Las Vegas Review-Journal - Vegas Voice

DVDS
  “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” (PG-13): In the third chapter of Stephenie Meyer’s teen vampire franchise, heroine Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) finds herself torn, yet again, between vampire heartthrob Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and werewolf hunk Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner).
  Elsewhere in our recent-release file, “Knight and Day” (PG-13) finds an on-the-run secret agent (Tom Cruise) embroiling an innocent bystander (Cameron Diaz) in international intrigue. In the romantic comedy “Going the Distance” (R), a wannabe West Coast journalist (Drew Barrymore) and a New York-based music scout (Justin Long) try to make their long-distance relationship work. In the “Fantasia”-inspired “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” (PG), a veteran wizard (Nicolas Cage) recruits an everyday guy (Jay Baruchel ) to help him battle his nemesis (Alfred Molina). If you’re ready for a “Twilight” spoof, try “Vampires Suck” (R), a hardly biting “Twilight” parody. In the middle-school musical “Standing Ovation” (PG), street-smart tweens vie with rich-girl rivals for a TV talent contest’s million-dollar prize. And the documentary “Waking Sleeping Beauty” (PG) explores the 1984-1994 renaissance of Disney animation, thanks to such hits as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King.” (Speaking of Disney and documentaries, the studio salutes the Oscar-winning “Mary Poppins” songwriting team in the PG-rated “The Boys: The Sherman Brothers Story.”)
  In the “Welcome to Las Vegas” portion of our show, Patricia Clarkson lights up “Cairo Time” (PG) as a happily married magazine editor who falls for one of her diplomat husband’s longtime friends (Alexander Siddig). A happily married architect (“Morning Glory’s” Patrick Wilson) falls for a quirky young designer (“True Blood’s” Lynn Collins) in the indie comedy-drama “Life in Flight” (not rated). “Casino Royale’s” Mads Mikkelsen headlines the Viking drama “Valhalla Rising” (not rated). The documentary “Floored” (not rated) focuses on the waning days of the Chicago stock-trading floors, while “Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement” (not rated) follows the title couple’s more than 40-year lesbian relationship — and their 2008 Toronto wedding. And in our foreign-language file, Italy’s fact-based “The Sicilian Girl” (not rated) recounts how the title teen, whose father and brother were both Mafia members, breaks a vow of silence and tells all to a famed anti-Mafia judge.
  Topping today’s golden-oldies: a 70th-anniversary edition of director Frank Capra’s “Meet John Doe” (not rated), starring a peak-form Gary Cooper as an impoverished ex-ballplayer drafted to embody newspaper columnist Barbara Stanwyck’s fictional voice of protest. If “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” strikes you as sacrilege, there’s always the Disney animation double-bill of 1940’s “Fantasia” and 1999’s “Fantasia 2000” (PG), which combines DVD and Blu-ray versions — in the same package. And more cartoon legends turn up in "Looney Tunes Super Stars” volumes (not rated) devoted to “Tweety & Sylvester: Feline Fwenzy” and “Foghorn Leghorn & Friends: Barnyard Bigmouth.”
  Tuning in to TV-to-DVD transfers (all unrated), Dennis Quaid and Michael Sheen portray Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, respectively, in “The Special Relationship,” while National Geographic focuses on “The President’s Photographer: 50 Years Inside the Oval Office.” Series hitting DVD today include “Sid & Marty Krofft’s Saturday Morning Hits,” “Parks & Recreation: Season Two,” “The Lucy Show: The Official Third Season,” “Have Gun Will Travel: Season Five, Vol. One,” “Public Defender, Vol. Six,” “A Touch of Frost: Season 15,” “The Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet: Vol. 17,” and “Soldiers of Fortune: The Complete Television Series.”

CDS
  Black Eyed Peas, “The Beginning”: First came “The E.N.D.,” and now we have “The Beginning.”   
  Sound a little backward?
  Whatever.
  Never question the Black Eyed Peas.
  They will dance on your face and violate your soul with feel-good hip-pop sure to dominate the airwaves forevermore.
  Don’t fight it.
  Just surrender already.
  Besides, didn’t your momma tell you that Peas were good for you?
  Also in stores: Bryan Adams, “Bare Bones”; Eric Benet, “Lost in Time”; Circa Survive, “Appendage”; El DeBarge, “Second Chance”; Fefe Dobson, “Joy”; Flo Rida, “Only One Flo, Part 1”; Ron Isley, “Mr. I”; Soulja Boy, “The DeAndre Way”; and Jazmine Sullivan, “Love Me Back.”

BOOKS
  “Port Mortuary” by Patricia Cornwell: Kay Scarpetta returns in this novel dominated by her past and present as a gruesome case from early in her career merges with her investigation of the death of a young man with shocking internal injuries.
  Anne Rice takes readers back to 15th-century Rome this week with “Of Love and Evil,” her second thriller in the “Songs of the Seraphim Series,” which features angels ans assassins.
  Also hitting shelves this week: “Gardens of Grief” by Boston Teran; “Lover Mine (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series No. 8)” by J.R. Ward; “Matched” by Ally Condie; “The Other Side” by J.D. Robb, Patricia Gaffney, Ruth Ryan Langan, Mary Kay McComas and Mary Blayney; “Rescue” by Anita Shreve; “Shadowheart” by Tad Williams; and “Suck on This Year LYFAO @ 140 Characters or Less” by Denis Leary.