<div>I suspect that Ebert's real problem here (aside from the possibility that this film, which I have not yet seen, is just no damn good) is the fact that he himself WAS a major science fiction fan. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert</a></div>
<div>which says:</div>
<div><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">As a teenager, Ebert was involved in </font></em><a title="Science fiction fandom" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction_fandom"><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">science fiction fandom</font></em></a><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7"><a title="" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ebert#cite_note-7"><span>[</span>8<span>]</span></a></sup> writing articles for </font></em><a class="mw-redirect" title="Fanzines" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanzines"><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">fanzines</font></em></a><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">, including </font></em><a title="Richard A. Lupoff" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_A._Lupoff"><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">Richard A. Lupoff</font></em></a><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">'s </font></em><a title="Xero (SF fanzine)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xero_(SF_fanzine)"><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">Xero</font></em></a><em><font style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff33">.</font></em></div>
<div> </div>
<div>As for myself, I'm a totally unrepentant, middle-aged fan of science fiction and I don't care who knows it. My kids laugh, my wife rolls her eyes, but "Here I stand; I can do no other" (with appropriate apologies to Martin Luther for stealing his immortal line).</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Mike LaTorra<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 9:49 PM, John Grigg <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:possiblepaths2050@gmail.com">possiblepaths2050@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">I had been looking forward to watching this film that highlights<br>fandom, but the reviews have been very mixed. Roger Ebert, the 800<br>
pound gorilla of American film critics, seemed to have a real axe to<br>grind against this sometimes maligned subculture.<br><br>John : (<br><br><a href="http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/REVIEWS/902049987" target="_blank">http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/REVIEWS/902049987</a><br>
<br>Fanboys<br>The fandom menace:<br>People, get a life!<br><br>Release Date: 2009<br><br>Ebert Rating: *˝<br><br>/ / / Feb 4, 2009<br><br>by Roger Ebert<br><br>A lot of fans are basically fans of fandom itself. It's all about<br>
them. They have mastered the "Star Wars" or "Star Trek" universes or<br>whatever, but their objects of veneration are useful mainly as a<br>backdrop to their own devotion. Anyone who would camp out in a tent on<br>
the sidewalk for weeks in order to be first in line for a movie is<br>more into camping on the sidewalk than movies.<br><br>Extreme fandom may serve as a security blanket for the socially inept,<br>who use its extreme structure as a substitute for social skills. If<br>
you are Luke Skywalker and she is Princess Leia, you already know what<br>to say to each other, which is so much safer than having to ad-lib it.<br>Your fannish obsession is your beard. If you know absolutely all the<br>trivia about your cubbyhole of pop culture, it saves you from having<br>
to know anything about anything else. That's why it's excruciatingly<br>boring to talk to such people: They're always asking you questions<br>they know the answer to.<br><br>But enough about my opinions; what about "Fanboys"? Its primary flaw<br>
is that it's not critical. It is a celebration of an idiotic<br>lifestyle, and I don't think it knows it. If you want to get in a car<br>and drive to California, fine. So do I. So did Jack Kerouac. But if<br>your first stop involves a rumble at a "Star Trek" convention in Iowa,<br>
dude, beam your ass down to Route 66.<br><br>The movie, set in 1999, involves four "Star Wars" fanatics and,<br>eventually, their gal pal, who have the notion of driving to Marin<br>County, breaking into the Skywalker Ranch, and stealing a copy of a<br>
print of "Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace" so they can see<br>it before anyone else. This is about as plausible as breaking into the<br>U.S. Mint and stealing some money so you can spend it before anyone<br>
else.<br><br>"Fanboys" follows in the footsteps of "Sex Drive" by allowing one of<br>its heroes to plan a rendezvous with an Internet sex goddess. To avoid<br>revealing any plot secrets in this film, I will recycle my earlier<br>
warning: In a chat room, don't be too hasty to believe Ms. Tasty.<br><br>This plot is given gravitas because one of the friends, Linus<br>(Christopher Marquette), is dying of cancer. His buddy Eric (Sam<br>Huntington) is in favor of the trip because, I dunno, it will give<br>
Linus something to live for, I guess. The other fanboys are Hutch (Dan<br>Fogler), who lives in his mother's garage coach house, and Windows<br>(Jay Baruchel), who changed his name from MacOS. Just kidding.<br>Windows, Hutch and Linus work in a comic bookstore, where their<br>
favorite customer is Zoe (Kristen Bell). She's sexy and a "Star Wars"<br>fan. How cool is that? She's almost better than the date who turns<br>into a pizza and a six-pack when the deed is done.<br><br>The question of Linus' cancer became the subject of a celebrated<br>
Internet flame war last summer, with supporters of "Fanboys" director<br>Kyle Newman running Anti-Harvey Web sites opposing Harvey Weinstein's<br>alleged scheme to cut the subplot out of the movie. The subplot<br>
survived, but it's one of those movie diseases that is mentioned<br>occasionally so everyone can look solemn and then dropped when the<br>ailing Linus dons a matching black camouflage outfit and scales the<br>Skywalker Ranch walls with a grappling hook.<br>
<br>"Fanboys" is an amiable but disjointed movie that identifies too<br>closely with its heroes. Poking a little more fun at them would have<br>been a great idea. They are tragically hurtling into a cultural dead<br>
end, mastering knowledge which has no purpose other than being<br>mastered, and too smart to be wasting their time. When a movie's<br>opening day finally comes, and fanboys leave their sidewalk tents for<br>a mad dash into the theater, I wonder who retrieves their tents,<br>
sleeping bags, portable heaters and iPod speakers. Warning: Mom isn't<br>always going to be there to clean up after you.<br><br>Cast & Credits<br><br>Eric Sam Huntington<br>Hutch Dan Fogler<br>Windows Jay Baruchel<br>
Zoe Kristen Bell<br>Linus Christopher Marquette<br><br>The Weinstein Company presents a film directed by Kyle Newman. Written<br>by Ernest Cline and Adam F. Goldberg. Running time: 90 minutes. Rated<br>PG-13 (for pervasive crude and sexual material, language and drug<br>
content).<br>_______________________________________________<br>wta-talk mailing list<br><a href="mailto:wta-talk@transhumanism.org">wta-talk@transhumanism.org</a><br><a href="http://www.transhumanism.org/mailman/listinfo/wta-talk" target="_blank">http://www.transhumanism.org/mailman/listinfo/wta-talk</a><br>
</blockquote></div><br>