Since World War II spawned its share of war-themed movies, both direct and indirect, it's only natural that our era does the same, especially given that the Iraq War has gone on for several years now. A lot of movies over the past four or five years have dealt with the attacks in New York, soldiers in war, prisoners of war, and endless variations on these and other themes. Even the recent Western 3:10 to Yuma, hidden underneath its character-driven gun slinging, has a little something to say about the occupation. Most movies tackle their subject head-on, such as the numerous documentaries of the past few years and films like United 93 and World Trade Center as well as war films about other eras like Letters from Iwo Jima and Days of Glory. How refreshing, then, to see a movie like Richard Shepard's The Hunting Party, which has on its mind the topic of war criminals still at large. It wants to know why the U.S. has been unable to find certain outlaws, when just about any civilian with a passport, the price of a drink and a line of B.S. can do it. But instead of grousing or hand wringing, it becomes a spry, surprising and intelligent comedy.

The movie is told through the point of view of a TV news cameraman nicknamed Duck (Terrence Howard), who once worked together with reporter Simon Hunt (Richard Gere) in any Third World war zone worth covering. Their lives together were dangerous and exciting. They dodged explosions, drank in dive bars and romanced local girls. But when the tragedy got to be too much for Simon, he melted down on the air, effectively ending the relationship. Duck has since been promoted to a highly paid New York studio job, while Simon works for increasingly desperate TV stations so far off the radar that he eventually disappears. For the five-year anniversary of the end of the war in Bosnia, Duck, a polished TV anchorman (a perfectly cast James Brolin) and a network executive's son, Benjamin (Jesse Eisenberg), arrive to cover a routine press conference. Simon is also there, and he convinces Duck to help him cover the story of the decade: finding an infamous war criminal known as The Fox (Ljubomir Kerekes) with a $5 million bounty on his head.

Ropeofsilicon has six new shots from the Coen Brothers' upcoming crime drama No Country for Old Men. "Coen Brothers' upcoming crime drama" -- just typing those words fills me with excitement! The photos include: a shot of Javier Bardem sporting a Prince Valiant haircut and walking down the road with what appears to be insect repellent (?); the Coen Brothers on set; a mustachioed man that appears to be Josh Brolin walking toward a truck in the desert; a mustachioed man that is definitely Josh Brolin covered in blood and pointing a gun; Tommy Lee Jones looking disapprovingly at something while reading a newspaper; and a pretty shot of a man running at sunset. The film also stars Josh's father and Mr. Streisand -- James Brolin, Woody Harrelson, Kelly MacDonald, and Stephen Root from Office Space, Dodgeball, and one of the funniest sitcoms ever -- Newsradio.

The Coens are responsible for five of my favorite movies of all time, and they've been away from the cinema for far too long. Their last couple films weren't quite up to snuff, but this one promises to be pure gold. Based on Cormac McCarthy's critically acclaimed novel, which I plan to dive into this weekend, Old Men's plot concerns "dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash near the Rio Grande." Nobody does that kind of thing better than the Coens. The film is set for release on November 9th of this year, and the wait is just killing me. In the meantime, let me recommend a tiny movie to you that a lot of people missed: The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. With that catchy title, I'm not sure how it didn't find an audience, but it really should have. Written by Guillermo Ariaga, directed by and starring Tommy Lee Jones, it's an excellent film and one that, judging by the photos, appears to have a similar feel to Old Men.

We knew he'd be casting locals for the next installment in his Rambo franchise, John Rambo, but apparently Sylvester Stallone wants this film to be as realistic as possible. According to a Reuters story, a retired rebel soldier from the jungles of eastern Myanmar has been cast to play a brutal Burmese officer in the pic, due out next year. 40 year-old Sai Mawng is an ex-guerrilla from the Shan State Army; he "speaks Burmese fluently and looks nasty enough," so says one of his close friends.

300 applicants originally turned out to audition for the part, which asked for a "Burmese male, 32-40, military-looking man, character face, unlikeable." I assume Mawng looks unlikeable enough; let's just hope he doesn't snap during one of his scenes -- re-living some of those nasty past memories -- and annihilate the entire crew. This time around, John Rambo comes out of retirement for one last mission: to locate a group of missionary aid workers who have disappeared into the jungles of Myanmar ... and, in the end, kick a whole lot of ass.

Apart from the casting of a real-life retired rebel soldier, a bunch of Shan refugees and migrants have been cast as Burmese soldiers in the flick, with each being paid a whopping 300 baht ($8.50) per day for their work. Granted, I'm sure that's a nice chunk of change for these guys, but it is a bit, um, cheap. Also starring alongside Stallone will be James Brolin, Bruno Campos, Kim Dickens and Matt Marsden. Production is currently underway.

If you've been counting the months, weeks, hours, minutes and even seconds until you get a fresh helping of John Rambo, your wish is getting much closer to being fulfilled. According to Variety, filming is scheduled to being this month in Thailand on Rambo IV: Pearl of the Cobra -- the latest, and presumably final, chapter in the Rambo saga.

The article is also reporting that in addition to Sylvester Stallone's return as the title character, the film's supporting cast, which already includes James Brolin, Bruno Campos and the terrific Kim Dickens, has expanded by at least one more with the addition of up-and-comer Matt Marsden. Marsden, fresh from roles in DOA: Dead or Alive and the upcoming Resident Evil: Extinction, will play a mercenary in the film who works closely with Stallone's Rambo to accomplish whatever life-or-death mission he happens to be on at the moment.

Speaking of life-or-death missions. In cases you don't know for some reason, the plot of this latest Rambo film, which has undergone many revisions -- as our own Mark Beall reported before -- and title changes, including Rambo IV: Holy War and the more prophetic Rambo IV: End of Peace, involves Rambo working with Christian missionaries to protect them against pirates. Yes, pirates. Perhaps Stallone is looking to cash in on some of the business generated by those other pirate movies? They made a few bucks at the box office so if he is, that's not necessarily a bad idea.

For those of you who thought James Brolin lost some of his edge after becoming Mr. Barbara Streisand, think again -- the actor has, apparently, signed on to star in the upcoming Rambo 4. Hoo-rah!

According to reports, Brolin, taking over for the beloved Col. Samuel Trautman (Richard  Crenna), will play the gutsy Corporal Keating. News of the casting also brought forth an updated plot description which reveals an older and more reclusive (if that's possible) John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone), who has done his best to find a life of solitude for himself, his wife and young daughter. However, when his daughter goes missing, Rambo goes back on the hunt. Meanwhile, Corporal Keating is chasing a fugitive falsely accused of war crimes. At some point, Rambo teams up with the fugitive (I'm thinking they can both help solve one another's issues) and the story takes off from there. It's being said that production on Rambo 4 will begin, in India, immediately following Rocky Balboa.