Fanboys: One of us! One of us!

Disclaimer: I am a giant Star Wars dork. I swear, George Lucas could do a puppet show and, so long as one of those puppets mentioned the Force or used a lightsaber, I'd see it five times and go out and buy the corresponding action figures. So when a film comes out that not only shows, but celebrates that kind of passion (or blind faith depending on who you talk to) that people like myself have, I am going to definitely check it out. Fanboys is that movie.

The year is 1999 and the world is anxiously awaiting the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But four friends in Ohio just cannot wait to see it, so they hatch a plan to drive cross country to George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch home in California and swipe a copy for themselves.

Sounds ridiculous right, even more so if you are not a fanboy and your life doesn't revolve around figuring out things such as why Greedo shot first in the Special Edition of Episode IV (probably lost some of you there, let me get back on point). But to the four friends, Eric, Linus, Windows and Hutch, this is what their lives are composed of. They dress like characters from the Star Wars movies, quote the films constantly and it leads to some awkwardly funny moments as they make their way to California. However it's also cool to hear those guys have some of the same arguements regarding the Holy Trilogy that I myself have been in. This makes the film more endearing to fanboys who are aware of the in - jokes and will shout the answers to the various quizzes that the group faces throughout the film to prove their fanboy-ness. But beyond the typical road trip movie trapping which litered the film, beyond the appearance of Kristen Bell (who played Zoe) in a slave girl Leia outfit (one word, spectacular!), beyond the cameos of Star Wars vets such as Billy Dee Williams and Carrie Fisher and other stars such as William Shatner there was a soul to Fanboys. The film effectively showed how the love of a group of movies and their characters could bring friends together to just geek out and be who they are (unless you're a Trekkie).

Yes, the regular viewer might not like Fanboys because they have no clue as to why grown men and women would get so emotional over Wookies or a small green Jedi Master, and the sight of a Ewok humping a leg during a peynote enduced hallucination might go over their heads but for those of us who live and breathe with everything coming from the mind of George Lucas, it is an ode to the joys of never really growing up and still being able to enjoy adventures that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

Grade: B

Cloverfield: How can a monster movie be this good?

The hype surrounding Cloverfield was akin to that of The Blair Witch Project when it came out. Things such as cryptic trailers and inventive viral marketing campaigns made it easy for people (such as myself) to get hooked and wait with baited breath to check out the equilvalent of an "American Godzilla movie."

In the film, Robert Hawkins is getting ready to leave Manhattan for a job in Japan. However, his new gig takes a back seat when the city is attacked by a giant monster and he and his friends must not only try to escape, but rescue Beth, the woman that he loves. Right now you're probably thinking, "okay, I've seen this movie before. A "monster" (i.e. guy in a rubber suit) walks around kicking over minatures while the actors run around not really doing anything but screaming," but that was not the case in Cloverfield. The star of the film wasn't the monster, it was the story and the human characters.

In the early parts of the movie, Rob is sitting around discussing the mess that he's created between himself and Beth. His brother tells him that (and I'm paraphrasing here) "all that matters in life are moments and who you care about in the world." This sentiment forms the crux of why he and the rest of the characters do what they do and why Director Matt Reeves and Screenwriter Drew Goddard were more interested in drawing the audience in emotionally rather than simply throwing oodles of shots of the monster at them. When Rob, his buddy (and the comic relief) Hud and the rest of his friends are running around ducking falling debris or fighting off the mini - monsters in the subway tunnel, the audience needed to care whether they survived or not. They needed to feel for Rob as he took on the seemingly impossible task of finding and saving Beth. The special effects, along with the Monster itself, were utilized to punctuate the story, not overwhelming it and turn it into something clunky and predictable. Did that last part about the story being central to the film scare you into thinking there's no action? Well it shouldn't, there were plenty of tense moments, action and thrills to go around (however if shaky hand-held camera action makes you queasy, you might not want to watch the film on a full stomach).

In fact, Cloverfield managed to pack more thrills, action, humor and heart in it's hour and fifteen minutes of running time than most $200 million dollar budgeted, cgi - filled summer blockbusters ever could.

Grade: A

Paul Blart: Mall Cop? No thanks!

I've never watched Kevin James' show King of Queens cause I've always known that if I wanted to see the hilarity that ensues when a rotund man and his goregous wife try to make it through the paces in a suburban American setting, there were better choices out there (see The Family Guy or The Simpsons). And after sitting through Paul Blart: Mall Cop I doubt I'll ever try to catch King of Queens.

The premise is simple enough, down on his luck Blart longs to be a full fledged New Jersey state trooper but has a problem that makes that impossible (he needs his sweets to stay awake). So he ends up working at the local mall where he is in his tenth year of protecting and serving all those shoppers who constantly mock him and take him for a joke. Things change when Blart notices a new kiosk girl named Amy whom he tries to save, along with other shop owners, when thieves take over his beloved mall.

The film switches from maudlin to slapstick at the drop of a hat and never really establishes a narrative which makes for watchable cinema. Sure, James brings heart to Blart and can take a prat fall like no one's business but that's all he can do to get laughs, run into things or get doused in a tanning booth (and you can only do that so many times before it becomes irritating). Fans of James will no doubt still want to check out this movie but if you're looking for something that will make you chuckle on a consistent basis and doesn't make you think about doing all those chores you're trying to avoid, stay away from Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Grade: D

Welcome to The Stowe Show!

Hello and welcome to my blog! For some of you (like the five of you who actually followed my Stowe Show website) I'd like to say welcome back. For the rest of you, I'd like to say thanks for stopping by and I hope it's not a one shot thing. Movies are a passion of mine and I love to talk about them. My family and friends know this, and they have put up with my Dennis Miller - esque rantings on why The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest film ever or how Twilight is just ridiculously horrible. Now I've decided to take these thoughts and opinions online to see if I can engage a new audience on the virtues of Kevin Smith films or the latest crap remake Hollywood is trying to jam down our collective throats. My plan for this blog is to use it to critique those films I see on dvd and in the theater, without all of the esoteric stuff you might run into in other film review blogs. I welcome any and all comments and would love to hear from you (especially if you have a film you would like me to check out and comment on). So without further ado, let the insanity begin...