I know some of you out there might actually care about the mainstream releases this past weekend, and so I toss you these two bones. Given the nature of these two films, I think writing full reviews would be fairly superfluous. So, you get a capsule and a mini. Enjoy.

Ocean’s Thirteen . This third outing is pretty much the same film as the previous Oceans’, only this time Ocean and company are robbing a casino for revenge. The film has a good nature and a breezy feel, with a lot of effortless comedy on the part of the film’s stellar cast. Even newcomers Ellen Barkin and Al Pacino have chances to shine (well, Pacino may not be that much of a surprise). Many of the film’s best moments belong to Casey Affleck, with his character sparking a workers’ revolution south of the border. In that same vein, the film hosts Elliot Gould’s best performance in years, as he is incapacitated for roughly half its runtime. There are plenty of plot holes and superfluous elements throughout (for example, why the hell were Bernie Mac’s hottie possee introduced if they never did anything?), but the film’s inherent fun factor more than makes up for them. Ocean’s Thirteen is a fun piece of cinematic cotton candy, and that’s really all there is to it.

Hostel: Part II . Oddly enough, this film is both an improvement and inferior product when compared to the first Hostel. The set up is pretty much the same , this time following a trio of American art students studying abroad in Italy (it’s worth noting you do get to see what happened to Jay Hernandez following Hostel 1 before the initial setup). At the suggestion of a beautiful brunette, the trio hop the eurail to a hot springs in Prague, where the second half of Hostel 1 starts again.

Actually, that’s a bit too harsh. The film has some interesting tweaks to the whole setup, focusing as much on the girls as the two American businessmen who’ve won “rights” to torture them. There’s a play on the old horror convention of virtuous girls being safe from harm, a splash of believable girl power, and a few pointed critiques of capitalism, as well as male insecurity as the impetus for acts of violence.

The characters themselves are pretty interesting as well, albeit fairly two dimensional. And unlike with Hostel 1, you really don’t want to see them end up in the situations they inevitably do. Given the initial Italian setting, the film has its fair share of nods and odes to Italian horror cinema, even including a sequence featuring Ruggero Deodato as an Italian cannibal (Harry Knowles also incorrectly identified him as the creator of Cannibal films’ most notorious castration. I believe that honor would go to Umberto Lenzi, and Cannibal Ferox).

Like Hostel 1, the violence of the film is more implied than overtly shown. There’s one particularly squirm inducing sequence involving a “blood bath.” I actually felt dirty watching it due to the sad injustice on the part of the victim. The ending of the film isn’t particularly shocking, nor is it particularly suspenseful, save for our last girl’s shift from shy art-school lesbian to cunning businesswoman. A possible note from Roth on the need to sell out in order to make it in this world? Who knows?

All in all, Hostel 2 presents a more worthwhile set of characters, a far differently focused storyline, and a far inferior ending. Good? Not really. But at least it was better than Black Christmas.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.