Who are the ultimate Fanboys?

Jay and I watched Fanboys last night. Of course we did. We actually had the DVD in our house a day before it was released. Yup. We had to watch it because it was about the ultimate Star Wars fans and because we are up there with some of the hardcore fans, we would at least "get it" (we did go to Celebration IV for our honeymoon after all).

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT for those who care... Fanboys starts with a group of friends who loved Star Wars as kids. Now, as adults, they have grown apart. Eric works at his dad's used car lot. Linus, Hutch and Windows work at a comic book shop and antagonize the Trekkies...excuse me...Trekkers that enter the shop. It is 1998, six months before the release of Episode I, the most anticipated movie in history for die-hard Star Wars fans. Eric runs into his friends at a party and find out that Linus is dying of cancer and has only a couple months to live. Eric decides to re-visit a childhood dream of storming Skywalker Ranch in California to see Episode I before its release date, one last adventure for Linus.

It's actually a great road trip movie. There are many funny scenes and interesting cameos (like Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes). The cancer theme is not pushy or sappy, it is realistic with emotion. Jay said he read that the reason this movie took so long to come out and why it was such a limited release was because they tried to cut the cancer theme out and just make it about a bunch of guys who decide to steal from George Lucas. Really, without that theme, this movie would have had no direction and would have really stunk. I'm glad they stuck to their guns and made it a truer movie.

The only negative to the film is you REALLY have to know your Star Wars to get most of the jokes and homage lines and scenes and background noises. Sadly, I was laughing all he way through. Jay still had to point out some things to me I missed...and I got upset with myself about that ("I knew that one!"). If you are not a fan of Star Wars, you just won't get it. If you at least liked the movie, it is a cute, geek testosterone-driven road trip movie. If you know the name of Chewbacca's home planet, go buy a copy of the movie right now!
--your "Fangirl", Maegann

Jay gives this movie 4 out of 5 tacos

Yes, You Can Put Bacon in Anything

One day, Jay and I were joking around and we decided that bacon is so good, it can be put in any food product and make that product exponentially more delicious. Jay was even coming up with a way to make bacon ice cream. Why do we all have this Homer Simpson-like desire for bacon (yes, even those of you who refuse to eat it, the desire is in your genes)? Recently, I was wandering around Cost Plus World Market looking for a treat when I found Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges. It's chocolate. With bacon. Applewood smoked bacon. Cue the Homer gurgle here....

So I brought it home as a little joke for Jay. we were afraid to try it. We stared at it for a long time wondering if it was going to be wonderful or disgusting. Still, it was bacon and has bacon ever let us down. We tried a bite. We fell in love. The chocolate is creamy and sweet and balances the saltiness of the bacon and smoked salt. The bacon is a little crunchy, so has a nutty texture. The combination takes a few seconds to get used to, but it's like that first time you got syrup on your breakfast sausage. After that moment, you wonder how you could even eat them apart again. At $6.99 for one bar, our love must be a fleeting and rare thing. If loving bacon chocolate is wrong....
--Maegann

The Day the Earth Stood Still (the classic version)

So Jay and I got this book called 501 Must-See Movies. It was published in 2004 and has a nifty checklist inside the covers to keep track of all the movies you watch. It spans from the very first talkies to modern-day classics. We thought it would be cool to watch as many as possible and have been slowly working through it. We saw Ben-Hur for the first time a couple months ago and wondered why we never saw it before...fantastic movie...go watch it if you haven't yet. Charlton Heston is just amazing.

This review is on The Day the Earth Stood Still. The old one. I still haven't seen the Keanu Reeves one yet and debating if I want to. As you can see in the pictures, looks like campy 50's sci-fi that would be fun to go all MST3K on. We watched it in Blu-Ray, black and white (and if you have a Blu-Ray, definitely watch that version!). It held our attention from the very beginning. The first thing we noticed is Robert Wise is one of the greatest directors of his time. He had creative shots that really built up suspense and made you feel like you were one of the characters in the movie. He used cut scenes often instead of dialog to get a feel of anticipation from all over the world.

The time was the 50's, so the Cold War was raging following a deadly World War. Aggression between nations, especially the U.S. and Russia caused paranoia throughout the world. Citizens of the U.S. felt that on any given day an atomic bomb would drop on them and "duck and cover" was the answer. Then this spaceship comes and an ambassador from another world comes to warn the entire world that if they don't stop their petty squabbling that there planet must be eliminated for the safety of the universe. Of course the xenophobic humans don't listen to helpful Klaatu and he gets shot a couple times.

This movie isn't a cheesy sci-fi flick. It has rich political undertones and fantastic directing and acting. Now, does the new version live up to the message? We shall see...
--Maegann

Jay gives this movie 4 out of 5 tacos.

You must see Star Trek!

I did not grow up on Star Trek, and really never cared to. I watched some Next Generation, but only because I was in love with Wil Wheaton at the time. I think I saw a couple movies, but don't remember them. Jay and I decided to start watching Season 1, which turned out to be a great idea because it made me appreciate the great character acting in the new Star Trek movie.

This is a fun movie! As one critic said, it's the Star Trek movie for everyone! Very funny, action packed, and a creative story line. The was a four issue comic book prequel that came out a few months ago. We sold out of those so fast at Get Stinky! The prequel helped set the scene for the movie so you had more answers about why the tattooed Romulans are there and how Spock is two places at once (and Sylar as Spock? It works, friends, it works). The actors had all the character mannerisms down. Watching some of the old TV show helped me identify the small quirks. Simon Pegg as Scotty was a riot.

The summer movie season just started, but I have a feeling this one will be at the top of the list for awhile!
--Maegann