Top Notch films at MC

A series of blockbuster same day releases are scheduled in the next line up films for the year 2008 at the Majestic cinema, Colombo.

Starting from ‘Iron Man’ on May 2, Majestic will screen nearly ten latest films distributed by Cinema Entertainment (Pvt) Limited.
Imported to Sri Lanka by Imthiaz J. Cader of Liberty Cinemas Ltd from United International Pictures (UIP) the series include ‘Iron Man’, ‘Indiana Jones 4’, 'The Incredible Hulk’, ‘ Kunfu Panda’, ‘The Mummy-3', ‘The Love Guru’, ‘Hell Boy II’, ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Madagascar 2’.

Action adventure based on comic character under the same title, 'Iron Man' directed by Jon Favreau, the film is about a wealthy industrialist Tony Stark who is forced to build an armored suit after a life-threatening incident. He ultimately decides to use its technology to fight against evil.

Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark (Iron Man) a billionaire industrialist who is captured by terrorists in Afghanistan. Ordered to build a missile, Stark uses his resources instead to build a suit of power armor and make his escape. Returning to America, Stark improves his armor and becomes the technologically advanced superhero Iron Man. Along with Downey, Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar nominees Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges play in the film.

The fourth of the Indiana Jones series ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ is slated to be released from May 22.
Steven Spielberg's adventure film story co-written by George Lucas is set in 1957 and pits an older and wiser Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) against agents of the Soviet Union-led by Spalko (Cate Blanchett)-for the crystal skull. Indy is aided by his former lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen), the greaser Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) and fellow archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone). John Hurt, Jim Broadbent, and Ian McDiarmid also play fellow academics.

Harrison Ford as Professor Henry ‘Indiana’ Jones, Jr. To prepare for the role, the 64-year-old Ford spent three hours a day at a gym, and relied on a high-protein diet of fish and vegetables. Ford kept fit during the film series' hiatus anyway, as he was always hoping for another film. When asked if Ford was too old, producer Frank Marshall quoted Raiders of the Lost Ark: "'It's not the years, it's the mileage.' What'll be interesting is you're seeing him in a different decade, so there's all kinds of new, interesting things that he has to deal with.

During the late 1970s, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had made a deal with Paramount Pictures for five films about archaeologist Indiana Jones. The production crew converts a storefront in downtown New Haven, Connecticut to be used in a scene set to take place in the 1950s.

Unlike the previous Indiana Jones films which were shot in many eastern countries including Sri Lanka, Spielberg limited his locations within the United States for his latest. This is as he did not want to be away from his family.

Shooting began on June 18, 2007 at Deming, New Mexico. An extensive chase scene set at Indiana Jones' fictional Marshall College was filmed at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. They had moved to Hawaii, shooting twenty percent of the film for three weeks on private property, keeping production secretive.

Scenes set in the jungles of Peru were shot in Hawaii: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is the biggest film shot there since Waterworld, and was estimated to generate $22 million to $45 million in the local economy.

Following Indiana Jones, ‘The Incredible Hulk’ will be screened at the Majestic cinema from June 13 onward. Directed by Louis Leterrier the film stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt.

‘The Incredible Hulk' tells the story of Dr Bruce Banner, who seeks a cure to his unique condition, which causes him to turn into a giant green monster under emotional stress. Whilst on the run from military which seeks his capture, Banner comes close to a cure. But all is lost when a new creature emerges; The Abomination.

From July 11, ‘Kung Fu Panda’, an animation directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne will be released. This interesting movie revolves around Po (Jack Black), a panda who is a kung fu fanatic, but whose defining characteristic appears to be that he is the laziest animal in ancient China. Evil warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane) has escaped from prison, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophecy naming Po as the "Chosen One" to save the day. He has a kung fu master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) who "has trained five of the greatest warriors that the world has ever known", to help him.

The film stars the voices of, among others, Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie and Lucy Liu. The film is originally scheduled to be released on June 6, 2008 worldwide. Among other releases is ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, an upcoming American film that follows up The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. It is slated for release on August 1, 2008 here.

Drector Stephen Sommers, who directed the previous Mummy films, tells a story in the Far East, trouble-seeking father-and-son duo Rick and Alex O'Connell unearth the mummy of the first Emperor of Qin -- a shape-shifting entity who was cursed by a wizard centuries ago.

The comedy ‘The Love Guru,’ directed by Marco Schnabel stars Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Romany Malco will be relased in Septemnber 5.

Pitka (Mike Myers in his first original character since Austin Powers) is an American who was left at the gates of an ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus. He moves back to the U.S. to seek fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.

His unorthodox methods are put to the test when he must settle a rift between major league star hockey player Darren Roanoke (Romany Malco) and his estranged wife. After the split, Roanoke's wife starts dating the star member of a rival team, out of revenge, sending her husband into a major professional skid -- to the horror of the team's owner Jane Bullard (Jessica Alba) and Coach Cherkov (Verne Troyer). Pitka must return the couple to marital nirvana and get Roanoke back on his game so the team can break the 40-year-old "Bullard Curse’ and win the championship.

‘Hell Boy II- The Golden Army’ written and directed by Guillermo del Toro revolves around the mythical world which starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so as Hellboy and his team returns they must save the world from the rebellious creatures.

Now, as the creatures who inhabit the spiritual realm gear-up for an all out attack on the human plane, the only one capable of saving the Earth is a tough-talking hell spawn rejected by both worlds.

This Action, adventure, fantasy stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor, Doug Jones and Ladislav Beran in the lead cast and it is to be released in Colombo from September 19.

'Mamma Mia!', an upcoming film adaptation of the West End musical of the same name based on the songs of pop group ABBA. The title of the film comes from the group's 1975 chart-topper ‘Mamma Mia’.

Oscar winner Meryl Streep will head the cast of the film, playing the role of single mother Donna Sheridan. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård will play the three potential fathers to Donna's daughter Sophie (Amanda Seyfried). It is directed by Phyllida Lloyd.

'Mamma Mia!' employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan (Amanda Seyfried), a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding to Sky (Dominic Cooper), she brings three men, Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Bill Austin (Stellan Skarsgård) and Harry Bright (Colin Firth), from her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep) past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.

‘Madagascar 2 : The Great Escape’ is part of the Madagascar Series and is directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. The sequel of the first movie, the New York Zoo Animals, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo, still stranded on Madagascar, started to leave the island. All of a sudden, they landed in the wilderness of Africa. There, Alex soon meets the rest of his family and starting to have trouble communicating with them after much of his time at the Central Park Zoo.