ColossalCon conquers Sandusky, June 2-5

Don't dare call them mere cartoons. To its cultish fandom, this medium is known as "anime." Their creators, like Hayo Miyazaki, Yatoshi Kon and Osamu Tezuka, are considered geniuses on the level of Chuck Jones and Walt Disney. Movies like SPIRITED AWAY and AKIRA and series such as Cowboy Bepop and Ranma 1/2 are considered classic achievements. And their dedicated/demented fans go by the Japanese term "otaku."  

These people take their anime seriously. For example...When was the last time you saw crowds participating in Bugs Bunny lookalike contests? Or ruthlessly competing in Popeye trivia? Or paying big money for rare LILO & STITCH material, downloaded from the internet off bootleg Far East laserdiscs and edited and translated by obsessed fans in home computers?  

Jedi Junkies (now on home video)

[JEDI JUNKIES is now available on home video.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: a documentary feature on the weirdest, most extreme, way-out and nerd-tastic "Star Wars" fans. Actually, you HAVE heard this before. In fact, there exists a veritable, um, TARDIS-load of documentaries about extreme-fantasy/sci-fi devotees, consumed by their hobbies. There's the TREKKIES series, of course, not to mention RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS, DARKON and Morgan Spurlock's COMIC CON EPISODE IV: A FAN'S HOPE. And in that league of extraordinary gentlemen-with-no-girlfriends, there have already been a handful devoted strictly to LucasFilm nuts - 2001's A GALAXY FAR FAR AWAY probably being the best of the lot.

Finished in 2010 but only now showing up on video (as Master yoda might say, beware outdated websites, you must) JEDI JUNKIES doesn't bring much more to the Mos Eisley Cantina table, but it entertains the home viewer with its parade of dweeb-gasmic fans, each vying to outdo the other in a can-you-top-this fashion.