Fast Five

Fast Five

Brian (Paul Walker) and Dom (Vin Diesel) team up for one last job in the fifth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise. This time the two find themselves in Rio de Janeiro and on the run from a corrupt drug lord as well as a relentless cop (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). The film kicks off with a high-energy action scene and doesn't slow down, providing plenty of chase scenes and explosions until the film's end. Fans of the franchise will be happy to see Ludacris, Jordana Brewster, and Tyrese Gibson reprising their original roles. DVD extras include a gag reel and a segment of Tyrese Gibson interviewing his castmates.

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Scream 4

When Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro during a book tour for her new self-help book, she must protect herself and her cousin (Emma Roberts) from the Ghostface killer 10 years after her first ordeal. Courteney Cox and David Arquette are back as Gale and Dewey and are joined by a series of newcomers, including Alison Brie and Hayden Panettiere. The reboot captures the humor of the original, and Campbell and Cox are just as fresh as they were the first time around. DVD extras include commentary from director Wes Craven and deleted scenes.

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One more DVD when you read more

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides didn't just take the top spot at the box office this weekend, but its $90.1 million debut marks the biggest opening weekend of 2011. It's not all cheers though; the fourth Pirates installment opened to smaller opening weekends than Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.

Right behind Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, Bridesmaids stayed strong in second with $21 million, while former champ Thor slipped to third and took in $15.5 million. Fast Five earned $10.6 million for fourth place, while Rio clung to the top five with $4.6 million.

For the second weekend in a row, Thor managed to come out on top of the box office with $34.5 million, beating out new release Bridesmaids. Still, the opening for the female-dominated comedy had an impressive debut at second place with a total of $24.4 million, and it set a record for being the biggest opening for a film starring a Saturday Night Live cast member in a non-SNL-related movie.

Coming in third place was cars and crime sequel Fast Five with $19.5 million, followed by a new release, the Paul Bettany-starring Priest, with $14.5 million. The animated birds of Rio completed the top five with an $8 million haul.

Don't underestimate the strength of Thor! The action film starring Chris Hemsworth muscled its way to the top of the box office in its opening weekend with a haul of $66 million. It beat last week's winner Fast Five, which still zoomed into the second spot with $32.5 million.

The new wedding-themed romantic comedies followed; Jumping the Broom came in third place with 13.7 million, while the Ginnifer Goodwin/Kate Hudson flick Something Borrowed got the fourth spot with $13.2 million. The animated family film Rio rounded out the top five with $8.2 million.

Ladies and gentleman, Fast Five has started the box office's engines! In its opening weekend, the fourth sequel in the car racing franchise opened at number one, raking in $83.6 million to claim the title of the biggest opening of 2011. It's also the most any of the Fast and the Furious films has made in its first weekend.

It zoomed past the winner of the last couple of weeks, Rio, which came in second with $14.4 million. Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family swooped into the next spot with $10 million, while Robert Pattison's drama Water For Elephants pulled into fourth with $9.1 million. Another new release, Prom, just barely made it into the top five with a mere $5 million.

The Fast and the Furious franchise is back, with Fast Five arriving in theaters this weekend. I checked it out earlier this week, and though I wasn't a big fan of the earlier installments, I have to admit that this movie wildly exceeded my expectations. It's not the most feminine of films, but my goodness, was it fun. Here are five reasons I think you need to check this one out.

1. Reunion! This being the fifth installment of the series, and the third to be consecutively directed by Justin Lin, Fast Five brings back the all-stars from previous films (except Michelle Rodriguez, whose Letty died in the last one). In addition to Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, we've got 2 Fast 2 Furious's Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Tyrese Gibson along with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift's Sung Kang. With their powers combined, the group tries to pull off one last heist, stealing the money of a Rio gangster so that they can retire rich and finally purse their dreams.
2. Action, action, action. The movie starts off big. There's a major drama-packed scene right in the beginning involving the theft of three cars off a moving train. That doesn't exactly go to plan, though, and there are explosions, a gun fight, and a wild escape before the train crosses a bridge over a wide ravine. Next, there's a hot scene in which a macho federal agent (played by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and his men chase Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, and Jordana Brewster over the roofs of a Rio favela. There are also plenty of requisite car chase scenes, though they keep the auto action light due to all the stunt work. The director definitely saves the best for last too.
3. Paul Walker. I'm of the school of thought that Paul Walker does not get enough roles. He's always been in his element in this series, and once again, he's on the money playing the not-too-deep character of Brian O'Conner occupied with pulling off a job while keeping an eye on his lady friend, Jordana Brewster's Mia Toretto.
4. IMAX. This much action requires viewing on the biggest screen possible! IMAX must have been invented to screen movies like this.

To see my top reason you need to check out Fast Five, just read more