Why "Scott Pilgrim" Failed...

Personally, what i have seen of the film so far, i think it's all over the place and it doesnt really appeal to me. Scott Pilgrim was released in summer 2010 and flopped big time at the box office with only just scraping up half of the its total on the opening night, which isnt encouraging when hoping to earn back a $60 million budget.
In my opinion , one of its biggest downfalls would be the references to anime, manga and comic books. Having references like these means a smaller audience. If you dont fully understand and know about references to comic books i think the film comes across as very boring and all over the place. Things like boxes in the corner with writing in describing the character on screen are very annoying to a "standard" film viewer who just likes to sit down and watch a "boy meets girl" film. In addition, even before the film starts you are given references to gameboy/computer games with the universal logo being changed and being took over by music that sounds like its from the introduction to a computer game. People who aren't used to this also may find that slightly annoying.

This film is made to appeal to kids. But, in some cases kids might not even like or even get some of the on-screen references that are made, because they are too young to know or understand them. You could also say that the film was more aimed at geeks than anyone else because they are more likely to read comic books and understand what's going on in the film. However, when thinking about this the supposed "geeks" in the film arent actually living the life of a geek. Geeks sit at home all day, playing computer games and reading comic books whilst not having two attractive girls to choose from and hanging around with friends from their band. Therefore, the characters in this film are infact nowhere near "geeks" in reality.

WW2 Timeline...

Here's a link to a simple and well laid out timeline...
http://library.thinkquest.org/10927/timeww2.htm

Ennio Morricone...

Ennio Morricone, Grande Ufficiale OMRI (born November 10, 1928) is an Italian composer and conductor. He is considered one of the most prolific and influential film composers of his era. Morricone has composed and arranged scores for more than 500 film and TV productions. He is well-known for his long-term collaborations with international acclaimed directors such as Sergio Leone, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, and Giuseppe Tornatore.
Morricone has won two Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, five Anthony Asquith Awards for Film Music by BAFTA in 1979–1992 and the Polar Music Prize in 2010. He has been nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Music, Original Score during 1979–2001. He received the Academy Honorary Award in 2007 "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music".

Blaxploitation...

Blaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in 1971 when many exploitation films were made specifically (and perhaps exclusively) for an audience of urban black people. Blaxploitation films were

the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music. These films starred primarily black actors.

Soundtrack for Inglourious Basterds...

1."The Green Leaves of Summer" - Nick Perito (Originally in The Alamo)
2."The Verdict (La Condanna)" - Ennio Morricone (mislabled "Dopo la condanna")
3."White Lightning (Main Title)" - Charles Bernstein (Originally in White Lightning)
4."Slaughter" - Billy Preston (Originally in Slaughter)
5."The Surrender (La resa)" - Ennio Morricone
6."One Silver Dollar (Un Dollaro Bucato)" - Gianni Ferrio
7."Davon geht die Welt nicht unter" - Zarah Leander
8."The Man with the Big Sombrero" - Samantha Shelton & Michael Andrew
9."Ich wollt, ich wär ein Huhn" - Lilian Harvey & Willy Fritsch
10."Main Theme from Dark of the Sun" - Jacques Loussier
11."Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" - David Bowie (Originally in Cat People)
12."Tiger Tank" - Lalo Schifrin (Originally in Kelly's Heroes)
13."Un Amico" - Ennio Morricone
14."Rabbia e Tarantella" - Ennio Morricone

Filmography on Quentin Tarantino...

Tarantino's films include:

• Resorvoir Dogs (1992)
• True Romance (1993)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
• Jackie Brown (1997)
• Kill Bill Vol.2 (2004)
• Ingloroius Basterds (2009)

His films have earnt him BAFTA's, OSCAR's and even a lifetime acheivement award in 2007.

Soundtrack to Kick-ass...

Soundtrack Listing:
No. Title Performed by Length
1. "Stand Up" The Prodigy 5:08
2. "Kick Ass (Radio Edit)" Mika vs. RedOne 3:11
3. "Can't Go Back" Primal Scream 3:46
4. "There's a Pot a Brewin'" The Little Ones 3:13
5. "Omen" The Prodigy 3:54
6. "Make Me Wanna Die" The Pretty Reckless 3:55
7. "Banana Splits (Kick-Ass Film Version)" The Dickies 2:04
8. "Starry Eyed" Ellie Goulding 2:57
9. "This Town Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us" Sparks 3:03
10. "We're All In Love" The New York Dolls 4:50
11. "Bongo Song" Zongamin 5:00
12. "Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (For a Few Dollars More)" Ennio Morricone 2:53
13. "Bad Reputation" The Hit Girls 2:56
14. "An American Trilogy" Elvis Presley 4:31

Score Listing:
No. Title Composer Length
1. "The Armenian Superhero" Henry Jackman, Marius De Vries 1:59
2. "Stand Up" The Prodigy 3:32
3. "Forcefield" Marius De Vries 1:05
4. "Watching" Henry Jackman 1:01
5. "Man in the Mirror" Henry Jackman 1:08
6. "A Punch in the Chest" Marius De Vries 0:45
7. "Roof Jump" Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri 1:31
8. "Time to Engage" Henry Jackman 0:26
9. "Stabbing-Morphine" Marius De Vries, The Prodigy 1:56
10. "I'm Kick-Ass" Henry Jackman 1:16
11. "Famous" Henry Jackman, John Murphy, Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri 2:22
12. "A Friend Like You" Marius De Vries 0:43
13. "Walk to Rasul's" Danny Elfman 0:58
14. "Trick or Treat?" Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri 2:43
15. "Leaving Rasul's" John Murphy 1:18
16. "Hit-Girl & Big Daddy" John Murphy 2:39
17. "Damon & Marcus Comic Book" Henry Jackman, John Murphy 3:24
18. "I Miss You Both" John Murphy, Ilan Eshkeri 1:40
19. "Hunting Kick-Ass" Henry Jackman 1:04
20. "MistMobile" Henry Jackman 1:40
21. "Big Daddy Kills" John Murphy 2:50
22. "One Last Time" Marius De Vries 0:57
23. "Sleepover" Marius De Vries 1:57
24. "To Brooklyn Bridge" Marius De Vries 1:42
25. "Safehouse / Ambush" John Murphy 2:34
26. "Showtime Pt. 2 (It's Only the End of the World)" John Murphy 2:25
27. "Nightvision" John Murphy 1:57
28. "Strobe (Adagio in D Minor)" John Murphy 2:02
29. "Big Daddy Dies" Henry Jackman, John Murphy 1:33
30. "Hit-Girl Drives Home" John Murphy 1:42
31. "Marshmallows" John Murphy 1:12
32. "Choose Your Weapon" Ilan Eshkeri 1:26
33. "You Got Five Minutes" Marius De Vries 0:35
34. "No Power, No Responsibility" Henry Jackman 1:16
35. "The Corridor" John Murphy 1:16
36. "Kitchen Stand Off" John Murphy, Ilan Eshkeri 1:19
37. "The Fight" Henry Jackman, John Murphy, Marius De Vries, Ilan Eshkeri 3:12
38. "Flying Home" Henry Jackman, John Murphy 1:49
39. "True Identity" Henry Jackman 1:39

The Prodigy: Stand up



John Murphy: In the House In a Heartbeat



Can't go back: Primal Scream




In The House, In A Heartbeat : Henry Jackman




This music in kick-ass is used in the scene where "big daddy kills" (Literally). The scene when big daddy blows up the warehouse is when this piece of music is used.

Joan Jett and The Black Hearts: Bad Repuatation



This song also appears in the film "10 things i hate about you".

Postmodern Theorists...

Frederic Jameson: Jameson sees postmodernism as showing a lackof thought and intelligence and trapped in references that come from other things. He thinks that postmodrnism is nothing more than a series of "jokes" which have no deeper meaning or purpose.
Quote from Jameson: "The omnipresence of media output helps explain postmodernists merging of all discourse into an undifferentiated whole".

Derrida: Derrida's opinion on postmodernism is that there are no genreless texts. He says that every text participates in one or several genres. What he is saying is that all pieces of writing, films, music etc have to have a genre. So, for example, with derrida this piece of text would have a genre.

Levi Strauss: Levi saw postmodernism as any text being constructed off of another. He saw that writers constructed text from others by the processes of either; addition,deletion,substitution and transportation. Levi would think that "kick-ass" would be very postmodern as it has taken bits from other superhero films such as super-man and spider-man to create something that is similar. Using "debris" from films of the same genre opens the film to a wider audeince and helps them to understand/know whats going on better.

Baudrillard: Baudrillard developed the idea of simulation and simulacra simulation. These are the processes in which representations of things come to replace the things being represented. The representations then become more important than the real thing. For example, Mcdonalds "big mac's" are shown on a picture on the menu in mcdonalds. The picture of the burger looks better than the actual burger you get and is very misleading. The picture of the burger being presented is not the burger you get when you order. The burger you get is just infact a copy of the burger pictured, and looks nothing like it. A simualation becomes simularca when things have no relation to reality.

Jean Fancois Lyotard: Lyotard says that they're are no big stories (Grand Narratives), but just lots of little ones. He says that there are no "big stories". By saying this he is creating a paradox, because by saying there are no big stories he is creating one. An example that contradicts Lyotard is Kick-ass. Kick-ass is lots of little stories (super-man, spider-man) in one big story. Lyotard favours "micronarratives" that can go in any direction, that reflect diversity, that are unpredictable.

Postmodern aspects.....

Inglourious Basterds has many postmodern aspects. However, there are a few that stand out to me more than others. One aspect that does is the music. The music in the film doesnt relate to a war film in any kind of way and is more like music you would see in a avaerage action or comedy film. All the different pieces of music are taken from other films such as spaghetti westerns and are in no way either dramatic or sad, which is what you would expect to see in a war film.
Another aspect of postmodernism in Inglorious Basterds that really stands out at me is the fact that unlike a typical war film, none of the actors/actresses seem to end up with a hair out of place, even though they're on a killing spree. Compared to a war film like saving private ryan it is very glamourous and clean, and you definatley wouldnt expect to see that in a war film.

Postmodern Dictionary...

Paradox: A paradox is a true statement/statements that leads to a contradiction. A paradox is a criticism of postmodernism. It states that there can be no theories because postmodernism is one and that you have to be rational, to understand the irrational. A paradox contradicts reality.


In Inglorious Basterds Hitler is killed in a fire amongst other Germans by Jews, which wasn't what happened in real life. Realistically Hitler killed himself, therefore the film is a total sham of reality and is a paradox.




Intertexuality: Intertexuality is when one text links to another. When someone takes something from one text and adds it to their text to make another text. So, for example in Kick-ass, they take parts of other superhero films, such as, spider-man and batman to make the film more realistic and open it to a wider audience.

Little things such as Batman also having lost a parent like kick-ass and spider man being just an average teenage boy having to deal with normal life struggles aswel as having to deal with those that come with the costume is also something that is addressed in kick-ass.

Pluralism: simply a belief that there is no one answer to anything. There are two types of pluralism, one being normative pluralism/relativism, which is the acceptance of all narratives, expressions and norms. Knowone knows or is better than others. And the other type being a kind of postmodernism which is pluralist in the sense that it accepts different views. But without denying that somthing is better than other things.

Pastiche: A pastiche in its simplest form is merely an imitation of an existing style. Often it is done in a light hearted way but more ofetn it takes the form of a 'satire'.

Satire: A satire attempts to mock topical issues. This can often mean that its humour and purpose is fleeting as it relies on the audience knowing the issue which is being sent up. A good example comes from kick-ass when he acts like spider-man....this part of the film relies on us to have already watched spider-man and to know whats going on and where its came from.

Stimulation: A stimulation is basically a copy of something that you see and want. For example, the fries from mcdonald's that are pictured in the menu aren't actually the fries you eat...they are just a copy. In Kick-ass the costume that kick-ass see's on the internet isn't the actually costume he gets , it is merely just a copy of it.

Hyperreality: Can no longer extinguish the unreal to the real. When we see high building in blocks all it up at night we automatically think that what we are watching is in America. A bit like kick-ass....it looks like its in America, but actually its set in London. It doesnt want you to notice the difference.

Inglourious Basterds reviews...

Rotten Tomatoes: A classic Tarantino genre-blending thrill ride, Inglourious Basterds is violent, unrestrained, and thoroughly entertaining.

The Guardian: Quentin Tarantino's cod-second world war adventure is a transcendentally disappointing dud, in which Brad Pitt delivers his most charmless performance to date.

IDMB: It just goes to show how wrong you can be. I had not expected to like this film. I was disappointed by both the Kill Bill films (although i preferred the second) and Death Proof (although it was better in the shorter cut of the double-bill release). I love Reservoir Dogs, admire Pulp Fiction and think that Jackie Brown is Tarantino's most mature piece of film-making - technically his most superior - including the last great performance elicited from Robert De Niro. Since then it seems to me while his films have been okay (i haven't hated them) he has been treading water in referential, reverential, self-indulgent juvenilia. The film is audacious and hilarious. After a summer when nearly every film has disappointed me it came as a huge surprise that the real fun and entertaining, but also involving and impressive film should be this one, when i would never have believed it from script form. Welcome back QT.

Postmodernism...

Postmodern texts deliberately play with meaning. They are designed to be read by a literate (ie experienced in other texts) audience and will exhibit many traits of intertextuality.
Postmodernism is based upon the idea that there are truths that are to be known. Not only are they to be known, they already are known and anything that is not in complete agreement with these truths must ‘logically’ be in opposition to these truths. Something is either off or on, hot or cold, Left or Right, right or wrong or true or false. This way of thinking in terms of absolutes boils down to a matter of ‘either this or that ‘ but rarely both.
Postmodern thinkers are inclined to be dissatisfied with conventional wisdom. They are skeptics who choose not to believe everything that the experts say is true.

Quentin Tarantino....

• Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born on March 27th, 1963.



• Born in knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.



• He is now an American film producer, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and occasional actor.



• In the early 1990's he began his career as an independant filmmaker whose films use nonlinear storylines and violence.