Brother (aka Hermano) (Jason Stanley)

This Venezuelan film released by Music Box Films, is the story of two brothers who live in a barrio with big dreams of becoming soccer players. Julio (Eliu Armas) is the older brother, who as a toddler discovers a crying baby among a pile of trash. Julio's mother adopts him, and Daniel (Fernando Moreno) becomes his younger brother. The two play for the same soccer team in the barrio, Julio as captain. A scout from Caracas Football Club recruits Julio and Daniel to tryout. This is a step closer to their dreams. But, tragedy strikes when their mother is accidentally shot in the barrio streets one day.

Julio and Daniel are very different people. Julio has been working for the crime boss in the barrio and gets wrapped up in collecting money from the drug dealers. When their mother dies, Julio becomes obsessed with finding out who killed her. Daniel, in the meantime, represents innocence, evil untouched. He is often called a coward by his brother and others. This perceived cowardliness is actually Daniel choosing not to deal with conflict in the way that the other men in the barrio seem to: with violence. Daniel's approach is more peaceful. A number of times throughout the film, Daniel will say, "Ma saved my life. I owe her everything." He was literally thrown out with the trash and rescued by his mother. At one point, after the brothers fight, Julio tells him, "You were a gift." It seems that Daniel was saved from the trash pile for a purpose. And his purpose runs deeper than winning a soccer game.

Through the wondrous gift of grace, we have all been saved from the trash pile. And now, because of grace, we are gifts to the world; gifts of grace and love. Will we fulfill our purpose?

Expendables 2 Blu-ray (Jason Stanley)

Sly Stallone's sequel has all the action that a manly man's movie should have. The film squeezes in many action stars and all the jokes that accompany them. Stallone steps back from directing, but not writing in the sequel. In the director's chair is Simon West, known for his work on Con Air and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. West follows Stallone's formula from the first film with Barney (Stallone) and his band of action-figure misfits save the day. The crew is made up of Christmas played by Jason Statham (one of the younger action stars in the film), Yin Yang played by Jet Li, Gunner played by Dolph Lundgren, Hale Caesar played by Terry Crews and Toll Road played by Randy Couture. The fight takes place in Asia with the big bad villain named Vilain (how long did it take to come up with that?) played by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

And of course, don't forget the cameos by a few of Stallone's good friends. Arnold Schwazenegger's Trench, Bruce Willis' Church, and Chuck Norris' Booker. The appearance of Chuck Norris in the film is possibly one of the best and most memorable moments. Stallone and the boys would plan a raid and Booker would show up armed and dangerous to rescue them from their own raid. The film presents Norris as the lone wolf—remember 1983's Lone Wolf McQuade? It's just one of many nods to the actors' previous action roles sandwiched into the film.

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