Want to know what the Dorks want in their stocking this Christmas? Here’s a round up of what we’re hoping Santa brings us this weekend. Check out our wish list — which seems to consist mainly of TV boxsets and geek gear.

Katie

Thanks to all the positive stuff about Misfits on Dork Adore, I actually watched the second series — and LOVED it! I normally don’t watch programmes out of sequence, so this was unusual for me. To right this wrong, I’d really like series one on Blu-ray.

Emma

I’ve managed to destroy yet another pair of earphones for my iPod, so I’m after a pair of Audio Chi headphones. If Santa is feeling particularly generous, I wouldn’t mind a Power Plate machine at home.  It’s the Slendertone of the 21st century donchaknow?

Realistically though, I’d be quite happy with Kick Ass and Scott Pilgrim on DVD, and maybe a voucher for Abel & Cole so I can start the new year on a health kick.

Nick

Nowadays, the huge DVD boxsets are getting stupidly cheap, so my big Christmas presents will be a few of those. I can now get the complete run of Battlestar Galactica, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, The Wire or West Wing for around fifty quid from many online vendors, which is the price I used to pay for a single series.

Oh, and if you liked The Walking Dead TV show, the Compendium collecting the first 48 issues of the comic is good value, and isn’t printed on toilet paper or anything like that. Don’t drop it on your foot though.

Michelle

Tamsin

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This week is the start of a new series, where we round up the best of the posts and news in the crafty blogging community.

• First up, Crafty Crafty found a free pattern for these cube craft Scott Pilgrim characters above.
• Our very own Michelle Duxbury rounds up the best back to school products on her blog Craftville.
• Craftzine has a tutorial video to make your own Mozilla Firefox necklace.
• Craftgossiping shares a video for a sock skeleton, so you can get cracking in time for Halloween.
• Multibeavo offers up the pattern for a Super Mario Scarf for the colder months.

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In just over a month, Vampires Suck is released in the UK. From the school of cinema that brought us Epic Movie, Not Another Teen Movie and countless others, it attempts to mercilessly shred the Twilight movies. And other vampire cash-ins, but mostly Twilight.

In fact, if you’ve somehow managed to avoid any familiarity with the blood-sucking Pattinson juggernaut, you might struggle with this trailer. These people really hate sparkly vampires; it’s lucky they rushed it out quickly enough for Twilight references to seem relevant.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The Vampires

These movies already have a bad reputation for going for the cheap laugh, but Vampires Suck managed to attract further internet rage by out-earning geek darling Scott Pilgrim Vs The World at the US box office. Fortunately, Pilgrim made it out first over here, so there’s little risk of repetition.

Aside from that, it looks like a typical outing from the Hollywood self-parody factory, but there are a couple of good jokes in there. And it’s quite possible all the best bits are in the trailer, so checking it out below could save you the price of a cinema ticket.

Or am I being needlessly harsh? If you love these films, tell me off in the comments below.

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Where else can you get a show to hook you up with both time-wasting and time-saving apps? Scott Pilgrim and Stephen Fry-related apps? A review of possibly the best Android phone available right now? Nowhere. We don’t think. Watch on for a bumper omnibus edition of Frackulous.

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Ewan Swain was one of the lucky few who bagged a ticket to a screening of Scott Pilgrim. Here’s his review.

Ok, first let me lay my cards on the table.

I read comic books. I play video games. I love snappy pop culture references. I was a big fan of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

Level 1 – A New Hero Awaits

Though even with all of that, when I first heard of the premise for this movie, I have to say it sounded kinda sucky. A film based on a comic based on video games, which were sort of a comic book video games but up there on the screen. Really? But the trailer did look pretty awesome, awesome enough that I watched it several times.

So when I offered the opportunity to attend a screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I leapt at the chance. But did it, could it work?

Power Up

The first half of the film and in particular the first act is as impressive a piece of bravado film making you will ever see. It simple zings from the screen and just makes you beam. Wright’s love for the two genres of gaming and comic books is apparent in every fast cut, every superimposition and every pop culture reference and you can’t help but get swept along. The video gaming world just sort of works, with a few very small exceptions (pee bar, I’m looking at you) but what caught me by surprise was how laugh-out-loud funny it was. Scene after scene of snappy film making were outshone by the perfectly weighted gags and comedic pacing and you start to feel you are in for something very special indeed. The interactions between the characters are sublime with great acting by a cast who look like they were having a ball making this. While stripped down it is essentially a “man on a journey of self-discovery” flick, it’s an incredibly well-crafted one.

Over Elaborate Back-Story Cut Scene

Without giving too much away Scott, a likeable geek-in-a-band is drifting through a rebound relationship when he meets Ramona. She is cool, fickle with Anime wide eyes and ever changing hair colour. She has a mysterious past and must be cool as she is from New York.  He very quickly wins her round and before you know it it’s happily ever aft…oh no hang on, first there is the little matter of her Seven Evil Exes he must fight. Each of these battles differs from the prior from the previous in more imaginative ways, and these fights pretty much dominate the middle act, with a few sub plots along the way. The effects keep coming, the film grows bigger and louder and the exes keep coming. I won’t dwell too much on these nemeses of Pilgrim, but suffice to say I’m seriously thinking of getting myself some vegan power as well as being a fan of the phrase “Bi-furious”

The Final Level – Prepare for the Challenge

Sadly though, and I know I may make myself a hate figure on twitter for saying this, the whole thing just sort of gets too much for itself. The jokes come thinner and slower as Scott heads into the final level, sorry act. Meanwhile the effects get a tad repetitive and as the film ploughs on I sort of wished there had only been 5 evil exes and a tighter movie. Also, as with many fantastical pieces of whimsy and effects you also get the feeling that this film could date quite badly. In ten years it’ll be sitting in DVD special editions on many a shelf, but rarely if at all taken out to watch, apart from to listen to what I hope will be stellar DVD commentary.

You Win! Now Watch the End Credits as a Reward

However, that’s churlish of me to say. Because at the end of the day this is popcorn fare, and bloody good popcorn fare it is too. The first half of the movie stands up there with not only the best comic book adaptations but also the best comedies of recent times. If you’ve never liked comic books or video games? Well, there’s still enough to like, but it might come across as a very loud, very fast Juno. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Game Over – Continue?

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Scott Pilgrim, the Canadian-manga series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, has been the independent comics success story of recent years. From the first volume in 2004, momentum has steadily built until the sixth and last book in the series was released to an eager public last week.

Midnight openings, huge parties and, of course, an upcoming big budget film all sprang up around the final instalment. Thanks to the super-viral trailer for said movie, the premise of Scott Pilgrim is now familiar to many. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy has to fight defeat her seven evil exes to keep girl.

But why should you check out the actual comics, rather than wait for this movie to hand you the whole thing on a CGI plate?

BONUS talking, EXTRA punching

Not that the cinematic version is expected to suck. With Edgar Wright directing and an array of cool actors, it should be a massive fun injection. But although Scott Pilgrim has drawn attention for its surreal Mega Drive combat, it’s still a black and white indie comic. And what do they have? Yes, lots of talking. Really funny, insightful talking.

Not to mention smaller battles en route to the evil ex boss fights. Wright is cramming all seven of those into a single movie, so some of the little incidents are going to get cut. The comic series really is the geek equivalent of Harry Potter, and that includes the scale of the universe, the number of characters who pop in and out, living their own lives slightly off camera. It’d be a shame to miss all that.

Plus, Bryan Lee O’Malley is genuinely a great cartoonist. The first book is solid, but by the last few volumes, he’s completely in his stride, experimenting with his layouts and wringing emotion out of the poor characters. It’s part of the fun to watch his style develop through the series.

Talking ‘bout MY generation

Some have described Scott Pilgrim as “the story of a generation”, and it probably is. If you’re a confused twenty-something with vague creative aspirations, vague relationships and a general sense of vagueness, there’s a good chance you’ll take these books to heart. Even if you aren’t in this social group yourself, just knowing and loving them might be enough.

On the other hand, if you think those people should shut up, cut their hair and get a proper job, there’s a chance you may fall outside the target audience. But never mind you. Scott Pilgrim is awesome.

More Scott Pilgrim on Dork Adore | Scott Pilgrim: Knives Chau and Ramon Flowers X-Stitch

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Scott Pilgrim, everyone’s favourite happy-go-lucky 20-something comic book hero, will soon be with us again.

The sixth and final book — Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour — is out on the 20th July. Meanwhile, Edgar Wright’s movie – Scott Pilgrim Vs The World — will be released on 13th August.

The film stars Michael Cera as our hapless hero and Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers, Pilgrim’s baggage-laden girlfriend. And of course, Ramona isn’t the only one with a selection of deranged exes: Knives Chau is Scott’s love-stricken kick-ass ex, who spends a lot of time dangerously waving aroud the torch she still carries for him.

Dork Stitch

Needle-wielder extraordinaire, Allison Bates, has done a brilliant bit of cross-stitch in homage to the lovably unhinged Knives. In fact, Allison has done all kinds of marvellous bits of geeky, pixellated cross stitch on her EXCELLENTLY named blog, Dork Stitch.

Free Patterns!

Even better, Allison takes the time to make FREE x-stitch patterns so that others may enjoy the nerdy wonders she creates.

As well as a free Knives Chau pattern, Allison has worked up a free Ramona Flowers pattern – though we’re still waiting on a photo of the finished piece.

She’s done tonnes of other dork patterns, including retro computer games characters like Hero from Dragon Quest VIII and a cross-stitch Pikachu. If you check out the categories, you’ll see all kinds of other wonderful geek fodder.

Take a look! Dork Stitch. Allison’s DeviantArt Page.

Pre-order Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour: Amazon | Signed copies on Forbidden Planet | eBay

Scott Pilgrim Comics | Scott Pilgrim The Movie | Scott Pilgrim Ning group

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