Why Does ‘77′ Look Like It Will Be Better Than ‘Fanboys’?

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on May 26, 2009

77-header

Before everyone gets all aggro on me for dissing Kyle Newman’s Fanboys right off the bat, lets put things in perspective: anyone who has seen Fanboys knows that it really wasn’t the bodacious geek thrill ride that the hype promised. It was a lot of fun, yes, but it was also a little flat here and there. My theory is that it might actually be a great movie, but the fact that I had to write 1,700 articles about it in the few years that it sat shelved over at Weinstein Central might have completely numbed me to the flick.

My hope is that we can learn from that experience and possibly enjoy some of the coming-of-age Star Wars geekery in Patrick Read Johnson’s indie comedy 77, the trailer for which can be seen below. It tells the story of hopeful filmmaker Pat Johnson (John Francis Daley), loner, as he grows up in rural Illinois, falls in love and becomes a fan of the epic sci-fi film that “changed everything.” It is a decidedly autobiographical look at writer/director Patrick Johnson’s own experiences in May of 1977, when George Lucas unleashed Star Wars upon the world. And from where I’m sitting, it appears to be a film that is more about the characters than it is about the journey, which could very well set it apart from Kyle Newman’s film. But then again, we’re talking semantics here. The only link between these two movies is Star Wars, and 77 appears to be a little further removed from “fanboy” because it is set in the time right before Star Wars was released, as opposed to being set 20 years after the phenomenon began.

But I digress, this movie trailer has some serious charm to it. So I’m in. How about you watch the trailer below and tell me what you think? 77 is currently without distribution and also without a U.S. release date. More information can be found on the film’s official website, 77-movie.com.

What do you think?


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  • Was it really necessary from them to take the songs from every other movie trailer?
  • Ladies and Gentleman, this is the story of Josh Radde's life from six to sixteen. For every movie he saw, he would write a sequel and then film it in the backyard. Who can forget such greats as: Lawn in Sixty Seconds (he stole lawn chairs from around the nieghborhood), Big Red Ball 1-9, and James Bond:Goldeneye Academy (Mastering Nintendo 64).
  • Sam Weir!!!! he looks exactly the same as he did on "Freaks and Geeks:
  • That looks like it could be a fun little movie and I really like John Francis Daley.
  • James
    He looks like Julian Casablancas from The Strokes!
  • Is anybody else sick of hearing about star wars and people being in love with it, then writing into a script. Whether a tv shows like family guy, spaced, Simpsons, robot chicken that 70s show or fucking half the shows on television then also on film with most of Kevin Smith collection, fanboys, and I'm sure many other films that have some sort parody in them. I understand it is a common experience with most of the people living today, but when does parody become laziness. The parodies, I've like few of them, the Kevin Smith movies I liked a lot, but sick of it. Look, this film looks like it is going to be great and it doesn't seem like it is more than a bunch stars wars jokes strung together, but I had enough of with star wars parodies/jokes.
  • You know, as a 'Star Wars' fan myself...I have to say...yes, yes I am.

    I think that's why 'Fanboys' fell so incredibly flat for me...I'm just over the whole thing. It began with Smith's really funny 'Death Star construction workers' speech in 'Clerks' and was probably over at the very latest with the 'Family Guy' episode.

    I think there were less movies made about Vietnam than there are with Star Wars 'as the backdrop'.
  • Oh I can answer this question, call on me...........

    Did you who made this film, "From the Producers of Star Wars", nuff said. It wouldn't suprise me if Lucas wasn't behind a lot of these movies simply to get the original franchise viable.
  • Garanimal
    Doesn't this kind of take navel gazing to the extreme though?
  • It could be lovely - though my common complaint with movies about young people making movies - is that the production values always look too good. I grew up making movies, and I've seen the movies of friends who did the same. In these real scenarios the imagination was generally stronger than our ability to create amazing sets or props - and it was also somehow more important, too :)
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