The Bank Job

The Bank Job is a British 2008 crime film directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Jason Statham, based on the 1971 Baker Street robbery in central London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. The story was prevented from being told because of a D-Notice (now known as a DA-Notice) government gagging request, allegedly to protect a prominent member of the British Royal Family. According to the producers, this movie is intended to reveal the truth for the first time, although it includes significant elements of fiction and the extent to which it represents historical fact is difficult to determine.
It also may be based upon the scandal causing Lord Lambton's resignation, with Lew Vogel representing the Soho porn baron Bernie Silver.
The premiere was held in London on 18 February 2008, and the film was released in the UK on 28 February 2008.

Petty-criminal-gone-straight Terry Leather (Jason Statham) owns a failing car-sales garage being harassed by two debt-collectors. His old girlfriend Martine (Saffron Burrows) offers Terry a chance to earn enough money to never worry about debt again: a bank robbery in Baker Street, London. Terry gathers a bunch of petty-criminal friends to help execute the plan. They lease a shop two lots away from the bank and start digging a tunnel underneath the middle shop (a chicken fast-food restaurant) in order to reach the underground bank vault. Terry employs Eddie, (Michael Jibson) a worker in Terry's garage, as a "watchman" with a walkie-talkie to sit on the roof of the building opposite and keep a look out for trouble.
What they don't know is that Martine, who has been caught smuggling heroin into Britain and desperately wants to avoid jail, is setting them up on behalf of MI5, which wants the contents of a certain safe deposit box within the bank. This safe deposit box contains compromising photos of a female member of the British Royal Family (identified in the film as Princess Margaret). The photos are in a box belonging to a black militant who calls himself Michael X; he is using the photos to avoid trouble with the Metropolitan Police, and MI5 is desperate to keep the photos out of circulation.
As Terry and his crew dig, their radio chatter draws the attention of a local amateur radio operator, who listens in on the conversation and realises he's overhearing a bank robbery in progress. He calls the police, but with a 10 mile radius to search and a lack of concrete details, they fail to pin the robbery down.
After they have broken in and begin looting the vault, Martine goes for the deposit-box with the photos. A suspicious Terry opens the box with her and, upon seeing the pictures, knows that Martine has a hidden agenda. In addition to those photos, further photos of a number of high-ranking government officials are found, at the top a senior MP in compromising positions in a local S&M brothel. The robbers pocket these with the money and other valuables. Terry arranges for alternate transportation "to be safe", throwing off MI5 who had intended to immediately intercept them.
Guy (James Faulkner) and Bambas (Alki David), leave with their share of the spoils. When Terry confronts Martine over the photos, she explains their predicament. Meanwhile, the robbery is discovered, and the police — both corrupt ones receiving payoffs and honest ones — start their investigation. MI5 is likewise searching. Lew Vogel (David Suchet), a local club owner, is worried about the contents of his ledger, which lists every payoff he's made to the police, which was stolen during the robbery. He also phones Michael X to inform him that his box containing the royal 'portraits' has gone missing. Michael X starts to get suspicious of Gale Benson, a British spy who has befriended his brother and gone with the family to Trinidad.
The club owner manages to find one of the robbers, Dave (Daniel Mays) and tortures him for information. When he eventually tells Vogel everything, Vogel goes to the garage where Terry worked and kidnaps Eddie, who was the lookout during the robbery, taking him to the same secret location and tying him down. At the same time, the senior MP is shown the photos of himself in the brothel, and agrees to try to help absolve the robbers of all wrongdoing and give them safe passage out of the country. Meanwhile, MI5 issues a D-Notice forbidding the press from reporting on the heist any longer. Police simultaneously release recordings from the walkie-talkie conversations, in the hope that someone will recognize the voices. These recordings are heard on the radio by Terry's family.
The club owner's accomplice shoots Dave in the head and threatens to shoot Eddie unless he gets his ledger book (with incriminating info about payoffs) back. Lew makes an agreement with Terry, and agree to meet him at Paddington Station in London. During this time as well, Guy and Bambas are murdered by unknown people, and Michael kills Benson. Terry has Kev give the same instruction to the officer in charge of the investigation, citing knowledge of corrupt officers under his control. He also convinces the club owner to go to Paddington Station at the same time, offering him the book with details of corrupt officers in return for the safe return of his mechanic. This results in a large meeting of all of the involved parties at the same time.
Terry stands on the platform waiting for the others, while Martine meets up with Tim Everett, her original contact within MI5, on a bridge overlooking the scene. The club owner and his corrupt police accomplices arrive with the mechanic, but recognize MI5 agents present and run. At the same time, the head of MI5 arrives (with Lord Mountbatten), handing over the documentation and passports that Terry bargained for, in return for the photos of the princess. Terry then chases the fleeing club owner and his henchmen. He starts to attack the club owner, and then fights with one of the aides, knocking them both out. The second aide appears with a gun, but Terry manages to avoid the shots and knock him out with a brick hastily dislodged from a wall.
The police officer in charge of the investigation then arrives, and sees the robbers being arrested. He speaks with the MI5 officers present, who direct police to let the robbers go. When the officer approaches the car where Terry is being held to ask for the bribe payout ledger, Terry agrees to hand it over in exchange of freedom. Terry and the other robbers are then released, the policeman saying "I don't see any bank-robbers in here" upon looking in the car in which the robbers are sitting. The club owner and the corrupt officers are arrested, and Michael X is arrested in Trinidad and Tobago. His house is then burnt down after orders from a disgusted Tim Everett.
The epilogue states that the revelations about the brothel forces many government officials to resign. Scotland Yard starts investigating the corrupt officers named in the ledger. Michael X was hanged in 1975 for Gail Benson's murder and his personal files are kept hidden in the British National Archives until 2054. Vogel gets imprisoned eight years for crimes that were unrelated to the robbery. The murderers of Guy and Bambas have never been found. About GBP 4 million worth of materials and money was stolen from the robbery. At least 100 safety-deposit box owners did not claim insurance nor identify their items in the boxes.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 animated film about a bungling panda who aspires to be a kung fu warrior. Kung Fu Panda is directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb. Although the concept of a kung fu panda has been around since at least 1993, the idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. Work on the film did not begin until 2004 and the film premièred at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in May 2008. The film was released internationally on June 6, 2008, and was released in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2008. The film was animated by DreamWorks Animation's studio in Glendale, California, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures.
The film stars the voices of Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, and Ian McShane. In the United States, it has been rated PG by the MPAA for sequences of martial arts action and mild blood, and in the United Kingdom, PG by the BBFC.

Po (Jack Black) is a panda who works in a noodle restaurant owned by his goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong). He is a kung fu fanatic with secret dreams of becoming a great master in the discipline. However, his weight and clumsiness seem to make his goal unattainable; Mr. Ping hopes instead that Po will one day take over the restaurant, and waits for the perfect opportunity to disclose the secret ingredient to his family's noodle recipe.
The tortoise Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) has a premonition that the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the former student of his own protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), will escape from prison and return to threaten the Valley of Peace. While Shifu sends Zeng (Dan Fogler), a messenger goose, to Chorh-Gom Prison to have the security increased, Oogway orders a formal ceremony to choose the mighty Dragon Warrior who can defeat Tai Lung. Everyone assumes that one of the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) — a quintet of supremely skilled martial artists trained by Shifu, will be chosen for this honor.
While the Five demonstrate their skills at the ceremony, Po arrives too late and finds himself locked outside the walled palace square. As a last-ditch attempt to get in, he ties several fireworks to a chair and ignites them, which sends him crashing into the center of the arena. Inspired by this sudden appearance, Oogway designates Po the Dragon Warrior. Despite Po's protests and Shifu's pleas to reconsider, Oogway stands by his decision.
Revolted at having Po under his tutelage, Shifu attempts to make him quit by berating and humiliating him. The Five similarly dismiss Po as a worthless interloper. Although he becomes aware of Shifu's true intentions and is deeply hurt by his heroes' disdain for him, Po endures their abuse willingly for the dream to become something more than the failure he thinks he is. Master Oogway, still certain that Po is the right choice, gives him sage advice to believe in himself. Eventually, Po endears himself to the Five (except for Tigress) with his tenacity, good cooking, and sense of humor. At this time Tigress reveals to Po how Tai Lung came to be so evil. Shifu raised him from a cub and treated him like a son. When Oogway refused to make Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior, he became enraged and laid waste to the Valley. He then tried to take the dragon scroll. Shifu tried to stop him, but could not bear to destroy what he had created. Tai Lung was defeated by Master Oogway and imprisoned. Tigress ends her story by saying that Shifu loved Tai Lung like he never had before, or since.
Meanwhile, Zeng's errand backfires when a tour of the prison given to him by the overly confident head of security, Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), inadvertently enables Tai Lung to escape. Tai Lung orders Zeng to send word of his arrival to Shifu. In the Valley of Peace, Oogway passes away and ascends to the heavens, leaving his final wish that Shifu train Po. However, upon learning of Tai Lung's return, and realizing that he has to face the evil warrior, Po attempts to flee. Shifu stops the panda and promises to train him if he is truly destined to be the Dragon Warrior. When Po confesses his belief that he may never be a match for Tai Lung, Shifu is at a loss for a solution. Overhearing this argument, Tigress takes it upon herself to intercept Tai Lung, and the rest of The Five follow her to assist. The following morning, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. He leads Po to the countryside for an intensive training regime in which Po is offered food as a reward for learning his lessons. As Shifu hopes, Po swiftly becomes a skilled combatant.
The Five battle Tai Lung but are eventually defeated with a specialized nerve-striking technique, and they retreat to the valley. When they return, Shifu decides Po is ready to face the villain and gives him the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises great power to the possessor. When Po opens it, he finds nothing but a blank reflective surface. Stricken with despair at the scroll's apparent worthlessness, Shifu orders his students to lead the villagers to safety while he stays to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can.
As Po participates in the evacuation, he meets his father, who tries to cheer him up by telling him the secret ingredient of the family's noodle soup: nothing. Things become special, he explains, because people believe them to be special. Realizing that is the very point of the Dragon Scroll, Po rushes off to help Shifu. At this time, Tai Lung arrives at the palace. He blames Shifu for not granting him the title of Dragon Warrior just because Master Oogway did not choose him, and the two begin to fight. For his part, Shifu is crippled by his profound feelings of guilt and responsibility for his former protégé, whom he loved and raised like a son, turning to darkness.
When Tai Lung discovers that the Dragon Scroll is gone, he attempts to kill Shifu in anger. But before he can, Po finally arrives and challenges him. Although Tai Lung scoffs at Po's abilities, the ensuing fight proves Po to be a formidable opponent. Despite Po's skill, Tai Lung temporarily stuns him and gains the Dragon Scroll, but is unable to understand its symbolism. Po tries to explain the wisdom of the scroll to Tai Lung, but the frustrated leopard tries to subdue Po with his nerve strikes. The attack proves useless on the panda, as his nerves are difficult to find due to his body fat. Emboldened, Po counter-attacks with an improvised combat style that takes advantage of his girth to absorb and deflect the force from Tai Lung's attacks back at him. In the end, Po uses the Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung (a technique Shifu had previously threatened to use on Po), defeating him in a large explosion of golden light that ripples through the valley.
The Five return to the valley to investigate and find a slightly dazed but triumphant Po. Deeply impressed by Po's victory, Tigress leads the Five to acknowledge him as a Kung Fu master. Po suddenly remembers that his teacher is badly wounded, and rushes back to Shifu. At first the master appears to be dying, and Po panics. But it turns out that he is only resting after such a terrible battle with Tai Lung.
At the end of the credits, Shifu and Po are seen eating together by the sacred peach tree. A peach seed planted by Shifu before Oogway's passing has sprouted into a new plant.

The Forbidden Kingdom

The Forbidden Kingdom is a 2008 Hollywood martial arts-adventure film from Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company directed by Rob Minkoff. It is the first film to star together two of the best-known names in the martial arts film genre, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The action sequences were choreographed by Yuen Woo-ping.
The movie is distributed in the United States through Lionsgate and The Weinstein Company,[and through The Huayi Brothers Film & Taihe Investment Company in the People's Republic of China. It is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on September 9, 2008. The UK release has been dated for 17th November 2008.

The film opens during a battle between Sun Wukong, the Monkey King (Jet Li), and heavenly soldiers amongst the clouds. It is then revealed the sequence was a dream when a young teenager, Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano), awakens in his room plastered with vintage kung fu movie posters. After getting dressed, he makes his way to a pawn shop in South Boston's China town to buy some new kung fu DVDs. There, he converses with Hop (a prosthetics-laden Jackie Chan), the shop's elderly owner, and, while thumbing through some DVDs, he is drawn to a room full of antiques and notices a golden staff. Hop tells him that the staff is to be delivered to its rightful owner and then closes the door. On his way back home, Jason is attacked by local bully Lupo (Morgan Benoit) and his cronies who force him to take them to the store so they can steal some money from the old man. Feeling betrayed, Hop tries to attack the thieves with the staff, but is shot by Lupo (much to both Jason and Lupo's cronies' shock). He tells Jason that he must deliver the staff to its rightful owner. Jason takes the staff and runs from the thieves. On top of a building, he is surrounded by the bullies, with Lupo warning Jason that he "saw nothing" (out of fear Jason may turn them in to police). Before Lupo can shoot Jason, he is suddenly pulled off the roof by the staff and travels back through time.
When Jason wakes up he has been transported back to ancient China, dressed in old-century clothing. There he is attacked by Jade Warriors who try to take the staff from him. He is helped by the Drunken Immortal, traveling scholar Lu Yan (Jackie Chan). Later that night, seated in a teahouse, Lu tells Jason a story of how the Monkey King caused havoc at the banquet on the Five Elements Mountain celebrating the Jade Emperor's forthcoming 500 year period of meditation and drank of the elixir of immortality. The Emperor took a liking to the Monkey King and decided to award him a heavenly title, much to the chagrin of the Jade Warlord (Collin Chou), a heavenly general. The Emperor then left the Jade Warlord in charge of heaven before retreating to his period of seclusion. The Jade Warlord later challenged the Monkey King to a duel, and turned him into stone by tricking the Monkey King to set aside his magic staff, Ruyi Jingu Bang. But before he was fully immobilized, the Monkey King cast his staff into the mundane world. Lu Yan ends the tale by stating a person known as the "Seeker" will be the person to find the staff and free the Monkey King. Lu Yan and Jason then get into a fight with the Jade Warriors who track them to the restaurant and are saved by a mysterious young woman, who turns out to be the Orphaned Warrior, Golden Sparrow (Liu Yi Fei). Sparrow's family was killed by the Jade Warlord, and she has vowed vengeance against him. She always refers to herself in the third person as «she».
The Jade Warlord is notified by his men that they have seen the magical staff. The Jade Warlord then sends his bounty hunter, the white-haired witch Ni Chang (Li Bingbing), to retrieve it for him. When Jason wakes up in the morning he is attacked by a person dressed in white clothes, who takes the staff away. Jason, Lu Yan, and Sparrow follow the trail of the mysterious man. They reach a temple where the man is meditating. There, Lu Yan and the man, the Silent Monk (Jet Li), fight for the staff. The Silent Monk later learns that the staff is meant for the traveler. The four head towards the Five Elements Mountain in a quest to free the Monkey King and end the reign of the Jade Warlord.
On the way to the Mountain, Lu Yan and the Silent Monk teach Jason kung fu. After crossing a great desert, they are attacked by Ni Chang and the Jade Warriors, but the four escape on their horses with the staff intact. Ni Chang fires an arrow after them, and Lu Yan is hit and falls from his horse. They take refuge in a monastery where they find out that only the Jade Warlord's elixir of immortality will heal Lu Yan. Jason, desperate to help Lu Yan, heads toward the palace with the staff to exchange it for the elixir. Once at the palace he learns that the elixir was promised to Ni Chang if she brought back the staff, but since Jason brought it he has to fight Ni Chang to the death, the winner getting the elixir. The Silent Monk discovers that Jason has left with the staff and pursues Jason along with Sparrow. Back at the palace, Jason and Ni Chang fight. Though Jason had developed a good measure of skill in the martial arts and holds his own, the more experienced Ni Chang easily defeats him. But before she can kill him, the Jade Warlord orders her to stop and, instead, sets his own men on Jason. The boy's life is once again saved when the Silent Monk and Sparrow arrive (with Lu Yan in the rear being carried by monks from the monastery who join in the fight with the Jade Army) and intervene. The Silent Monk duels the Jade Warlord while Sparrow fights Ni Chang. During the fight, Jason manages to grab hold of the elixir and throw it to Lu Yan, who drinks it and becomes immortal, regaining his strength and energy. Lu Yan then fights Ni Chang on the balcony. The Silent Monk is mortally wounded during his battle with the Jade Warlord and throws the staff to Jason. Jason takes the staff and shatters the Monkey King's statue form, freeing him from his imprisoned state. The Silent Monk dies of his injuries and reverts into a golden hair, revealing him to be a magical human familiar created by the Monkey King prior to his imprisonment. The fight between the Monkey King and the Jade Warlord commences. Sparrow tries to kill the Jade Warlord with a mystical jade dart, but is countered by chi. After a long battle, Lu Yan dispatches Ni Chang by sending her off the palace balcony and Jason is able to kill the Jade Warlord with the dart and dropping him into a pit of lava. Jason reaches Sparrow, who thanks him using the first person «I» before dying. He is then praised by the Jade Emperor for fulfilling the people's prophecy. As his reward for his bravery, Jason chooses to be transported back home to modern day Boston.
When Jason wakes up, he is lying flat on the ground below the building he supposedly fell from and is attacked by Lupo's gang, but this time he uses his newfound kung fu skills, fights back, and defeats Lupo single-handedly. Hop manages to survive the gunshot (the medics stated that the bullet missed his heart), and is taken to the hospital, but not before stating he is immortal (possibly being Lu Yan) and thanking Jason for completing his mission. Before Jason leaves the scene, he sees a girl who looks like Sparrow. She congratulates him for his bravery and tells him she will see him later. She then goes into her store (the Golden Sparrow). Jason, surprised but delighted to see her, leaves and goes home, where he practices his kung fu on the roof with a staff as Lu Yan states: "And so the legend is told that the Monkey King began his journey west in search of truth while the traveller returned to his world to walk the path of the warrior and find his own truth. As one tale ends, so another begins."

Iron Man

Iron Man is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Anthony "Tony" Edward Stark, after suffering a severe heart injury while being kidnapped, was forced to build a devastating weapon. He instead created a suit of power armor to save his life and help protect the world as the superhero Iron Man. He is a wealthy industrialist and genius inventor who created military weapons and whose metal suit is laden with technological devices that enable him to fight crime.
The character first appeared in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee, scripter Larry Lieber, and artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. In the character's original incarnation, Iron Man was a vehicle for Stan Lee to explore Cold War themes, particularly the role of American technology and business in the fight against communism. Subsequent re-imaginings of Iron Man have gradually removed the Cold War themes, replacing them with more contemporary concerns such as corporate crime and terrorism.
Throughout most of his comics career, Iron Man has been a member of the superhero team the Avengers and has been featured in several incarnations of his own various comic book series. The character has been adapted for several animated TV shows, as well as for the 2008 live action film Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark.

Transformers 2

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is an upcoming science fiction 3-D film, due for release on June 26, 2009. It is the sequel to the 2007 film Transformers, which was the first live action Transformers film. Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg return respectively as director and executive producer, while Shia LaBeouf reprises the role of Sam Witwicky, the human caught in the war between Autobots and Decepticons. Shooting began in May 2008.
Bay desired to give the sequel a bigger budget for a global scale and better characterization for a larger cast of robots. The main hurdle in getting the film produced was overcoming the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, as well as possible strikes by the Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. Bay met his shooting date with the help of previsualization and a scriptment by his writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and series newcomer Ehren Kruger.

Before Transformers was released, producer Tom DeSanto said he had come up with "a very cool idea" to introduce the Dinobots and Constructicons, while Bay was interested in an aircraft carrier, which he considered for the first film. In September 2007, Paramount announced a June 26, 2009 release date for Transformers 2,and Bay began creating animatics of action sequences featuring characters rejected for the first film. This would allow animators to complete sequences if the Directors Guild of America went on strike in July 2008. The director considered making a small project in between Transformers and its sequel, but knew "you have your baby and you don't want someone else to take it". The film was given a larger budget than the first film, which cost $151 million, and some of the action scenes rejected for the original were written into the sequel.
Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman originally passed on the sequel because of a busy schedule. The studio began courting other writers in May 2007, but as they were unimpressed with their pitches, they convinced Orci and Kurtzman to return. The studio also signed on Ehren Kruger, as he impressed Bay and Hasbro president Brian Goldner with his knowledge of the Transformers mythology. The writing trio were paid $8 million. Kurtzman created the film's title. Orci claimed they could not justify the Dinobots' choice of form, admitting he was also dismissive of them. During filming though, he became fonder of them because of their popularity with fans. Screenwriting was interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, but to avoid production delays the writers spent two weeks writing a treatment, which they handed in the night before the strike began. Bay expanded the outline into a sixty-page scriptment: Orci explained Bay "came up with some really fun gags and a few descriptions of the kind of hardware he will need for production".

Filming began in Los Angeles, California in May 2008. From June 2, three days were spent on an action sequence at the Bethlehem Steel site in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which represented a fictional Chinese city. Afterwards, they shot at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. The crew moved to Philadelphia on June 9, where they shot at the Exelon plants in Delaware; the University of Pennsylvania; the Eastern State Penitentiary; Fairmount Park; Rittenhouse Square (which represents Paris); and Wanamaker's. They moved to Princeton University on June 22. Filming there angered some students at the University of Pennsylvania, believing Bay had chosen to reshoot scenes at Princeton, the school's historical rival, and script Princeton's name in the movie. However, neither the University of Pennsylvania nor Princeton gave Bay permission to be named in the film because of a "funny 'mom' scene" that both felt "did not represent the school".
Around $5 million spent during filming in Philadelphia, Bethlehem, and New Jersey. Bay scheduled a break for filming beginning on June 30, turning his attention to animation and second unit scenes because of the potential 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike. Orci joked "Optimus and company are also the stars, and fortunately for us, they are not part of a union!" They will shoot at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group in Tucson, Arizona in July. Filming will also take place in Jordan, and New Mexico (which stood in for Qatar in the first film).
The producers expect that with a bigger budget and the special effects worked out, the Transformers will have a larger role. Peter Cullen recalled, "Don Murphy mentioned to me, 'Only because of the tremendous expense to animate Optimus Prime, he'll be in just a certain amount of [the first film].' But he said, 'Next time, if the movie is a success, you're gonna be in it a ton.'" The director hopes to include more close-ups of the robots' faces. Scott Farrar returned as visual effects supervisor, and anticipated moodier use of lighting as well as deeper roles for the Decepticons. He stated that with the bigger deadline, post-production will be a "circus". Hasbro became more involved in the designs of the robots than in the first film. They insisted on keeping the alternate modes of some of the returning characters similar, so people would not have to buy toys of the same characters.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is a 2008 fantasy film based on Prince Caspian, the second published novel in C. S. Lewis's fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia. It is the second in The Chronicles of Narnia film series from Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, following The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). The four Pevensie children return to Narnia to aid Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) in his struggle for the throne against his corrupt uncle, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto). The film was released on May 16, 2008 in the United States, in Australia on June 5, 2008, and on June 26, 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Work on the script began before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was released, so filming could begin before the actors grew too old for their parts. Director Andrew Adamson wanted to make the film more spectacular than the first, and created an action sequence not in the novel to up the ante. The Narnians were designed to look wilder as they have been hiding from persecution, to stress the darker tone of the sequel. The filmmakers also took a Spanish influence for the antagonistic race of the Telmarines. Filming began in February 2007 in New Zealand, but unlike the previous film, the majority of shooting took place in Central Europe, because of the larger sets available in those countries. To keep costs down, Adamson chose to base post-production in the UK, because of recent tax credits there.

In Narnia, 1,300 years after the Pevensie siblings left, Caspian, a Telmarine prince, is awoken by his mentor Doctor Cornelius, who informs him that his aunt has just given birth to a son and that his life is now in grave danger. Cornelius gives him Queen Susan's ancient magical horn and instructs him to use it if he is in dire need of help. Knowing that his Uncle Miraz would kill him in order to be king, Caspian flees. Chased by several Telmarine soldiers, Caspian falls off his horse and encounters two Narnian dwarfs and a talking badger in the woods. One of the dwarfs, Trumpkin, is captured by the soldiers after sacrificing himself to save Caspian, while the other dwarf, Nikabrik, and the badger Trufflehunter, save Caspian. Not knowing that they are trying to save him, Caspian blows the magical horn, trying to summon help.
In England, the four Pevensie children wait at the Strand tube station for their train which will take them to boarding school. One year has passed in their world after they left Narnia. Just as the train pulls into the station, the walls start sucking in, and the whole station tears apart which transports the Pevensies back to Narnia. There, they discover their castle, Cair Paravel, was attacked and ruined in their absence. The Pevensies save a bound and gagged Trumpkin as they spot two Telmarine soldiers who are about to drown him. After the dwarf realizes that the four of them are the kings and queens of old, they set off together. On the way, Lucy glimpses Aslan and tries to convince the others that she's seen him, but only Edmund believes her.
Meanwhile, Nikabrik and Trufflehunter lead Caspian to the Dancing Lawn, where all the old Narnians have assembled, including the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep, and a large number of centaurs, fauns, and minotaurs. There, Caspian convinces them to help him win his throne so that he can give them back their land. When Caspian and his troops encounter the Pevensies and Trumpkin, they journey together to Aslan's How, a huge underground hall built over the Stone Table. From there, Peter suggests that they attack Miraz's castle. Lucy suggests waiting for Aslan to give instructions, but Peter decides they have waited for Aslan long enough.
The Narnians succeed in raiding Miraz’s castle, but Peter calls for a retreat when he realizes that if they keep fighting, they will all be killed. Peter, Susan, Edmund, Caspian, and half of the Narnians manage to escape, but the rest are trapped by the closed gate and are brutally slaughtered. When they get back to Aslan's How, Peter and Caspian, who are both guilty and upset over the loss of half their soldiers, have an argument about the attack on the castle, which almost culminates in a swordfight.
Later, Nikabrik, a hag, and a werewolf tell Caspian that they can help him claim his throne and guarantee Miraz's death. The hag then uses black sorcery to summon the White Witch. From inside a wall of ice, the Witch tries to convince Caspian, who had not realized what Nikabrik's true intentions were, to give her a drop of his blood in order to set her free. Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin promptly arrive and dispatch Nikabrik, the werewolf, and the hag, and Edmund shatters the wall of ice before the Witch can be freed.
As Miraz and his army arrive at Aslan's How, Caspian suggests that Peter and Miraz duel one-on-one under the condition of surrender, in order to buy Lucy and Susan more time to find Aslan. Miraz is forced to accept, as it would look cowardly to refuse to fight a boy half his age. Susan and Lucy, who are searching for Aslan in the woods, are chased by Telmarine soldiers along the way; Susan sends Lucy off and remains behind to deal with the soldiers, but she is soon rescued by Caspian and the two return to the battlesite. Peter is able to wound Miraz, but gives his sword to Caspian to finish him off. Caspian, who cannot bring himself to do it, spares Miraz's life but says that he intends to give Narnia back to its people.
Lord Sopespian suddenly stabs and kills Miraz with one of Susan's red-feathered arrows and blames the Narnians for shooting Miraz. The Telmarine cavalry charges while the troops use their trebuchets at Aslan's How. The Narnians try several tactics, including collapsing underground tunnels underneath the army, and sending griffins overhead with archers in their claws. In a desperate move, they charge head on. Lucy, meanwhile, finds Aslan in the woods; he awakens the trees that have been in a deep sleep: with the whole forest suddenly attacking the Telmarines, Lord Sopespian orders to retreat to a bridge, where they are confronted by Lucy and Aslan. Aslan summons the river god, which destroys the bridge and wipes out the majority of the Telmarine army including Sopesian; all of the surviving Telmarine soldiers surrender and hand over their weapons, while the Narnians are honored for fighting well.
Before the Pevensies depart, Peter and Susan declare, much to Caspian, Edmund, and Lucy's dismay, that Aslan has told them they will never return to Narnia. Aslan explains that Susan and Peter have gained everything they could possibly gain from their experiences in Narnia and are no longer needed there. Susan and Caspian share a kiss, knowing they will never meet again. The Pevensies then go back to England, leaving Caspian as King of Narnia.

Wanted Movie

Wanted is a 2008 action film with the first half loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Thomas Kretschmann and Terence Stamp. Production began in April 2007. Wanted was released on June 25, 2008 in the United Kingdom and June 27, 2008 in the United States.

A man called "Mr. X" (David O'Hara) meets with a ballistics expert to find out who made a particular bullet for a "competitor". Suddenly, a sniper shoots the ballistics expert in the head from a nearby building. Mr. X leaps through the window and shoots his opponents in mid-flight, killing them. Suddenly, a man named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann) fires a bullet through Mr. X's head from the window of a house across town, killing him.
A young man named Wesley Gibson is introduced. He works at a dead-end job with an over-bearing boss. His live-in girlfriend is sleeping with his best friend, and his voice-over says that he is finding it difficult to care about anything. One night, at the pharmacy, Wesley meets a mysterious woman who tells him that his father was an elite assassin who had been killed the day before. Wesley does not believe this; he tells the woman that his father abandoned him a week after his birth. At that moment, Cross appears, gun in hand. The woman opens fire on Cross. Wesley and the woman escape from the resulting shoot-out and have a wild car chase in the streets of Chicago.
Wesley is brought to the headquarters of The Fraternity, a thousand-year-old secret society of assassins. The group's leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), formally introduces Gibson to Fox (Angelina Jolie) the woman from the night before, and invites him to follow in his father's footsteps as an assassin. Sloan tests Wesley by making him shoot the wings off a fly. When Wesley refuses, a gun is put to his head, triggering a panic attack. Wesley somehow manages to shoot the wings off several flies. Wesley wakes up the next day hoping that everything was a dream, but discovers his father's gun (which he stashes in the toilet tank). He also discovers $3.6 million in his bank account. Wesley tells his boss to "Go fuck yourself!" and quits his job, knocking out his "friend's" (the one who sleeps with Wesley's girlfriend) teeth with his keyboard, with broken keys spelling out 'fuck you', as he leaves. Fox, who has been waiting for him outside, gives him a ride back to the Fraternity headquarters - an unassuming textile mill.
With his training completed, Wesley is given orders to kill people from the Loom of Fate, a loom that gives the names of the targets through a binary code hidden in weaving errors of the fabric. While on his first assignment, Wesley seems to refuse to kill his target. He recalls an earlier conversation with Fox in which he opined that it isn't right to kill people without knowing anything about them or why they deserve to die. Fox then told him her life story. Fox's father was a judge who was handling a sensitive case and the defendant had put a hit on him. One day a hired killer held the young girl at knife point as they waited for her father to return home. The killer then lit the father on fire as the young girl watched. He later branded his initials into her neck. Fox explained that the man who killed her father had been targeted by the Fraternity several weeks prior to the events of the story, but their assassin had failed to carry out his duty. Fox then tells Wesley The Fraternity's idea, "Kill one and maybe save thousands". Wesley bends a bullet trajectory to kill the target a moment after this recollection.
Wesley and Fox travel to the Fraternity's original base of operations in Europe. The two easily capture Pekwarsky and force him to take them to Cross. The meeting leads to a confrontation between Wesley and Cross on a moving train. Fox steals a car and crashes it into the train, eventually causing the train to derail when it reaches a bridge over a deep ravine. Wesley is about to fall into the ravine before Cross catches his hand, saving his life. Wesley unhesitatingly shoots him. Before Cross dies, he tells Wesley that he is his real father and that the Fraternity had been lying to him. Fox confirms the truth and explains that Wesley was recruited because he was the only person that Cross wouldn't kill. Fox then tells Wesley about the kill order on him and raises her weapon to shoot him. Wesley, however, shoots the glass underneath him and plunges into the river below.
Wesley awakes in an apartment across the street from his former apartment. He finds Pekwarsky there. Upon inspecting the apartment, he discovers it belonged to his father, who had been monitoring him his whole life. Pekwarsky hands Wesley a loom weaving and tells him to decode it. Wesley is shocked to discover Sloan's name in the weaving. Pekwarsky explains that Cross went rogue due to this discovery. Since then Sloan has used false kill orders to direct the Fraternity as mere contract killers. Wesley realizes that Cross had never actually tried to kill him in their previous confrontations; he had been assassinating Fraternity members to keep them away from Wesley. Pekwarsky departs after giving Wesley plane tickets, stating that his father wished him a life free of violence. While exploring the apartment further, Wesley discovers a secret room containing all of his father's weapons and maps. He even finds a supply of the Exterminator's mini-bombs, realizing that the Exterminator had been working with his father. Wesley then devises a plan to take out Sloan and the Fraternity. Upon entering Sloan's office, he finds himself surrounded by Fox and her fellow master assassins. Wesley tells them that Sloan is killing for profit by providing his killers with fraudulent kill orders. He then attempts to kill Sloan, but is disarmed by Fox.
Fox asks Sloan if this is true. Sloan then reveals that all of their names had come up in the weaving, and that he had merely acted to protect them. He then goes on to explain that if they truly believe in the code then they should take their lives right where they stand. Otherwise, they should kill Wesley. The other assassins decide to kill Wesley, but Fox turns on her fellow assassins. She "curves" a bullet to kill the assassins who had been standing in a circle, then throws her gun to Wesley before stepping back into the bullet. Sloan escapes. Wesley, penniless once more, does not know what to do with himself. While Wesley provides a voice-over, the audience sees a young man sitting in front of a computer in a cubicle much like Wesley did at the beginning of the film. The man types the name "Wesley Gibson" into Google and searches for it but does not have any results, as in the beginning of the film. Sloan appears and points a gun at the man's head. At that moment, the man turns around and is revealed to be a decoy and looks down. Sloan also looks down and realizes he is standing on a marked spot. He then looks up and says, "Oh, fuck", before Wesley, who is actually several miles away, shoots him in the head from the comfort of his own appartment, from the same window his father killed Mr. X from at the beginning of the movie..
The movie ends with Wesley breaking the fourth wall, addressing the audience and giving an overview of his last six weeks as an assassin saying, "This is me taking back control of my life. What the fuck have you done lately?"

Saw V

Saw V is the upcoming fifth installment in the Saw film series. The film is set to be released on October 24, 2008, following the tradition of the Saw films, being released every year on the Friday before Halloween. Unlike the previous three installments, Saw V will not be directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, but instead by David Hackl, who was the production designer of Saw II, Saw III and Saw IV.Development
Saw V is being written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, and the film went into production after Christmas 2007. Filming began on March 17, 2008 in Toronto, and principal photography concluded on April 28, 2008. Saw V finished filming by May 2, 2008 and had started post-production. Recently, there have been three photos released of David Hackl at the set of Saw V. The first trailer was released at Comic-con 08 as of a short clip and the trailer will be shown before The X-Files: I Want to Believe.
The plot details have not yet been revealed, although in an interview with IGN, Patrick Melton revealed that Saw V will explain what happened to Corbett, the daughter of Lynn Denlon and Jeff Reinhart, following the conclusion of Saw III that left her in danger. An interview with Tobin Bell revealed that the origins of Billy the puppet and his red tricycle would be further explained after having the story's roots planted in Saw IV. Also, in an interview on June 13, 2007, Tobin Bell teased that he would not be surprised if the character of Cecil made a reappearance, and that the pieces of flesh taken from the victims in the form of a jigsaw puzzle might be explained.
According to director David Hackl, one trap can potentially kill the actor meant to be placed in it, and so paramedics will be standing by while filming; Hackl joked that the trap would truly test the actor, just like Jigsaw tests his victims.[13] Later in an interview discussing this trap in Saw V, David Hackl revealed that Scott Patterson's character, Agent Strahm, would be placed in the trap and Hackl called the trap 'the most dangerous' and 'elegant in its simplicity'.
There will be a total of seven traps in this film. which was originally planned to be used in Saw IV, will be further explored in Saw V. The glass trap was only shown, not used, in the final cut of Saw IV.
Lionsgate recently released a brief plot synopsis for Saw V that "Hoffman is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. But when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends."
According to the producer, a theme of the film will be teamwork and it will thematically be like the original Saw.
In an interview with IGN, Julie Benz said that the character of Brit is a real-estate developer and that the character is corporate like a thorough-bred race-horse. She also revealed that this is the first film about which she ever had a nightmare.
In the teaser of Saw V, Special Agent Strahm is seen with a glass box only on his head with two tubes running into the box. As the Christian hymn Be Thou My Vision plays, the text in the trailer reads 'His message is righteous, his love is everlasting, his gift is life'. After these texts, we hear Jigsaw say 'Hello' and Strahm struggles to get the glass box off. The teaser's final texts read 'This Halloween... Belongs To... Saw V. October 24th, 2008."

The Incredible Hulk

The Incredible Hulk is a 2008 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character the Hulk released on June 13, 2008. It is directed by Louis Leterrier and stars Edward Norton as Dr. Bruce Banner / the Hulk, Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky. The film follows Banner as he flees the pursuit of General Ross while attempting to find a cure to rid himself of the Hulk. When Blonsky personally volunteers to be injected with Banner's gamma formula to aid Ross in his capture, he becomes an even greater monster, and Banner must accept his inner beast to defeat Blonsky.
After the 2003 film Hulk, Marvel Studios reacquired the rights to the character, and writer Zak Penn began work on a loose sequel that would be much closer to the comics and the television series. Norton rewrote the script after he signed on to star, severing all ties to its predecessor by retelling the origin story in flashbacks and revelations, thereby establishing the film as a reboot. Leterrier's direction aimed to make the monsters look more realistic and frightening. He redesigned Blonsky's monstrous gamma-irradiated form — called the Abomination in the comics — from a reptilian humanoid into a mutated man with bony protrusions. Filming mostly took place in Toronto, Canada in 2007, where the production attempted to be environmentally friendly.

The film's back-story is detailed during flashbacks, which are mostly in the opening credits, and further exposition. General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) hired scientist and radiation expert Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) to revive a World War II era military bio-force enhancement research project. Banner exposed himself to gamma radiation, which results in him becoming a giant, green-skinned monster called the Hulk (voiced by Lou Ferrigno), and hospitalizing Ross' daughter Betty (Liv Tyler), who was Banner's colleague and lover. Now a fugitive from the United States Army, Banner went on the run for five years.
When the film begins, Banner works at a bottling factory in Brazil while searching for a cure for his condition with the help of an Internet friend, "Mr. Blue". He is also taught martial arts and meditative breathing techniques by an expert (Rickson Gracie) to help control his emotions, and has not transformed for 158 days. After Banner suffers a cut, his blood drips into a soda bottle eventually drank by an ill-fated consumer (Stan Lee) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This accident points Ross to Banner's location and he sends a team, led by the Russian-born British special operations expert Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), to capture him. Banner escapes Blonsky by transforming into the Hulk and battling his team in the factory. After Ross explains to Blonsky how Banner first became the Hulk, an astonished and vengeful Blonsky declares he wants Banner's power. Ross arranges for Blonsky to be injected with the Vita-ray serum, which has been kept in cold storage, giving him enhanced physical abilities.
Banner returns to Culver University in the United States, where the Hulk was born. He reunites with Betty, who is dating psychiatrist Leonard Samson (Ty Burrell). On the day he decides to leave, Ross and Blonsky's forces attack Banner at Culver University, forcing him to transform. Blonsky proves to be athletic and agile enough to compete with the Hulk thanks to the serum, and Ross attempts to contain the Hulk with two sonic cannons. This ploy fails, when the Hulk shields himself with two sheets of metal. Additionally, every bone in Blonsky's body is broken when he is kicked by the Hulk. The Hulk flees with Betty, who became unconscious after a helicopter he struck crashed nearby. After he calms down and becomes human again, Banner and Betty travel to New York City to meet "Mr. Blue". The two maintain a low profile as the Hulk's existence becomes public knowledge and a matter of national security following the university battle.
Banner and Betty meet "Mr. Blue", who is Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson), at a university. Accompanying him to his lab, Banner and Betty learn that Sterns has developed a possible antidote that may cure Banner's condition, or merely reverse each individual transformation. Despite the risk, Banner agrees to test Sterns' antidote, which requires triggering a transformation and reversing it. Successful, and utterly fascinated by Banner's transformation, Sterns reveals that he has synthesized Banner's blood sample into a large supply with the intention of using it to enhance the human condition to the next evolutionary level. Appalled by what Sterns had done and fearful of the Hulk's power falling into the wrong hands, Banner attempts to convince Sterns to destroy the blood supply, but he is attacked by Ross' forces and taken into custody.
A recovered Blonsky forces Sterns to inject him with the Hulk's blood. Sterns warns that the combination of the supersoldier formula (which Blonsky has overdosed on, mutating his skeleton) and a gamma treatment would be an unpredictable combination that could turn him into an "abomination". Unconcerned, Blonsky makes Sterns administer the gamma charge, and he mutates into a powerful monster. He knocks Sterns aside and escapes, rampaging through Harlem to draw the Hulk out. At the lab, an irradiated sample of Banner's blood-derivative drips into an open wound on Sterns' temple, causing his cranium to mutate and expand.
Banner, realizing that he is the only one who can stop the monster, convinces General Ross to release him. He falls from Ross' helicopter as it hovers over the city, hoping the fall will trigger a transformation. Banner's plan succeeds, and after a brutal battle, the Hulk defeats Blonsky by nearly strangling him to death with a huge chain, relenting his grip only after Betty's plea. The Hulk then flees the scene with the army in pursuit.
Thirty-one days later, Banner is in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Instead of trying to suppress his transformations, he is attempting to initiate them in a controlled manner. As his eyes turn green, a grin appears on his face. Meanwhile, General Ross is drinking in a bar when he is approached by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who reveals that a "team" is being put together.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2008 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter films series. Production is in the post-production stage. David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is returning as director for this film. David Heyman and David Barron are producing the film, and Steve Kloves, though he did not write the fifth film, has returned as screenwriter for this instalment. Filming began on September 24, 2007 and the film is scheduled for a UK and US release on November 21, 2008, South Africa on December 5, 2008, and an Australian release on December 11, 2008. Like the previous film, the sixth film will be simultaneously released in regular theatres and IMAX 3-D. Editing of the movie has been completed and studio officials will soon see the finished product. The film has been chosen to be screened at this year's Royal Film Performance on November 17.Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane's chocolates! And then there's Hermione, simpering with jealousy but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Hancock

Hancock is a 2008 superhero film directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman, and Charlize Theron. It tells the story of a vigilante superhero, John Hancock (Smith), from Los Angeles whose reckless actions routinely cost the city millions of dollars. Eventually one person he saves, Ray Embrey (Bateman), makes it his mission to change Hancock's public image for the better.
The story was originally written by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and languished in development hell in Hollywood for some time. The project has had various directors attached, including Tony Scott, Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow, and Gabriele Muccino. Hancock was originally intended to be filmed before I Am Legend, also starring Will Smith. Hancock was filmed in Los Angeles with a production budget of $150 million.
In the United States, the film was rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America after changes were made at the organization's request in order to avoid a "restricted" (R) rating, which it had received twice before. The film was widely released on July 2, 2008 in the United States and the United Kingdom. Hancock has received mainly poor to average reviews from film critics. To date, the film has grossed an estimated $501,082,007 worldwide.

John Hancock (Will Smith) is an alcoholic man with superhuman powers, including supersonic flight, invulnerability, immortality, and super-strength. Though he uses his powers to stop criminals in his current residence of Los Angeles, his activity inadvertently causes millions of dollars in property damage due to his constant intoxication. As a result, he is routinely jeered at the crime scenes. Hancock also ignores court subpoenas from the city of Los Angeles to address the property damage he has caused.
When public relations spokesperson Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) departs from an unsuccessful meeting pitching his All-Heart logo for corporations who are extraordinarily charitable, he becomes trapped on railroad tracks with an incoming freight train. Hancock saves Ray's life, but he causes the train to derail and nearly injures another driver. Hancock is jeered by other drivers for causing more damage, but Ray steps in and thanks Hancock for saving his life. Ray offers to improve Hancock's public image, and Hancock grudgingly accepts. The spokesperson convinces the alcoholic superhero to permit himself to be jailed for outstanding subpoenas so they can show Los Angeles how much the city really needs Hancock. When the crime rate rises after Hancock's incarceration, the superhero is contacted by the Chief of Police. With a new costume from Ray, Hancock intervenes with a bank robbery, rescuing a cop and stopping the leader of the robbers, Red Parker (Eddie Marsan).
After the rescue, Hancock is applauded for handling the bank robbery. The superhero becomes popular once more, as Ray had predicted. He goes out to dinner with Ray and his wife Mary (Charlize Theron), with whom he reveals his apparent immortality and his amnesia from 80 years ago. After Hancock tucks a drunken Ray in bed, he discovers that Mary also has superhuman powers. He threatens to expose her until she explains their origins, and she tells him that they have lived for 3,000 years with their powers, having been called gods and angels in their time. She explains that they are the last of their kind and that their kind are paired. Mary does not tell Hancock the entire truth, and Hancock departs to tell Ray about the conversation. The exchange results in a battle between Hancock and Mary that takes them to downtown Los Angeles, causing significant damage to the area. Ray, downtown in a business meeting, sees and recognizes Mary using abilities like Hancock's.
Hancock is later shot twice in the chest and wounded when he stops a liquor store robbery. After being hospitalized, Mary enters and explains that as the pair of immortals gets close, they begin to lose their powers. She also explains that Hancock was attacked in an alley 80 years prior, where he obtained amnesia. Mary deserted him then in order for him to recover from his injuries. When he is hospitalized, the hospital is raided by Red Parker, the bank robber, and two men that Hancock had humiliated during his incarceration. Mary, visiting Hancock, is shot in the process. Hancock is able to stop two men but is further wounded by them. When Red attempts to finish Hancock off, Ray comes to the rescue and kills the bank robber with a fire axe. With Mary nearly dying, Hancock flees from the hospital so their parting would allow her to heal with her powers. He later winds up in New York City, working as a superhero. As gratitude to Ray, Hancock paints Ray's All-Heart logo on the moon and calls the spokesperson to look up to the worldwide advertisement.

I Am Legend

I Am Legend is a 2007 post-apocalyptic science fiction film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's 1954 novel of the same name, following 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man. Smith plays virologist Robert Neville, who is immune to a vicious man-made virus originally created to cure cancer. He works to create a cure while living in Manhattan in 2012, a city inhabited by animalistic victims of the virus.
Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene at the Brooklyn Bridge, the most expensive scene ever filmed in the city at the time. Warner Bros. launched a tie-in comic and an online multiplayer game on Second Life as part of its marketing campaign. I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007 in the United States. It opened to the largest ever box office for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. during December. The film's commercial success "cemented [Smith's] standing as the number one box office draw in Hollywood.

the dark knight

The Dark Knight is a 2008 American superhero film co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Christian Bale reprises the lead role. Batman's primary conflicts in the film include his fight against his arch-nemesis the Joker (Heath Ledger) and his rivalry with district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) for the affections of assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal).
For his conception of the film, Nolan was inspired by the Joker's first two appearances in the comics and Batman: The Long Halloween. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. The director used an IMAX camera to film six major action sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film.
Warner Bros. created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Heath Ledger as the Joker. After Ledger's death in January 2008, however, the studio refocused its promotional campaign. The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom. Prior to its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advance tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. The film has broken multiple box office records, and achieved an overall approval rating of 94% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

The film begins with a bank robbery in which the robbers all wear clown masks. Batman impersonators attempt to interrupt a meeting of various mobsters and the Scarecrow. The real Batman appears, but suffers injuries which lead him to re-design the batsuit. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon must decide if they will include the new district attorney Harvey Dent in their plan to eradicate the mob and if Dent is truly a hero for Gotham. A love triangle involving Harvey Dent, Rachel Dawes, and Bruce Wayne emerges. Mob bosses meet to discuss Batman, Gordon, and Dent, while a Chinese mobster accountant, Lau, informs the gang leaders he has taken their money to Hong Kong to preempt a plan that Dent hatches to seize the mobsters' loot. The Joker appears and offers to solve their problem--Batman--to kill Batman.
When Batman successfully abducts Lau in Hong Kong and delivers him to the Gotham City police, the mobsters agree to hire the Joker. The Joker tells all of Gotham that if Batman does not turn himself in to the police, people will die each day. When the Joker begins killing public officials, including Commissioner Loeb and the judge presiding over the mob trials, Wayne decides to turn himself in. Before he can do so, Dent announces that he is Batman, to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to kill Dent, but Gordon and Batman intervene and arrest him.
Batman interrogates the Joker, who reveals that Dawes and Dent have been taken to opposite sides of the city, far enough apart that Batman does not have time to save both of them, and placed in warehouses rigged with explosives. Batman speeds off to save Dawes, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. However, the Joker has switched the locations, sending Batman after Dent and Gordon after Dawes. With the help of a bomb planted at the police station, the Joker escapes with Lau in tow. Batman arrives at Dent's location in time to save him, but Dent sustains burns to the left side of his face. Gordon does not arrive in time to save Dawes, and she is killed in the explosion. In the hospital, Dent is driven to madness over the loss of Dawes. The Joker frees Dent from the hospital and convinces him to exact revenge on the police, mobsters, Gordon, and Batman.
While Harvey "Two-Face" Dent confronts the corrupt police and the mobsters one by one, flipping a coin to decide their fates, the Joker burns Lau along with his half of the mob's money. The Joker announces to the public that he will rule the streets and that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. With the bridges and tunnels out of the city closed due to the Joker's bomb threat, the authorities begin evacuating people by ferry. The Joker places explosives on two of the ferries—one carrying convicts, the other with civilians—telling the passengers on each that the only way to save themselves is to trigger the explosives on the other ferry; otherwise, at midnight he will destroy them both remotely.
Batman locates the Joker and prevents him from destroying the ferries. After being defeated by Batman, the Joker acknowledges that Batman truly is incorruptible, but that Dent was not and that he has unleashed Dent's madness upon the city. The Joker is subsequently captured by the SWAT team. Batman finds Dent holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint at the remains of the building where Dawes died. Dent proceeds to judge Batman, himself, and Gordon's son through the chance of a coin toss. Dent shoots Batman in the abdomen, but before he can determine the boy's fate Batman tackles him over the side of the building. As Dent lies motionless on the ground, Batman and Gordon realize the fallout and loss of morale the city would suffer if Dent's acts of murder became known. Batman convinces Gordon to blame him for the murders to preserve Dent's image. As Gordon destroys the Bat-Signal, a manhunt is issued for Batman.