Today’s Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon is The Wire: The Complete Series for $89.99 (that’s 64% off the list price of $249.99).

This DVD box set collection, which was released last December, contains the entire HBO series on 23 discs and includes bonus features from all five seasons, including audio commentaries by cast and crew; three prequels explore life before The Wire; and never-before-seen gag reel.

This sale is only for today (June 3, 2010) until midnight PST while supplies last.

The very first new trailer for Neil Marshall‘s Centurion has been released via IGN.

The movie takes place in 117 A.D. and tells the story of Rome’s Ninth Legion, who set off on a major mission to find and destroy the leader of the Picts and anyone who tries to stop them. But when the Picts spring a trap on them and take the Legion’s general captive, one remaining Roman soldier must take just a few men and find a way to stop the Picts once and for all.

The movie reunites stars Dominic West and Michael Fassbender, who appeared together in another epic battle movie: 300. West plays captured General Virilus, while Fassbender plays Quintus Dias, a survivor of the ambush who is trapped deep within the enemy’s boundaries. The movie also stars Hitman and Quantum of Solace leading lady Olga Kurylenko as a Pict warrior whose tongue was removed by the Romans after they killed her entire family. This character would seem to point to one of those cases where we the viewers will not be sure who to pull for.

Click over to the other side to check out the new trailer for Centurion.

Finding Nemo and Wall-E director Andrew Stanton‘s first foray into live-action film making is still a ways off, but over the past number of months, many exciting names have been cast in John Carter of Mars. The castings have come in interesting succession, with new additions being revealed every month. We were first informed in June that leads John Carter and the Princess of Mars would be played by X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins. Next up was the announcement in July that Willem Dafoe was also cast in the movie as Tars Tarkas, a friendly outcast within a species of vicious warriors. In August, it was reported that three supporting roles were filled by Polly Walker, Dominic West, and Samantha Morton, and all was shaping out nicely.

Like clock work, just before September ends, three new names have been added to the cast, and it keeps getting better and better. Disney has announced that the newest trio of faces added to the cast are Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy, and Mark Strong. Church is best known for his work in Sideways and Spider-Man 3, and will be playing a warrior (likely of the same species as Dafoe) named Tal Hajus who’s expecting to become ruler soon. Purefoy is best known as Marc Antony on HBO’s Rome and will be playing the captain on a warship named Kantos Kan. Mark Strong has been making quite a name for himself lately and will be playing a god-like figure named Matai Shang. Though Strong has been around for a while now, he’s only recently gained his deserved recognition with movies like Stardust and RocknRolla, and has since landed roles in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.

You should know the story by now: Andrew Stanton — Pixar master who gave us Finding Nemo and others — is working on his first adventure in the land of live-action movies with a new take on the classic John Carter of Mars mythology. So far, X-Men Origins: Wolverine co-stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins have been cast in the movie, as well as none other than Willem Dafoe.

With those three actors representing the main characters, it was naturally time to begin putting together a solid supporting cast. It’s been announced that the movie has obtained three new very talented actors to ensure this solid supporting cast: Samantha Morton, Dominic West, and Polly Walker.

The addition of Samantha Morton (Minority Report) means that the cast now has a pair of two-time Oscar nominees: Morton (In America, Sweet and Lowdown), and Dafoe (Platoon, Shadow of the Vampire). Dominic West is best known for his appearances in movies like 300 and Punisher: War Zone, as well as popular TV show The Wire. Polly Walker is known for her strong female presence on the HBO show Rome, and is also a member of the cast of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel series, Caprica.

300: The Complete Experience
Blu-ray Edition
Directed by Zack Snyder
Starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West
Warner Bros Home Video
Release Date: July 21, 2009

If people loved the way Sin City (another Frank Miler comic book) was made with such flavor that popped off of the screen, I am sure that people will get on their knees and bow for Zack Snyder‘s new kind of filmmaking, a movie simply called 300. It is a bloody, sexual, and extremely violent movie that uses computers unlike any other movie that we’ve seen in past years. Even though I am kind of biased to computer generated movies (Lord of the Rings) this particular one made me sit back and enjoy the visuals that surpasses the greatest PS3 game. I like the natural filmmaking (no blue screen or green screen), not the kind that your next door neighbor can do on his laptop computer while just passing the time. This being something that I’ve never seen before, I let it work its magic and try not to let that ruin the movie, which it didn’t.

This movie is about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC which takes place in a narrow path between mountains on the coast of Greece, which translates to “Hot Gates.” A ripped and honorable King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) has a problem as his 300 army of Spartans are out numbered 100 to 1 as they go to war with the Persian army that includes giants, elephants, rhinoceros, ninjas, and creatures. They are lead by a gay commander (who is a tall man as he towers over everyone) Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) who wants everyone to answer to him.