Push is a 2009 American science fiction thriller film by filmmaker Paul McGuigan. The film stars Dakota Fanning as Cassie, Djimon Hounsou as Carver, and Chris Evans as Nick. The plot centers a group of telekinetic people who band together to attempt to take down a government agency that is transforming normal citizens into powerful psychics. Powers include the ability to see the future before it happens, create new realities, amongst other powers. Push received generally negative reviews by critics on its original release with critics claiming the film to be “visually flashy but hyperkinetic and convoluted”.

Plot

This sci-fi action film involves a group of young American expatriates with telekinetic, telepathic, and clairvoyant abilities, hiding from a clandestine U.S. government agency referred to as “Division.” They try to find the only woman that ever escaped from “Division”. She is their only key to finding out how to escape the agency. They must also use their different talents and band together for a final job enabling them to escape the agency forever.

With Intel Core 2 Duo iMac is a even more powerful than ever. Now the new iMac running at speeds up to 3.06GHz. With that kind of speed you can make yourself creative with any application come with Mac OS X Leopard and of course iLife ‘08 that include iTunes, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, Garage Band, and Mobile Web Gallery. You will love the design of course, because it’s slim.

Tropic Thunder is a 2008 action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller and written by Stiller, Justin Theroux, and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. as a group of prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film when their fed-up writer and director decide to abandon them in the middle of the jungle, forcing them to fight their way out.

Stiller initially had the idea for the film while playing a small part in Empire of the Sun, and later brought on Theroux and Cohen to help him complete the script. After the film was greenlit in 2006, filming took place in 2007 on the Hawaiian island of Kauai over 13 weeks, and was deemed the largest film production in the island’s history. The film had a large marketing promotion, including showing numerous screenings, selling the fictional energy drink advertised in the film, and posting faux websites for the characters, films, and products shown in Tropic Thunder.

The film met controversy among the disability advocacy community prior to its release on August 13, 2008. It received generally positive reviews with 83% and 71% ratings according the review aggregator websites Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, respectively. It earned $26 million in its opening weekend.

During the filming of Vietnam veteran “Four Leaf” Tayback’s (Nick Nolte) memoir, the stars—fading action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller), five-time Academy Award-winner Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.), rap star Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson), low-brow drug-addled comedian Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), and character actor Kevin Sandusky (Jay Baruchel)—behave unreasonably, resulting in a $4 million explosion going off with no cameras shooting. With filming a month behind schedule only five days into shooting, the media dubs the production “the most expensive war movie never made”. Rookie director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan) is ordered by studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) to get the production back on track or risk having it shut down. With inspiration from Tayback, Cockburn drops the spoiled actors into the middle of the jungle, where he installs hidden cameras and special effect explosions rigged so he can film “guerrilla-style”. The actors have only a map and a scene listing to guide them to the helicopter waiting at the end of the jungle. Shortly afterward, the director is blown up by a land mine left by the French, but thanks to his preceding diatribe, only Lazarus realizes his death was real.

Unbeknownst to the actors, they were dropped in the middle of the Golden Triangle, the home of the heroin-producing Flaming Dragon gang. The Dragons believe the actors to be DEA agents. When Tayback and pyrotechnics man Cody (Danny R. McBride) attempt to locate the now-deceased director, they are captured by the drug producers. In captivity, Tayback reveals he has never left the U.S. before, and originally wrote the book as a tribute. The actors trek through the hostile jungle, with Speedman the only one completely interested in finishing the movie.

After doing a “scene”, Portnoy’s stash of heroin is swept up by a passing bat, causing him to go into withdrawal. After Lazarus and Sandusky discover that the inept Speedman is leading them the wrong way, the rest split off from him, with Speedman continuing to follow the film’s script while the others attempt to escape the jungle. Speedman is soon captured and taken to the Flaming Dragon’s heroin factory, which he initially believes to be a POW camp from the script. The gang soon realizes that he is the star of the box office bomb Simple Jack (which happens to be the only movie they have on VHS) and they force him to reenact the film several times a day. The gang contacts Speedman’s agent, Rick (Matthew McConaughey), and Grossman and asks for a ransom. Grossman curses out the gang, later telling Rick that they can benefit more by collecting the insurance claim on Speedman’s death, offering the torn agent a share of the profits.

The other actors stumble upon the Flaming Dragon’s heroin factory. After seeing Speedman being tortured, they plan an ambush based on the film’s plot line. Kirk impersonates a farmer who has caught Jeff in his farm, distracting the armed guards as Chino and Sandusky sneak into the building the captives are held in. After the gang notices inconsistencies in Lazarus’ story, the actors open fire on the gang, temporarily subduing them despite being armed with only special effects blanks. Portnoy kidnaps the gang’s child leader from the fray in order to be led to the drugs. After barely defeating the prepubescent crime lord in combat, he finds an enormous mound of heroin; however, reflecting upon his failing low-brow movie career, he rejects the heroin and uses it instead to knock out two guards.

Portnoy, Chino, and Lazarus find Speedman brainwashed: after performing to an approving crowd several times a day, he now believes he is home. Before they can snap him out of it, Lazarus breaks down, as he has remained in character up to this point. He reveals that he is conflicted with his own identity, and Sandusky and Chino help him realize his identity as an Australian man and not the character Sgt. Osiris. With Speedman still dazed, they drag him out and attempt to escape in Cody and Tayback’s recaptured helicopter. The gang quickly rejoins, crossing a bridge which is rigged to detonate by Cody. Speedman asks to remain behind with his “family”, but he quickly returns with the murderous gang in hot pursuit. Tayback detonates the bridge just in time for Speedman to reach safety, and the actors and crew escape from the jungle (thanks to a timely arrival of Rick, who saves them from an RPG with a TiVo box). A documentary of the botched production is made from the hidden camera footage, and results in a multiple Academy Award-winning blockbuster film. The film breaks Speedman’s streak of flops and he wins the award for Best Actor. The film ends with Grossman dancing to “Get Back” by Ludacris during the cast curtain call.

Cast

• Ben Stiller as Tugg Speedman: The highest-paid, highest-grossing action star ever who likes to be pampered and who took a disastrous turn in an attempt to be a serious actor.
• Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus: An Australian multiple Academy Award-winning method actor who portrays the African American character Sgt. Osiris.^[3]
• Jack Black as Jeff “Fats” Portnoy: A drug addicted comedian-turned-actor well known for playing multiple parts and frequent use of flatulence in films. Black’s character imitates Ozzy by biting off a bat’s head in the film.
• Nick Nolte as John “Four Leaf” Tayback: The author of Tropic Thunder, the novel for which the film is based on, who hatches the idea to drop the actors in the middle of the jungle.
• Steve Coogan as Damien Cockburn: The director of the film based on Tayback’s book.
• Jay Baruchel as Kevin Sandusky: A young actor who is the only one that read the script and attended a boot camp prior to the film.
• Danny McBride as Cody Underwood: The special effects wizard behind the film.
• Brandon T. Jackson as Alpa Chino: A rapper who is attempting to cross over into acting.
• Bill Hader as Rob Slolom: Assistant and right hand man to Les Grossman.
• Matthew McConaughey as Rick “Pecker” Peck: Tugg Speedman’s agent.
• Tom Cruise as Les Grossman: The foul mouthed executive behind Tropic Thunder.
• Brandon Soo Hoo as Tran: The young leader of the Flaming Dragon gang.
• Reggie Lee as Byong: The second-in-command of the Flaming Dragon gang.
• Trieu Tran as Tru: A soldier in the Flaming Dragon gang.

Punisher: War Zone is an upcoming 2008 action film based on the comic book vigilante and anti-hero The Punisher, a fictional character whose adventures are published by Marvel Comics. The film is a reboot, not a sequel to 2004’s The Punisher, directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. It will be released in North America by Lions Gate Entertainment and will be released in other parts of the world by Columbia Pictures.

Waging his one-man war on the world of organized crime, ruthless vigilante-hero Frank Castle sets his sights on overeager mob boss Billy Russoti. After Russoti is left horribly disfigured by Castle, he sets out for vengeance under his new alias: Jigsaw. With the “Punisher Task Force” hot on his trail and the FBI unable to take Jigsaw in, Frank must stand up to the formidable army that Jigsaw has recruited before more of his evil deeds go unpunished.

Cast

Max Payne is an upcoming action film based on the 2001 video game of the same name. The film is directed by John Moore and stars Mark Wahlberg in the titular role. The film is scheduled to be released on October 17, 2008.

Max Payne (Mark Wahlberg) is a cop whose family and partner are brutally murdered. He embarks on a maverick path, venturing into the underworld to find those responsible for the murders. Payne finds that he faces enemies from beyond the natural world and that he will be betrayed.

The 2001 video game Max Payne was optioned by the production company Collision Entertainment to produce a live-action film adaptation. By April 2002, distributors Dimension Films and Abandon Entertainment were attached to the project. Shawn Ryan, the creator of the television series The Shield, was hired to write a script for the planned film. By June 2005, without production starting, Collision Entertainment had taken the project to 20th Century Fox. In November 2007, with a script written by Beau Thorne, Fox announced John Moore as the director and Mark Wahlberg as the star in the titular role.

Filming began in Toronto on March 2, 2008 and wrapped by May 9, 2008. The film will be rated PG-13 in the United States, a departure from the M-rated video game series. Mila Kunis said of the tone-down, “It’s incredibly dark. You still get the gist of it. The only difference between R-rated and PG-13 is you might not see as much blood. You might not see blood squirting everywhere, but as far as the sadness and the darkness of it and the distraught [nature] of these human beings is very much captured in the film.”

Cast

• Mark Wahlberg as Max Payne, a cop haunted by the murder of his family and who disregards rules to investigate their deaths. Wahlberg described his role, “It’s probably one of the edgier roles I’ve played but also the most layered. Here’s a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It’s all driven by emotion.”
• Beau Bridges as B.B. Hensley, a former cop and Max Payne’s mentor.
• Mila Kunis as Mona Sax, an assassin who seeks revenge for the murder of her sister.
• Ludacris as Jim Bravura, an internal affairs agent.
• Chris O’Donnell as Jason Colvin, an executive and Nicole Horne’s “right-hand man”.
• Nelly Furtado as Christa Balder, wife of Alex Balder.
• Kate Burton as Nicole Horne, CEO of Aesir corporation.
• Donal Logue as Alex Balder, Max Payne’s partner and best friend.
• Amaury Nolasco as Jack Lupino, a mafia boss who becomes insane due to the drug Valkyr.

Drillbit Taylor or known as Drillbit Taylor: Budget Bodyguard is a 2008 comedy film starring Owen Wilson as the title character and based on an original idea by John Hughes. Paramount Pictures released the film on March 21, 2008.

Two boys, chubby Ryan (Troy Gentile) and skinny Wade (Nate Hartley), are preparing for their first day of high school. Things start badly when the pair arrive at school wearing the same shirt, and get worse when Wade sticks up for a smaller fellow geek, Emmett, (David Dorfman) who is being shoved into a locker by bullies Filkins (Alex Frost) and Ronnie (Josh Peck). The sadistic (and Hannibal Lecter-like) Filkins makes it his mission to haze and humiliate the three at every chance. The trio complain to the principal (Stephen Root), but their concerns fall upon deaf ears. Filkins is furious that the boys have squealed on him, and the hazing gets worse. Wade suggests to his friends that they pool their money together to hire a bodyguard who can protect them. They place an ad on the Internet, and select Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) out of several candidates, mainly because he is the cheapest. Taylor pretends to be a martial arts master and mercenary, but in reality he is just a homeless man who sleeps under a picnic table, showers on a public beach overlooking the highway, and eats out of a dumpster. His real intention of becoming their bodyguard is to rob them and get enough money to go to Canada and start living there. When he shows up in a “borrowed” suit at the boys’ school, he is taken by the school staff to be a substitute teacher, falls in love with a pretty teacher (Leslie Mann), and decides to actually start working as such. He starts really liking the boys and decides to try to really defend them, and teach them also to defend themselves. After Taylor’s criminal friends steal a lot from Wade’s house, Taylor fights them and returns everything to the house.

However, Filkins soon finds out from Ronnie (whose mom gave Taylor money) about Taylor’s identity and punches him. Taylor is forced to confess to the boys that his real name is Bob and he went A.W.O.L. from the U.S. Army after a few days of service. The trio fire him and demand their stuff back. The parents soon find out and take things up with the principal. As a result, Taylor is a wanted man and things with Filkins are still not settled. After a confrontation with Filkins, who spoiled Wade’s chance to ask out Brooke (Valerie Tian), an Asian girl who he met on day one, Ryan and Wade, who have gained self-confidence, challenge Filkins to a fight. He agrees if they come to his house for the fight (Filkins is an emancipated minor and owns his own house, which is why they couldn’t call his parents). During the fight Emmett (who previously abandoned Ryan and Wade) shows up for the last part of the fight delivering many small punches to Filkins’ leg. Drillbit shows up and continues to take punches from Filkins until he finds out that Filkins is no longer a minor, after which Drillbit displays considerable skill and beats him up. During the group’s celebration, the police show up and Drillbit, a U.S. Army deserter, is forced to flee. Filkins runs out with a samurai sword and throws it at Ryan, Wade and Emmett, which Drillbit stops just in time by catching it (giving him a gash on his hand and severing his pinky). Filkins is then arrested and taken back to his parents in Hong Kong, and Drillbit taken to the hospital, then prison. Three weeks later, Taylor is out of prison and celebrating with his new friends and new girlfriend Lisa.

Kung Fu Panda is an animated film about a panda who learns martial arts and then uses this new ability to fight his enemies. Kung Fu Panda is being directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb. The idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance, a DreamWorks Animation executive. The film premiered at the 61st Cannes Film Festival. The film is due for US release on June 6 and UK release on 4 July 2008. It will be distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The film stars the voices of, among others, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane.

This film has been rated PG by the MPAA for sequences of martial arts action. The film was also rated PG by the BBFC.

The movie opens up with the main character Po (Jack Black), a giant panda having a kung fu themed dream. The dream concludes with the outlines of the five masters bowing to him just as his father, a crane yells for him to come to work. Po falls down the several flights of stairs from his room to the kitchen of a noodle shop run by his father, who inherited it from his father, who won it from a pig in a game of rummy. It is then he hears that today is the day that the dragon warrior will be chosen to defeat the evil snow leopard. Po is commically and “accidentally” chosen by the grand master as the one who is to be the dragon warrior.

Cast

Two additional voices were provided by winners of a Nickelodeon competition

Wanted is a 2008 film loosely based on the comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar. The film is directed by Timur Bekmambetov and stars James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Konstantin Khabensky and Angelina Jolie. Production began in April 2007. Wanted has a target release date of June 27, 2008.

Production

The comic book miniseries Wanted by Mark Millar first attracted the attention of Universal Studios executive Jeff Kirschenbaum, a comic book fan who sought a film adaptation that would be considered a “hard-R” and encouraged the studio to pick up the rights to the miniseries. By 2004, producer Marc Platt set up development of the film adaptation. In December 2005, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov was attached to helm the project as his first English-language film, with the script being written by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. Millar did not like the first draft of the script. He explained, “I wanted the film to basically be the opposite of the Spider-Man movie, the idea of someone getting powers and realizing they can do what they want, then choosing the dark path. The [script] I read was just too tame. It just seemed a little bit Americanized. But Timur came in with his Eastern European madness, and he really made it nasty. He went closer to the spirit of the book.”

Director Timur Bekmambetov said that the film would keep the same characters from the miniseries, though the director would take liberty in adapting the comic book’s world. In July 2006, screenwriter Chris Morgan was hired to revise the third act of the Wanted script written by Haas and Brandt.^[17] The script was also rewritten by screenwriter Dean Georgaris to include the role of The Fox for actress Angelina Jolie.^[3] Haas and Brandt returned to even out the character of Wesley Gibson, which they had established in their first draft.^[18]

Comic book author Mark Millar described the first half of the film as being close to the graphic novel. Millar also said that the film’s ending was similar, though it was relocated elsewhere from the setting in the graphic novel. The superhero costumes in the graphic novel were also removed, with the exception of the leather attire worn by Wesley Gibson and The Fox. Ironically, this had been Millar’s intent when writing the graphic novel, although he and artist J. G. Jones had forgotten to. “I wanted them to have those powers and then just wear those costumes for the initiation, but just for one panel.” he said. “And then I forgot. I’d have liked [the filmmakers] to keep the supervillain mythos. That’s one thing I’m kind of sad they didn’t keep, ’cause I really liked that, the idea that supervillains and heroes did exist at one point and they’re all gone now.”The story arc of the Fates issuing death orders in line with the novel’s original theme of predestination was a new element to the film, an addition to which Millar was amicable.

Wanted will include free running and parkour in addition to car chases and gunfights. Wanted creator Mark Millar saw previsualized footage for the film and said the footage had raised his expectations for the film adaptation. The film will be the first to use the Red One digital camera, a new tool that has gained interest among cinematographers.

Location plate shooting took place in Chicago in April 2007. Several chase scenes, including one with a low flying helicopter, were shot in Chicago on May 17 and 18 on Wacker Drive along the Chicago River, between Columbus Drive and LaSalle Street. Production moved to the Czech Republic later in May, scheduled for 12 weeks of shooting. For the film, production designer John Myhre constructed a large textile factory in Prague as part of an industrial world, the setting of a mythological environment in which looms create fabrics interwoven with the destinies of people, interpreted by weavers to issue orders for specific individuals’ deaths to preserve the balance of the world. Afterward, filming moved to Budapest, then returned to Chicago in August.