Fantasyland, the book, is by far one of the best books I have ever read about fantasy sports. It captures the spirit, the history, and the fun of fantasy baseball. Fantasyland the movie showcases the obsessiveness of one player that cannot help but make you cringe. The movie follows an average guy Jed Latkin as he competes in the 2008 AL Tout Wars and will stop at almost nothing to make his fantasy baseball team a better team.

Latkin has an enthuasism for fantasy baseball that may just be unmatched. While a certain amount of this movie is Latkin being over the top for the camera (at least, I hope it is), Latkin’s enthusism borders on a very truly unhealthy obsession for fantasy baseball. If he actually did drive over 7 hours to Roanoke, Virginia just to negotiate a trade with a surprised Ron Shandler, or actually nearly miss the birth of his children negotiating a trade, that’s just a bit creepy. One of the things that made Walker’s original story so captivating is that he definitely did push the limits of reason of what you could do to win a fantasy baseball league, but it never seemed that Walker had his priorities mismatched or lacked a sense of common courtesy.

The movie does have some bright spots that make it tolerable. The narrative interludes with Fantasyland author Sam Walker act as the voice of reason, bringing to life the great storytelling of Fantasyland, if only for a moment. The side interviews on anecdotes do give a little bit of character to the movie.

I really wanted this to be a good review of a movie that I was very excited to see. Unfortunately, this is not it. Although, one possible use for this version of Fantasyland is to have your significant other watch the movie just so you can say to her, “be thankful I’m not that guy.”

If you are interested in seeing what I am talking about, you can watch Fantasyland the movie online.

It is Wednesday, and I try to cheer you up a little bit while you are at work. Today, I have something to help you relax and perhaps, stimulate your mind. You can now watch the Fantasyland movie from the comfort of your own home. Right here on Fantasy Ethos, right now. I know it is just a fancy piece of embedded code making it happen, but it is one less click for you.

Watch now, and we will discuss the movie this afternoon here on Fantasy Ethos.

This upcoming Friday, the release of the Fantasyland, the film version hits your internet on Snag Films and Hulu. The movie, which is based on Sam Walker’s tale in Fantasyland, (You can read our book review of Fantasyland here), is a documentary featuring Jed Latkin who in 2008 recreated Sam’s steps by first competing in Tout Wars and then travelling around the country to make his fantasy baseball team just that much better every day.

I am seeing a sneak peak of the movie of this week and will have my review for you prior to that. In the mean time, the film has been kind of enough to post some clips online for everyone to check out. The first clip below features Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle talking about a fantasy league of his featuring some celebrities:

And the second clip features Mike Francesa of WFAN New York talking about why he really hates fantasy:

Check back soon for my review of the full film.