This week’s pick is the post Cold War thriller Crimson Tide which stars Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman as U.S. Submariners who clash over their orders to launch nuclear weapons in this Tony Scott action classic. Crimson Tide begins during a period of political unrest in post Soviet Russia when military forces crush a rebellion in neighboring Chechnya.

Violence begins to spread throughout other republics and ultra nationalists headed by a man named Radchenko criticizes American, British, and French involvement which cuts off aid to Russia as a protest of its hostilities towards its neighboring country. Radchenko’s forces seize a Russian ICBM missile complex and threaten to launch nuclear weapons if either the U.S. or its allies move in to stop him.

After several years of peace, the Cold War begins to heat up once again.

Historical dramas are often hit or miss. Sure, history can be very interesting but it also can, at times, be rather dry and boring. Fortunately, when you combine the talents of actors Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender, Kiera Knightly and director David Cronenberg, history suddenly becomes a lot more interesting.

Now, as if to prove my point, a new international trailer is for Cronenberg’s upcoming film A Dangerous Method has arrived. As I said, Cronenberg is directing from a screenplay adapted by writer Christopher Hampton from his 2002 stage play The Talking Cure.

The film takes place right before World War I and follows the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Mortensen), and Sabina Spielrein (Knightly), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Of course, drama ensues. But good, edgy drama.

Check out the trailer after the jump. A Dangerous Method hits theaters later this year.

We’ve heard names like Kevin Costner for Jonathan Kent and Viggo Mortensen for General Zod being thrown around for Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, but they are not for sure yet. However, we do officially have another name to add to the cast alongside Henry Cavill as the title character. That name? Diane Lane, who is now set to play Clark Kent’s mom, Martha Kent.

The news was broken by THR late yesterday.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures said late Wednesday that the actress is set as “the only mother Clark Kent has ever known.”

“This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman,” Snyder said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination.”

Considering names like Phyllis Thaxter, K Callan, and Eva Marie Saint have played the character in the past, we’re expecting Snyder to take a drastic turn with Martha, as Lane is only 56. Lane is the second name to be cast in the film, after word came in earlier this year that The Tudors star Henry Cavill was to take the lead as the Man of Steel.

Snyder, who’s normally known for casting relative unknowns who pull off amazing performances, seems to be taking to the higher-profile names for this film. Could it be pressure from WB to compete with Nolan’s all-star supporting cast of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman for the Batman films?

We’re hoping to get some solid casting announcements in the coming weeks that will prove that theory.

Now that we have a relative unknown with Henry Cavill playing Superman in Zack Snyder’s upcoming film for Warner Bros, it seems that Snyder and the studio are taking more of an “over the top” direction when it comes to the supporting cast. Two weeks ago, it was announced that Kevin Costner was being approached as a “person of interest” to play Jonathan Kent. As if that wasn’t a big enough name, The Road star Viggo Mortensen is now being approached to play the Kryptonian villain General Zod in the film.

From Heat Vision:

Mortensen, who is still in negotiations for Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, is said to be at the top of the list to play General Zod, the evil and super-powered scientist who was portrayed by Terrence Stamp in 1980’s Superman II.

If Mortensen’s Snow White deal doesn’t close, that would potentially free him up to make Superman. Or Universal and Warner Bros. could work out his schedule and enable him to do both.

So given what we know about Snyder’s previous work with Warners, we know that there will be plenty of slow-motion scenes and that he does tend to go for talent over “names.” Mortensen could just be the talent to take over for Terrence Stamp’s iconic character.

Like most weeks, this time around we’ve got another bunch of new movies and TV shows hitting DVD and Blu-ray. Some of them are new, some are old and some are hitting Blu-ray for the first time.

Of the ones hitting stores today, we’re most interested in the Blu-ray release of The Road, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, the Criterion edition of Stagecoach, True Blood Season Two, Royal Pains Season One, the western Django and the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film Spartacus (pictured above with Woody Strode and Kick Douglas).

Movies

Babysitter Wanted ~ Bill Moseley, Matt Dallas, Bruce Thompson (Blu-ray and DVD)

City of the Living Dead ~ Christopher George, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Blu-ray)

Clash of the Titans ~ Laurence Olivier, Burgess Meredith, Harry Hamlin (Blu-ray)

Dear John ~ Channing Tatum (Blu-ray and DVD)

Django ~ Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, Angel Alvarez (Blu-ray)

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog ~ Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day (Blu-ray and DVD)

Flashbacks Of A Fool ~ Daniel Craig, Olivia Williams, Claire Forlani (Blu-ray and DVD)