hasn't aged a bit. And I love those characters. I want to hang out with
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them. I want to be British when I'm watching this. I want to go to a pub. I want to dance
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with Daisy. I love every [ __ ] thing about it. And
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yeah, I'm gushing now. And that's because I have been saying
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that you we're very close in age and this this series is of the voice of our
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generation. Yes, it's a BBC series and in a different country, but it speaks to
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our generation. And I think that's that's why we latch on to
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it so much and enjoy it so much. Yeah, absolutely. There's roommates
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involved, video games, you know, pubs,
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uh, you know, artsiness and of course [ __ ]
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alcoholism. I mean, yeah, it's got it all. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's so great. And I I just
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can't say enough about the cast and the characters. Yeah. And of course, it's award-winning. I really don't need to go on and on about
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it. Uh, everyone knows it's great. And if you've never seen it before and you happen to watch the show, I don't
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know how you would find this show without having known Spaced. Yeah. But check it out. It is currently free
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on Prime. And owning it and watching it in a physical format is a [ __ ] because it's like one
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of the region things. I know. And I've been pulling clips off of YouTube and the quality is shitty. So
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maybe I can I'm glad you said that that it it's living on Amazon. So everybody should certainly go check it out if you
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have not. But the other thing I wanted to bring up about this specific episode,
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and there's another thing that I'll I'll call out later, but um the end of this
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the the episode proper ends with Tim and Daisy dancing to is you is or is you
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ain't my baby. And it's very propo of the their relationship. It's
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apppropo of the the time period when
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swing music was kind of having a moment again. And it spawns
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what will go on to be a trope of almost every single Edgar Wright movie having
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some kind of choreographed dance sequence in inserted almost like
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hamfistedly into everything. Yeah. So Yeah. And it's it's lovable. It's a
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lovable trait of his. Yeah. It it you're right that that's
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like the uh antithesis of the shock value of all of the graphically violent
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out of nowhere things like um in Baby Driver when Jamie Fox dies or in Hot
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Fuzz when the reporter dies. These things spoiler alerts. Well, I assuming people have watched
12:39
these movies. I I've said it before, but it that's a trope of his where he he
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kind of like sucker punches you with a graphically violent moment as opposed to
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these moments that are these tenderhearted uh musically
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music music theater kind of soft things. Absolutely. Running this big spectrum of
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emotions in almost every movie. Just as an aside, if everyone if anyone gives a
13:11
[ __ ] uh Carl from uh who are these podcasts?
13:17
My mentor, my boss, my good friend. We argue about Shawn of the Dead all the
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time about how, well, he argues how great it could be if
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it didn't have those other aspects, you know, um, love interest, any sort of
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seriousness, uh, the inserted musical numbers, if you will. Uh,
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he's saying those are shortcomings of it or that's what he is. And I'm like, no, it's almost a perfect movie. uh how
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could you have a problem with it? And he wants a comedy to be a comedy through
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and through. Now, he and I side on things like um Pineapple Express where it tries to be
14:01
too much. But for some reason, the sticky wicket with him is Shaun of the
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Dead. And if you ever want to bring that up to him, uh watch him go nuts.
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Wind him up. Interesting. because I feel like I've become a
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subject matter expert on Shaun of the Dead. So, I'll have to have that conversation with Carl because yeah, I'm
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just saying it's interesting that someone would have a different opinion about it having all the elements that
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we, you at least um really enjoy about the film and Ed Wright's work
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in general. Yeah, the Shan of the Dead episode is available right now. So if you're watching this, you can go watch that.
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And I will just in summary for uh people that maybe have seen both or since you
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have probably haven't seen it yet, what what makes Shaun of the Dead so
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memorable is the things that you don't want to remember about it, which are the
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the very emotional death scenes of Philip, the stepdad, and Shawn's mom.
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The sequence when Shawn's mom dies and then Shawn has to kill his mom is
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heartbreaking to to a degree that it should not be in something that is
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classified as a comedy. It is so traumatic that it imprints on your brain
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and makes you remember that movie. It's it's an impressionable movie in a way
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that you don't want it to be. from something that you enjoyed so much to then just turn around and rip your heart
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out. So, but Andy, you're assuming that there's some people that don't want to shoot their moms.
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Yeah, you're right about that. So, you can You're bad.
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Maybe it's beloved by for another reason by another cross section in the audience. A very good select.
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That's why I'm so glad you're here, Chris. And uh I this is the perfect time to dovetail into Scott Pilgrim versus
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the world because we are both bass players and I just love that we get
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represented on the screen uh in such a delightful way as uh one of
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the most [ __ ] shitty people to be featured as a main character in a film.
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Scott Pilgrim is I it's it's hard he's beloved and but
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it's hard to like him kind of. Did you feel like did you feel like he was hard to like when you were watching the
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movie? Absolutely. And that becomes ultimately again spoiler alert what the charm is
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because you do love him. I identify with him. Uh I think
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I think most people would in a way when it comes to subject Yeah. the the
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complex subject of love. Yes. And clubs and broads
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and bass playing and bands. I I I just love the the rules about the girlfriend
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at band practice. Hi. You promise to be good? Of course I'll be good.
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Seriously, please be good. Am I normally not? Hey, Knives, this is Steven Stills. He's
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the talent. Hey, is she going to geek out on us? She'll just sit in the corner, man.
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I mean, I want her to geek out on us. She'll geek. She geeks. She has the capacity to geek.
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Oh, important rule that they don't discuss enough in this film, but please continue.
17:46
Yeah. Does she have the capacity to geek out or whatever it is? Um, but this is a
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unique addition to the filmography because he does Shawn
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and then he does Hot Fuzz and this will is two parts of the Cornetto trilogy
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that is concluded with World's End. But then you have Scott Pilgrim inserted
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between all these things as a passion project that is distinctly
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nonB British and doesn't feature Simon Peg and Nick Frost. It doesn't feature
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what I've been calling the Edgar Wright players, all these people that show up in all these movies. This is set apart
18:38
from all of that in not even an American way. This is distinctly Canadian.
18:44
Canadian. Not so long ago in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada.
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Toronto. And it's just it is something
18:57
that was unique to his debut that I talked about with Ryan, the fist full of
19:02
fingers episode that most people will cut their teeth in the genre of horror
19:10
because it's kind of an easy way to see yourself into the industry. Edgar
19:16
doesn't do that. He goes for a western and it is a spaghetti western spoof that
19:23
wants to be like Naked Gun and Blazing Saddles put together, but it so it's
19:30
just like a nontraditional way to find yourself into a different into the
19:37
market. And that's kind of what he's doing here with Scott Pilgrim. It's like I'm not going to do an American action
19:44
movie. I'm going to do a Canadian video game movie, which is
19:52
a testament to him doing what he wants to do. Yes. Absolutely.
19:57
Yeah. And it kicks off with the the sequence that it it's so
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prominent. It needs to be said that Beck does all the music for
20:10
every any music that you're hearing in Scott and Pilgrim is written by Beck. So, they introduce
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Scott, they introduce his friends. You can tell they all have a history and they're in a band together and then it
20:25
kicks off with the the very like garage pop kind of like punker stuff written by
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Beck. Did you have an opinion about how good Sex Baba Bomb is as a band in
20:40
general?
20:51
by fly through the needles. Oh my
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my it made me want to start a band listening or re re-watching this. Yeah.
21:07
Uh, it brought me back and um and I have so much love for that sound
21:14
and that uh kind of attitude that our hero or anti-hero maybe.
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Yeah. Has and his disdain for the band and everyone within it.
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Yeah. Particularly love the drummer and um Yeah, but I don't want to get ahead of this. Um
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Yeah. Well, it's fine. We're assuming that people have seen the movie, so jumping around and and bringing up
21:39
things that happen later is fine. And it should be said that Kim, the drummer, is an ex of Scots. And people like Scott's
21:49
exes hating him. The way that Ramona's exes are being vindictive against her is
21:59
a parallel to these two people. And I I guess it it should be uh brought up that
22:06
the the female lead Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers is also
22:13
iconic. And I used to romanticize a a
22:19
girl like Ramona Flowers, like thinking that I would like to meet a girl like that. And watching it now in 2025 after
22:29
seeing it for maybe like the eighth to 10th plus times. Yeah.
22:34
I'm just like Scott [ __ ] sucks. Ramona [ __ ] sucks. These two people
22:40
deserve each other. And it's like But you're still rooting for both of them throughout this, right?
22:47
You kind of have to because it's so [ __ ] entertaining. Yeah. And they I was just like, "God, what is
22:54
wrong with the [ __ ] wigs in this?" Like, Scott Scott's hair [ __ ] sucks
22:59
on purpose. I mean, it's kind of a running gag in the movie that he needs a haircut and he looks like [ __ ] but the
23:05
Ramona wig is like Oh, the in Saw the uh the girl that's in
23:12
Saw one and Saw two that's Jigsaw's protege. I think it was on Once Over.
23:19
her f uh Kayle's friend Cookie brings up how shitty um that girl's wig is in the
23:25
series and that is what was I was reminded of looking at Ramona's hair.
23:31
It's just like it makes this uh lovely woman Mary Elizabeth Winstead just looks
23:37
shitty. But that's just my opinion
23:42
after a decade of watching this movie. I was like that wig did not age well. But
23:48
fair enough, but the best hair gag in the movie is when Knives gets her uh her
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highlights punched out. Yeah, [Music]
24:01
he punched the highlights out of her hair. He punched the highlights out of her
24:07
hair. Yeah. Yeah. That's the uh the Brendan Ralph uh Clash of Demon Head scene when
24:13
uh the bass play Oh god. We we'll get to that too. But but yeah, that needs to be
24:19
called out. There's a great hair gag. But
24:24
this uh movie in general, like like we were saying, this is this blends so many
24:31
tropes or genres between video games. And then you have Knives Chow, who you
24:38
you said is Scott's rebound girl who is
24:45
borderline a problem in the movie. He's dating a high schooler and everybody's
24:50
like, "Uh, you're being a creep, dude. Why are you a creep?" And he's he's
24:56
content to play video games and hold hands with a minor. It's it's it's
25:04
kind of disturbing. No. Well, yes. Um, but when you're much
25:10
younger, perhaps Scott's age, he's what, 21 in the film, I believe,
25:16
right? Yeah, it makes a little bit more sense. But yeah. Yeah, it is weird how the
25:23
older you get, it makes less of a difference to date somebody six to seven years your junior, but when
25:30
you're younger, trust me, it helps. A lifetime, right? Yeah. Wait till you're 53, [ __ ]
25:37
Oh, wait. Yeah, I can't wait to date a a woman
25:44
seven years younger than me. But um so I and I do think Knives Chow is like they
25:51
have to insert this unrealistic thing that is that he should not be
25:58
doing or is not realistic to his future.
26:03
He's on the rebound. He's depressed. He's eating a whole package of Oreos
26:09
in this romantic way, but he's not into it. Yeah. Does that sum it up?
26:16
Right. And I Yeah, I think in the long term he knows that it's not going to
26:21
work out, but he's still Oh, in the short term. Yeah. Right. And this is just spotlighting the
26:29
immature point of view that Scott has, which is
26:34
the beginning of his character arc to maturing
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out of being a [ __ ] partner for anybody that he has a romantic
26:47
entanglement with. This is like him being the worst version of a boyfriend
26:55
and then the whole rest of the movie is him realizing
27:01
how to grow up and mature and become take take his love life a little more
27:08
seriously. I guess is the theme and plot of the movie, right? Yeah. He meets the female equivalent of
27:16
him and Yeah. And it's a coming of age kind of thing, but super hip and very stylized
27:24
and we love every [ __ ] second of it. Thank god there's a little bit of downtime in some of these sequences
27:30
because you need a break uh a little bit, you know, an old fart like me.
27:36
Uh but so amazingly paced and put together. But yes, at the at the core of
27:43
it, um this is about um say an [ __ ] like producer Chris
27:50
meeting an [ __ ] like producer Chris. You dating yourself?
27:56
Yeah. And you're like, "Oh, nega Chris. I guess I deserve this."
28:02
Yeah. And the the other thing that needs to be stated is the the pumpup from
28:09
Shaun of the Dead arriving and setting the world on fire and every it being basically beloved and arguably the best
28:17
movie like his first feature film being arguably his best and then taking that
28:24
pouring financial backing and big studio and star power onto hot fuzz and plusing
28:31
that up and making that bigger and better and even more successful. And a
28:37
lot of people that's beloved to a lot of people. A lot of people hold Hot Fuzz up as their favorite Edgar Wright movie.
28:44
Now, let's No one holds the third one up.
28:50
World's End. That's a different story. Maybe not that one.
28:55
Yeah. Yeah. Uh go to the dead. Yeah. Uh, so but now we arrive here at Scott
29:03
Pilgrim. Complete departure from Shawn and Hot Fuzz, which maybe seemed like,
29:09
you know, holding like sister projects, holding hands, uh, just the all both
29:15
great things with different genres. Now we get Scott and Simon Peg's not
29:21
involved because a lot of things that we've been talking about with what makes Space good, what makes Shawn good, what
29:28
makes Hot Fuzz good, a lot of it is Simon Peg's writing.
29:33
Yes. So when you take that away, I don't think I really realized this
29:41
until this series, re-watching all these movies, how
29:47
how much Simon Peg made a difference to these other projects. I I in a way I'm
29:54
just like, "Oh, this is all Edgar, right just being great." But Simon Peg is very
30:00
uh intricate in the success of Shawn and Hot Fuzz and those other things because
30:06
but because of the strength of Scott Pilgrim, I didn't realize this until
30:12
much later because Simon Peg's not involved in this, but the writing of uh Brian Leo Ali, who is the comic book
30:19
writer for the Scott Pilgrim comics, so much of the dialogue is just put right
30:28
into this. But there there is another screenwriter and Edgar, you know, they
30:34
have their hands in making Scott Pilgrim a great movie. But I just want to point
30:40
out that it's going to become more apparent in the later episodes that
30:47
um like Baby Driver and uh Last Night in Soho and the people that are involved in
30:53
the writing or not involved in the writing. It It's what made me realize
30:59
how key Simon Peg is to Shawn and Hot Fuzz. And
31:06
for this to be the next movie and my favorite and Simon Peg not being involved, that's why I was just like,
31:11
"Oh, Edgar Wright's just brilliant." But it's it's probably more to the credit of
31:17
Brian Lee Ali, who is the comic writer, is what keeps this afloat with the the
31:24
absence of Simon Peg. And then you get all this cameo star power thrown in on
31:30
top of that. That includes Anna Kendrick, Kieran Kulkin obviously is key
31:35
and goes on to be way more successful. But then you have Aubrey Plaza. Yeah, absolutely.
31:42
Brie Larson, uh Brendan Ralph, Tom Jane, and Clifton Collins Jr. and Martin Star. a lot of
31:50
people just making these cameos that back then maybe they weren't as big as
31:56
they are now but like when you you go back and you be like oh [ __ ] Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick are in bit parts
32:02
in this it's uh it's pretty incredible to know that because like when and hot
32:08
fuzz people were clamoring to be part of that movie you had Kate Blanchett and
32:13
Peter Jackson making uncredited cameos you had Uh
32:19
Steve Kugan and Martin Freeman just everybody wanting to be in this.
32:26
Steven Merchant is has a bit part just cuz they wanted to be in the Edgar
32:31
Wright business. So now he takes it to the States and you get all these uh
32:36
cameos from big players. Uh so it's it's starstudded, right?
32:42
Absolutely. Yeah. I would call it distracting, but it's a distracting
32:47
movie to begin with. Yeah. Um, but Aubrey Plaza,
32:53
I particularly love every scene that she chews up. It's [ __ ] awesome.
33:03
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's great addition. And I actually thought I should put some
33:09
drops of her on the WATP board from this movie after re-watching it. Yeah.
33:16
Yeah. There's just so many great moment. I mean, we can't even begin to go over
33:24
the the joke density that is packed into this. There is so many references. the
33:32
the pee meter when he's like, I gotta pee. Every everything anytime he needs
33:37
to get out of doing something he doesn't want to do, it's an excuse to go pee. And then they have the video game meter
33:43
that goes down, uh, which is such a great gag. And the just the jokes and
33:52
the sardonic just melee like I I don't want to be
33:58
here. I'm too cool to be here. and I don't want to deal with my life. And
34:06
it's just a a vibe which I I hate saying it has like this tone and voice that is
34:15
so appropriate for when it came out which is, you know, indie rock.
34:22
Yeah. Grow rock was making a comeback. Yeah. The White Stripes were hitting their stride. Well, no, probably three years
34:29
into their stride. Okay. And uh just really paving the way for a
34:34
lot of the bands that you and I probably cut our teeth on when we were well, it was 20 years ago, when we were 20 years
34:41
younger, right? But there there's a lot of onw wee from the people just the main
34:49
characters just pretending that they're too cool to care about their actual
34:54
emotions. And absolutely. Um, but it all comes to a head when they finally Ramona and Scott
35:03
do finally get together. So Scott kind it it it's intricate intricral that he
35:09
cheats on not cheats, but he doesn't break up with knives in a timely manner
35:15
when he realizes that he'd rather be with Ramona and he shouldn't. Everybody knows he shouldn't be with Knives, but
35:22
he doesn't handle it properly and that becomes relevant at the end. And from
35:27
there, obviously, the the litany of the seven evil exes,
35:34
uh, trying to keep Scott and Ramona apart is the whole plot of the movie, and it plays out like a video game,
35:41
which anybody that grew up with Street Fighter and Tekken is
35:48
so much fun. This it just makes this movie. If you've ever someone's ass in a club
35:55
and they turn into coins, this movie is for you. Yeah. What if my love life was a video
36:01
game and I could beat the [ __ ] out of all of my I don't want to play that game.
36:08
Leisure Suit, Larry, is that your the quarter I put on top of the machine. I'm like, "Yeah, it's yours, kid."
36:15
Yeah. So, it it just takes it in this direction that is so much fun to
36:23
basically weaponize your dating life. And yes, I it's it's miserable for Scott because
36:32
he's trying to dodge his ex that he never should have been with. Yeah. He is
36:38
navigating, you know, all of his past relationships with like Kim and uh Envy that is one of
36:48
his ex and one of Ramona's exes, the uh the Clash of Demon Head scene. So, it's
36:55
all about, if I may. Yeah, please. You talk about it being miserable for him. Um everything is filmed in the
37:03
snow. It's Canadian. And it really brings me back to our you and I, Andy,
37:10
our local uh our local rock bar, The Bug Jar. It seemed like all so much drama
37:17
when I was in my 20s and in bands, playing there constantly, trying to start things up, whether it be [ __ ]
37:25
abroad or getting some drugs or actually playing in a band and learning my instrument. Yeah. Uh everything seemed to be in the
37:32
winter and it's great that everything plays out in the winter here because it really adds to the misery of our hero.
37:39
That that is a great point that I had not considered the the fact that it is
37:46
uh the the winter of their discontent. Yeah, to put it in a more literal way. But
37:53
cold cold comes into play a lot uh in this movie. the whole uh well, if your
37:59
blanket's on the bed, shouldn't we just be in bed and share the blanket? That
38:04
That's a good line, man. I still use that one.
38:10
I I didn't mean to interrupt you. No, that I I'm glad you did because
38:15
there is so much thematic
38:20
uh elements and thought that goes into a lot of Edgar's previous movies that that
38:27
we've talked about. And it's just on full display here the layers of
38:34
themes and uh references and how wellthought out it is. I can't
38:41
even articulate. I'm not in a position to articulate how much thought went into
38:47
the creation of this, but the fact that the the winter element would be
38:54
conceived with purpose. This would be a different movie in
39:00
summer, right? Palace uh in the winter to see tortoise in the late 90s and it's [ __ ] brutal.
39:09
just that out. But Lee Palace was great, right? But it would be a different movie
39:15
if it was in the summertime. Oh, absolutely. You know, so it is it is relevant to
39:20
bring up. So I'm glad you did. Yeah. At the the end of the second act,
39:27
I believe Scott is bonking his head against the telephone pole.
39:32
Yeah. And it's bleak and the snow's coming down. That that spells it out to me. That that
39:40
is misery. That's the low that the hero has to come to in order to rise again.
39:47
Yeah. And it's highlighted with the anamanapia of the of the comic
39:54
like put blending all of these different
40:00
elements of comics and romance and video games just perfectly together.
40:08
And God, I I just I really could talk about this movie for
40:14
Do you want to just Dude, I'm on my way over. Let's just watch it. Okay, let's just watch it godd minute by
40:22
minute and say everything that's so great about it. And
40:27
uh the there's so many of even just Edgar's tropes of the the um quick cut
40:36
montage things of like menial tasks that the best one is where he does the anti-
40:42
cut when Scott ties his shoe. Yes.
40:59
He grinds to a halt. I'm so glad you brought that up because I took no notes, but I made a mental
41:06
note about how much I [ __ ] love that moment. Yeah, cuz he It's on full display in Hot
41:13
Fuzz. There's just like relentless cuts of like guns being loaded and paperwork
41:19
being done. Like it's making paperwork seem Yeah.
41:24
I'm thinking of the dead. Sorry. Yeah. But you get like all of these fantastic edits of a person walking
41:31
across the screen and it takes it to you to a different scene or something
41:37
happened. this thing blows across the screen and suddenly you're in a different location. And it's something
41:43
that Edgar does so masterfully throughout, especially in like Last
41:50
Night in Soho when uh the two characters are, you know, it's supposed to be the same
41:56
person and you're seeing it in two different ways, but this just does it to
42:04
such a high degree of success throughout this movie.
42:09
And I I I just can't I can't stress enough how this is the pinn it doesn't
42:17
it doesn't get better after this movie
42:22
which is like as I'm as I'm looking forward to the running
42:28
man and hoping that it's going to be a
42:33
return to form. This is the form that I'm hoping it's going to return to
42:40
because yeah, after this when you get to like World's End and Baby Driver, you know,
42:45
and Last Night in Soho, they're they're they're not hitting this benchmark of ju
42:52
just shoehorn they've shoehorned so much awesomeness into this movie that it's an
43:00
impossible standard to replicate production wise. Yeah,
43:06
that is the crux of the biscuit here. Yeah, animation, the animation, the the
43:12
visual effects. It's got special effects. It's got choreography. The fight choreography is fantastic. They
43:19
they have a Jackiechan protege choreographing all of these fight
43:25
sequences that while I was watching it is it's just like, oh, this reminds me of Rumble in the Bronx or something.
43:32
Turns out it's a guy that worked on Rumble in the Bronx. It's pretty much Rumble in the Bronx. Yeah. And just Michael Sarah's
43:40
performances wouldn't you watch that and of course you know that his performances
43:46
wouldn't uh by design. That's the character. That's who we were
43:54
at 21. Yeah, that that's a good point. I think I
44:00
couldn't fight like that at 21. Yeah. So many enemies, too.
44:07
I don't think Michael Sarah could either. But, uh, yes, you get like the
44:12
every every act evil axe has their own kind of trope. So, the first guy,
44:17
Maddie, is um a pirate slash like Middle
44:23
Eastern guy. And I also want to point out, this is a good time to point out that the other connection to Spaced is
44:31
these 2D comicbooky flashbacks of Ramona's previous relationships where
44:37
she explains uh you know why she was with those guys and it does a little comic book uh
44:44
sequence. in I think it's episode four of season two, Daisy does that in in one
44:53
of the spaced episodes. So, it's just another longunning gag that Edgar loves
45:01
to take from his his
45:06
love of making Spaced. He had so much fun making Space that he just takes all these things that he liked about making
45:12
that and puts them into his feature films. And that's one that's on display in Scott Pilgrim. So, I wanted to make
45:18
sure to bring that up. But the the vibe of each X is so
45:25
specific and fun that I haven't been like going plot beat for
45:32
beat through these movies, but that's boring, Andy. It is boring, but
45:37
it's just cool to point out that Chris Evans shows up as the movie star
45:42
skateboarder and the way that Scott foils him is you it's all like
45:48
unconventional fight. Yes, you get the the
45:53
choreographed fight sequences, but then the way that he defeats Chris Evans is unique.
45:59
It's called a grind, bro. So, can you do a grindy thingy now?
46:06
Are you serious? There are like 200 steps and the rails
46:12
are garbage. Well, hey, if it's too hardcore. You really think you can code me into
46:17
doing a trick like that? There are girls watching. The way that he defeats Brandon Ralph
46:25
with the bass battle thing and the tone. I I mean, that's why I had to
46:30
Hey, as a bass player, I want to say that's not bass playing. That's guitar playing on a bass. [ __ ] that. Uh, but a
46:36
great sequence. And just in case you're you're tuning in for some random reason
46:42
and you haven't seen this film, um, the the way that he defeats uh, what's
46:49
his lips? Chris Evans. Yeah. Skateboard. Um, it's it's just
46:55
phenomenal. And and you would think like when you look at the running time like, oh, this is too much for this for me.
47:01
No, it's perfect. It's Yeah. Chef's kiss. Perfect. It's just It all comes down to him
47:08
going, "There's girls watching." Yeah. Right. Like his he just plays into his ego to
47:16
the point where he he beats himself. Again, bringing me back to playing in
47:23
clubs and just being a horny dude and that being so [ __ ] important.
47:29
Yeah. girls are watching. Yeah, but it actually still is. Who am I kidding?
47:38
But it that really does speak to Brian Lee Ali, the writer of the comic series,
47:44
and how brilliant he was. That putting somebody's ego on the line is
47:51
what defeats that X. putting the uh
47:56
veganism like the the pompous holier than thou, you know, challenging
48:03
Brandon Ralph's the bass player of the Clash of Demon Heads character, challenging his dedication to veganism
48:11
is what that guy, you know. Yeah, it was cool. That was the long play, but uh when we got there, it was
48:18
great. Yeah, he's I just uh I thought I put the the creamer in this cup in my
48:26
mind's eye or whatever. Dude, I can see in your mind's eye that you put half and half into one of those
48:31
coffees in an attempt to make me break vegan edge. I'll take the one soy. [Applause]
48:38
Thanks to him. Actually, Muchacha, I poured the soy in
48:44
this cup, but I thought real hard about pouring it in that cup. you know, in my mind's eye or whatever.
48:52
What are you talking about? You just drank half and half, baby. That's just the way he said.
48:57
I thought about it so hard. Yeah. And my other favorite line I don't want
49:03
to forget to bring up is when he's talking to Anna Kendrick, who is Scott's sister in the film, about why he is so
49:12
desperate to keep things on track with Ramona. And she's like, "Do you see a
49:18
future with this girl?" And Scott's answer is like
49:24
this jetpack. Yeah. But you bring up ego and at the core of
49:30
this movie is that very thing. It's like, yeah, you can say, "Oh, I had this girl.
49:37
I'm the ex." Yeah. But that girl can tell everyone about how shitty you were
49:43
in bed or whatever, you know? Yeah. So, it's like
49:48
you don't think about that all the time. Um, and this brings it home. It's like,
49:55
um, it really puts well, I would say at the time genders on the same level, you
50:03
know, in a way. It's like, you know, it's it's a dating movie. It's like
50:09
uh not something that I I would ever seek out in um I mean you don't go to
50:16
Blockbuster anymore to look at dating movies or romcoms. You [ __ ] you.
50:22
Yeah. Right. But watching it really brought me back to like how important some of these
50:27
things were. But really, it's still relevant in how people work
50:34
with each other, how relationships are. That that's that's a very good point to
50:39
make, and it's not something that I had in my notes, so I'm glad you bring it up, but we did talk about in Shauna of
50:45
the Dead how if you take the zombie apocalypse out of the movie, you still have a decent romcom between Shawn and
50:52
Liz and David and uh Diane. And if that was just the movie about their dynamic
50:59
and their relationship and David trying to get in between Shawn and Liz, you could still have a watchable movie. It
51:06
wouldn't be as fun and beloved and uh you know iconic as Shaun of the Dead,
51:12
but it would still be a romantic comedy and relatively realistic. Yeah. And if you take all of the video
51:19
game and uh rock and roll out of Scott, you probably would still have a relevant
51:27
romantic comedy with uh you know um yeah,
51:32
Scott and Ramona. And I can't not state how much I love Karen Kulkin's
51:40
character in this, especially when the scene when he comes in drunk and throw
51:46
and slaps the keys and hits Scott in the face with his car keys. And guess who's
51:52
drunk? Guess who's drunk? I guess Wallace.
51:57
You guessed right. I just [ __ ] love his character and
52:04
how he running around telling everybody how shitty Scott is. He's telling Knives
52:11
Scott sucks. He's telling Ramona Scott sucks. And he's right. Absolutely. And I had a roommate like
52:18
that and I had a Knives like that and I was the bad guy.
52:23
Scott Pilgrim. I am a recovering Scott Pilgrim. Yeah. So I you can relate. This is it's
52:31
a very relatable movie especially for a bass player. Yeah. If you play base and go through a
52:38
lot of girlfriends. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's so amazing. Again, everyone
52:46
has seen this, but if you haven't, rush the [ __ ] out. And yeah, I don't know why you're watching. Go to Blockbuster and get the VHS.
52:54
Yeah. I thought I'd go play Double Dragon on your 8bit Nintendo.
53:02
I just might later. And I just I like how
53:10
Brian the writer is leaning into the fact of well when somebody tells you who
53:16
they are, believe them. Because Ramona is telling Scott that it's going to be
53:23
hard to be with her. Scott is telling Knives. They're they're kind of pretty
53:28
upfront with how shitty they are, but everybody wants to believe that
53:34
things are going to work out. And even if somebody like uh what who goes on to
53:41
come into the movie so much later, Jason Schwarzman's um the big boss.
53:46
Yeah. Yeah. The big bad. He shows up so much later, but Ramona knows that he sucks and she still wants to be with
53:53
him. Ramona is keeps telling Scott that she sucks and Scott still is trying to
53:58
be with her and um we just uh we don't want to hear the truth once we we get it
54:05
in our head that this person is the one for us and maybe you've been married too long. It's
54:12
thinking with your genitalia. Okay. Yeah, maybe maybe you're right. But I
54:20
just God, I just love all of the
54:25
the nuance of the way that Scott gets
54:30
together with Ramona when he he get he sees her running through his mind.
54:36
They're at the party and he he tries all the things that worked with knives on
54:42
Ramona and it doesn't work on her. Hey, what's up? Nothing. Hey, you know Pac-Man?
54:49
I know of him. Well, Pac-Man was originally called Pac-Man.
54:55
They changed it because uh not because Pac-Man looks like a hockey puck. Pu pu means flap your mouth and that they were
55:02
worried people would change scratch out the P, turn it into an F like,
55:10
yeah, that's amazing. Yes. And then he orders the package and he won't let her leave.
55:17
She's like, "If you sign it, I can leave." And he's like, "Well, I'm not going to sign it unless you agree to go
55:22
out with me." It's so It's such a toxic way to shoehorn yourself into this
55:28
woman's life, but effective, Andy. That's the thing you're missing here. Yeah. And uh
55:37
there's just like so many realistic tropes that make these characters
55:42
three-dimensional and all the way down to the things that they like and don't like and the way
55:49
that they, you know, their shortcomings, you know, people having flaws ma
55:55
humanizes them to the audience. And these characters are nothing but flaws. In a lot of ways, Scott is, like you
56:03
said, an anti-hero. He's not He's not a likable person. He's charming, but
56:11
in a lot of ways, you're No, he's a coward. You're not rooting for him, right? Yeah.
56:17
He's a coward. He's uh reluctant hero. Yeah. And and Ramon,
56:24
turns out he can kick ass. I mean, I know that's the one thing he's good at is fighting. He's not good at He's not a
56:31
good bass player. That's Oh, if we didn't point that out enough, he
56:36
sucks at the base. He can't even take care of it. It's all duct taped together.
56:41
Yeah, I know. He's got See, I got I got my Rick on display back there. Yeah. Uh, and I I think that between
56:49
Lemie and Scott Pilgrim is probably the reason why I wanted a Rick and Bacher so bad. But
56:55
Oh, that's funny because I I gave you the sticker of Spaced I made you and
57:01
Simon Peg's wearing the Motorhead t-shirt. Now, he never mentions Mohead in the
57:07
show or liking metal or proto metal or whatever you want to call it, but I
57:13
found that interesting. Yeah. And that that guitar that's what Young Neil's playing at the end when
57:18
they when they si uh sell out and they had the and Sex Bob has her glow up.
57:25
That's the bass that Young Neil is playing when he replaces
57:31
another great character. Um and I God I just I love the music so much too. I
57:37
don't want to forget to bring up how uh what do you hate about
57:43
what do I hate about it? I hate the the wigs. No, you don't. I hate the I hate the main characters.
57:50
They both suck. They're just I mean, Mary Mary Elizabeth Winstead is a
57:55
beautiful woman, but trying to be in a relationship with that person just seems
58:02
so exhausting. Scott, it it's just like why why would anybody want to be with
58:08
this guy? I really don't I really don't get the appeal of Scott Pilgrim. like
58:13
why why do all these girls like him so much? Is is Michael Sarah's Scott Pilg
58:19
that I think that was a big question mark for a lot of people that were fans of the comic if I'm
58:25
remembering properly when this was coming out brand new that people thought
58:32
that casting Michael Sarah as Scott Pilgrim was a miscast.
58:37
Do you think do you feel that way? Do you think he's a good representation? Are you aware of the comic book at all?
58:45
Comic book? No. Yeah, I am. And um and it it it's one of those things
58:51
having seen it, you can't unsee it. I don't know who else I would cast as it's actually
58:58
perfect from the time if you think about it, you know. Uh coming off the heels of like super bad,
59:05
he kind of had a lot of and Arrested Development. Yeah, I was going to say Arrested Development. He was that clueless yet
59:13
kind of clever guy. He He knew about stuff but didn't want to ever be accused of knowing about
59:19
stuff. I mean, that's how I get through life. So, yeah, when Scott dumps knives, it's kind
59:27
of one of these emotionally awkward things that Edgar and the writing of the
59:34
movie nail so well. Absolutely. that vibe of what you don't
59:41
want to have to deal with when you dump somebody and he's everybody's just like,
59:46
"Why can't I just text? Why why can't I just like leave a voicemail or text?" Because you don't want to see the look
59:53
on Knives face when Scott dumps her and she's so sad. It's so It's so awkward.
1:00:02
And uh that just encapsulates the breakup process perfectly. And
1:00:08
absolutely, and I'm glad you brought that up because I kind of forgot about um the heavier and albeit brief but
1:00:18
heavy portions of the film and that's one of them. And it definitely captures
1:00:25
that feeling, right? Brings it home. um yet in a comic book
1:00:31
way, but still showing those those frames, her reaction, him dealing and
1:00:38
moving on, rebounding when she was the rebound. Uh yeah, I get it. And I've been the
1:00:45
heel. I continue to be the heel. It sucks. I'll never learn.
1:00:52
And I I just I I love the character of Knives so much. you you get so emotionally invested in her journey.
1:00:59
Yeah. And she's so joyful when when they're together and and she's happy and you
1:01:06
love seeing that she's happy. And then when it's taken away from her, you feel
1:01:12
for her in that regard. And then when she's pissed and she's doing the whole hair dying sequence when she's got her
1:01:18
head in the tub and she's just screaming and her friend is like, "I don't even know what you just said. You can't
1:01:23
understand her. Hey, this really burns. You should rinse. When I got this idea, I just thought I
1:01:29
have to do it. I can't hear anything you're saying. Oh god, I look so
1:01:37
good. Cuz she's just flying off the handle. You She is just one of the one of the
1:01:44
best performances in the movie. One of the most likable good people in the movie. when when you're talking about
1:01:50
how unlikable the main characters are. Knives is the best and then you get to the end and she's still helping these
1:01:57
two people that suck and have been nothing but shitty to her. She still shows up for them at the end and then
1:02:05
lets them go off and be shitty together at the end. Yes. And in that same vein, um, the gay
1:02:13
roommate, I can't remember the character's name. Uh, he turns out to be
1:02:19
very much like that. Like, I've been trying to help you all along. It just seems like I'm mean and selfish.
1:02:26
And it turns out I am mean and selfish, but I am also helping you. Yeah. Right. Yeah. these characters,
1:02:34
everybody around them is trying to help them. Whether it's Anna Kendrick or Aubrey Plaza, yeah, all these people
1:02:41
that are seemingly the band mates, hey, we may sell out, but it was in your best interest,
1:02:46
right? Lucas is the only one that is more maybe more self-centered than Scott
1:02:53
because he's the lead singer, guitar player, and all he only cares about himself and getting a deal and that's
1:03:00
the only that's the only thing that matters to him. And it doesn't whatever Scott's up to singers suck ice.com.
1:03:08
Yeah, this does this does suffer from that um dynamic when it gets to the
1:03:14
third act. You're like, "Oh, there's still they've only fought uh three out
1:03:19
of seven X's significantly and then it just kind of speedruns and it jams the
1:03:24
uh two of them are twins and uh it just really
1:03:29
runs past a bunch of the X's." But I do like the kaiju fight of the the eight
1:03:36
versus the two-headed dragon with the twins. Absolutely. Which is the theme song of this uh podcast series. Uh
1:03:44
features the music from that sequence because I enjoy that so much. But I re I
1:03:50
just god I love the the garbage man the dump the the garbage truck song. And
1:03:58
there's a couple of good there's a couple of good songs in this. I mean, they're not all great, but
1:04:04
of the Ramona theme. And I wrote a song about you. You did? Yeah. It goes like this.
1:04:16
[Music]
1:04:22
Oh my.
1:04:35
Can't wait to hear it when it's finished. Finished. And that does a great job with the the
1:04:40
music. So yeah, they bring back the Ramona theme and it's a tearjerker, you know.
1:04:46
Yeah. Right. And and it's featured at the end as well, right? I think. Yes.
1:04:52
But I I also want to talk about Brie Larson's involvement. That whole
1:04:57
sequence with the bass battle is so funny to me. Um just how shitty Scott is
1:05:05
at the bass and just the fact the the solo cups blowing around while they're just this
1:05:13
tornado of shitty bass solos. Those are the details that make this movie so
1:05:19
great. Yeah. Uh and you don't have to you don't have to be in a band, but it helps.
1:05:24
Yeah. And it it takes everything. the the Tekken, the video game vibe, the
1:05:30
rock and roll vibe, the uh the
1:05:35
Loveorn, you know, uh shitty attitude towards your ex and the the new
1:05:41
boyfriend and all all of these things kind of coales into this fantastic
1:05:47
sequence of uh a terrible idea of having people do bass solos against each other.
1:05:58
[Music]
1:06:06
[Music]
1:06:14
And uh it's really why I wanted you on this episode because as two bass
1:06:20
players, I found it so joyful for somebody to even conceive Steve, that
1:06:26
that would be a scene in a a comic or a movie. At the end of the day, this whole thing
1:06:34
made me question what kind of relationships Edgar Wright has had, you
1:06:39
know, how comic booky they have been. Um, but if it's anything like this film,
1:06:47
uh, they're relatable. Yeah, I I think that's the strength of this movie and uh
1:06:54
the strength of the comic and I I give so much credit to Brian Ali for making
1:07:01
it relatable and something that everybody at one point in their life has
1:07:07
felt the way that Scott feels towards his relationships. So yeah, that's what
1:07:14
that's that is what makes this movie so great. And
1:07:20
let me see. I'm looking at my notes. I see bass battle Scott sucks. Vegan
1:07:25
police producer Chris sucks. Bass players suck.
1:07:32
Yeah. Right. Yeah. And then Scott starts to get overwhelmed
1:07:37
with how much baggage Ramona has. And he start she says, "You're just another
1:07:44
evil acts waiting to happen because you can't deal with my history and my
1:07:53
track record." And it's kind of something that she's been running from. She left New York to come to Toronto to
1:07:59
get away from all this. And it just follows her around and and it it's just
1:08:06
a neverending cycle of the way that she treats the men in her
1:08:13
life. It's not just Scott that is shitty to him and not
1:08:18
it's all bass players. It's but it it's it's people in rel it's immature people
1:08:24
in relationships which is more of the bigger picture message of what this
1:08:29
movie is about. And um how you how you
1:08:35
treat people uh it can come back to haunt you. So and it's not just Scott,
1:08:41
it's also Ramona. And then you get to the end where
1:08:48
she is seemingly leaving Scott for Jason
1:08:54
Schwarzman's uh Gman, who is a record exec who seemingly has
1:09:01
it all figured out. He's giving Sex Bob a record contract. He's taking Scott's
1:09:09
girl away from him and she's I I don't know. I guess a lot of people
1:09:14
have this toxic person in their past there where Ramona says that he has a
1:09:21
way into her head and she can't figure out what she likes about a person who is
1:09:27
seemingly so shitty to them. And I think that's very relatable too. It's you
1:09:32
don't you you don't know why somebody that doesn't hold your feelings
1:09:40
[Music] sacred or like you precious, you know, why that something something that would
1:09:47
make you feel shitty. Uh you you still run back to.
1:09:52
And how does that make you feel, Andy? It's making me upset, Chris. I'm very very
1:09:57
Well, I'm sorry. Our time is up. So, you'll get my bill in the mail. Yeah.
1:10:03
Luckily, Luckily, I've met somebody who does, but I Yes. People people that you think that
1:10:10
they're the person for you until you realize that they're treating [ __ ] You know, it's very hard thing to figure out
1:10:17
uh with in the romantic realm is my point. Yes. Can you relate to that?
1:10:23
Yeah. Remove the record contract and Yes. I've I've hadve
1:10:29
had this adversarial uh you know relationship with with the
1:10:34
exes of the present girlfriend and the going nowness of the present girlfriend.
1:10:44
Yeah. And I I enjoyed that they used the Rolling Stones under my thumb. Yes. with
1:10:50
the way they they used uh Dire Straits, Romeo and Juliet and Hot Fuzz when the
1:10:56
the people that were doing that stage production get killed and then
1:11:01
Timothy Dalton's Skinner character rolls up and you're he's they've just been
1:11:07
throwing it in your face that this is the bad guy and then he rolls up listening to Dire Strait's Romeo and
1:11:13
Juliet and in Scott Pilgrim Jason Schwarzman Zman is playing under
1:11:20
my thumb while he takes steals Scott Pilgrim's girlfriend.
1:11:25
Yeah, sweetie. Shall we?
1:11:34
And it's it's a very Edgar Wright thing to feature. Absolutely. It's it's comic book, but it
1:11:42
still makes you feel. Mhm. And uh you know there's a comeuppance but you know you also had to
1:11:48
feel those feels for that feeling time. Yep. Yep. So then we finally have the
1:11:58
the parallel conflict that Ramona has with Gideon
1:12:04
Gman Jason Schwarzman's character and Knives and Scott. It's like Scott's been
1:12:11
treating knives like [ __ ] the whole time and Gideon's been treating Ramona like [ __ ] the whole time and now they are all
1:12:20
going to have a kung fu blazing sword fight about trying to figure out who
1:12:27
should be with who in the best way possible. It's so [ __ ] fantastic. I
1:12:33
really love the finale and how just
1:12:39
hipster douchy Jason Schwarzman is when he's talking about sw you made me
1:12:46
swallow my gum. It's gonna be he's never been afraid to play this character. I love him for this.
1:12:52
Dude, I [ __ ] love Rushmore so much. It's such a great movie. It really And I love Jason Schwarzman and uh Bored to
1:12:59
Death. If you're not aware of the HBO series Bored to Death and you have any kind of love in your heart for Jason
1:13:07
Schwarzman, go watch Bored to Death with um Sam Malone. What's his name?
1:13:16
And Zack Knakis dancing. You [ __ ] dancing.
1:13:21
Thank you. Yeah, good place guy.
1:13:27
Yeah. Anyway, great show is what I'm saying.
1:13:32
Yes. But uh yeah, that this finale fight and then just when you think it's all over,
1:13:39
which is the this is the best version of something I hate so much, Chris, which
1:13:46
is when a hero has to fight a villain that is just the evil version of the
1:13:53
hero. Yeah. that they've done so many times since Iron Man 2 and Black Panther and
1:14:01
so many even up to the new Superman where you find out that and spo spoilers
1:14:08
Superman is fighting a evil version of Super I [ __ ] hate it. It's so [ __ ]
1:14:14
lazy. So, for you to get to the end of this and the Nega Scott to come out and
1:14:23
you're like, "Oh [ __ ] how is he gonna after after he's gone through all of this, how is he going to fight some a
1:14:29
villain that's just as big and strong of a douche as real Scott Pilgrim?" And
1:14:36
then they just thrown away in the funniest way. And they come out and they're just buddy
1:14:41
buddy and they're going to go to brunch together. He's just like, he's actually a really cool guy. He's he's he's just a really nice guy.
1:14:47
We're going to get brunch next week. Yes. I just love that they just squash that
1:14:53
because I hate that [ __ ] It is a trope that blows. Yeah. It's so lazy that. And uh if you
1:15:00
kill the head vampire, all the vampires die. Okay. Yeah. Oh, that's not how it works.
1:15:06
Oh, it's definitely how it works. I can say for sure with all of my
1:15:11
vampire killing history. So yeah, uh Scott Pilgrim and I I could
1:15:19
go on all day about I really could just put this on and talk about it scene for
1:15:26
scene, but that's not what this is about, Chris. What it really is all about is The Running Man coming out. And
1:15:35
I really want to know what your opinions are of the original Running Man and what
1:15:40
what is your awareness of the new maybe the novel and the new movie that's
1:15:45
coming out. What what are your thoughts on the Running Man? Okay, I'll make this brief.
1:15:53
Read the Nolla. It's a novel. It's a Richard Bachmann.
1:15:59
Sure. It's a short story. It's a No, it's a it's a full novel. Oh, okay. Yeah, I read it when I was
1:16:05
like 14 and Okay. Like liked it. You did like it. May have jerked off at one point.
1:16:12
I don't remember that. Who the [ __ ] knows? I was jerking off a lot then. And uh
1:16:18
I haven't heard that feedback yet. So, good on you for bringing a unique perspective to the book.
1:16:24
Movie is great. Loved Richard Dawson in it. I don't think that role can be
1:16:29
surpassed and looking forward to this. And uh but I think we should put a poll out
1:16:35
there like name a better allencompassing entertaining movie
1:16:41
um that's better than Scott Pilgrim. Oh,
1:16:47
you know coming into this I want to say Amaly would be one of my favorites when it comes to it's got it all.
1:16:54
Is that right? I've never seen that and I Okay. I'm s that is
1:17:01
I would never suspect that you would say that. That makes me want to go watch it because I haven't seen that.
1:17:07
Say more about that. What do you mean? What makes you say that? That's such a great Well, Scott Pilgrim moves me and I
1:17:12
wanted to make sure on this rewatching because I hadn't seen it since it was new. And it it does it it does have it
1:17:20
all. It's mostly laughs. There is no shortage of jokes,
1:17:25
but it's got the stylization. I mean,
1:17:31
it it is watching a graphic novel. It is so [ __ ] great and gripping.
1:17:37
And like I said, it's great that there's a little bit of downtime just so you can catch your breath. Um,
1:17:44
but yeah, maybe it just captures something that's personal to me being being in
1:17:51
bands and uh trudging around in your chucks in the winter and [ __ ] like that.
1:17:57
Yeah, I I was more I was more interested in why you would say homaly like
1:18:05
because I whenever I'm meeting someone talking about films I we usually talk
1:18:11
about what's got it all and Amaly has it all to me but I think this might actually
1:18:17
surpass that. All right, I'm gonna have to watch that now because and they came out at the same time. So is it subtitles? It is it French
1:18:24
or is it Yeah, we we Okay, maybe that's why I
1:18:30
haven't seen it, but I am gonna go out of my way to see that now. But I do think that this is the time to mention
1:18:38
because I I did the episode of Baby Driver
1:18:44
before we recorded this. and I did a deep dive into the writing of the movies
1:18:52
based on the the weakness of the writing of Baby Driver. So I this is why I brought up in
1:18:59
the beginning that Shawn and Hot Fuzz are so strong based on the writing of
1:19:05
Simon Peg. Yes. And Baby Driver is so weak because Edgar did that solo with no writing partner.
1:19:13
And I don't think that Baby is a a very well-round not to spoil the Baby Driver
1:19:19
episode, but it's it's a it's a weak character development movie. Now, Scott
1:19:26
was written by um obviously Brian Leo Ali, and that's
1:19:32
the strength of the character development for these characters. But the person that co-wrote this with Edgar
1:19:40
is also the co-writer that is writing that wrote The Running Man. So that
1:19:47
gives me a lot of hope for The Running Man. I think the guy's name is Michael
1:19:52
Michael Beall or something. I I'm I'm an [ __ ] for not knowing. I'll I'll splash it on the screen. The the proper
1:19:58
credit for not calling out properly now. You can edit that. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, I'll edit it in. And He's he was
1:20:06
in like in Glorious Bastards and he has like some acting credits too, but he was
1:20:11
the co-writer on Scott. So, the fact that I love Scott so much and that this
1:20:17
guy is co-writing Running Man gives me a lot of hope for The Running Man. So, I'm
1:20:23
looking forward to it even more now knowing that based on the strength of Scott Pilgrim. So, and I'll be seeing that live with you in
1:20:32
the theater and with Yes, the plan is for everybody that
1:20:38
participated in this uh series reviewing these films will hopefully go see The
1:20:44
Running Man when that gets released and where we'll do a review of The Running Man and everybody that had a chance to
1:20:50
talk about Edgar Wright will get to weigh in on how great The Running I'm getting all of my hopes up, Chris, that
1:20:56
The Running Man is going to be fantastic because I love Edgar Wright and I love the original Running Man and I think
1:21:03
that it is going to be good. So, uh, let's let's keep talking about it. So, I
1:21:10
want to thank you for talking about Scott Pilgrim with me. I really feel like we we could go on and on about it,
1:21:17
but Oh, yeah. Yeah. Do another hour on the stoop. Yes, I know. The walk over.
1:21:25
Uh, is there anything you would like to plug at this time, Chris? Um, just check
1:21:31
out me and Carl at uh who are these.com
1:21:36
and you get all the information you need. Yeah. Yep. We wouldn't be here without
1:21:41
Who are these podcasts and Carl Hamburger. So, uh, please check that out
1:21:47
if you want to see more of producer Chris. And if you are thinking about
1:21:52
missing next week's episode of All the Right Moves,
1:22:01
Don't [Music]