This week’s pick is another cinematic masterpiece from acclaimed director and combat veteran Samuel Fuller (Fixed Bayonets, The Steel Helmet). Merrill’s Marauders (1962) tells the story of Brig. General Frank Merrill and his American jungle fighters in Burma during World War II.  What makes this film so unique from the bravado of similar war pictures that came out of Hollywood in the pre Vietnam early nineteen sixties was that it was based on actual events. The film stars Jeff Chandler (Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill), Ty Hardin (Lt. “Stock” Stockton), Claude Atkins (Sgt. Kolowicz), John Hoyt (General Joseph Stillwell), and Peter Brown (“Bullseye” a platoon sniper).

As World War II spread throughout the Pacific theater, there were intense campaigns in Asia from northern China, to the borders of British held India which the Japanese coveted for its natural resources, as well as adding it into their vastly expanding Asian empire. British Viceroy to India Lord Louis Mountbatten (uncle to Prince Charles), had devised many covert Anglo-American military units to harass and to thwart any attempt for an invasion of India by Japanese forces.

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All this week, we’ll be bringing you some great interviews with the cast and creator of FX’s hit series, Sons of Anarchy, as we lead up to the epic season 3 premiere. Kicking it off, we got a chance to speak with the man who started it all, creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter.

Starting off as writer and producer for another FX favorite in The Shield, Sutter got such a taste for gritty crime dramas that he decided to do it himself. Not without taking a few of his own characters over with him.

Sutter spilled the beans on who exactly those crossover characters were, as well as what we can expect to see from some of the upcoming episodes from season 3.

Check out the full interview after the jump, and be sure to catch the season 3 premiere of Sons of Anarchy next Tuesday, September 7th, only on FX.

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For those of you who watched last night’s Emmy Awards…we’re sorry. There weren’t very many upsets and let’s face it, Fallon’s hosting skills left a bit to be desired. The silver lining of last night’s show? Three brand new scenes with the gang from our favorite NBC shows: Community.

The whole gang was together to help pimp the Infinity QX 56 for NBC, but we’re OK with it because it gave the fans a chance to see our favorite Greendale College students a little early before they return for a new season in September. Even Ken Jeong is back for these clips, which makes the whole series that much better.

And for those die-hards out there: yes, there’s even a Glee sucker punch in there as well. Check out the clip after the jump, in which we get some awesome food-TV gags such as How I Met Your Muffins, The New Adventures of Old Crispies, and even LOST carrots.

Catch all-new episodes of Community on Thursday, September 23rd, on NBC.

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Note: This week’s box office was an extremely tight race. When final numbers become available, the top two positions might change.

We actually had some movies over-perform at the box office for a change, and some little guys got to flex their muscles.  Lionsgate’s The Last Exorcism proved to be a polarizing movie.  It got a fairly positive 71% on Rotten Tomatoes, but Cinemascore reported a pretty dismal “D” grade from audiences.  Popular horror website  Bloody Disgusting reported that most readers absolutely hated the movie. (You can read our review of the movie here.)

However, the movie clearly piqued movie-goers curiosity, as the  $1.8 Million movie passed the $20 Million mark and made approximately $21.3 Million, a total that surpassed even the most optimistic of predictions. It will be interesting to see if the movie suffers a dramatic drop-off next weekend due to poor word of mouth.

Heist flick Takers closely trailed the horror film, and made about $21 Million.  The movie stars Matt Dillon, Chris Brown, Hayden Christenson, Paul Walker, Jonathon Schaech, and it-girl Zoe Saldana. It earned a measly 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, but clearly had a specific audience it was gunning for, and did a good job reaching it. Takers had the highest per/screen average for the weekend.

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It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while an independent, small budget comedy ends up establishing cult status almost immediately. It looks like Barry Munday may be setting itself up for that.

Based on the book Life is A Strange Place by Frank Turner Hollon, the film follows the misfortunes of a wannabe ladies man trapped in the suburbs. Munday is penned and directed by newcomer Chris D’Arienzo, who is also attached to write the film adaptation of the musical Rock Of Ages.

The film not only stars Watchmen’s Patrick Wilson as the titular Barry, but Christopher McDonald, Billy Dee Williams, Jean Smart, Missi Pyle, Chloë Sevigny, Judy Greer, and Malcolm McDowell also join the fun.

Check out a brand new clip from the film after the jump, which features Arrested Development’s Mae Whitman (“Egg”) as yet another sexualized character. Between this and her recent role in Scott Pilgrim, we may need to rethink her being cast in an Arrested film.

Be sure to catch Barry Munday in theaters on October 31st.

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Missed last night’s Emmy Awards? Didn’t feel like sitting through the entire spectacle just to see if Jon Hamm took home that shiny trophy? We’ve got your solution. Here is the complete list of Emmy Winners from last night’s show. Enjoy.

Drama Series: “Mad Men,” AMC.

Comedy Series: “Modern Family,” ABC.

Actor, Drama Series: Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad,” AMC.

Actress, Drama Series: Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer,” TNT.

Actor, Comedy Series: Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS.

Actress, Comedy Series: Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie,” Showtime.

Supporting Actor, Drama Series: Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad,” AMC.

Supporting Actress, Drama Series: Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife,” CBS.

Supporting Actor, Comedy Series: Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family,” ABC.

Supporting Actress, Comedy Series: Jane Lynch, “Glee,” Fox.

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Highlights of tonight’s Emmy Awards from our pals at NBC. Enjoy.

Modern Family Gone Mad
Messing with Modern Family’s Emmy-winning formula is a dangerous–and comical–idea.

Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons wins the Emmy for Lead Actor, Comedy Series for his work on The Big Bang Theory.

Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch wins the Emmy for Supporting Actress, Comedy Series for her work on Glee.

I pretty much watch any horror movie I can get my hands on, and have been doing so for most of my adult life.  I can only recall a handful of movies that genuinely scared me.  Add this one to the list.

For three-fourths of the running time of the film I was literally biting my knuckles like a little kid.  The movie scared me, pure and simple, and it is rated PG-13!

Whether you find the movie scary or not likely hinges on whether you find the subject matter convincing.  If you don’t believe that demonic possessions are possible, I doubt you will like the movie, and will probably find it silly.  However, if you believe that this really could happen,  The Last Exorcism will scare you to death.

The movie begins with a documentary crew interviewing a minister named Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian.) Cotton has been  groomed since childhood to be an evangelist, following in his father’s footsteps.

He  has gained notoriety with his effusive showmanship.  He frequently employs magic tricks and props to whip the congregation into a spiritual frenzy.

His convincing delivery and tendency to employ  theatrics make him a natural to perform “exorcisms.”  After years of jilting desperate people out of their hard earned cash, he has decided to quit performing exorcisms, and has agreed to take the documentary crew on one last exorcism, to expose the fakery involved in the profession.

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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 interesting. Otherwise, on to the links!

• Have you seen this Emmy Winning Star Wars Fan Film?

• In Star Trek: the Next Generation casting news we wonder WHO could have been Geordi LaForge?

• We love robots, but we can’t stop simultaneously laughing and shaking our heads when we watch this video.

• Here’s some of the coolest looking custom consoles we’ve never seen. Jealous? Hell yes.

• Apparently, girls were pissed at the director of The Human Centipede during casting when they read the script. Are we surprised? No. Have you seen the movie?

• Quentin Tarantino will get his very own Friar’s Club Roast. It’s certainly a better idea than Flava Flav or Hasselhoff. Although, that Hoff one was pretty damn funny.

• Football could have something to do with everyone in the country Tivo’ing this year’s Oscars. What?

• In case you were wondering (or worried about your own problem) here’s a list of the 12 heaviest drinkers in the history of TV. Not on the list? It’s probably because you’re not famous and nobody cares.

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We’ve already brought you a ton of previews for many of NBC’s new Fall shows. Now, as we usually do on Fridays, we’ve got previews for tonight’s all-new episodes of Eureka and Haven to share with you and help get you psyched for these great shows.

First up is Eureka and an episode entitled “The Ex Files.” In this episode, people from the past come back to haunt the lives of Carter and the gang. That’s the thing about the past, you usually want to forget most of it — especially the bad stuff.

Next up is a Haven episode entitled “Ain’t No Sunshine.” This episode is a scary ghost story that comes true when a dark spirit begins claiming lives in a Haven clinic. Ghost? Hospitals? Yeah, I’m scared.

Check out clips for both shows after the break. Eureka airs tonight at 9/8C followed by Haven at 10/9C only on Syfy.

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After tackling two contemporary classics (The Maltese Falcon, Treasure of the Sierra Madre), a few other popular works (In This Our Life, We Were Strangers, Key Largo), and three war documentaries (Report from the Aleutians, Battle of San Pietro, Let There Be Light), in 1951, Huston delved into America’s literary past and adapted Stephen Crane’s 1895 Civil War novel The Red Badge of Courage.

Clocking in at a miniscule 69 minutes and starring war hero Audie Murphy, veteran and two-time Pulitzer-Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, Andy Devine, Royal Dano, among others, Badge is among the more forgotten than remembered of Huston’s filmography. It’s more or less faithful to the novel, following the young Henry Fleming from his first experience in combat to his flight, his wounding from the rifle butt of a fellow soldier, on up through his final heroics as flag bearer, and seems appropriate for its time, coming relatively soon after the end of World War II.

Almost everyone, Huston included, speaks of Badge as though it was in line to become his next masterpiece had it not been for the meddling studio and their insistence on cuts. Whether that’s true or not, and whether the excised footage had been restored, honestly, I don’t get much of a sense of greatness from Badge.

For one, this is one Huston film where the narration seems wholly unnecessary. Maybe that was a studio decision, but I have yet to read anything that says it was. Huston’s a talented enough director to show everything the narrator mentions, so when he does, it’s overkill. Fleming has just shown the audience he’s brave by carrying the American flag head first into combat, do we really need this ponderously officious voice to confirm it?  And I’m not one of those viewers who dislikes narration in any form, because I usually don’t mind it—just that here it’s repetitive.

The shortness is a detriment as well. Fleming sort of drifts through the narrative hazily wanting to achieve true courage on the battlefield and going from coward to braggart to hero all in the span of around 20 minutes. This is the main focus of the story—to show Henry’s transformation from recruit to warrior, boy to man—but it just sort of happens. The narrator may make some comment about how it was at this or that moment that Henry understood the nature of war or manhood or whatever, but it feels haphazard.

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If you’ve been following the evolution of Google’s Voice product, you had to know something big was coming. Originally launched in March of 2009, Google Voice was initially offered on an invite-basis only, yet for a free service, invitees were treated to some pretty amazing features.

First on the list was the ability to obtain a free local number to associate with your Google Voice account. Doing so allowed users granular control of how to handle incoming calls. Users could specify routing instructions for specific incoming numbers, establish rules on what numbers to ring when calls came in, powerful features like text transcription of voice mails that could be delivered via SMS or email, and that’s just a few examples.

Recently, in June of this year, Google opened the service up, making it available to anyone in the USA with a Google account. Consequently, some users have been unable to secure local numbers within their own area codes as a flood of new user sign-ups inevitably occurred. As of a few days ago, Google Gmail users began noticing an interesting new feature in their Gmail sidebar.

Mixed into the “chat” area is an innocuous “call phone” option that for most people, probably would have gone unnoticed. Click it though, and you’d see a call interface with number-pad appear, prompting you to call someone.

There is a browser plug-in that you will need to install, however it’s fairly quick and painless. After restarting your browser, you can begin making calls directly from within your browser; definitely an improvement over Skype, which requires a separate app window to initiate. In my testing, the Google Voice calls were clear and sharp, comparable to Skype and the VOIP services offered by AT&T or Verizon.

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