This week’s Monday pick is the action thriller Blue Thunder (1983) directed by John Badham (Dracula, War Games). The film stars Roy Scheider (Frank Murphy), Malcolm McDowell (Colonel Cochrane), Daniel Stern (Richard Lymangood), Candy Clark (Kate), and in his final film performance, Warren Oates (Captain Jack Braddock).

“Blue Thunder” is the codename given to an advanced new helicopter that is chosen to be deployed over Los Angeles in an attempt to quell public disorder in preparation of the upcoming Olympic games and general crowd control from the air.

Scheider stars as officer Frank Murphy, a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot who suffers from PTSD due to his combat experiences in Vietnam. Scheider is chosen to fly the five million dollar prototype that he observes at an army proving ground in the California desert. Murphy is impressed with the chopper’s capabilities such as the ability to record a whisper from two thousand feet, search targets by infrared heat signatures, travel by silent “whisper mode”, and level a city block with a six barrel 20 mm electric cannon.

So we’ve seen Comic-cons, Dragon-cons, Famous Monsters-cons and a myriad of other cons become a permanent fixture on the pop culture landscape, particularly in the last decade.  Now ZomBcon will descend on Seattle, Washington during  Halloween Weekend, October 29-31 at the Seattle Center.

ZomBcon will be the first international zombie culture event. The show marks the 25th anniversary of Day of the Dead, which will have a special screening at the event, and director George A. Romero will be honored. There will be over 100 panels and events celebrating all things Zombie. Celebrity guests will include Bruce Campbell, Max Brooks, Malcolm McDowell, and Chuck Palahniuk.

Seattle has previously been home to the largest Zombie Walk ever recorded, and hosts a an annual Red, White and Dead Zombie Walk, making it a natural breeding ground for the new Zombie convention.

High school comedies have gotten a pretty bad reputation as of late. If it weren’t for films like Mean Girls or the original series of Scary Movie films, the genre would be completely devoid of appeal of any kinda. Then we have a film like Easy A, which looks like it could just break that mold once again.

The film stars Emma Stone, who most fans fell in love with during her role in Zombieland, and other just consider the “poor man’s Lindsay Lohan”. Either way, she’s on the rise in Hollywood, and Easy A could just be her big picture to make that happen.

The film is a modern-day take on The Scarlet Letter, except it takes place in high school, and there’s no actual sex. The cast is what will turn heads the most, bringing names like Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Malcolm McDowell, Stanley Tucci, Lisa Kudrow, and Fred Armisen to a film that could just turn out to be “not every other high school movie.”

Don’t take our word for it. Myspace is bringing us the first 10 minutes of the film, which you can check out after the jump. Check it out, let us know what you think, and catch Easy A in theaters this Friday.

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.