This week’s pick is the 1988 cult classic from director Kevin Reynolds (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) The Beast a.k.a. The Beast of War, which stars George Dzundza (Commander Daskal), Jason Patric (Konstantin Koverchenko), Don Harvey (Kaminski), Stephen Baldwin (Golikov), Erick Avari (Samad), and Steven Bauer (Taj).

The film is set in 1981 as the Soviet Union has entered its second year of their war with Afghanistan. The film centers around the crew of a Soviet tank platoon whose T-62 tank becomes lost in a valley after an attack on an Afghan village. The first few minutes of the film are brutal as it shows a combined tank assault on a Pashtun village which house some Mujahideen rebels who have been fighting the Soviet occupation of their province.

The Soviets use poison gas, flame throwers, RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) and the famed AK-47 assault rifle as they mop up their attack on the villagers. Taj (Bauer) returns home to find his village destroyed and his brother crushed by the tank commanded by the ruthless Daskal (Dzundza) who deals harshly with the guerrillas. Taj becomes Khan (tribal leader) and vows to destroy the tank and avenge his brother’s death.

Not knowing that the valley that Daskal has led them into eventually becomes a dead end, the Soviet tankers go about their duties and hope to rejoin their column. The crew are made up of four Soviets and one Afghan named Samad (Avari) who is not trusted by Daskal who suspects Samad of being a turncoat. The film is a classic example of cat & mouse as the Soviets are chased by the determined Mujahideen rebels who are armed with rockets to destroy the tank.

Koverchenko (Patric) respects the Mujahideen rebels who have them on the run and builds a relationship with the outcast Samad who teaches Koverchenko the rules of Pashtunwali which is their code of honour and civility. Koverchenko begins to suspect that Daskal is going over the edge due to his increased resentment for Samad and for the safety of the men.

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Another week and more comics coming out from our pals at Marvel. This week we’re pretty excited for new ones like the latest Avengers, Astonishing X-Men #35, Secret Warriors #19, Spider-Man #5 and the debut of Namor: The First Mutant.

Like most weeks, comics are on sale this Wednesday so head on over to your favorite comics shop early for best selection. Don’t know where your nearest comic store is?

Use this handy guide to find one. Also, be sure to check out covers for some of these books after the break.

Comics On-Sale:

ALL-NEW WOLVERINE SAGA
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #638 2ND PRINTING VARIANT (OMT)
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN PRESENTS: AMERICAN SON #4
ASTONISHING X-MEN #35
AVENGERS #4
AVENGERS #4 JRJR CHARACTER VARIANT
AVENGERS #4 WOMEN OF MARVEL FRAME VARIANT
BLACK WIDOW #5
CAPTAIN AMERICA #609
CAPTAIN AMERICA #609 WOMEN OF MARVEL FRAME VARIANT
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE 1940S NEWSPAPER STRIP #3
DARK WOLVERINE #90
DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #890
DREAM LOGIC #2
FANTASTIC FOUR #582 (HA)

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The 88-year-old Alain Resnais’s latest film, WILD GRASS, shows him remaining true, all these decades later, to the principles of the French “Nouvelle Vague” of which he was a leading proponent:  anarchy, whimsy, visual antics, nonlinear and nonsensical story lines, abrupt endings, randomness and deliberate artifice. Although many of these devices, so revolutionary in their time, have now become part of mainstream film vocabulary, in Resnais’s hands they are played full-force, making his work unlike anything else made today.

It’s hard, or at least feels beside the point, to give a plot summary of a movie in which plot—which is also to say, any ethical underpinning—matters for little. Suffice it to say a lost wallet incites a meeting between the world’s least likely dentist, the wildly flame-haired Marguerite (the elegant Sabine Azéma, Resnais’s muse and companion in real life) and the dour,  possibly homicidal and unemployed but somehow wealthy Georges (André Dussollier), whose yellow chickie fluff hair somehow makes his deeply lined and frowning face appear even more sinister.

Aided by a deeply humanistic policeman (Mathiu Almaric, in my favorite performance in the movie), the two connect and reconnect in a wobbly spiral of obsession, fantasy, and counter-transference.

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That’s right,  Season “Dos.”  Kenny and company will be heading down to Mexico for this round of Baseball, a rather inspired move for the crass comedy.

Why not take a foul-mouthed, cocky ballplayer who doesn’t understand (or care) about being politically and racially sensitive and send him down to play a little ball in Mexico?

What could possibly go wrong?  You know that Kenny will wreak havoc and squander good will wherever he may go.  He’ll have the locals chasing after him with pitchforks in no time.

Eastbound and Down stars Danny McBride as a has-been professional baseball player who is constantly getting himself in trouble.  It is rude, crude, and absolutely hilarious. If you have not caught the first season yet, season one is available on DVD and Netflix.

Eastbound and Down will return to HBO on September 26 at 10:30pm.  Check out the poster and two brand new clips after the jump.

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Following tons of casting and recasting news, X-Men: First Class producer Bryan Singer contacted AICN and revealed tons of juicy tidbits about the highly anticipated film. Of course, we’re going to share them with you right here to save you the trouble of clicking that link.

The film will take place in the fitting time of the 1960′s, with civil rights being of high concern at the time and the obvious parallels between the racial and mutant struggles. In addition, Singer implied that Vaughn will also be utilizing James Bond type technology from that era in the film.

X-Men: First Class will follow the young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Eric Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender)as they plan the futures of mutant kind.  Xavier will not be in a wheelchair in the beginning of the film, but we will witness him losing the use of his legs.

The antagonists of the film will be the Hellfire Club which will include Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw and January Jones as Emma Frost. On a surprising note, he stated that we will not be seeing Jean Grey or Cyclops. Unsurprisingly, he announced that we can expect tons more casting news in the next couple of days.

Singer also explained that even though the costumes in the film will be more “comic booky” than previous films, the film is shying away from the story written in the comic after which the film is named.

Do you think that it’s the right move to delve deep into little known comic book characters, while not utilizing the pre-existing lore? Can an X-men story exist without Jean Grey and Cyclops?

There are plenty of reasons to be excited for Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming Machete, but one reason alone should be that he managed to get Robert De Niro into the film as the shifty senator McLaughlin, the film’s main antagonist.

The film, based on Rodriguez’s spoof trailer attached to 2008′s Grindhouse, has become a combination of a labor of love and a medium-budget action flick. Though the plot doesn’t mean a whole lot to those seeing the film, basically Machete (played by Danny Trejo) is an ex-badass who’s forced back into the world of badass-ery to take down some bad guys. Hooked? We thought so.

If De Niro isn’t enough to get you to pay $10 for the flick, he’s joined by a once all-star cast who we can’t wait to see again in action. Names like Steven Sesgal, Lindsay Lohan, Don Johnson, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez, and even a Troublemaker Studios regular, Cheech Marin.

Check out a brand new clip from the film after the jump, in which we get a fun twist on De Niro’s performance in Taxi Driver. Be sure to catch Machete in theaters on September 3rd.

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Several movies have made the grade with critics of late, but enthusiasm for Scott Pilgrim and now Piranha has not lead to large numbers at the box office.  It has been very disheartening to see how poorly some movies have done at the box office.

Piranha should have been a slam-dunk for the Weinstein Company and Dimension, but the film only managed to snag sixth place, and did not break $10 Million over the weekend.  That is with 3D ticket prices tallied in, which makes it even more disappointing.

Audiences that did see the movie didn’t really like it. The film only got an exit poll score of “C” from film-goers, according to Entertainment Weekly’s Hollywood Insider.

Nobody seemed  too interested in seeing any of the new offerings.  Holdover Expendables won the weekend with $16.5 Million.  The film dropped about 50%, and its two week total is $65 Million. Take that, naysayers.

Vampires Suck nabbed the number two spot.  The team that brought you the Scary Movie franchise, Date Movie,  Epic Movie and many more, decided to parody the Twilight franchise this time around.  The film has made about $18 Million since its opening day last Wednesday, with $12 Million of that coming from the weekend.

The Twilight series is ripe for parody, but the film clips for this film just weren’t that funny

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At Comic Con, the folks at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment gave us a walk through of their new family friendly Lord of the Rings title, The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest. Rated E10+, Aragorn’s Quest takes a drastically different tone and gameplay style from the recently revealed The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.

Shown on the Wii, Aragorn’s Quest has players listen to the tales of Samwise Gamgee as he explains to his children the events of The Lord of the Rings, focusing on the tale of the current king Aragorn. Over the course of eight chapters, players are then given the opportunity to take the role of Aragorn on a series of quest that follow the events of the three films. Each quest contains smaller side quests players can embark on.

Having Samwise voiced by Sean Astin and Gimlee voiced by John Rhys-Davies is meant to keep an older audience into the game as they help younger players through it. Unfortunately during our walk through, the noise of the convention prevented us from experiencing the voice acting.

The game has a simple visual style that strays away from the dark overtones of the film and previous game titles. There is no blood or any other effects that would go against the game’s family friendly image. Using the WiiMote, players hack and slash their way through hordes of goblins, orcs, spiders and trolls in an effort to escort Frodo to the peak of Mount Doom to destroy the one ring. Different motions result in different strikes. During combat, directional prompts will appear to perform specific actions and finishing blows. Players will also have a chance to switch between ranged and melee combat as well.

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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!

• Supercut: If I Told You, I’d Have to Kill You.

• National Lampoon’s Christmas Inception.

• LIST: 8 of the dirtiest Sexual Innuendos in children’s cartoons.

• Batman robs a Taco Bell.

• HBO cutting out the vampire middle-man (or woman) and making a show about porn.

• Chelsea Handler to host the MTV VMA’s. General MTV-watching public’s response: Who?

• The new promo for Dexter is pretty terrible, and we haven’t even seen the show.

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Friday again? Apparently so. Well, I guess that means we’ve got previews for you of tonight’s episodes of Eureka and Haven.

First up is Eureka. In this episode the rivalry for Allison between Carter and Grant rises to new heights. What could this mean? Watch the clip, and the episode, to find out.

Next up on Haven. In this new episode Audrey is faced with a new mystery as she investigates a case where a man’s body is bent out of shape. Weird? You betcha. Fortunately, Audrey knows weird.

Check out previews for both shows after the jump. Eureka kicks things off tonight at 9/8C followed by Haven at 10/9C only on Syfy.

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At Comic Con, the Flickcast got our first opportunity to get hands on with Dead Rising 2. Standing next to a replica of the game’s workshop covered with dozens of makeshift weapons, we got to see just what is in store for the game’s new lead, Chuck Greene on the streets of Fortune City.

Right off the bat, Dead Rising 2 feels bigger. Knowing you aren’t confined to the space of just one shopping mall, there is a level of freedom that didn’t exist in the original title. It also appears that there are even more zombies on screen at the same time in this game as well.

The animation is still fluid and it feels like the control, especially in regard to aiming, has been tightened up some. One drastically improved feature of the gameplay is the lifespan of weapons. In the original game, weapons fell apart at an alarming rate. Players were forced to flee more than fight which ultimately lead to Frank West not living up to the potential badass he could have been. Chuck, who already has some badass cred to his name being a motocross rider, feels like he can take the fight to the zombie horde that has engulfed the US rather than just hope to survive like Frank did.

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On some occasions, writing a review of a film is somewhat difficult. How do you effectively communicate the intricacies of the plot or characters and how to you genuinely summarize the effect the film has on you so potential viewers reading your review can fully understand and know what they are getting into if they do attend? Fortunately, in the case of Piranha 3D, I had none of those problems.

After all, it is a film about an underwater quake which sets free hundreds of prehistoric man-eating fish who then proceed to attack and eat pretty much anything and everything they can sink their teeth into. Once the fish are loose and on their way to spoil Spring Break for the thousands of kids frolicking at Lake Victoria, AZ it’s up to an unlikely group led by the town’s Sheriff (Elisabeth Shue) and a visiting marine paleontologist (Adam Scott) to stop the deadly horde before it’s too late.

Having recently seen Joe Dante’s original Piranha and another classic Roger Corman gory campfest Humanoids from the Deep, I can say that Piranha 3D borrows heavily from both of those previous films and does deliver a campy, over the top and in your face good time. It’s not art, whatever you may consider that to be, but it does have one big thing going for it: It’s fun.

Piranha 3D doesn’t try to be anything more than what it is: a movie where a pack of fish attack a whole bunch of people and eat them which also features ample sexual situations and nudity. It definitely earns the R rating.

It starts out letting you know these fish are not to be messed with by presenting Richard Dreyfuss doing what can only be described as a parody of his character from Jaws (complete with his rendition of Irving King’s Show Me the Way to Go Home) innocently fishing on the lake.

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