Either Mark Mothersbaugh (composer for “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenebaums”) is losing his touch or we’re getting crotchety-er. It would be easy to assume the latter, but no, sorry, Mothersbaugh’s score to “Fanboys,” is terrible. Sure, it was purposely meant to ape and redo the “Star Wars” music as closely as possible without having John Williams team of lawyers burst down the front door of the music studio, M-16s a-blazing, but we still couldn’t help but be massively disappointed with it. Yes, we understand – especially in this economy – a job is a job is a job. The lights don’t keep themselves on. And yes, director Kyle Newman did get two key John Williams songs in the movie (but they must’ve gone by super quick, because we hardly noticed them). But, yeah. Not one for the ages.
Wait, what’s this nerdfest about? A group of “Star Wars” obsessives who travel to Skywalker Ranch to steal an early copy of “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” so their terminally ill buddy can watch a copy of what eventually becomes known as the movie that ruined childhood, before he kicks off this mortal coil. The soundtrack to the film is equally undesirable, but since the film is set in 1998, we must admit the bad, one-hit wonder alt-rock and hip-hop is basically from the time and place (funny, Kevin Smith had similar music in ‘Zack & Miri,’ do nerds have an affection for bad ’90s rock? Do we smell trend piece?).
“Fanboys” soundtrack
“Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba
“Whoomp There It Is” – Tag Team
“The Choice Is Yours” – Black Sheep
“Lit Up” – Buck Cherry
“Imperial March” – John Williams
“Gotta Give It To Them” – Lexicon
“Limelight” – Rush
“Broken Heart For Sale” – Heather Myles
“39 Southbound” – Mr.Badwrench
“Fuego” – Menudo
“Lump” – Presidents of the United States of America
“Mindblowing” – Kevin Cole
“Everyday Should Be A Holiday” – The Dandy Warhols
“On Star” – Selectracks Studio Ensemble
“Baby Got Going” – Liz Phair
“Tom Sawyer” – Rush
“Star Wars Main Title Theme” – John Williams
“Fair” – Remy Zero
“In The Meantime” – Spacehog
“Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare” – Alfred Newman
Will their be a soundtrack CD? Seems doubtful, considering the drama this film went through. The movie itself? Well, we’ll get to that later, but you can probably guess. The geeks will eat this up like an all-you-can eat buffet though and they can mark it on their calendar: it comes out in limited release on February 6. Another movie music trend? Comedies love Rush and the Canadian power-rock trio are going to be all over films this year. Not only are their two Rush tracks in “Fanboys,” Dan Fogler’s character is a Rush-obsessive and the band will turn up as themselves later this year in the Paul Rudd, Jason Segel comedy, “I Love You, Man.”
I don’t get it. The movie takes place in like 98-99…most of those songs are 3+ years too old.
Close enough?
has anyone seen the clip where windows goes in to java the hutt? i can’t figure out what song that is that’s playing… anybody have any insight?
yesss. thanks for posting this.
it was that remy zero song i e-mailed you about.
God, this movie sucked.
in the trailer of this movie.. whats the song playing in the background when there introducing the cast (towards the end of the trailer)
This movie was perfect. Anyone who feels differently is likely never pleased with anything in life at all.
The Movie was gereat. Loved every minuit of it.
I thought this movie was great! I wish they would release a soundtrack.
Its pretty basic and straight forward this film.
Didnt move me at all but it was better than listening to my GF nagging
This movie AND the soundtrack were GREAT! The critic who wrote this is obviously one of those losers who has nothing better to do in life than down-play a completely entertaining movie. I hope you choke and die on the next meal you eat. Man I hate critics…
I wouldn’t worry too much about the opinion of this one, the spelling and grammatical errors say enough about what they’re really like.
i cant find that kevin cole song anywhere! i need it…lol
It’s no masterpiece but i really enjoyed this movie…
I thought this movie was funny as hell. I was a crazy 18 year old fan boy when Episode I came out and I saw piece of myself in this movie. I even enjoyed all the music that’s in this movie. I had all those CDs lying around my car back in high school.
I think people REALLY enjoy this movie only when they can sit back and say to themselves, “Hey that was (is) me.” Then laugh at themselves. Plus being a Star Wars Fan I got kick out of all the references.
Thanks for putting together the playlist.
Hmm…clearly the person who wrote this is no fan of pop culture. These songs made the90’s. Of course 90’s music is goofy and slightly embarrassing. Isn’t that what this movie is supposed to reflect?
This was no blockbuster hit, but it was never meant to be. It’s one of those jems that only dedicated “nerds” would know about or appreciate.
I personally loved this movie, it was a total rehash of being young, innocently stupid and madly in love with universes far removed from my own. The soundtrack was just a compilation of what we were all cruising around listening to, while waiting for Lucas to get off his ass and release Episode 1 and after he finally released the damn movie.
I personally really liked this movie, but i wanna get the kevin cole song and can't find it anywhere.
You can find the "Fan Boys" song by Kevin Cole "Mind Blowing" at artistfinders.com. Beautiful song! My wife and I listen to it all the time!
whats the name of the song and artist when lance is watching episode 1 in the cinema on his own? such a good song
cheers
This movie was hilarious for the star wars fans. In order to catch alot of the jokes and events in it you have to know Star Wars. I'd give it a 4 outta 5 star rating :)!
This was agreat movie…might not be a main stream flick-but from a fan boys perspective…it's dead on lol
Like most guys born in the late 70's and early 80's – I'm a huge STAR WARS fan. To be honest I didnt even know about this movie until recently and probably would have never seen it if not for a free Showtime preview on Direct TV a few weeks ago. With that said I freakin loved it!! And now everytime it comes on it's turned into one of those movies that I just HAVE TO watch. If you dont like STAR WARS or sci-fi in general I can see why you wouldnt get it, but for those like me it was a perfect depiction of that time when we were all infatuated with the upcoming prequels – which by the way, most fans would agree, didnt come close to expectations. I never write comments like this but when I read the critics' review I just had to shake my head and laugh. You're obviously not a STAR WARS fan dude, so why even see the movie or write a review? Stick to the romantic drama's and stop criticizing our movies ok, it wasn't made for uptight conservative dicks like you who take baths and get weekly manicures. Sure, you wrote that a few years ago and will most likely never see this comment but here's my review for you: F**K YOU, YOU SUCK, I WIN – THE END