| Hostel: Part II
Case in point: "Hostel: Part II" (Lionsgate) is a repellently sadistic story of three American girls, Beth (Lauren German), Lorna (Heather Matarazzo) and Whitney (Bijou Phillips), kidnapped while traveling abroad.
They are lured to a Slovakian spa by a glamorous model who had posed for them in an art class. The resort's sole purpose is to allow wealthy international clients, including American businessmen Stuart (Roger Bart) and Todd (Richard Burgi), the privilege of bidding for, and afterward, torturing and slaughtering their prize.
Eli Roth's film has a glossy look and is not without style and even a smidgen of substance, in that there's a small attempt to give some psychological motivation to the clients. Inasmuch as human sex trafficking is a very real problem on a global scale, with victims actually sold in auctions on the Internet (as indeed these victims are), there's a chilling verisimilitude to a canny montage showing the various well-heeled clients getting notice of the latest victims for sale.
Should you be able to call your baby whatever you want?
Naming a child is one of the greatest responsibilities parents face, but when Pat and Sheena Wheaton decided to name their newborn son 4real, they ran into problems at the Births, Deaths and Marriages department. Here is the latest selection of Your Views: RosinaIn the 70s, as a Uni Student working holidays, I had a job typing up birth certificates at the Auckland office of Births Deaths and Marriages. In those days, it was located in O'Connell St, at the back of Vulcan Lane. My work desk was in the basement/dungeon with a cruddy old typewriter whose upper carriage would frequently fly off. It was common for Pacific Island people to name their children after events - such as illnesses, tragedies and places, official titles and so on. So there are people walking around today with names like Leukaemia, Croup, Hacking Cough, Anaemia, Bankrupt, Affidavit and so on.
Archived Profile: Frank Giustra
VANCOUVER - Frank Giustra, a super-rich Vancouver mining and movie mogul with a midas touch, has used his wealth to become a friend of Bill -- Bill being former U.S. President Bill Clinton. As such, Giustra has placed his private jet at Clinton's disposal, flying with the former president on trips to Asia and Africa during the past two years. The former Howe Street wunderkind is a member of the board of trustees of the Clinton Foundation, the charitable and activist vehicle established by Clinton during his post-presidency. .
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