My anticipation for the original The Expendables was massive, only to be matched in size and scope by my disappointment after I actually saw the film. Stallone’s new version of Rambo was awesome, it was packed full of R-rated action movie sleaze and it wasn’t at all ashamed of being exploitation. The Expendables looked like it was going to be a continuation of that, and also a massive team-up of bitchin’ 80s action stars the likes of which we’ve never seen. It didn’t really turn out to be all that though. It was kind of lame and boring, and really it was just a Stallone and Statham team-up movie with a handful of other cameos thrown in. So I’m approaching The Expendables 2 much more cautiously. But even with lowered expectations, I can’t help but feel a little bit of a tingle watching the first teaser. I don’t know if it’s going to be the classless, take no prisoners, R-rated schlock that I’m hoping for, but at least it looks like this one is finally going to be the huge team-up of old guys that I wanted from the first. The team-up aspect is all that can be discerned from this teaser though. It’s a teaser in the truest sense, basically we get the names and head shots of the principal cast and not much else.

When Sylvester Stallone started casting for the original The Expendables it was said to be an all-star action icon meet up. Anybody who had ever been in an action movie before, and even a lot of dudes who just slept on those guys’ couches for a couple months, were all rumored to be in the film. When all was said and done, however, it mostly just ended up being a Stallone and Jason Statham team-up movie, with a dash of Jet Li, a sprinkle of Mickey Rourke, and a very brief cameo from the other big action icons Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. Not quite the all-star lineup people hoped for. Now that production is underway for a sequel, the rumor mill has once again been churning out hopes and dreams of an all-star action cast. Not only are Willis and Schwarzenegger supposed to have bigger roles this time around, but sources loosely associated with the project have intimated that huge names in the action genre like John Travolta, Chuck Norris, and Jean Claude Van Damme are all going to be in the cast as well.

Welcome back to Junkfood Cinema; your check is almost certainly in the mail. Yes my unfortunate dupes, you’ve stumbled upon the weekly bad movie column that seriously calls into question the acronym TGIF; unless you reassign the letters to mean Tell God I Forfeit. Every Friday, right before you shuffle off for the weekend, I slap you upside the face with a film that fell well short of greatness long ago and is now selling insurance and renting a double-wide in a little town called Schlocksburgh. My job is to walk the dirt roads of Schlocksburgh under cover of night and hurl rocks of mockery at said double-wide until somebody calls the internet police. But then, just as I’m about to be booked for a hate crime, I tear off my shirt and reveal a crudely drawn homemade tattoo across my chest professing my undying love for said film. I then offer a disgustingly tasty themed snack as an act of contrition, and in the hopes of avoiding a bothersome restraining order. This Week’s Target: Blackjack

David Varod is the CEO of a Bulgaria based film studio called Nu Boyana. This is notable because Sylvester Stallone and his new director pal Simon West are filming scenes for their upcoming sequel to Stallone’s team-up movie The Expendables in Bulgaria. This is newsworthy because Varod is claiming that some big names, not previously confirmed as being in The Expendables 2, are on their way to Bulgaria to film for the movie. When speaking to Novinite, Varod first confirmed that shooting was taking place in September, and then hinted that a lot of Hollywood stars would be moving into the country to do work, “Yes, we are definitely going to do that project. It is going to be a sequel the (sic) The Expendables. The shooting is going to take place the second week of September. The movie is on, definitely. It will be a very good thing for Bulgaria, since there are some very big stars coming.” Big stars, that makes sense. It’s long been assumed that the stars from the original film like Stallone, Jason Statham, and Mickey Rourke would return. There was even some notion that guys like Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who only made small cameos in the first film, might return in larger roles this time. But when pressed to name off the “big stars” that would be making their way into the country, Varod named a few that could potentially be huge casting announcements.

No matter who wins, you win. Well that doesn’t sound very climactic, does it? Which is fine, because Dolph Lundgren and Steve Austin aren’t actually fighting each other, what did you think this was, The Expendables? Instead, the real battle is you versus your fellow readers. An incestuous, cannibalistic orgy of mental violence to see who is The Winning Machine! All this non-sense and hyperbole aside, what I’m really trying to tell you is that the fine folks over at Anchor Bay have given us multiple copies of two exciting action films: The Stranger starring Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren is The Killing Machine written by, directed by, and starring Dolph Lundgren, the only man with a legitimate PhD that could kick my ass in a bar fight.

I’m apt to employ the term temple when describing Austin’s Alamo Drafthouse. It is a place of holy reverence for cinema of all genres and visible levels of technical proficiency. The people who own and operate this glorious shrine to film are tried-and-true movie geeks and they know how to put together events that allow for communal worship and celebration of our passion. Last year they unleashed an event that, by its close, had graduated to force of nature: Cinemapocalypse. The premise was that Quentin Tarantino wanted to premier Inglourious Basterds in Austin and the epic epicness of that film called for something a bit more grandiose than a simple screening. So along with Basterds, QT brought two other films; personal favorites of his that inspired the main attraction. Veteran character actor, and all-around badass Robert Forster then introduced a film of his own and the evening concluded with two more films; six in total. The event ran all through the night and well into the next day. The first Cinemapocalypse was so loaded to the gills with pure awesome that its aforementioned awesomeness could not be contained within or quelled by just one event. It was a cinch that a second Cinemapocalypse would follow, but the anchor film would have to be something unbelievably amazing to match the power of Nazi killing and Hitler exploding. Luckily, Sylvester Stallone reached into his most manly of chests, ripped out a bloody rib, and gave birth to the ensemble of testosterone that [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Dolph Lundgren is a killing machine. Not sure if you were aware of that, but it’s apparently the truth. Don’t take my word for it though… August will see him back on the big screen in The Expendables facing off against his old nemesis Sylvester Stallone, but that action ensemble isn’t his only bullet-shaped iron in the fire. He has another flick hitting DVD and Blu-ray next month in the UK (and releasing domestically in October), and it’s called The Killing Machine. What it lacks in plot originality it more than makes for in bloody mayhem. Lundgren plays an ex-assassin named Icarus who has found a new life with a normal job and a loving family. But that would be a boring movie, so old enemies reappear in his life in order to end it and soon Icarus is forced to fly again. But with guns instead of wings. Check out the trailer and synopsis after the jump…

Lionsgate has released a new 60-second trailer for Sly Stallone’s The Expendables. And despite its brief runtime, it may be the best trailer they’ve released for the name-heavy actioner yet. It accurately captures the promised tone of the film, one filled with bullets and bravado. A mountain of machismo. Oh, and they’ve improved their choice of music a bit — I can’t stand that metal song they used in the first full trailer.

Welcome back to Junkfood Cinema; official sponsor of the World Cup… of competitive eating. Yes I’m sorry to say you have just stumbled upon the secret to Roger Ebert’s stunning physique. Every week I occupy your time with some of the trashiest, cheesiest, crappiest, or sleaziest (I’m writing a Junkfood Cinema theme song) films from my personal collection. These are not the films you brag about owning, unless you are me, but they still offer some measure of guilty entertainment value.

You’re looking forward to The Expendables, I’m looking forward to The Expendables, we’re all looking forward to The Expendables. Why? Because based on our most recent reader demographic survey, more than half of the people reading this are males.

Lionsgate has released the first full trailer for Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming action power-house film The Expendables. And for the moment, it appears to also have a story to go along with big names, big muscles and explosions.

Lionsgate has just sent over the high resolution poster for Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables. It debuted yesterday elsewhere, but I thought we’d wait until we had something that you could turn into your desktop background. This one may work, as it’s pretty high res.

That’s right, start your Wednesday morning off right with yet another chance to win something free. This time it also comes personalized with an awesome quote from yours truly.

Welcome back to Junkfood Cinema; the column that has elevated me to public enemy number one with the State Department of Health! Every week I make an absolute pig of myself scarfing down heaping helpings of bad films that I can’t help but love. I will also provide the perfect, decadent snack to complement the viewing experience. Because if there is one thing that goes great with junkfood, it’s sitting on our asses for extended periods of time right? Ok, Health Department, I understand now why you hate me. So grab a seat, grab and fork, and let’s dig into this week’s entry: Rocky IV. If you aren’t familiar with this film franchise then let me be the first to welcome you back to Earth after what was clearly a 35 year exploration of the outer regions of space. Rocky, the original, is the ultimate underdog story about a boxer with a lot of talent and a lot of heart who cannot catch a break. When he is finally given the chance to prove himself, he does so to a degree that shocks the world. The sequel, Rocky II, is the story of that same underdog chasing redemption. Rocky III is about professional wrestlers and Mr. T. By the time we get to Rocky IV, we have already taken a healthy detour from the spirit of the original film and end up in a land of Commie giants, robot servants, and montages. The premise is that an unequivocally enormous boxer arrives [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has released the first trailer for the upcoming Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren movie Universal Soldier: Regeneration today, leaving us caught in a web of awesome.

Dolph Lundgren is a man who does what he wants. He also gets what he wants. And what he wants right now is for you to watch this very special exclusive clip from his new movie…

The much talked about final secret screening of this year’s Fantastic Fest was said to be epic, with a larger-than-life guest in the house to do Q&A. Some said Avatar, but they were wrong. In the end, it was Dolph Lundgren that delighted the Drafthouse crowds…

Ivan Drago himself was nice enough to give us a few minutes, calling in from the set of The Expendables to talk about his new movie Direct Contact and his love of making action flicks.

The folks at First Look Studios have hooked us up with something I’m sure you’ll like. I know this because it involves Dolph Lundgren, bullets and a hot woman.

More badass artwork has been released for Sly Stallone’s upcoming film The Expendables, this time in super high resolution. Check it out.