In the past 20 years, Kevin Sorbo has become a pretty prominent name in the geek community, spanning over a few different subgenres. Of course, he got on the map by playing Hercules for 5 years straight, and then captaining the space ship in Andromeda for another 5 years.

Since then, he’s been drifting in and out of the comedy and geek genre with films like Meet the Spartans and FDR American Badass!. Now he’s getting a little more play in a film that may not take itself seriously enough. It’s called Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury, and its cynical tone puts films like Tropic Thunder and Machete to shame. Here’s the premise:

A Vietnam Veteran Sal Bando (Sorbo), tortured by his past as a Poolboy, returns home to Van Nuys, California, and a country he doesn’t recognize, in which it seems only Mexicans run pool-cleaning companies. Bando sets off on a brutal mission to reclaim his “rightful” vocation and enact revenge on the man (Trejo) who killed his wife and son.

Not only will fans get cult hero Sorbo in the lead, but Machete himself, Danny Trejo drops in as the film’s main villain. You can also check out a few other special cameos in the trailer after the jump. Poolboy hits DVD and VOD right now, where those are sold.

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Even though Robert Rodriguez has long been touting 2009′s Machete was the beginning of a trilogy of films, it was thought to be dead in the water due to the lackluster performance of the original. Now, Deadline is reporting that Rodriguez has producer Alexander Rodnyansky on board and is ready to move forward with the sequel Machete.

The sequel, as was hinted during the first film, will be titled Machete Kills, already has a script and will start production as soon as April. The new film finds Machete recruited by the U.S. Government to take on a mission that would be too much for any normal man.

Machete must battle his way through Mexico single-handed to “take down a madman cartel leader and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war across the planet with a weapon in space.”

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Summer is here, which means viral marketing is at its peak. And who doesn’t love viral marketing for a movie starring the Muppets? The answer is nobody. That’s why Disney has been on top of things with their viral strategy this week with the Green with Envy trailer earlier this week, and now a new trailer for The Fuzzy Pack.

This trailer isn’t nearly as ingenious as Envy, and it looks like it’ll be capitalizing on the obvious success of this weekend’s Hangover Part 2. (“The Fuzzy Pack” is an obvious riff on “The Wolf Pack”.)

The things this trailer does give us? Proof that both Wanda Sykes and Danny Trejo can still be awesome and hilarious in a movie starring felt puppets.

Take a look at the new trailer after the jump and join in the Muppety chaos on November 23rd.

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Hard to believe, but it has been over 10 years since we have had a theatrical release starring The Muppets. That film was Muppets in Space and had a pretty stellar (no pun intended) cast for 1999 with names like Jeffrey Tambor, David Arquette, Andie MacDowell, Ray Liotta, and Rob Schneider joining in the felt wackiness.

Hard to believe it, but it looks like Jason Segel may actually be able to top that cast with the list of cameos for his upcoming Muppets film, tentatively titled The Greatest Muppets Movie Ever Made.

Just to drop a few names, the film promises to have appearances from Emily Blunt, Zach Galifiniakis, Neil Patrick Harris, Ed Helms, Jack Black, Danny Trejo, Amy Adams, Ricky Gervais, Katy Perry, Donald Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and dozens of other names.

Needless to say, that title may just fit this film. The very first poster has arrived for the unnamed project, and much like the tagline in it, the film is much closer than you think, as the current release date is set for November 23rd of this year.

Check out the full poster after the jump, and be sure to keep it here as we bring you more news on the upcoming film.

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The Call of Duty: Black Ops map expansion, called “Escalation,” is now available to Xbox Live subscribers. Escalation adds five new maps, including four that are available in multiplayer mode.

As we told you back when the expansion map pack was first announced, the new maps include a Russian Zoo, a Cuban hotel and casino, a weapons of mass destruction stockpile, and “convoy.” If you still haven’t had your fill slaying the living dead, the update also includes a new zombie experience called “Call of the Dead.”

The update is available for $15, 0r 1200 MS points. What are you waiting for, get to downloading! Those damn zombies aren’t going to kill themselves. And while you’re waiting for it to download, check out the cool poster for the “Call of the Dead” maps after the jump.

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It’s interesting when the cast of a downloadable map pack for a video game is cooler than casts for most of the movies being released these days. What the heck am I talking about? Why, its the eclectic ensemble assembled for Activision’s upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation “Call of the Dead” map pack of course.

Some of the names featured in this release include Robert England, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michael Rooker Danny Trejo and legendary zombie master director himself George Romero. Oh, and did we mention that this map pack is chock full of flesh eating zombies? Who doesn’t love that, amiright?

It’s cool that Michel Rooker is involved in this seeing as how he’s become such an important part of AMC’s The Walking Dead series. Also, nice to see Sarah Michelle Gellar back in action as well.

Check out the full press release after the jump. In addition, we’ve got a new trailer and more screenshots for the map pack too. Check ‘em out!

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Just when you think Robert Rodriguez is going to zig, he zags. Unlike his friend and mentor, Tarantino, who puts out an artistically written film once every four years, Rodriguez is constantly reinventing himself, claiming domain over genres ranging from ultra violent exploitation films to 3D family flicks.

It looks like he’s doing a bit of fan service in both directions now with the casting for Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World. It’s been recently confirmed that Rodriguez has obtained Jessica Alba, Jeremy Piven, and Community’s Joel McHale to star in the film, with actors like Alexa Vega, Antonio Banderas, and Danny Trejo to return. Here’s the rundown of the film from the studio.

On the surface, Marissa Cortez Wilson (Jessica Alba) has it all…married to a famous spy hunting television reporter, a new baby and intelligent twin step kids. But in reality, trying to mother Rebecca (Rowan Blanchard) and Cecil (Mason Cook), who clearly don’t want her around, is her toughest challenge yet. Also, her husband, Wilbur (Joel McHale), wouldn’t know a spy if he lived with one which is exactly the case – Marissa’s a retired secret agent.

Marissa’s world is turned upside down when the maniacal Timekeeper (Jeremy Piven) threatens to take over the planet and she’s called back into action by the head of OSS, home of the greatest spies and where the now-defunct Spy Kids division was created. With Armageddon quickly approaching, Rebecca and Cecil are thrust into action when they learn their boring stepmom was once a top agent and now the world’s most competitive ten year olds are forced to put their bickering aside and rely on their wits.

With a little help from a couple of very familiar Spy Kids, Carmen (Alexa Vega) and Juni Cortez (Daryl Sabara), and some mind-blowing gadgets, they just may be able to save the world and possibly bring their family together while they’re at it.

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This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt take on a whole bunch of new topics. Some of these include the box office success and relative merit of movies like The American, Machete and Takers as well as new trailers for films like Let Me In and Hobo with a Shotgun.

They also discussed more Expendables 2 and X-Men 4 rumors, casting news and all manner of other showbiz-related topics. Plus, the boys talked all-things Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Chris and Matt also made some pics this week including Matt’s pick of the game Dead Rising 2: Case Zero and Chris’ pick of the campy yet fun Machete.

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.

Grindhouse is a term used to describe a movie theater that specialized in showing Exploitation movies, primarily in the 1970s.  That type of movie was often made on the cheap, and contained salicious subject matter like nudity, drugs, or taboo behavior.

In 2007, Director Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino brought us the Grindhouse double-feature, which consisted of Planet Terror and Death Proof.  The film itself was scratched up to replicate what a real grindhouse might have looked like.  The movie(s) were heavy on the gore, nudity, and camp, just like the old days.

The movie featured fake trailers for upcoming films, one of which was for a movie called Machete, featuring grizzled character actor Danny Trejo.  Rodriquez decided to flesh out the ideas behind the trailer and dusted off a script he wrote in 1993 to give the film the full feature treatment.

Machete (pronounced throughout the film as Ma-chet-ay) is the moniker given to an ex federale  from Mexico who witnessed horrible atrocities committed on his family and has become a vigilante of sorts, vowing to bring down the people responsible for killing his family.  No surprise that his weapon of choice is a newly sharpened machete, though he will use just about any implement in a pinch.

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We may be getting farther and farther away from the opening weekend of this year’s biggest action film, but that just means that we’re getting closer to this year’s biggest action film based on a spoof trailer, Machete. Robert Rodriguez has promised that this film will not disappoint fans who love this genre, and especially fans who love the film’s star Danny Trejo.

Why not keep that excitement going with a brand new clip of Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez having some harsh words. This looks to be one of the only scenes in the flick that doesn’t involve gratuitous nudity or violence, but it’s ok because we at least have some pretty things to look at.

If Alba and Rodriguez aren’t enough to get the blood pumping, how about a full cast of stars like De Niro, Cheech, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, and Don Johnson? That put a smile on your face? It should.

Check out the clip after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for more upcoming clips from Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, in theaters next Friday.

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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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There are a lot of things that can be said about the directing style of Robert Rodriguez since his start with El Mariachi back in 1992. His style may have changed drastically to accommodate to many films, but one thing is for sure, he has always stayed away from the cheap MTV-style fast cuts and hokey editing tricks. The newest red band trailer for Machete could mean that he’s thrown that rule out the window.

The trailer comes as a treat to those who made it out to Comic-Con this year, and now those who didn’t. It’s also a red band in every sense of the word. You get plenty of swearing, hyper violence, and nudity. Also? A few great lines from De Niro and Segal, which almost makes it all worth it.

The trailer is hyper-stylized, with plenty of stutter cuts and can make you a bit nauseous if you’re trying to follow what’s going on. We’ve said enough, though.

Check the trailer out for yourself, courtesy of the cats at IGN, after the jump, and catch Rodriguez’s Machete in theaters September 3rd.

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