The Plot: Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq.

THE BUZZ: Director and brother Rademacher spent three and a half years filming this project, wherein he encamped in four different army combat units through two separate trips to Iraq. The result impressed Gary Sinise so much that he signed on as executive producer of the film. (On a related note, Read about Sinise’s recent away-from-the-cameras accomplishment here.) And if you are a Twitter type, here’s where you can sign up to follow the film’s theatrical roll out.

The Plot: Waking up from a four-year coma, Eugene (Cregger) takes a cross-country trip with his sex-crazed best friend (Moore) in order to crash a party at a famous men’s magazine’s legendary headquarters so he can win back his former sweetheart — who is one of the mag’s hottest new pin-ups.

THE BUZZ: Zach Cregger and Trevor Moore are 2/5 of The Whitest Kids U’Know, the NYC comedy troupe who cashed in their YouTube page views for a self-titled TV show that hasn’t quite earned Flight of the Conchords-level saturation — and isn’t even trying to be that mainstream. Now with their first stab at big-screen success, I wish they didn’t choose to go the sex-roadtrip-comedy route, but hopefully their penchant for vile physical comedy will at least push the genre’s boundaries, as tired as they are.

The Plot: After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee (Dillahunt) unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims — a mother (Potter) and father (Goldwyn) who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

THE BUZZ: The original Last House was a semi-remake of Ignmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, was viewed as commentary on the Vietnam War, and earned comparisons to Straw Dogs. Wes Craven, who seems bent on remaking each classic from his back catalog, has tinkered with the original film’s premise: gone is the urban setting, the rock and roll, and the dual murders, but at least it didn’t wuss out for a PG-13 rating. Can Rogue Pictures replicate the success it had with The Strangers before the studio is bought by Relativity Pictures?

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller and Adaptation
Running Time: 1 hr. 56 min.
Release Date: January 19, 2001 Sundance ‘01; March 16, 2001 LA/NY; March 30, 2001 Nationwide
MPAA Rating: R for violence, language and some drug content.
Distributors: Newmarket Capital
U.S. Box Office: $25,530,884

A robber attacks a married couple, killing the woman and leaving the man for dead. As he convalesces, the man struggles to overcome amnesia through the chaos of memory loss induced by his injuries. Finding himself within rag-tag moments of his past, he attempts to remember the vital details and solve the mystery behind his wife’s murder.

Genres: Drama, Suspense/Horror, Thriller and Adaptation
Running Time: 1 hr. 58 min.
Release Date: February 13, 1991
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors: Orion Pictures, MGM Home Entertainment
U.S. Box Office: $130,650,794

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 19 min.
Release Date: October 15th, 1999 (wide)
MPAA Rating: R for disturbing and graphic depiction of violent anti-social behavior, sexuality and language.
Distributors: 20th Century Fox Distribution
U.S. Box Office: $37,023,395

The mundane existence of a product liability evaluator and insomniac, who is addicted to self-help groups, is turned upside down when he meets a sado-masochistic anarchist who is secretly plotting to overthrow civilization. As their friendship grows, they become increasingly involved in a secret society of “fight clubs” where men act out their aggressions and violently beat one another to a pulp. In the meantime, the evaluator falls in love with a woman who is also addicted to self-help groups, but is unable to act on his desire for her.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Adaptation
Running Time: 2 hrs. 58 min.
Release Date: December 19, 2001 Nationwide
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for epic battle sequences and some scary images.
Distributors: New Line Cinema
U.S. Box Office: $313,837,577

In mythic pre-historic times, a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins inherits a magic ring from his elderly cousin Bilbo. Wise to the powers that the magic ring holds, the dark Lord Sauron wants it, knowing it will enable him to enslave the people of Middle Earth. In his effort to thwart Sauron, Frodo recruits the fellowship of a wizard, an elf, a dwarf and others, on a mission to destroy the ring by casting it into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, where it was made. However, the ring unleashes its own powers as a result of the struggle…

Genres: Art/Foreign, Drama, Thriller and Crime/Gangster
Running Time: 2 hrs. 13 min.
Release Date: January 17th, 2003 (LA/NY)
MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language.
Distributors: Miramax Films
U.S. Box Office: $7,563,397

Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960’s that–in the early 80’s–became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The tale tells the stories of many characters whose lives sometimes intersect. However, all is seen through the eyes of a singular narrator: Busca-Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw, but also too smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. He grows up in a very violent environment. The odds are all against him. But Busca-Pé soon discovers that he can see reality differently than others. His redemption is that he’s been given an artist’s point of view as a keen-eyed photographer. As Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film–only the narrator–he is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story, but it is also through Busca-Pé’s perspective of life that one can understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world, apparently condemned to endless violence.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Adaptation and Sequel
Running Time: 3 hrs. 20 min.
Release Date: December 17th, 2003
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and frightening images.
Distributors: New Line Cinema
U.S. Box Office: $376,853,002

Sauron’s forces have laid siege to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor, in their efforts to eliminate the race of men. The once-great kingdom, watched over by a fading steward, has never been in more desperate need of its king. But can Aragorn answer the call of his heritage and become what he was born to be? In no small measure, the fate of Middle-earth rests on his broad shoulders. With the final battle joined and the legions of darkness gathering, Gandalf urgently tries to rally Gondor’s broken army to action. He is aided by Rohan’s King Theoden, who unites his warriors for history’s biggest test. Yet even with their courage and passionate loyalty, the forces of men–with Eowyn and Merry hidden among them–are no match for the enemies swarming against Gondor. Still, in the face of great losses, they charge forward into the battle of their lifetimes, tied together by their singular goal to keep Sauron distracted and give the Ring Bearer a chance to complete his quest. Their hopes rest with Frodo, a tiny but determined hobbit making a perilous trip across treacherous enemy lands to cast the One Ring into the fires of Mount Doom. The closer Frodo gets to his final destination, the heavier his burden becomes and the more he must rely on Samwise Gamgee. Gollum–and the Ring itself–will test Frodo’s allegiances and, ultimately, his humanity.

The true story of Austrian industrialist Oskar Schindler, who harbored Polish Jews during WWII by using them as workers in his factory. Schindler saved 1,100 Jews from certain death.

Genres: Drama, Biopic and War
Running Time: 3 hrs. 5 min.
MPAA Rating: R
Distributors: Universal Pictures
U.S. Box Office: $96,045,248