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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=015212216-27022009><FONT face=Arial><FONT
size=2>I remember some years ago at a film festival, we we were all on a
mountain top at a reception. An electrical thunderstorm came upon us
quickly. There was one truck to get down quickly. Some us piled in
the truck, but Ebert was left behind chasing us as we drove off in a truck
down the mountain slop in the mudslide. In the truck were Hannah
Schygulla, a famous french author, Paul Kohner, Poncho Kohner, me and several
others. But someone in the truck did not want to give Ebert a ride
becuase Ebert had writen a scathing review of his film. ...
Maybe Ebert is still has too many bees in his
bonnet.</FONT></FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=015212216-27022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=015212216-27022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Hint: It was not a German or French film (excludes Hanna and French
author)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=015212216-27022009></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=015212216-27022009><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Hint: <A
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_to_Midnight">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_to_Midnight</A>
- "zero stars from Roger Ebert"</FONT></SPAN></DIV></DIV>
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style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #404040; FONT-FAMILY: 'Freestyle Script'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 191"><A
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces@lists.extropy.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Michael
LaTorra<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, February 26, 2009 5:35 PM<BR><B>To:</B> World
Transhumanist Association Discussion List<BR><B>Cc:</B> ExI chat list;
transhuman_space@yahoogroups.com;
SciFi_Discussion@yahoogroups.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [ExI] [wta-talk] Roger
Ebert reviews "Fanboys"<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<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: *½<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
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target=_blank>http://www.transhumanism.org/mailman/listinfo/wta-talk</A><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>