Happy Memorial Day to all those currently serving in the U.S. armed forces, and to you vets of America’s foreign wars.  This week’s pick is Oliver Stone’s 1986 Academy Award winner for Best Picture Platoon, which depicts the horrors and struggles of infantrymen figthing not only the enemy, but themselves during one of the most difficult periods of the Vietnam conflict.

The film stars Charlie Sheen (Chris Taylor), Tom Berenger (SSgt. Bob Barnes), Willem Dafoe (Sgt. Elias), Forest Whitaker (Big Harold), Francesco Quinn (Rhah), John C. McGinley (Sgt. O’Neill), Kevin Dillon (Bunny), Reggie Johnson (Junior), Keith David (King), Johnny Depp (Lerner), Mark Moses (Lt. Wolfe), Chris Pedersen (Crawford), Corey Glover (Francis), and veteran Marine and the film’s technical advisor Dale Dye (Captain Harris).

The film is an autobiographical account of Stone’s own experiences during 1967-68 as told by a fresh-faced new recruit Chris Taylor (Sheen) who dropped out of college and volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam.  The film opens with Taylor’s arrival in country as he and others deplane from an Air Force transport.  Taylor and fellow recruit Gardner (Bob Orwig) see body bags which are being loaded onto their plane.

In honor of the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the American War between the states, this week’s pick is the 1993 epic Gettysburg directed by Ronald F. Maxwell and adapted from the novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. The film dramatizes the events of the Civil War’s most decisive battle. The film stars Tom Berenger (Lt. General James Longstreet (CSA), Jeff Daniels (Col. Joshua L. Chamberlain (USA), Martin Sheen (General Robert E. Lee (CSA), Kevin Conway (Pvt. Buster Kilrain (USA), C. Thomas Howell (Lt. Thomas Chamberlain (USA), Richard Jordan (Brigadier Gen. Lewis A. Armistead (CSA), and Sam Elliot (Brig. Gen. John Buford (USA).

The film opens with narration and a map concerning the movement of the Confederate States of America’s Army of Northern Virginia which was planning an offensive into the north in order to lure the Federal Army of the Potomac into a decisive action which could end the fighting and allow total succession of the south from the rest of The United States of America. The narrator (Morgan Sheppard) tells how Lee’s army advanced through the mountains of West Virginia into Pennsylvania undetected.

Lee hopes that the army will succeed and if so, A letter has been prepared by Confederate President Jefferson Davis and is to be delivered to the desk of President Abraham Lincoln once the Army of the Potomac is destroyed, and Lee’s army controls a huge area north of Washington D.C. What both armies don’t realize yet, is that the most decisive and bloodiest battle ever fought on American soil is about to commence in and around the small Pennsylvanian town of Gettysburg.

Many things can be said about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his career choices, but if one thing is true, it’s that he’s not playing it safe. Much like countless action stars before him, he could have done a few franchise flicks, then stuck to something safe like Kindergarten Cop or The Pacifier, but instead, he’s returning to his bad ass roots with Faster.

Johnson made plenty of money with his two successful family films, Tooth Fairy and The Game Plan, but it looks like money isn’t all that matters, as the newest trailer for Faster just hit, and there is no way this film can be construed as “family friendly”

In the film, The Rock plays “Driver”, a man who sets out to take personal revenge on the bank robbers who killed his brother. The trail of bodies and adversaries that Driver comes across include names like Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace, Tom Berenger, Moon Bloodgood, and Billy Bob Thornton.

The film comes from director George Tillman Jr. (Notorious) and writers Joe Gayton (Bulletproof) and Tony Gayton (Murder By Numbers).With ths newest, hyper-violent red band trailer, this film could take the place of The Rundown as Johnson’s most intense action film.

Check out the newest red band trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch Faster in theaters on November 24th.

This week’s pick salutes the heroes of a forgotten American war, The Spanish American War which until the First Gulf War, was the shortest war in American history. John Milius (Red Dawn, Flight of the Intruder, The Wind and the Lion), directs Rough Riders, which stars Tom Berenger as future American president Teddy Roosevelt who commanded the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry unit during the war.

Originally aired as a three hour mini series in 1997 on TNT Networks, the film is a fantastic look at the men who made history against Spanish hegemony in 1898 Cuba. The film stars a who’s who of great actors and characters who would help to shape history. Gary Busey (Maj. Gen. Joe Wheeler) commander of all cavalry units during the war, and a U.S. Congressman as well, Brian Keith (President William McKinley), Dale Dye (Col. Leonard Wood) Marshall R. Teague (Lt. John “Black Jack” Pershing), and Adam Storke (Stephen Crane).

As the United States was entering the twentieth century, its presence on the world stage was beginning to take hold. The Spanish American War was what allowed the U.S. to become a major player in world events, and allowed the U.S. to forever wield the “Big Stick” of foreign policy. The film opens up with a brilliant montage of newspaper headlines which depict the defenseless Cubans battling their Spanish masters, while Uncle Sam looks on with a sense of anger and an overwhelming desire to help the oppressed.

This week’s pick pits a small group of international mercenaries sent by a British corporation to overthrow a two bit Idi Amin dictator in Sub Saharan Africa. John Irvin (Hamburger Hill, When Trumpets Fade) directs The Dogs of War (1980) which was based on the best selling novel from acclaimed author Frederick Forsyth (Day of the Jackal).

Christopher Walken stars as Jamie Shannon, an ex-soldier who hires himself out to the highest bidder whether its toppling a regime change in Central America, or putting a puppet government in power in the fictitious African country of Zangaro. Rounding out the cast is Tom Berenger (Drew Blakeley), Colin Blakely (Alan North), Paul Freeman (Derek Goodwin), Hugh Millais (Roy Endean), JoBeth Williams (Jessie Shannon), Winston Ntshona (Dr. Okoye), and Ed O’ Neill (Terry).

The film opens up in war torn Central America circa 1980 as the mercenary group is trying to make a hasty exit aboard a government plane as bullets and explosions are happening all around them. Shannon and his men push their way on board and force the plane into the air as soon as possible. Just within these few short minutes, you clearly can tell what their profession is and that they are not there working for the Peace Corp or distributing bibles for that matter. In this scene, a Central American army officer notices that one of the mercs is dead and demands that he give up his seat.

Drew (Berenger) pulls the pin out of a grenade and puts it in the palm of his dead comrade and tells the soldier “he’s alive you pimp.” Walken then barks, “he’s alive and he goes with me.” Derek (Freeman) looks towards the camera and with a knife he yells at the pilots “lets see this thing fly.” One of the best opening scenes of any action or war film ever. These are professionals you don’t want to mess with.

After some time spent in the “feel good” movies section, former wrestler turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is back doing the kind of movie he does best: action. In the upcoming film Faster, directed by George Tillman Jr., Johnson plays an ex-con out for revenge. It seems his brother has been killed after they were double-crossed during a heist years ago.

During his quest, however, he’s tracked by a veteran cop and an egocentric hit man, both of whom have deadly agendas of their own. In the trailer we get to see Johnson is really back to form and looks like he’s kinda missed all the action. There’s no mistaking his enthusiasm and skill as an action star. Plus, the movie looks pretty good. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing more.

The film, which in addition to Johnson features Tom Berenger, Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace, Mood Bloodgood and Billy Bob Thornton, opens November 24. While we wait, check out the trailer after the jump.

Inception, acclaimed director Christopher Nolan’s next project since the box office smash The Dark Knight, has had buzz surrounding it since it was greenlit at Warners. And while numerous trailers and a poster have been revealed, the details are still vague about this upcoming psychological thriller…until now.

The first full trailer has just hit the web, which finally gives us some more insight on Dicaprio and Ellen Page’s characters. We now know that the story surrounds the world of corporate espionage, with a sci-fi twist. Also revealed online was a brand new poster for the film, giving us a deeper look into the dark and twisted tone of Nolan’s world.

While the first poster just featured Leonardo Dicaprio, alone surrounded by a sea of water and buildings and vaguely reminding us of the The Dark Knight posters, this new IMAX poster features more of the cast. While Leo’s still at his prominent point front and center, other characters walk along the walls and upside down. This film has a really strong ensemble cast so it’s great to see the other actors and actresses of this film on this poster, like Cillian Murphy and Marion Cotillard, as the trailers have all featured Leonardo Dicaprio and Ellen Page.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Berenger. Check out the new poster and trailer (courtesy of TrailerAddict) after the jump and catch Inception in theaters and IMAX on July 16th.

Did you know that there was a sequel in the works for 2006’s Smokin’ Aces, with practically none of the original cast? Neither did we, until this trailer came across The Flickcast desk. It would be an interesting take, if it had any of the same people involved as the original film.

While the film doesn’t look like it will do much justice to Joe Carnahan’s original, the trailer was quite clever. It starts off by making sure we see some of our favorite faces from the original, such as Jeremy Piven, and then it throws a record scratch in to tell us that we won’t see them anymore.

Instead of a well-rounded cast consisting of Piven, Ray Liotta, Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, and tons others, we now treated to the all-star cast of Vinnie Jones, Ernie Hudson, Tom Berenger, and the guy who had no lines in the first Smokin’ Aces.

Director P.J. Pesce seems perfect for the job, as his previous titles include other DVD sequels like Lost Boys: The Tribe, and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter. Joe Carnahan is listed as writing the story for the film, but so is his assistant, so there’s no real secret there.

Check out the first full trailer after the jump, and be sure to pick it up on DVD, Blu-Ray, digital download, and the bargain bin shortly thereafter on January 19th, 2010.