New to Video - Tuesday Dec. 6

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zack Galifianakis reunite in ‘Hangover 2’

Photo: Contributed

Out on release:

Four men learn that what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas, a cowboy must regain his memory if he is to defeat an army of aliens, three Israeli agents are forced to reopen old wounds of a chilling past mission, a young journalist during the dawn of civil rights must face racism head on, and a hard edged business man discovers that there is more to life then work after inheriting six penguins!

Hangover 2

The boys are at it again, only this time they take their drunken antics to Bangkok!

When Phil (Bradley Cooper), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) travel to Thailand to attend the wedding of Stu (Ed Helms), the boys think they are in for a much safer experience than the one they had in Vegas.

Stu takes no chances and instead chooses to have a pre-wedding brunch instead of a bachelor party (since the first one turned out so well).  However, when the guys decide to go for “one drink” on the beach with Stu’s soon to be brother-in law, a very upstanding young man on his way to Stanford to get his medical degree, everything goes sideways! 

When the guys wake up in a strange apartment in the city of Bangkok, far from where the wedding is actually taking place, they must piece together, yet again, the events that transpired the evening before!

Rating: 2/5  Regurgitated jokes from the original makes this film feel like we’ve already seen it (and we have), and gives true testament that adding a cute monkey that smokes doesn’t make a film any better!

Cowboys & Aliens

The old west meets sci-fi in this film adaptation of a 2006 graphic novel which has Jack Lonergan (Daniel Craig) waking up in desert with no memory or any idea where he is with a strange bracelet on his wrist. 

Jack travels to a nearby town and soon discovers he’s a wanted outlaw after getting into an altercation with the son of a very powerful cattle-rancher (Harrison Ford), landing himself in jail.  As he is about to be transported out of the town to a prison, Jack is approached by Ella (Olivia Wilde), a woman who is in need of Jack’s help however before they can get down to brass tactics, a cavalcade of bright lights influxes the town! 

The lights are much more than what they seem at first and as they get closer, it is realized that they are flying saucers!  The machines begin to attack and snatch up the towns people, when Jack realizes that his bracelet seems to be some sort of weapon and fends them off.

Once the attack has subsided, what is left of the town and it’s people is minimal and it is decided that they must attempt to save those who were taken as Jack begins to slowly regain his memory!

Rating: 3.5/5  The special effects are pretty good and Daniel Craig makes a perfect cowboy!  Pairing Craig with Ford is just screen awesomeness!  There are some slower paced, heartfelt moments but the action that ensues makes up for the lollygagging!

The Debt

Three Mossad agents, Rachel (Helen/Mirren), Stephan (Tom Wilkinson/ Marton Csokas) and David (Ciaran Hinds/Sam Worthington), are on a top secret mission in 1967 to capture the Surgeon of Birkenau, a German war criminal and bring him back to Israel for public trial. 

Jump forward 30 years to 1997 and new information begins to surface regarding the case.  The three former agents must now make sense of what happened during their mission and how it will affect their future.

The Help

Based on the novel of the same name, ‘The Help’ tells the story of a young white journalist named ‘Skeeter’ Phelan (Emma Stone) who is writing a book about the tensions between African-American maids and their white employers right at the beginning of the civil rights movement.

Three maids decide to help ‘Skeeter’ with her project, and through stories of courage, perseverance and understanding, the women form an unlikely friendship that breaks the societal rules while demonstrating that racism isn’t just about the denial of education or voting rights.

Rating: 4/5  One of the better films of 2011, The Help is a crowd-pleaser in almost every way. If only the subject matter were handled from a deeper perspective, this one could be a 5 out of 5.

Mr. Popper’s Penguins

Jim Carrey stars in this family flick based on a 1983 children’s book.   Tom Poppins (Jim Carrey) is a workaholic father that doesn’t spend any time with his kids due to the fact that he is so focused on his career.

That all changes when he inherits six penguins and begins to see the value in spending more time with his family!

ALSO OUT: Point Blank, Life Above All

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.