This week’s pick is the John McTiernan thriller The Hunt for Red October (1990). Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, Sam Neill, and James Earl Jones star in this Cold War classic about a Soviet naval commander and a new invincible Soviet sub which threatens peace between the two super powers.

Set in early 1984 before Gorbachev came to power as the new Soviet premier, the new ballistic missile submarine Red October sets sail from port in the arctic and makes its way to the north Atlantic for a training exercise. Its captain, Marko Ramius (Connery) selects his officers and the crew for a daring mission that they believe will test the might of their old adversary, The United States navy.

The Red October is equipped with a new type of propulsion system, a caterpillar drive, which renders the sub virtually silent to sonar. This feature and its nuclear payload, represent a clear and present danger to U.S. policy in the north Atlantic at the height of Cold War tensions between both the U.S and Soviet Union.

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While all of this Superman news has been surfacing for Zack Snyder, most should remember that between now and then, we’ve got a full world of cerebral kung fu and militant battle sequences to look forward to with Sucker Punch.

For those who don’t know, Snyder’s world of hot chicks with guns has a pretty intricate plot. Here’s a synopsis:

Set In The 1950′s into the vivid imagination of a young girl placed at a mental institution by her step-father some time after her mother died, with only her dreams providing the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary.

Between the chick-heavy, star-studded cast, Inception-style plot, and tons of machine guns, dragons, and robots, this is setting up to be one of the most fan-friendly films in theaters for quite some time.

Take a look at the new trailer after the jump, and catch Sucker Punch in theaters on March 25th.

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Like his movies or not, make no mistake, Zack Snyder is one of the most interesting directors working today. His trademark visual style and imaginative creations, honed with the release of 300, are remarkable in so many ways. Sure, his films don’t always make a ton of money (like in the case of Watchmen) but they do pack a visual punch and in most cases it is difficult to look away from the stunning images unfolding before your eyes.

Snyder’s new film Sucker Punch looks to further enhance his reputation as a visual virtuoso. Previously, we brought you some pictures of the main female cast of the film. Now, we’ve got the new trailer for Sucker Punch which promises to capture your imagination.

In the trailer there is so much going on I had to watch it several times to try and digest it all. I would try to describe it for you here but in truth it’s just better if you watch and digest it yourself. Then, let us know what you think of it in the comments.

Check out the new trailer after the jump. Sucker Punch opens in March of 2011.

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“A Western like you’ve never seen before … An exciting new look at the Old West.”

Oh, taglines. I like when you do my work for me. You just described what Silverado isn’t!

I’ve had this one on my queue for quite awhile. I’ve anticipated it greatly. It was written and directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who is no slouch with pulp-oriented films like The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark to his credit. If there’s one thing Kasdan knows, it’s action adventure, right? Not when it came to Silverado, a film that misses the mark so often that I fail to see how it’s garnered 2-disc collector sets and such enthusiasm among Western fans.

I suppose it’s all due to Costner. Little baby Costner. This is the film that made him a star and a dreamy genre successor to John Wayne and Clint Eastwood. They seem to have costumed him with that very idea, because he’s wearing a variation on every famous Western and cowboy look ever filmed.

At one point, he even wears a serape. He’s a weird, goofy character — I can’t tell if he’s special or just supposed to be extremely young — and the highlight of the film is undoubtedly when he decides his horse needs to wear a hat.  It just comes out of nowhere.  Costner walks down the street, happy as a clam, and his horse is wearing a cowboy hat.

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Seabiscuit just got some steeper competition. ‘Secretariat,’ currently in pre-production for a 2010 release from Walt Disney Pictures, has added three more actors to a cast that already boasts Diane Lane (Nights In Rodanthe). The Hollywood Reporter states that Dylan Walsh (Nip/Tuck), John Malkovich (Burn After Reading) and Scott Glenn (W.) have signed on to the film centering on the owner of the famous thoroughbred racehorse that captured the United States Triple Crown in 1973.

Malkovich will play the horse’s trainer Lucien Laurin. Glenn plays Ogden Phipps, the thoroughbred owner/breeder who famously lost the hall of fame racehorse in a coin toss while Walsh plays husband to Lane’s Penny Tweedy – also known as “the first lady of racing” – Secretariat’s owner.

While selling a film about horse racing might seem like a stretch, the aforementioned Seabiscuit managed to earn $120 million plus at the box office. By throwing in a more recognizable subject and a few of Hollywood’s more notable actors, this project should undoubtedly find its legs, thoroughbred-like or not. Still no word on who will play the title character, though.