Fanboys

• A fanatical group of Star Wars devotees travel across the country on a mission to steal a print of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch and become the first fans to see the film in a rowdy, sci-fi-flavored road comedy starring Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and Kristen Bell. Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, and Ray Park turn up for cameos in th

Get ready for the comedy adventure that’s “smart, funny, and tailor-made for the inner-Jedi in all of us” (Pete Hammond, Hollywood.com). In 1998, four childhood buddies with a shared love of all things Star Wars reunite for one final, hilarious odyssey. Their insane plan: a cross-country road trip to storm George Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of Episode I before it’s released. With the police, a crew of angry Trekkies, and a crazy pimp hot on their trail, what could possibly go w! rong? Featuring Dan Fogler (Balls of Fury), Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder), and Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), plus a slew of hysterical surprise cameos, “the Force IS strong with this one!” (Brian Gallagher, MovieWeb)

Stills from Fanboys (Click for larger image)

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Low on inspiration and laughs, Fanboys is a movie that should have been made years ago. Christopher Marquette plays Eric, a would-be heir to a used-car dealership and former loser who rejects his high-school buddies' continuing preoccupation with childish things, including George Lucas' Star Wars saga. When his lifelong friend, Linus (Sam Huntington), is diagnosed in 1999 with a terminal illness, however, Eric joins geeky Windows (Jay Baruchel), wildman Hutch (Dan Fogler) and comely Zoe (Kirsten Bell) on a cross-country trip to steal a print of Star Wars: Phantom Menace from Lucas' Skywalker Ranch for Eric to have a look. Along the way, of course, sundry ! disasters and complications await, everything from getting caught in a gay biker bar to a confrontation with a Vegas pimp (Seth Rogen, genuinely funny). The misadventures at Skywalker include a few good moments, especially when the guards look like characters Lucas might have considered for either of the two trilogies. The best comic material concerns hostilities between Star Wars fanatics and Star Trek Trekkers, including a scene set in the Ohio hometown of James Tiberius Kirk. A few good cameos include William Shatner, Carrie Fisher, and Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. --Tom Keogh

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Festival Express

• Festival Express is a rousing record of a little-known, but monumental, moment in rock n' roll history, starring such music legends as Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. Set in 1970, Festival Express was a multi-band, multi-day extravaganza that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation and a nation. What made it unique was that it was portable; for five days, the bands and p

Festival Express is a rousing record of a little-known, but monumental, moment in rock n' roll history, starring such music legends as Janis Joplin, The Band, and the Grateful Dead. Set in 1970, Festival Express was a multi-band, multi-day extravaganza that captured the spirit and imagination of a generation and a nation. What made it unique was that it was portable; for five days, the bands and performers lived, slept, rehearsed and did countless unmentionable things aboard a customized train that ! traveled from Toronto, to Calgary, to Winnipeg, with each stop culminating in a mega-concert. The entire experience, both off-stage and on, was filmed but the extensive footage remained locked away -- until now. A momentous achievement in rock film archeology, Festival Express combines this long-lost material with contemporary interviews nearly 35 years after it was first filmed.

DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features
Theatrical Trailer

The vintage concert footage alone makes Festival Express a memorable and worthwhile endeavor, offering scintillating performances by Janis Joplin, the Band (their rollicking version of "Slippin' and Slidin'" is particularly mind-blowing), the Grateful Dead, Buddy Guy, and others (remember Mashmakhan?). In 1970, during the heyday of the rock festival, promoter Ken Walker decided to organize a traveling musical revue, bringing the mountain to Mohammed, as it were. In five days' time, the festival played in t! hree Canadian cities with the entire conglomeration traveling,! playing , and getting smashed together the whole way. Nearly as rewarding as the live performances are the candid scenes of the train ride itself, an endless jam session and party during which musicians of all shapes and sizes let their hair down--musically and otherwise. The contemporary interviews with Walker and some of the surviving musicians aren't particularly noteworthy, except as a way to prove that it all actually happened. Walker comes off as a hero in the film: he treated the musicians like royalty and insisted that the train roll on even though he was losing his shirt. (His financial failure is a large reason why this material stayed in the vaults for so long.) Perhaps the most remarkable scene is an off-the-cuff, LSD-fueled train jam featuring Joplin, the Band's Rick Danko, and the Dead's Jerry Garcia playing the old chestnut "Ain't No More Cane." Danko is so obliterated that even Janis has to ask him if he's OK--when Janis is worried about your state of mind, yo! u must be pretty messed up. --Marc Greilsamer

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