This week’s pick is the 2001 A&E original The Lost Battalion directed by Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) which tells the story of the U.S. Army’s 308th battalion, 77th Infantry Div. and their amazing five day struggle against fierce German opposition in the Meuse-Argonne offensive during the tail end of World War I. The story was written by James Carabatsos (Hamburger Hill).

Rick Schroder turns out a rather good performance as Major Charles Whittlesey, a New York lawyer turned citizen soldier who led his men to victory in this almost forgotten moment in history. The film also stars Phil McKee (Capt. George McMurty), Jamie Harris (Sgt. Gaedeke), Jay Rodan (Lt. Leak), Adam James (Capt. Nelson Holderman, K Company, 307th Inf. Div.), Daniel Caltagirone (Pvt. Phillip Cepeglia), Michael Goldstrom (Pvt. Jacob Rosen), and Wolf Kahler (General von Sybel).

In October 1918, U.S., French, and British armies were beating back the Germans after nearly four years of everlasting trench warfare which stretched from the Swiss border to the North Sea. After only just one year of fighting, the United States had suffered thousands of casualties and was gaining a reputation as “fierce and unpredictable” by their German adversaries. American intelligence believes that the Germans are planning a major offensive in the Meuse-Argonne sector, and plans are underway to cut them off before they can overrun the American lines.

Continue Reading →

After years of waiting (and reporting) DC Universe Online has finally made its way to both the PC and PlayStation 3 console. And we are happy to see it has lived up to the hype. While DCUO isn’t a ground breaking experience that will redefine the MMORPG genre, it does provide an addictive and fun super hero world for people to play in.

Taking a few lessons learned from previous super hero titles like City of Heroes and Champions Online, DCUO allows players to experience an MMO world in an iconic universe with well known locations and super hero and villain compatriots at their side. Unlike SOE’s previous iconic MMO with Star Wars Galaxies, players are actually able to fight alongside their favorite heroes and villains instead of just receiving missions from them. The game also has a fully voiced cast, a much notable difference to players of past titles like classics like Everquest or Galaxies.

Gameplay:

DC Universe Online plays similar in many ways to most other successful MMOs. It is to be expected since those formulas have proven successful for the type of game. Players move using the traditional WASD format combined with their mouse for changing directions and looking around and aiming. Different tap and hold button combinations on the mouse (unlocking more as players increase in level) release different attacks on foes. Additional super powers are unlocked and assigned to the 1 through 8 keys that can be used during combat.

Combat itself is fast paced and fun without much down time between. Unlike many MMORPGs, combat is not item-centric where players must worry about equipping tons of healing items to use after each combat instance. As long as players don’t run through like a lunatic kamikaze, they should be able to take a breather between fights to allow their character to quickly heal up before heading into the next encounter.

Continue Reading →

Lots of exciting news is coming out of Austin as the town braces for the SXSW Film, Interactive, and Music festivals.  The official midnight movies have been announced, and they are sure to offer up some of the usual scares and surprises.

Midnighters

Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

ATTACK THE BLOCK (UK-England)

Director & Writer: Joe Cornish A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It’s inner city versus outer space. Cast: Jodie Whittaker, John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Leeon Jones, Simon Howard, Luke Treadaway, Jumayn Hunter and Nick Frost (World Premiere)

THE DIVIDE (US-Canada)

Director: Xavier Gens, Writers: Karl Mueller & Eron Sheean To survive the end of the world…you must first survive each other. Cast: Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Courtney B. Vance (World Premiere)

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN

Director: Jason Eisner, Writer: John Davies A Hobo finds himself in an urban hell. When he witnesses a brutal robbery, he realizes the only way to deliver justice is with a shotgun. Cast: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Molly Dunsworth, Brian Downey, Nick Bateman

Continue Reading →

This is something that should be filed under “?”, as some alleged test footage of the once shelved Thundercats project out of Warner Bros has surfaced on the web and it looks….good? About a year ago, the project was announced to be dead (or at least “postponed”) due to budget constraints. A new anime-style cartoon reboot is currently in the works over at Cartoon Network, but it looks nothing like this.

Flixter first had the video, saying that it’s an official CG test from the project back when it was still in the works, and we have to admit, it doesn’t look half bad. Sure, it’s appealing to a younger crowd, with a comical, puerile Lion-O, but it’s got the action, and the animation looks quite impressive.

We’ll be pretty upset if this turns out to be a fake, but at least we know that fans everywhere are still thinking about Lion-O and his band of butt-kicking cats. Check out the footage after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Welcome to another edition of  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 during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• In case you were under a rock and missed the Super Bowl on Sunday, Apple has all of your favorite trailers from the telecast in glorious HD.

• Russell Brand is back in action, this time with a remake of the classic film Arthur. We can buy Luis Guzman as Robin, but Jennifer Garner being seductive? No way.

• Detroit is taking a page from their fictional history and trying to raise money to put a RoboCop statue in the center of town. That should stop all the crime.

• Amber Heard is in talks to play Ren Sonja in the upcoming remake. She already has the red hair and Amazonian body down, so she sounds like a fit!

• Now that he has that political mid-life crisis out of the way, Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking to get back into acting. Do we smell a sequel to Jingle All The Way?

• Alex Borstein has returned to play Ms. Swan to bring us a Black Swan spoof. Totally topical, right?

• For the diehard film fanatic: 100 of the greatest Noir posters ever created.

• Supercut of the Week: Because Valentines’ Day is coming up, we bring you the Epic TV Kisses Supercut.

Who wouldn’t want to see a movie starring the dream cast of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine and Maggie Smith, with cameos by Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Patrick Stewart and Hulk Hogan? They had me at James McAvoy.

Throw in some Shakespeare source material and music by Elton John, and one would think we were set. But Gnomeo and Juliet does the seeming impossible—takes all of these phenomenal elements and churns out a movie that’s only sporadically entertaining and completely forgettable. Unlike its durable garden decoration characters, this movie will wash out of your brain with the first drizzle.

Gnomeo and Juliet’s first and biggest problem is its lack of original, engaging characters. Gnomeo, Gnomeo, wherefore art thou, Gnomeo? Who knows, but he’s just your standard love-stricken youth determined to prove himself to the world and win his girl, while Juliet is your standard spunky heroine who’s trapped in a narrow female role but has the ninja skills to fight out.

Continue Reading →

The SXSW Film Festival (March 11-19) has announced its short-films lineup for 2011 with a comprehensive list of 150 shorts (chosen from 3,089 entries), submitted by a vast array of established and up-and-coming directors, and ranging from narratives to documentaries to music videos to even local submissions.

As usual, the full list can be found at the SXSW website. The full press release announcement, including recaps of the narrative features, documentary features, and headliners, follows:

Austin, Texas – February 10, 2011 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival is thrilled to announce features in the complete short films lineup, which will debut at this year’s Festival, which runs from March 11 – 19, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

Continue Reading →

February is in full swing, so I’m taking a break from freezing my butt off in upstate NY and conjugating Spanish verbs to bring you this month’s TV Digest. With all the snow that’s been plaguing the US and the winter movie slump in full swing, it’s great to have some excellent tv to watch. Look no further than here, dear readers, as I’ve got everything you need to check out on the tube in February.

Top Shot (History Channel)

Those of you who read my TV Digest regularly will know I’m not too big on reality tv. But man, I LOVE Top Shot. 16 contestants, including expert sharp-shooters, award-winning rifleists, and former U.S. miliary from around the country compete for $100,000 and the coveted title of Top Shot.

The show is a blast to watch every week, between the history you get about each rifle and challenge, the skill exhibited by the competitors, and of course the usual reality tv drama. Top Shot airs on the History Channel Tuesdays at 10.

Continue Reading →

Even though they’ve been updating the Twitter app for iPhone and iPad pretty frequently, that doesn’t mean the one for Android has been totally left behind. In fact, the Twitter team announced today they have updated their Android client to version 2.0. The new version sports a modified interface along with a some feature improvements and additions. These include:

• Use the app without having to sign-in so you can keep track of trending topics and more

• Single window layout much like Twitter on your computer

• @mentions and Retweets are now included in the replies tab

• Auto-complete of User Names

• Universal search with terms you specify

• Scan your address book to discover new friends

Twitter 2.0 for Android is available in the Android Market as of today. If you end up downloading it, let us know what you think.

The film’s title, Just Go with It, may appear to be a description of the plot, but it could just as easily be applied as a message to the audience. If you plan on going to see this movie, don’t think about it too much and “just go with it”.  The film is the most recent product of “Happy Madison,” Sandler’s production company, whose reputation  is so abysmal that none of its 23 features have received a “fresh” rating from Rotten Tomatoes. I highly doubt that this film will alter that statistic. However, it is certainly not the foulest of the bunch.

While I can’t remember the opening shots of the movie, the first visuals that I do recall is that of a giant, poorly applied prosthetic nose. I bring this up, not because it is particularly funny or that it served any purpose to the plot, but because it is this kind of ridiculousness that drives a lot of the humor in the film. Adam Sandler plays Danny Maccabee and the nose was attached to him. In a flashback scene, he leaves his own wedding, brokenhearted, after learning about his fiancée’s unabashed infidelities.

He winds up in a bar with a faux wedding ring around his finger and learns something that changes his life. Apparently, being married helps men pick up chicks. He loses the nose, becomes a plastic surgeon and a libertine of sorts, all with the help of his wedding ring. The women he catches don’t appear to have a shred of intelligence, but they do all seem to be hot and this serves Danny’s relationship aspirations for roughly the next twenty years.

Continue Reading →

Who doesn’t love a good old fashioned road comedy? Well, what happens when you cross that love with the dark magics of the all-powerful Cthulhu The Dark? That’s when you get The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu, an indie fantasy/comedy hitting DVD and VOD in the next week.

Here’s the basic synopsis:

Bored office drone Jeff (Kyle Davis, Friday the 13th) is informed by a mysterious elderly professor that he is the last living descendant of H.P. Lovecraft, the revered author of such horror/fantasy classics as The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Re-Animator and the Cthulhu Mythos stories. Jeff is thus the only person who can prevent a race of evil creatures (drawn from Lovecraft’s imagination) from wreaking havoc.

The mild-mannered Jeff must protect an ancient relic and prevent it from falling into the clutches of the monsters, which would bring about the release of all-powerful evil known as Cthulhu. Jeff enlists the aid of his co-worker Charlie (screenwriter and producer, Devin McGinn, Bones) and a husky Lovecraft aficionado, Paul (Barak Hardley, Greek), and together they put their slacker lives on hold to embark on an icky and hilarious mission to save the world.

Consider it The Hangover meets The Shadow Over Innsmouth, with a little Americana kick thrown in there. The DVD is set to hit shelves from Dark Sky Films on February 15th. In the meantime, check out the trailer after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Even though this episode is a wee bit late that doesn’t mean it isn’t chock full of awesome. Okay, how about it has an abundance of mediocrity? Better?

Anyway, This week on The Flickcast brings more insight, innovation and innuendo from your favorite co-hosts. That’s right, Chris and Matt are back and discussing all sorts of new and returning topics.

Some of those topics include the Superbowl and its ever-present advertising, new trailers for Captain America, Super 8, Cowboys & Aliens, the future of the world and all-things Verizon iPhone.

Chris and Matt also made new picks this week including Matt’s pick of the TV series Saved by the Bell and Chris’ pick of the new Shawn Ryan TV series The Chicago Code.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.