Reviews of Crips and Bloods: Made in America, Outlander, Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Fanboys

Crips and Bloods: Made in America
New Video Group
$20

Plot: Documentary filmmaker Stacy Peralta explores the long history behind the infamous South Central gangs.

Opinion: In the early ’90s, after John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood blew up big time, it seemed like every movie about contemporary black life was required by Hollywood law to take place on the mean streets of South Central. Some of these films were good (Menace II Society), most were only okay (Fresh) and a few were god-awful (Singleton’s own Poetic Justice). One commonality they shared was a general disinterest in how “the hood” got to be the ‘hood.  In those movies, it seemed like South Central had always been trapped in unending cycle of gang violence, poverty and broken homes.  Though the actual history of South Central is too complicated for any single movie to capture in its entirety, it doesn’t stop Peralta from giving it his best shot.  Scored to an infectious hip-hop soundtrack and filled with flashy editing tricks, Crips and Bloods is anything but a dry history lesson.  As in his previous docs, Peralta has assembled an extensive gallery of archival photographs and vintage film footage, as well as an impressive roster of talking heads, including a number of current and former gang members.  At only 93 minutes though, the film can’t help but skim the surface of South Central’s myriad of problems.  Nevertheless, if it gets us talking solutions, Peralta has done his job.

Bonus Features: A somewhat redundant making-of documentary, 30 minutes of deleted scenes and two testimonials from music stars Snoop Dogg and Lil Wayne.

Verdict: Buy It

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Outlander
The Weinstein Company
$20

Plot: An alien warrior (James Caviezel) crash-lands on Earth during the Viking age and leads a band of Norse warriors in a fight against a giant dragon from outer space.

Opinion: You couldn’t ask for a better premise for a B-movie than “Aliens and Vikings vs. Space Dragons.”  And I’m happy to report that Outlander mostly does right by this nifty conceit.  I’d be lying if I said this was some kind of a genre classic, but if you happen upon it while channel surfing one night, I guarantee you’ll be sucked in.  Co-writer/director Howard McCain wisely plays the story straight, avoiding tongue-in-cheek parody and staging lively battle sequences that only occasionally display the limitations of the film’s low budget.  Outlander‘s biggest sin is its excessive running time; the movie lasts 115 minutes and its energy starts to flag well before that.  Still, if you’re a fan of pulpy sci-fi yarns, make sure to add this one to your Netflix queue.

Bonus Features: Apparently, we’re lucky that Outlander only runs two hours—the disc includes a whopping 40-minutes worth of deleted and extended scenes, which are presented here without finished effects.  There’s also a commentary track from the filmmakers and several galleries of production artwork.

Verdict: Rent It

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Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Sony
$29
Blu-ray: $40

Plot: The titular mall cop (Kevin James) protects his turf John McClane-style against a group of criminals who launch an after-hours assault on his mall looking for a big payday.

Opinion: Dumped into multiplexes in early January, Paul Blart: Mall Cop shocked everyone by becoming a box-office smash, earning almost $150 million during its theatrical run.  Having finally caught up with the movie now that its on DVD, I’m no longer surprised that it was such a phenomenal success.  Not because it’s a good movie, mind you–it’s not–but because it’s basically a remake of Home Alone with Kevin James standing in for Macaulay Culkin.  Like that surprise hit, which grossed $285 million when it arrived in theaters almost two decades ago, Paul Blart allows audiences to cheer for an unlikely hero as he defends his home (or, in this case, mall) with ordinary, everyday tools.  Also like Home Alone, the makers of Paul Blart have wisely kept the violence at a strictly PG-level, which means families can watch the mayhem together.  As someone who watched Home Alone over and over again when I was a kid, I can certainly understand the appeal of Paul Blart: Mall Cop.  But I outgrew that film a long time ago and don’t have much use for a movie that chronicles the adventures of an older, fatter version of Kevin McCallister.

Bonus Features: A commentary track with James and one of the film’s producers; 10 minutes worth of largely unfunny deleted scenes and a dozen featurettes, the best of which focus on the two free-runners that perform the movie’s best stunts.

Verdict: Skip It

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Fanboys
The Weinstein Company
$20

Plot: Four Star Wars geeks embark on a wacky road trip to see an early cut of The Phantom Menace before one of them succumbs to cancer.

Opinion: A great comedy could be made about Star Wars fanatics, but Fanboys, alas, is not that movie.  Although the film bills itself as having been made by geeks for geeks, it doesn’t seem to really understand fanboy culture, relying instead on tired old stereotypes that have been around since The Empire Strikes Back was playing in first-run theaters.  At least director Kyle Newman has recruited an appealing cast and some cool surprise cameos who do their best to wring whatever modest laughs they can out of the flabby script.  Really, the most interesting thing about Fanboys is the rocky road the movie took to the big screen, which involved numerous reshoots supervised by a different director and an alternate cut of the film that deleted the cancer subplot altogether.  That was the version that The Weinstein Company was going to release to theaters when real-life fanboys mounted a protest campaign that eventually resulted in the original cut seeing the light of day.  So congrats fanboys, you got the movie you wanted.  Too bad it isn’t actually funny.

Bonus Features: A cast and crew commentary track, seven minutes worth of deleted scenes and four featurettes.  Sadly, the most interesting extra isn’t included here—the cancer-free cut of the movie that the studio was going to release instead of Newman’s version.  Surprisingly, that cut isn’t even talked about in any of the featurettes or the commentary track.  Maybe we’ll see it on Fanboys‘ 10th anniversary edition DVD?

Verdict: Skip It

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Also on DVD

With only days to go until the latest Terminator flick hits theaters, now’s the perfect time to go back and revisit the franchise’s second—and best—installment, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, newly available in a Blu-ray only Skynet Edition (Lionsgate, $30) with a whopping eight hours worth of bonus features, from commentary tracks and featurettes to interactive games.  That movie’s star is the subject of a new 4-movie set entitled the Schwarzenegger Collection (Lionsgate, $30), which comes with standard versions of T2 as well as the Governator’s ’80s action classics The Running Man, Total Recall and Red Heat.  HBO’s vampire series True Blood returns for its second year this summer, so catch up on all the bloodsucking shenanigans via True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO, $60).  The French sci-fi flick Eden Log (Magnet, $27) is the latest entry in Magnet’s Six Shooter Film Series, a collection of genre films that has already yielded such cool titles as Let the Right One In and Timecrimes.  Chazz Palminteri plays the title character in Yonkers Joe (Magnolia, $27), a drama about a veteran gambler with dreams of earning one last big payday.  Paramount continues its Centennial Collection lines of classic films with a pair of beloved John Wayne westerns, El Dorado (Paramount, $17) and, one of my personal favorites, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount, $17).  Finally, after an uneven second season, the terrific football drama Friday Night Lights brought its A-game in Season Three (Universal, $30), out now in a four-disc set that includes tons of deleted scenes (included a whole 13-minute subplot dropped from the season finale) and a commentary track from the show’s producers.  Here’s hoping the series can keep up its winning streak as it goes into season four.

Girl power trumped guy power at the box office this weekend.

Looks like moviegoers were into He’s Just Not That Into You; the all-star romantic comedy opened to a $27.4 million gross, delivering a box-office blow that knocked last weekend’s champ, the butt-kicking action flick Taken, into the number two slot with $20 million for a $53.3 million gross.  In the battle of the family-friendly features, Henry Selick’s dazzling Coraline trumped Steve Martin’s second go-around as Inspector Clouseau as The Pink Panther 2 finished in fourth place with $12 million.  Coraline‘s $16 million gross bodes well for the film’s future, particularly since it won’t have much kiddie competition until the Jonas Brothers 3-D concert movie drops in two weeks time.

2009′s reigning box-office king Paul Blart: Mall Cop fell to fifth place on its way down the chart and onto DVD.  With $3 million to go until it joins the $100 million club, expect to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 arrive in theaters next January.  Psychic super-powers weren’t enough to push Push into the Top 5; the would-be franchise-starter finished in sixth place with a lackluster $10 million gross.  Two weekends out from the Oscar ceremony, the likely Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire saw its fortunes slip a little bit, dropping one spot to seventh place.  Still, with $77.4 million in the bank, the film is a much bigger hit than anyone could have anticipated.  Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood’s biggest box-office hit ever, finished eight and added another $7 million to its impressive tally.  A pair of Paramount titles, The Univited and Hotel For Dogs, rounded out the Top Ten with $6.4 and $5.8 million respectively.

The full Top Ten is below, courtesey of the-numbers.com.  A chick flick showdown is looming this coming weekend, as He’s Just Not That Into You attempts to hold its own against Confessions of a Shopaholic.  Both movies, however, could be completely trumped by the return of Jason Voorhees in the new Friday the 13th.

Top Ten: February 6-, 2009
1. He’s Just Not That Into You: $27.4
2. Taken: $20.3/$53.4
3. Coraline: $16.3
4. The Pink Panther 2: $12
5. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $11
6. Push: $10.2
7. Slumdog Millionaire: $7.4/$77.4
8. Gran Torino: $7.2/$120.3
9. The Uninvited: $6.4/$18.4
10. Hotel for Dogs: $5.8/$55.2

Liam Neeson says, “Take that Paul Blart!”

After two weeks atop the box office charts, the surprisingly mighty Paul Blart: Mall Cop was knocked down a peg by Liam Neeson‘s killer daddy routine in the balls-to-the-wall action flick Taken.  (Read my review here.)  The Pierre Morel-directed film earned a healthy $24.6 million this weekend, not bad for a movie that’s already passed through theaters in virtually every other country (it opened in France in February 2008–almost exactly one year ago) and is apparently widely available online and via pirated DVD.  Kevin James still has plenty to crow about though–Blart still cleared $14 million in its third week in release.  With $83.3 million currently in the bank, the comedy is officially 2009′s highest-grossing picture to date.  Who the heck coulda seen that coming?

Taking the bronze was the Paramount-distributed horror flick The Unborn, which grossed a so-so $10.5 million; expect to see it on DVD by April.  At least the studio can take heart in knowing that its family friendly dog picture Hotel for Dogs is holding up like a champ.  The movie finished fourth for the second week in a row and will easily clear $50 million by next Friday.  Clint Eastwood‘s Gran Torino rounded out the top five with an $8.6 million gross, bringing its total to $110.5 million.  If you’re curious why Paul Blart still gets the credit for being the young year’s biggest box office success, that’s because Gran Tornio is technically a 2008 film having opened in limited release in December before going wide in January.  Somehow I don’t think that Eastwood is complaining, though–after all, at the tender age of 78, the dude has directed and starred in his biggest hit ever.

This year’s likely Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire dropped a spot to sixth place, but remains the second most successful film of the five nominees with $67 million to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button‘s $117 million.  (That film, by the way, officially slipped out of the Top Ten this week so whatever Oscar bump it enjoyed was short-lived.)  Underworld: Rise of the Lycans tumbled from second to seventh place in its second week out, meaning that the chances for a fourth film are pretty slim–at least in theaters anyway.  For the right price, it could become a direct-to-DVD franchise.  One-time box office draw Renee Zellweger got the cold shoulder for her winter-themed romantic comedy New in Town, which opened dismally in eighth place.  My Bloody Valentine 3-D and Inkheart took the last two slots, while Notorious continued its rapid descent to seventeenth place.  Here’s hoping the soundtrack sold better.

Complete Top Ten is below, courtesy of the-numbers.com.  On Friday, four new releases crowd into theaters, including the all-star rom-com He’s Just Not That Into You, the super-powered Push, the stop-motion animated film Coraline and Fanboys, a Star Wars-themed comedy that many assumed would never see the light of day.

1. Taken: $24.6
2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop: $14/$83.3
3. The Uninvited: $10.5
4. Hotel for Dogs: $8.7/$48.2
5. Gran Tornio: $8.6/$110.5
6. Slumdog Millionaire: $7.6/$67.2
7. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: $7.2/$32.7
8. New in Town: $6.8
9. My Bloody Valentine 3-D: $4.2/$44.6
10. Inkheart: $3.7/$12.8