I picked up Fanboys for the actors and stayed for the story. The movie was made in 2007 and released over a year later. It came out on dvd well over a year ago. It takes time to get to everything. I don't remember hearing about it before seeing Balls Of Fury about a month ago. Goes to show you what I remember. I looked up Dan Fogler, who stars with Christopher Walken in BOF, on the IMDb and saw he was in Fanboys. Being a fanboy myself I was intrigued by the title and looked it up. I remembered then I had seen that Darth Vader head poster (below left) before but still didn't know anything about the movie. I saw it had some actors that I like and a story that might have some potential. A week or so passed and there it was, the last copy, sitting on the shelf at Target for $9.99. It's got a different cover (below right) which I think is a better selling tool. It's got a Princess Leia in a metal bikini. That beats Darth Vader in casual friday attire anytime. Seeing that dvd was like fate, or something, so I bought it and put it in my bag for Friday Night Movies. There wasn't any fevered interest from the other guys though Greg had heard something about it. We had a lot of choices and no one wanted to pick first so I picked Fanboys and Push. The first one because I really had an interest in it and the second for Dakota Fanning and Chris Evans.
It's 1999 in Fanboys, but the bulk of the movie takes place about 6 months earlier. Four serious Star Wars fans want to break into Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of the forthcoming Episode 1. It's been a plan since they were younger. They still have their map. Usually the plans that I've made for trips across the country don't involve stealing unreleased movies. Mostly they involve kicking someone in the nuts. It's probably a good thing that those plans don't get carried out. Upon finding one of their group has cancer, the kind that kills you two months before Episode 1 comes out, they decide to put that plan into effect. That's Sam, Chris, Dan and Jay below. They've all been in movies that I have enjoyed and I enjoyed watching them work.
Sam Huntington works at his dad's car dealership, he's tapped to head the company but secretly he desires to be a comic artist. Sam was in a couple of movies I liked quite a bit, Detroit Rock City and Not Another Teen Movie. Both are fun. Not so the movie with his big role, Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns, I wasn't much of a fan of that movie. Chris Marquette is the guy who's got the cancer. He's all mad at Sam who had been his best friend all through school but didn't continue that after high school when they drifted apart. Chris was a regular on Joan Of Arcadia. I enjoyed that show and was sort of sad to see it go. It might have been the best thing, they were planning to introduce a powerful bad guy and make it much more serious and man, I see enough of that sort of shit as it is. Now there's a nice two season block of shows that I can re-watch someday. Dan Fogler lives in his mom's garage which he calls a carriage house. He's the annoying horny hound dog of the group. I just saw him in Balls Of Fury. Greg did not like Dan in that movie but I didn't find him too annoying. I bought the movie, for 5 bucks from the big dump at Walmart, and that was after seeing it from NetFlix. Jay Baruchel plays the tall nerdy guy who doesn't know that fellow comic shop co-worker Kristen Bell is interested in him. I could see that happening, I've seen enough movies and tv shows to know that you can't always tell what women are signaling you. Turn left! What? See, it's hard. Jay is in several good productions, Almost Famous, Undeclared, Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder and his big starring role in She's Out of My League. Kristen Bell was Veronica Mars in the series of the same name. I saw that series on dvd and enjoyed them. I haven't seen her in many of the other things she's been in but her dressed as Princess Leia is nice.
They look cute together don't they? In a nerdy sort of way. The things we forgive, huh. The guys trek across country meeting iconic tv and movie stars like William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Ray Park, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes , Danny Trejo, Seth Rogan (in three roles), Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride. Only Shattner plays himself. There's lots of jokes for the fanboy, some of them made me laugh out loud, and plenty of iconic references. Guess them all! The guys make it to Skywalker Ranch but only Chris gets to see the film. That evening he reconnects with Sam. Then we flash forward 6 months and things are looking up for the guys who are in line to see Episode 1. All except for Chris. The movie ends with them wondering if the movie will suck. One thing for sure I didn't think Fanboys sucked like the critics did. It didn't get very positive reviews and it didn't make much money back then it was playing briefly around the country. Hope it makes some money on the dvd. I sure found it entertaining and I'd watch it again. Probably more than I would watch Episode 1 and I don't think it sucks that much.
Joe brought Push. It's a 2009 science fiction action thriller with Chris Evan and Dakota Fanning as mutants with super powers. We'd just seen Chris in The Losers. Here he's a Mover, someone who can control physical objects with his mind, and Dakota is a Watcher, someone who can predict the future. There's a secret government organization, called the Division, that collects and studies the mutants, or kills them. They aren't very nice. Their secret plan is create an army of super mutants and take over the world. Djimon Hounsou is the lead mutant in the Division. He's a real dick, killing anyone he wants, with his Pusher powers. He can put false thoughts and memories in people's heads, causing them to act on the new information. Chris and Dakota are second generation mutants. Chris's dad didn't want to join the Division and he was killed. Chris escaped and the movie shifts to when he's a young man. He's hanging out in Hong Kong, trying to make some money with his powers by gambling. He isn't very good at it. He gets sniffed out by some Division mutants. They are looking for another mutant gal who bust out of their lab. She's had some serum that will increase her powers. It's part of the secret world domination plan. The Divison wants to retrieve her and the Watchers see Chris in there somehow. Dakota is doing the same thing. That's why she shows up at his apartment with a toothbrush to replace the one the Sniffers took. She tells Chris there's a case with 6 million dollars in it. The case actually has the serum that the Division is looking for.
There's a family of Chinese mutants that are powerful enough to buck the Division. That's Chris and Dakota above talking to Xiaolu Li with the lucky lollypop. She's a Watcher and her dad is in charge of the Chinese mutants. He wants the case too. Sometimes it's not good to be the third wheel in a movie, most of them are wiped out by the end of the movie. We won't miss 'em. There's lots of action and running about in Hong Kong. It's entertaining to watch and the special effects looks pretty cool. The story isn't too bad. Drags a bit near the end then there's a huge fight. The good guys look like they are going to come out on top. I'm not rushing out to buy one but I'd watch it again.
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