A self-portrait of illustrator/art director Akiko Stehrenberger.

A couple of months ago I briefly mentioned Spike Jonze’s latest short film, I’m Here, in my re-cap of VICE/Intel’s The Creators Project exhibit in New York City.
In the same post, I raved about LA-based singer/songwriter Aska Matsumiya, who performed a short set following the film’s screening.
The 30-minute film is a boy-meets-girl love story, only with, er, robots. It’s surprisingly endearing and compassionate (I got kind of choked up during the screening, but refrained from tearing up because I was in a roomful of hot New York girls who aren’t typically impressed by sensitive dudes with a soft spot for robots).
But you can see for yourself, as I’ve posted the first 10 minutes of the film above (since YouTube only allows 10-minute clips, you’ll have to watch Parts two and three separately, or watch it all in one viewing on the film’s official Flash-enabled site.
Aska is featured on three songs on the film’s soundtrack, including a new version of “The Past Is a Grotesque Animal” with Of Montreal.
If that wasn’t enough, the soundtrack also boasts Animal Collective, Sleigh Bells, and Sam Spiegel (N.A.S.A.).
And while the soundtrack won’t be released until October 5th on Chocolate Industries, you can pre-order it now as part of an I’m Here collector’s CD/DVD/Book package at McSweeny’s, according to The Playlist.
After leaking a brief teaser last month, Universal has finally released the official trailer for Scott Pilgram Vs. The World.
This is, without a doubt, the one film I’ve been anticipating most this year. Largely because a) The film is an adaptation of the awesome Scott Pilgram graphic novel series; b) it’s written/directed by Edgar Wright, the guy who brought us Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz; c) it’s completely set in Toronto and features local landmarks like Sonic Boom!, Lee’s Palace, Toronto Reference Library and Casa Loma; d) it has an incredible cast including Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jason Schwartzman, Kieran Culkin and my super-crush Aubrey Plaza; and e) the soundtrack features Broken Social Scene, Beck, Metric, Dan the Automator and Cornelius.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the graphic novel series, it’s a sort of Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist meets Kill Bill, for lack of a better description? Well, here, in fact, is a better description, courtesy of Universal:
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), bass guitarist for the garage band Sex Bob-omb, has just met the girl of his dreams. However, he must defeat Ramona Flowers’ (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) seven evil exes, who are coming to kill him.
Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass — and now is back in town — to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona roller blades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes control her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.
As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past, from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsomely identical twins. And if he hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.
Scott Pilgram vs. the World is out in North American theatres on August 13th.