Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Unique film by Edgar Wright, best known for directing the Pegg/Frost comedies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Movie feels somewhat reminiscent of an early Wright, Pegg/Frost project, the britcome Spaced, only more hopped-up. Like Spaced this film draws heavily on gen-xish pop culture homage, here particularly centered on retro video games, anime, comic books, and a vaguely defined hipster/indie music scene. The film takes all this stuff and layers it on a story about the difficulty of relationships. Fractured, meta story structure, a large cast of characters, and lead Michael Cera's expert comic timing all come together in a fun, delightfully unusual outing that made me laugh more then any recent movie I can think of. It also helps that its populated by a lot of young actresses with definite geek appeal. Romantic comedy as the game Mortal Combat, appropriate. Grade: B+