This week’s pick is Clint Eastwood’s World War II masterpiece Flags of Our Fathers that depicts the famous flag raising on Mt. Suribachi on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. The film stars Ryan Phillippe (Navy Corpman 2^nd class John “Doc” Bradley), Jesse Bradford (Corporal Rene Gagnon), Paul Walker (Sgt. Hank Hansen), and Robert Patrick (Col. Chandler Johnson).

The film is told through a series of flash-forwards and flashbacks, through the three remaining men who were responsible for the flag raising which helped to raise America’s morale as the Pacific war raged on with no foreseeable end in sight. The seven Marines that are the focal point of the film begin their training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii with mountain climbing and other P.T. drills.

As they set sail towards their destination, it is revealed that the target in question is the Japanese held island of Iwo Jima, which sits just seven hundred miles away from the Japanese mainland.

During a debriefing, the company commander, Captain Severance (McDonough) tells the men that they will meet stiff enemy resistance than ever before because Iwo is Japanese soil and its defenders will fight to the last man in order to prevent the Americans from gaining a closer foothold toward Japan.

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What happens when you take some of the minds attached to Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Universe and Torchwood and place them in the world based on the popular game franchise Red Faction? Pure amazement.

Introducing the brand new Syfy film Red Faction: Origins. For those diehards out there, this story takes place between Red Faction: Guerrilla and the upcoming Red Faction: Armageddon games. Here’s the premise.

Twenty-five years have passed since Alec Mason (Robert Patrick) led the Martian Colonies to freedom …and 12 years since vengeful enemies killed his wife, kidnapped his daughter Lyra (Tamzin Merchant), and left a broken hero in their wake.

Jake Mason (Brian J. Smith), Alec’s last surviving son and an officer in the Red Faction Militia, has his world turned inside out when he discovers that now, 12 years after her kidnapping, his sister is still alive.  As a powerful new enemy swarms across the planet, Jake goes out to find her, only to learn that his lost sister is one of them…a cold-blooded soldier sworn to destroy the Red Faction.

Jake must now battle the relentless regime and somehow reunite a family torn apart by war. Kate Vernon portrays The Matriarch, leader of the tribal Marauders sect.

Directed by Peabody-Award winner Michael Nankin (Caprica, Battlestar Galactica, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), the film is set to make its premiere on Saturday, June 4th at 9pm ET/PT.

Take a look at the very first trailer after the jump.

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At their upfront presentation late yesterday, Syfy mapped out their programming plans for the rest of 2011 and into 2012. Network President Dave Howe introduced the largest original programming slate in the channel’s 18-year history, highlighted by 14 new original series and events comprising more than 100 hours of programming.

In July, Syfy will launch four scripted series in the same month — for the first time ever — new drama Alphas and returning series Warehouse 13, Eureka and Haven. Hopefully, this will help the network which is coming off off a year marked by disappointing ratings for Caprica and Stargate: Universe, both of which were cancelled after shorter-than-hoped-for runs. However, new series Being Human and Face Off, which have both been renewed, are doing better than expected and look to elevate the network out of its slump.

Also announced during the event was the launch of a new Syfy publishing business of genre games under the “Syfy Games” banner. Here’s all the info on Syfy’s upcoming slate of programming and projects in development:

NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Alphas — Premiering in July — Alphas follows a team of ordinary citizens whose brain anomalies imbue them with extraordinary mental and physical abilities. Taking the law into their own hands, the unlikely team, led by Dr. Leigh Rosen (Emmy Award-winner and Oscar nominee David Strathairn) investigates cases that suggest other Alpha activity to uncover what the CIA, FBI and Pentagon have not been able, or willing, to solve. These gifted individuals must balance their quirky personalities and disparate backgrounds with their not always visible powers as they work to solve crimes, stop the ticking time bomb and catch the enemy.

Alphas also stars Malik Yoba, Warren Christie, Laura Mennell, Ryan Cartwright and Azita Ghanizada, and is a production of Universal Cable Productions and BermanBraun Television. Executive Producers are Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein for BermanBraun, Zak Penn and Ira Steven Behr.

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Who doesn’t love stop motion animation? Hell, Seth Green and Matt Senreich have basically made a career out of it, so what’s to stop fans from the web to continue the trend with their own whacked out storylines?

Enter YouTuber Patrick Boivin, who showed us who would win in epic fan-requested battles like Iron Man vs Bruce Lee and of course the timeless battle of Michael Jackson vs. Mr Bean. Now, Boivin brings us exactly what (he thinks) would happen if/when Iron Man 2′s Black Widow goes completely nuts and takes out some of our favorite fictional characters.

See if you can spot them all, but we definitely noticed Jack Bauer, Robert Patrick, Predator, and Michael Jackson. Needless to say, things get pretty intense, and all to a pretty killer baseline.

Check out the video after the jump.

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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.

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While the game may be delayed until next year, it hasn’t stopped Sony Online Entertainment from ramping up the voice talent for DC Universe Online. Names like Adam Baldwin, Kevin Conroy, and James Marsters are already attached, and the list is only going to get bigger. From Sony:

The new cast additions include Arleen Sorkin (Batman: The Animated Series), Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Corey Burton (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and Dwight Schultz (The A-Team, Star Trek: The Next Generation).

“The addition of these actors to our existing cast reaffirms our commitment to gamers to deliver the most fun and authentic DC Universe experience possible,” said Sony Online Entertainment executive producer John Blakely.

Wheaton will be upping his geek cred by voicing Robin, the Boy wonder, while Alreen Sorkin returns for the role that made her famous, Harley Quinn. Also, Dwight Shultz steps in as The Flash and Corey Burton will be voicing the living computer Braniac.

Filling out the rest of the cast is Summer Glau as Supergirl, Mark Hamill as The Joker, Diedrich Bader as Solomon Grundy, Michelle Forbes as Circe, Robert Patrick as Hawkman, and Gina Torres as Wonder Woman. This could end up being the best voice cast for a video game ever seen…if the game ever comes out.

Well, if you’re a fan of NBC’s Chuck, as we certainly are here at The Flickcast, then this news will make you very happy indeed. In spite of its previously uncertain future, it seems NBC has finally decided to give the show more love and has officially announced its premiere date. Chuck will return on January 10, 2010 with a two-hour premiere episode and then move to its regular time, Mondays at 8/7C on January 11.

To commemorate this special event (Hey, we think its special) our friends at NBC have sent us a video featuring series star Zach Levi talking about season 3 and offering a sneak peek at all the action, suspense, romance and cool guest stars. Who might some of those cool guest stars be, you may wonder? Glad you asked.

Actors making appearances on the show this season include Angie Harmon as Sydney, an enemy operative; Brandon Routh as CIA Agent Daniel Shaw; Robert Patrick as Colonel Keller, a soldier and spy from Casey’s past and Kristin Kreuk as Hannah, a potential love interest for Chuck.

Also, Armand Assante guest stars as dictator Premier Goya, who is the target of an assassin; Steve Austin will play Hugo Panzer, who becomes entangled in Chuck’s first solo mission and Vinnie Jones will play Carl Stromberg, an arms dealer.

Of course, also returning for the season are series regulars Colonel John Casey (Adam Baldwin) and Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski), Joshua Gomez as Morgan Grimes, Sarah Lancaster as Chuck’s sister Ellie and Ryan McPartlin as “Captain Awesome.” Now that sound great, doesn’t it? Check out the video after the jump and be sure to catch all new episodes of Chuck in January.

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The animation departments of DC and Warner brothers has been on quite a hot streak since last year’s release of Justice League: New Frontier. Their releases of both Wonder Woman and Green Lantern films over the last year were both critically well reviewed and did well in the stores. Since New Frontier, this project is the first story that was taken almost directly from a published storyline, originally written by Jeph Loeb.

The great part about Jeph Loeb’s Public Enemies is he teamed up with artist Ed McGuinness, who is best known for his animated art style. This made the announcement of the direct-to-DVD feature all the more exciting. Not only was the source material well done, but casting director Andrea Romano was also able to bring back the dream team of DC voice actors to return to characters they helped make immortal.

Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, and Clancy Brown all returned to the roles of Superman, Batman, and Lex Luthor, respectively, for the first time since the Animated Adventures of Superman and Batman nearly 9 years ago. Aside from the “dream team”, some other great names were added to the project, making this an epic animated feature.

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One of the many things going on next week at the San Diego Comic-Con will be a panel for one film in particular, which definitely looks like its worth checking out. Alien Trespass is a film chock-full of known talent from director R.W. Goodwin (X-Files) to Robert Patrick (T2: Judgment Day), and even Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, Trust Me). From the official press release:

Alien Trespass, a delightful homage to the great science-fiction movies of the 1950s, invades our planet’s digital world August 11 on Blu-ray and DVD.  Image Entertainment is releasing the Rangeland Production which stars Eric McCormack (Will and Grace, Trust Me), Jenni Baird, Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Robert J. Patrick (The Unit, The Sopranos); Jody Thompson co-stars.  The scary-but- fun-for-the-whole-family film will be available for $27.98 SRP (DVD) and $35.98 SRP (Blu-ray).

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After years and years of fans writing letters and banging on the doors of executives at TriStar pictures to get the 1986 classic Night of the Creeps an official DVD release, they have finally given in, and will be giving us our cheesy zombie goodness (in the form of a “director’s cut”) this October. Not only do we get to relive the film over-and-over again, but we get to take part in voting for our favorite cover to be used on the DVD box!

Amazon has released a pre-order option for the DVD, and has given three options for the art, all of which are pretty cool, but all this is really doing is delaying the time before we can get to Robert Patrick giving his award-deserving performance of a brain dead teen. Voting ends on July 12th, so be sure to check out each cover after the jump, and vote accordingly.

Night of the Creeps is a 1986 film directed by Frank Drekker (Monster Squad), about a race of alien brain worms who kill and re-animated thier prey, which then go postal on a local college campus. Campy hilarity then insues.

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Not many know that Terminator: Salvation hitting theaters in less than a month isn’t just another tale in the legend of John Connor, but hopefully the starting point of a whole new cinematic trilogy. The director of the film[s] (and regular persona-non-grata in the fan community), McG recently sounded off in an interview with Film Journal on his thoughts for a sequel, which will count as the fifth film in the Terminator franchise, and probably the most confusing: (Possible Spoilers)

I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011. John Connor is going to travel back in time and he’s going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion. They’ve figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than [just] one naked entity. So you’re going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be fucking awesome. I also think he’s going to meet a scientist that’s going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves.

While this is great news for anybody who was a fan of Robert Patrick in T2, this doesn’t sound like very good news for fans of the franchise, or even coherent time-travel stories. This throws out the Terminator rule that “only living flesh can be sent back in time”, which is why we got gratuitous Arnold butt-shots back in the 80s. If one were to break down McG’s statement, there are plenty more holes in our Terminator universe. So does this mean he’s just messing with our heads in an attempt to be hip? And where is Summer Glau??