Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

When thrown head-first into the comic-book world of Bryan O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, it's natural to feel a little apprehensive. Are those graphics going to come up for every sound effect? Is Pilgrim (Michael Cera) ever going to grown a backbone ? But then a certain charm kicks in, whether it's through Pilgrim's horribly funny one-liners, the dialogue between his bandmates, or a particular brand of magic realism which allows the first of seven evil exes to propose a duel to the death via email.

What ensues is a simple story of boy-meets-girl, boy makes a fool of himself but still convinces girl to come see his awful band play, and subsequently has to defeat her seven evil exes in Arcade fight scenes that would put the makers of Pokemon to shame.

It's rare to find an indie film with such great special effects, let alone one which speaks in precisely the same language as its target audience. By the time we're done watching Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) walking through a door in the night sky, all that apprehension has gone.

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Edinburgh Sustainability Awards

(originally published by The Student ) THE UNIVERSITY is set to launch its first Sustainability Awards to help reduce its environmental impact. A ceremony later in the year will see awards given to the teams which complete the most environmentally friendly challenges in an online workbook provided by the Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA). Last year the University of Edinburgh was accredited Gold in the NUS' Environmental Impact Awards, and was the overall UK winner. This, the two-year-old Green Impact Scheme, compared Universities from across the country in terms of sustainability and global awareness. EUSA's newest venture is a similar scheme within the University itself, encouraging teams to think of new ways to reduce our effect on the world outside of Edinburgh. Teams can be made up of staff and students in every part of the University, and will be accredited with Bronze, Silver or Go...

Lykke Li - Wounded Rhymes

(originally published by The Student ) In 2008 a fresh-faced Lykke Li Zachrisson told the Guardian why she no longer want to be a dancer- “I want to be on stage and travel the world and live passionately and have love affairs and get drunk.” Since debut Youth Novels , Lykke Li has toured the world, ticking boxes one and two, and with this album sings through the other three. The new album Wounded Rhymes takes its name from a line in one of the last and most mellow songs on the album- Sadness is a Blessing . Here she uses melodies and lyrics reminiscent of a 60s girl-band, with lines like “Sadness is my boyfriend / Oh, Sadness, I'm your girl”. An otherwise decent song is weakened by Li's voice, which here sounds sickly-sweet rather than the more sinister melodies heard elsewhere. First track Youth Knows No Pain opens with a darkly energetic style which introduces us to the heavy, tribal-sounding dr...

Populaire - film review

In the 50s, having a job as a secretary may have been considered modern, or even empowering, but mostly, as Rose Pamphyle (Déborah Francois) says in her job interview, it's the chance to work for an important man. Seen in this light, the rise and fall of a Speed-Typing champion is just as much to do with a woman's personal victory as it is to do with her boss' encouragement and coaching, as well as the freedom he allows her to have. In the film, and in life, the Speed-Typing Championship probably stemmed from a cigar-fuelled "I bet my secretary types faster than yours" argument, and the exclusively female competitors inhabit a space somewhere between real sportsman(woman?)ship and simply being allowed to play. The rocky ground of post-war sexual power-play is tested with bright colours and the happy clack-clack of a typewriter, and leads us somewhere a little more patronising than first-time director Regis Roinsard may have been hoping for. ...

Jenni Ajderian

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