Hostel Part III
Netflix | Amazon | Crackle | Google Play | iTunes | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Scott Spiegel
Starring Kip Pardue, Brian Hallisay, John Hensley, Thomas Kretschmann, Danny Jacobs
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Originally Released: December 27, 2011

The Hostel series created by Eli Roth continues with Hostel Part III, a slice that while lacking in certain departments and doesn’t have the punch of the first two chapters, has a few turns and gory scenes that will make it worth a glance for horror fans.

The third Hostel movie is set in the United States, specifically Las Vegas, where the Elite Hunting organization has either relocated or established a new “franchise.” Despite the fact that the motives remain the same, allowing the elite to murder, maim, and torture those that "would not be missed", and a new twist adds the Vegas gambling element – allowing members to place bets on expressions of the torture as it happens before a live audience.

Finding themselves mixed up in the turmoil are protagonist Scott (Brian Hallisay) and his buddies, who head to Vegas for his Bachelor Party, which turns into more than what they, and the Elite Hunting members, expect”¦

Cars 2
5-Disc Blu-ray 3D | 2-Disc Blu-ray | DVD
DIRECTED BY: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis
WRITTEN BY: Ben Queen
STARRING: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, John Turturo, Bonnie Hunt, Jason Isaacs, Thomas Kretschmann, Eddie Izzard
Disney*Pixar
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2011

I love Pixar movies. And I don’t just mean that loosely; I mean I truly and honestly LOVE Pixar movies. From that first wide-eyed viewing of Toy Story back in 1995 to today, they’ve released some of the best (and some of my own personal favorite) movies of all time.

Even my least favorite Pixar movie—2006’s Cars—is a movie I still very much enjoy, despite the fact that I went in thinking I wouldn’t be a fan (shame on me for thinking such things about a Pixar flick). That’s just how good they are. And so you can imagine my and many, many others’ surprise when a veritable landslide of negative feedback started flowing in upon the release of their latest feature, Cars 2.

Could it be so? Could there really be a…bad *gulps* Pixar movie? Or was this just a case of constant perfection leading people to go out of their way to seek out imperfections and declare failure no matter how good or bad the actual film was?

Valkyrie
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring Tom Cruise, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Eddie Izzard, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, Kenneth Branagh
Rated PG-13
Release date: December 25, 2008

Fundamentally speaking, the appeal of Tom Cruise in the last few years doesn’t make any sense. Just as soon as he took Katie Holmes hostage and started parading her and her “˜too scared for escape’ look around the world, people seem to have become disinterested in anything he has to do professionally; or so they say. Sure he was great in Tropic Thunder, but I’m talking about the movies he has had to carry on his own. Everyone seems to talk a big game but with the exception of last year’s Lions for Lambs, you have to go all the way back to Magnolia, almost a decade ago, to find a film he starred in that didn’t gross at least $100M domestically. So much for disinterest. Maybe he just has mind control over all of us too.

Keep in mind, these aren’t secrets I am exposing for the first time, so why his pick for his latest project was a big budget WWII Hitler assassination movie is beyond comprehension. For a man so caught up on selling his image, it stands to reason that there would be better ways to spend his time. It ended up being much worse than it appeared on the surface. The release date for Valkyrie moved so many times nobody cared when it was really coming out and as soon as the trailers came out the backlash was already in full effect.

Wanted
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Common, Thomas Kretschmann
Universal Home Entertainment
Release date: December 2, 2008

There is a line of dialogue that is as sharp, lethal, and beautiful as all the extreme violence in Mark Millar and J.G. Jones‘ comic book to movie adaptation Wanted: “He can conduct a symphony orchestra with a pistol.” Russian-born director Timur Bekmambetov does exactly that in stylish fashion to produce a creation that’s the zestiest and sexiest movie of the summer. It’s the first movie in a while to deal with self-worth in such an inventive way. Let’s just say Wanted is a mix between Fight Club and Matrix. But in severe risk of having his movie lean on the fringe of mindless action banter and pointless shoot ’em up sequences , Bekmambetov weaves a gut-wrenching story where the action scenes double as pristine pieces of adored art work.

We become involved with a miserable office worker named Wesley. As each day passes he becomes more of a drone. He’s played with an emotional vigor that goes through the roof by James McAvoy who, for his first action film, succeeds very well after playing a totally different character in last year’s Atonement. Dealing with a ignorant fat lady as a boss who always tries to evoke his vulnerability, which is his high anxiety that leaves him in a state of panic, to his best friend who also doubles as Wesley’s girlfriend’s sex toy, he needs a revelation to happen to him. By God he gets just that. His revelation also happens to be the movie’s revelation as Angelina Jolie shows up.