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.
