Crips and Bloods: Made in America (2008)
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75% of critics liked it
(20 reviews) -
66% of users liked it
(1,393 ratings)
Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, Dogtown and Z-Boys director Stacy Peralta's unflinching documentary chronicles one of the longest-running civil wars in the history of America though a deeply humanistic lens. The Bloods and Crips are two of South Los Angeles' most… More Narrated by Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, Dogtown and Z-Boys director Stacy Peralta's unflinching documentary chronicles one of the longest-running civil wars in the history of America though a deeply humanistic lens. The Bloods and Crips are two of South Los Angeles' most notorious African-American gangs. While many outsiders simply cannot understand the decades-long cycle of despair and destruction that has come to define their daily lives, the individuals who comprise each gang are not simply mindless, gun-toting thugs, but real people with real families who have become caught up in a struggle from which the only escape is often death. Beginning with an illuminating look at the genesis of L.A.'s gang culture, Crips and Bloods: Made in America follows the bloody feud that would stretch on for a grueling four decades, revealing the turf wars, hierarchy, family structure, gun culture, and stringent rules through interviews with gangsters past and present, as well as experts, activists, and academics. Throughout the film, the numerous issues blanketing the streets of South L.A. with a deep sense of dread are reflected upon by gang intervention experts, former gang members, writers, and academics in an effort to examine the erosion of identity that helps to perpetrate black self-hatred, prison culture, and the disappearance of the black father in the home. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Stacy Peralta
- Written By
- Sam George, Stacy Peralta
- Genres
- Documentary, Special Interest
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Jan 20, 2008 Wide
- Studio
- New Video
Critic Reviews
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
Crips and Bloods hasn't been made out of moral anger or a sense of conspiracy. As matters of journalism, sociology, and humanitarianism, the movie is incurious at best. At worst, it's a recruitment video.
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Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
Peralta is a compassionate filmmaker.
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Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle
Deals almost entirely in known facts, but it's still a revelatory film.
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Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
The movie feels less like a traditional documentary than an educational video. But it works the way he wants it to: you'll walk out feeling both enlightened and dismayed.
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Manohla Dargis, New York Times
With Crips and Bloods: Made in America, the director Stacy Peralta manages to put a human face on a subject that tends to inspire inflamed debate.
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