Bickity-bam! 'Mallrats' is back on DVD!

It's been 10 years since director Kevin Smith's ill-received "Mallrats" graced theater screens for less than a month, which certainly means that the time for a special edition DVD double-dip has arrived. Boasting plenty of new features and most importantly an all-new extended cut of the film, such a DVD package is sure to impress long-time fans. Well, maybe...\nT.S. Quint (the amusingly frustrated Jeremy London) and comic book nerd Brodie Bruce (show stealer Jason Lee) have just lost their girlfriends, Brandi Svenning (the geeky yet adorable Claire Forlani) and Rene Mosier ("Beverly Hills 90210" brat Shannen Doherty) respectively, and are in a desperate search for answers -- answers that can be found at the local shopping mall. The only problem is that not only are their girlfriends at the mall as well, but they also have to deal with: obnoxious fanboys ("Tell em Steve-Dave!"), a cocky sales clerk (Ben Affleck before career failure), one mean security guard named La Fours (Sven-Ole Thorsen) and worst of all, a dating show where Brandi is to be auctioned off in front of a live studio audience. But no worries, with the aid of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), Stan Lee and Brodie's refillable Dixie cup, the guys are sure to come out on top. \nYou either love or hate "Mallrats." I've always been a fan, so the news of an extended cut that adds on 30 minutes to the film (mainly deleted scenes from the original "Mallrats" DVD) sounded exciting -- but it isn't. The movie is a mess. Plot points are cut out, scenes drag on forever, half of the movie uses alternate takes and the list goes on. In an introduction to the new cut, Smith explains that "Mallrats" is his only film that a studio had final cut on, and that this new version was his intended vision of the film. Though there are new bits of humor here and there, watching this cut made me feel like I had just got stink-palmed. \nNow the original DVD had a commentary by cast/crew, a making-of featurette, production photos and all this material is intact on this edition. What's new are interviews, outtakes, more interviews, a short Q&A session with Kevin Smith, oh and some more interviews. Honestly, these extras come off as frustrating because it's all the same people repeating all the same crap but with a different setting behind them. Yeah, the movie bombed, yeah the producers were upset, but how much bitching can you do and at the end of it all still say that you love the movie? \nThere are two things I am proud of on the DVD, though. One is that the DVD does contain the original theatrical cut of the film. The second is the 50-minute Q&A session conducted at the tenth anniversary where a group of fans are calling the shots. And since the original "Mallrats" DVD has gone out-of-print, this new edition is the only way to enjoy it. \n"Mallrats" is still a great flick no matter what. How many films can you think of that question superhero sexual anatomy, have an Easter bunny physically assaulted, depict the annoyance of Magic-Eye posters and contain fortune tellers with a third nipple? There is only "Mallrats"