"In the latest Mandalorian & Grogu trailer, they have Jabba the Hutt Jr. That's what they used to do in American Pie. They'd have Stiffler's cousin or something, then Eugene Levy would show up and explain everything. And they just never answered it! They exploit fandom for commerce. But we want to use that same trope [of callbacks to nothing], not for evil, but for good."
"The Napa Boys, subtitled in the film 'The Napa Boys 4: The Sommelier's Amulet,' seems appropriately finely attuned to our moment in film commerce. Miles Jr. and Jack Jr. are the stars of the in-universe 'Napa Boys' film franchise, which is secretly based on their own lewd and swashbuckling adventures in the valley. The plot points of this fourth installment are evoked with little connective tissue, conjuring the feeling of walking into a late-entry Marvel film."
Filmmakers Corirossi and Weitzman wrote their film 'The Napa Boys 4: The Sommelier's Amulet' at The Americana, a Glendale lifestyle center where Corirossi lives as a social experiment. The film stars characters Miles Jr. and Jack Jr., who are actors in an in-universe 'Napa Boys' franchise based on their own adventures. The plot deliberately employs minimal connective tissue between scenes, evoking the experience of entering a late-entry Marvel film unprepared. Corirossi critiques how franchises like 'Mandalorian & Grogu' and 'American Pie' use callbacks and character introductions to exploit fandom without providing meaningful explanations. Rather than using this trope for commercial exploitation, the filmmakers employ it intentionally to comment on franchise filmmaking practices.
Read at Filmmaker Magazine
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