CripsAndBloodsMadeInAmerica Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Valkyrie
Tom Cruise wants to kill Hitler. "Worth seeing for its irresistible ensemble of character actors, a handful of really well-crafted sequences, and a truth-based story that simply deserves to be repeated," wrote Scott Weinberg. Directed by Bryan Singer. Available in single-disc and double-disc editions, and also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

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Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Kevin James as a plus-sized man in uniform. "Harmlessly humorless, Paul Blart tepidly goes through its motions, but that doesn't mean you have to," opined Nick Schager. Directed by Steve Carr. Also on Blu-ray. Skip it.

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My Bloody Valentine 3D

Remake of 1981 slasher flick. "Cheesy, corny, gimmicky, gory fun ... low-brow entertainment with high-tech execution," declared William Goss, and I concur. Consider this movie a love letter to horror fans. With Jensen Ackles and Kerr Smith. Directed by Patrick Lussier. Also on Blu-ray. Rent it.

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True Blood: The Complete First Season

Southern Gothic vampire weirdness translated remarkably well to television, despite some wonky faux-Louisiana accents. Not every episode works, yet even the imperfections and blemishes are fascinating to watch. With Anna Paquin. Also on Blu-ray. Buy it.

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After the jump: Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray picks, and Collector's Corner!

In this week's edition of Indie Roundup, we look at deals, docs, fests, and ... a refrigerator?

Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE have posted news about all kinds of distribution deals in the past seven days. World War II drama Woman in Berlin, for example, has been picked up by Strand Releasing for a summer release, and Arlen Faber, which stars Jeff Daniels and just played at Sundance, has been acquired by Magnolia, also for summer release. Magnolia's genre division Magnet Releasing got the rights to Tony Jaa's action flick Ong Bak 2 -- more on that one from me in next week's Asian Cinema Scene.

Box Office. The new doc from Stacy Peralta, Crips and Bloods: Made in America, scored the highest per-screen average among all films last weekend, earning $13,978 at the one theater where it's playing in Los Angeles, per Box Office Mojo. Peralta previously made the well-received Dogtown & Z Boys (skateboarders) and Riding Giants (surfers); Crips and Bloods tackles the explosive issue of the two most notorious African-American gangs in South LA. Check out the trailer below.

Festivals. Scott Weinberg wrote about his delightful first-time experience at the Oxford Film Festival in Mississippi, and Eric Snider posted a very funny video that screened there. (More from Kim Voynar at her blog.) Erik took a look at Splinterheads and I posted trailers for Sorry, Thanks, St. Nicks, and Breaking Upwards, all films that will play at SXSW next month. The True/False Film Festival unwrapped its lineup of more than 40 docs, which will play at the fest in Columbus Columbia *, Missouri, from February 26-March 1. A.J. Schnack notes that 39 (!) screenings sold out within a few hours of tickets going on sale.

After the jump: More on festivals in Portland, Oregon, and Berlin, Germany.