Into the garbage shoot with Fanboys?

IMAGE: Fanboys

The Fanboys reviews are coming in, and they are… Not very good. Roger Ebert is particularly biting… io9 gives it more credit, but it didn’t particularly make me want to see it, either. And The Village Voice’s Robert Wilonsky says we’d “better off watching The Star Wars Holiday Special” – hyperbole, clearly. But the most damning thing from him, at least from my perspective:

The jokes, such as they are, consist of little more than Star Wars lines recited out of context—most of them variations on “These are not the droids you’re looking for.” It feels like the filmmakers’ way of saying, “This is a movie for members only.”

I am a member of the club, and I got tired of that kind of thing years ago. (Pay no attention to the entry headline…) Of course, it’s one thing to read a review, and another to actually see the movie. But unless ticket sales this weekend go gangbusters, I don’t think most of us are going to have that chance until the DVD.

If you’re searching for a more positive take, StarWars.com has a report from San Francisco screening.

Drive-by movie news: Fanboys, Christian Bale, Avatar, sequel news good and bad

fanboys posterThe Fanboys cometh. Director Kyle Newman interviewed at StarWars.com and Sci Fi Wire, while Billy Dee Williams talks to SciFi Scanner.

Meanwhile, TFN has the final theater count and a Chicago premiere report. And for those of us who are going to have to wait, Newman tells us what to expect on the DVD.

  • Bale’s short fuse. A recording of Christian Bale cussing out a crew member on the set of Terminator Salvation proved embarrassing for all involved, except maybe the guy who made it into a kicking techno remix. (And these guys.) Harry Knowles defended the actor, which might mean more if it was coming from someone other than Harry “Is Hollywood watching? Are they impressed?” Knowles.
  • Slumdog Millionaire star joins Airbender. M. Night Shyamalan’s Avatar adaption has a new ZukoDev Patel. Fan reaction has been mixed – folks are happy to see more diversity, but many are bothered about the implications of the film’s only Asian actor playing the villain.
  • Someone too committed to Sparkle Motion. There have been rumors floating around of a Donnie Darko sequel. Now, io9 has word of the direct-to-DVD S. Darko. Honestly, I have a hard time believing this isn’t a prank…
  • Bloop. No WALL-E sequel in sight. Phew.

Drive-by movie news: Too much Twilight, Harrison Ford, Batman, WB’s Potter desperation

Not so shiny. Catherine Hardwicke is out of Twilight sequel. (Robert Pattinson’s envy must be at least twice the size of glitter budget.)

Of course, the real interest for many of us is the book’s numerous creepy undertones. And finally, for funny Twilight news, aka the actual reason to bother reporting any of it, check out the puppet version.

Drive-by movie news: Kilted men pandering soon to a theatre near you

fanboys posterLadies and gentlemen, the Fanboys movie poster. Mmm… derivative! And not in the good way.