This week’s pick is legendary filmmaker and pioneer of balletic death scenes Sam Peckinpah’s 1977 production of Cross of Iron. The film stars James Coburn (in one of his finest performances, and as one of Peckinpah’s go-to-actors) as Sgt. Rolf Steiner, a tough German soldier stationed on the Eastern Front in 1943 as the German army was being pushed back by the advancing Soviets.

Steiner is in command of a small squad who are attached to the main German column who are retreating from the Taman peninsula on the Black Sea coast following the German defeat at Stalingrad (one year earlier), which turned the tide of the war in the east. The story is that of conflict between Steiner and a new company commander Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell), a Prussian aristocrat who covets the famed Iron Cross which is one of the highest awards given to a German soldier.

Cross of Iron was Peckinpah’s only war film that shows the audience the kind of war that was being fought on the Eastern Front, and that it was the last place a German soldier wanted to go. Steiner (Coburn) is tired of war and has very little respect for those in charge. When Stransky reports to his new commander, Colonel Brandt (played by veteran British actor James Mason), he tells the Colonel that he applied for a transfer from occupied France to the Eastern Front in order to win the Iron Cross.

The Colonel’s adjutant, Captain Kiesel (the great character actor David Warner) who is also sick of war and military politics, scoffs at Stransky and his naive outlook. Steiner is introduced to Stransky who is told of his exploits. Stransky promotes Steiner to Staff Sgt. in order to curry favor. Steiner shows overt contempt and little appreciation for Stransky as a German officer. To Steiner, Stransky is the real enemy with false notions of heroism and bravery.

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You should know that we are big fans of studio Twisted Pixel’s past creations ‘Splosion Man and The Maw. Since the reveal of Comic Jumper,  we have been following news of the title closely as well. With E3 upon us, Twisted Pixel has unleashed a slew of information regarding the game.

First off, in addition to the Modern, Fantasy and Silver Age levels, the final theme will be Manga which according to the trailer below looks hilarious in the team’s take on this twisted genre. In addition, since Twisted Pixel likes to use current titles to complement previous ones, there will be two unlockable levels to ‘Splosion Man that can be earned over the course of Comic Jumper.

Comic Jumper will be featured on the E3 show floor with a demo of their silver age story, The Improbable Paper Pals, which can be seen in one of the videos below.

After the jump, check out a ton of new artwork for the game as well as its official E3 Trailer and The Improbable Paper Pals level demo.

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This should come as great news to fans of AMC’s awesome show Breaking Bad (especially our own Shannon Hood). AMC has closed a deal to renew creator Vince Gilligan’s dark drama for a fourth season. The network made the announcement this morning via an official press release.

The deal had been reportedly in the workd for several months but had stalled due to budget considerations for the fourth season. The studio had wanted the per episode cost not to exceed $3.1 Million while the show’s producers were hoping for more like $3.3 Million per episode. Apparenly, the must have found a happy medium, or ‘Split the difference” as they say in the biz, because the show is coming back next year.

Breaking Bad has performed decently in the ratings but has achieved critical success. It has also garnered star Bryan Cranston two Emmys for his work on the show and a best series nomination last year. Knowing how this season ended, I’m very pleased the show will have a chance to continue. It deserves to be on for a long time.

Click through for the complete press release from AMC.

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Kudos to HBO for jumping into the big budget fantasy genre with Game of Thrones, an upcoming series based on George R. R. Martin’s bestselling A Song of Ice and Fire novels. Deadline has posted the show’s first teaser trailer, which features the tagline “Winter Is Coming” and gives us a few quick glimpses at what we can expect from the show.

This trailer doesn’t really give away a whole lot about the story and in truth, its more of a teaser than a trailer. Still, it’s good to see HBO seems to be on the ball in capturing the essence of the novels. Plus, the show looks great. With Treme’, True Blood, Boarwalk Empire and now Game of Thrones, HBO seems to be the place for quality and diverse entertainment these days.

Game of Thrones is set in a world where magic exists and the empire is on its last legs. It follows the machinations of various kings, lords and soldiers as they fight for control of the throne. The show stars Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey and Jason Momoa.

Check out the new trailer after the jump. Game of Thrones comes to HBO in 2011. Are you ready for winter?

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Hmm. Is it safe to call the show Broken Bad now? I have held out hope, despite all the signs pointing otherwise, that Walt is still a decent human being. Guess I was wrong. The season finale of Breaking Bad was a mixed bag, as far as I am concerned. Let me be clear, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but with so many story lines swirling around (Skylar? Hank? The cartel vs. Gus?) I was left wanting a little.

Who didn’t want to see Hank open a can of whup-ass on someone this season? Looks like Hank’s reckoning day will have to wait for another season. So be it.

(Spoilers for the season finale of Breaking Bad.) The writers chose to end season three with a Walt/Jesse centric episode. This is the episode that has absolutely confirmed the fact that Walt has gone to the dark side. He has sold his soul to the devil, and then some. We’ve seen the characters of Walt and Jesse transpose throughout the series.

Jesse was a strung out loser with questionable morals and penchant for the rock and roll lifestyle. Really, nothing he would have done would have surprised us. Now, he serves as the moral compass of the dysfunctional duo.

Walt was initially drawn to a life of crime out of necessity. He was dying, and cooking meth was a quick way for him to make cash to leave his family. Now he has become a comon thug, routinely participating in atrocities he never could have imagined before.

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So E3 starts tomorrow officially while today is the Microsoft Press conference. As you have already seen, we have gotten some advanced notice on some of the happenings going on at the event.  A few changes will be happening with our coverage of the event compared to last year.

This year we won’t be giving a fully detailed recap of the BIG 3 Press Conferences from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo as a formal post. We will, however, be posting our thoughts and coverage on the big announcements and trailers as well as give a full indepth discussion with Matt Raub, Chris Ulrich and myself on this week’s episode of the podcast.

We have also gotten official word from various industry sources on what companies will be showing at the event. These have come from various press releases, other industry insiders and various leaks from the LA Convention Center itself regarding the event.

There has also been tremendous speculation around the event. Some of those rumors will be examined below as well. Finally, some of my own personal E3 2010 theories and predictions will be put out there too.

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In absentia of our diligent box office reporter Shannon Hood I’m stepping in to bring you up to speed this week. The top three spots were taken by two remakes and one sequel, the former making me feel like I’d gone through a time warp back to the ’80′s.  It was exciting and a little disconcerting all at the same time.

Taking the top spot was the remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid.  For the purists out there you can rest easy knowing the producers did not use the same characters from the original.  While the premise is basically the same Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) have been replaced by Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Personally, I thought Jaden Smith was too young to portray the character properly but the audience seemed to disagree with me.

The Karate Kidwent onto make $56 million in its opening weekend.  Given that the budget was $40 million this is certainly decent returns and I have no doubt will lead to a sequel, if not a trilogy.  Way to go Jaden!  Your superstar dad, Will Smith, must be very proud.

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Looking at the new upcoming HBO series Boarwalk Empire it seems to have hit written all over it. Created by Terence Winter, one of the writers of The Sopranos, with a teriffic cast led by Steve Buscemi and Exec. Produced by none other than Martin Scorsese, this tale of gangsters and corruption in 1920′s Atlantic City has everything you could want in a show.

As an example, take a good look at this new trailer for it that aired just prior to last night’s season premiere of True Blood. It features all the main characters and sets up the story pretty well. It also looks terrific and very well directed and it should becuse Scorsese did it himself.

The show premieres in September and I, for one, can’t wait to see it. Until then, be sure to check out the trailer for Boardwalk Empire after the jump.

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Welcome to this week’s On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage this week. Let is know if we missed something.

The Last Airbender may be another M. Night letdown, but at least it will have cool looking creatures.

Time to high five the 13 year old you, the lightsaber is finally real.

Andy Leipzig is a nerd like us. The difference is he uses it in some really cool art.

Guillermo Del Toro walked away from The Hobbit. Why? Because he totally digs vampires.

Remember the oil spill episode of Saved By The Bell? If not, here are the things you should remember. Maybe they’ll help us today.

Talk about life after death, it seems that Conan’s upcoming stint on TBS may be better than his NBC days ever were.

Who wouldn’t want to see a Japanese remake of Ghost? Oh….everybody.

Will Smith is already pimping Men in Black 3D, reminding us that parents still just don’t understand.

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On Wednesday, the Flickcast revealed the announcement from Activision for DJ Hero 2 , the sequel to one of our favorite music genre games of last year. Today, with the reveal trailer for the game, we have to issue a quick revision to our original post. It stated that the game would include two turntables that could be used simultaneously with one mixer. This is incorrect. The real reason for the two turntables is to allow for two player sessions of the game. We apologize for any confusion on this.

Now, on to the trailer. Though somewhat stylized, it wasn’t what one would expect from DJ Hero. Instead it ends up feel more like a Nintendo Wii trailer showing the participants in action rather than just the gameplay or focus on the music. Featuring a remix of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” performed with two DJs and a singer, the multiplayer party aspect looks to be the main marketing message of the game.

Take a peek below at the reveal trailer for DJ Hero 2 and the screen shots which feature some of the game’s new features such as Freestyle crossfading and sampling in them. Just don’t let Matt Raub ever catch you dropping his microphone like they do in the trailer. Check out the trailer and some screenshots from the game after the jump. DJ Hero 2 hits stores later this year.

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As we’ve done for the past many weeks we’ve got another preview for tonight’s Stargate Universe and Merlin to bring you today. The shows both air on Syfy, of course, and one, Stargate Universe, is having its season finale tonight as well.

First up on Stargate Universe, the crew of the Destiny faces the Lucian invasion begun in last week’s episode. What will happen and who will survive is anyone’s guess at this point but from the looks of things, this promises to be an exciting episode indeed.

Next up on Merlin, there’s time for everything in Camelot, including love – particularly when Arthur, Guinevere and a visiting princess are looking for it in all the wrong places. I wonder if Merlin will ever get a girl? Tune in tonight to find out.

Check out both previews after the jump and both shows tonight atarting at 9/8C with Stargate Universe followed by Merlin at 10/9C on Syfy.

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I don’t think anyone would dispute that the character of Wolverine is not only one of Marvel’s most popular but one of the most popular in all of comics. His look, powers, aggressivenenss and just plain bad atitude have won him fans acround the globe.

Now, as Marvel is doing with other titles like the X-Men, they are starting a brand new Wolverine comic with Wolverine #1. Fortunately, we are able to bring you a preview of that book right here today. From writer Jason Aaron and artist Renato Guedes this new story sees Wolverine’s soul getting sent straight to hell.

However, while Wolverine’s soul is in Hell, his body is terrorizing all that are close to him. This new comic promises to show Logan doing what he does best, in true Wolverine fashion. And what he does best is not very nice.

Check out the previews for the new comic after the jump. Wolverine #1 hits stores in September.

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