In Theatres
Your monthly guide to new releases
By Ingrid Randoja
June 6
KUNG FU PANDA (pictured above)
The entire Valley of Peace is stunned to learn that noodle server Po the panda (Jack Black) is actually the “Chosen One,” destined to defend the Valley from the evil snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). It’ll take the wise teachings of Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and five martial arts wizards (voiced by A-listers Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and David Cross) to whip this roly-poly bear into shape.
MONGOL
Russian director Sergei Bodrov brings us the
first installment of his planned trilogy recounting the life of
Temudgin, a.k.a. Genghis Khan, who united the nomad tribes of Asia in
the early 13th-century and went on to rule half of the known world.
This visually stunning film covers Temudgin’s brutal childhood
(including his father’s poisoning and his own enslavement) up until the creation of his first full army.
YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN
Feared Israeli Mossad agent Zohan (Adam Sandler) fakes his own death so he can immigrate to New York City and become a hairdresser. His sexy styling methods are a hit with the blue-rinse brigade, but when his cover is blown, he’s forced to use his deadly skills once more.
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The Incredible Hulk
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June 13
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
Cerebral actor Edward Norton transforms into Marvel’s most inarticulate superhero in this reboot of a franchise that looked unsalvageable after Ang Lee’s Hulk
took a drubbing from fans and critics. Norton portrays on-the-run
scientist Bruce Banner, who turns into the big, green monster every
time he gets steamed. But now there’s a new monster on the block named
the Abomination (Tim Roth), and he wants a piece of the Hulkster. See Tim Roth interview.
THE HAPPENING
Our senses tingled just watching the trailer for director M. Night Shyamalan’s
latest “What If...” flick. The plot remains somewhat shrouded, but it’s
clear some sort of environmental or man-made phenomenon is killing off
masses of people, and it’s up to a high school science teacher (Mark Wahlberg) to lead his family and friends to safety.
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YOUNG PEOPLE F--KING
This sexually frank drama, set and shot in Toronto, recounts what happens when five various twosomes — a couple, roommates, co-workers, exes and best friends — get down to business.
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Wanted
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June 20
WANTED
Mark Millar’s graphic novel loses some of its nihilistic
edginess as a film, but it’s still pretty grim. In his first big-budget
Hollywood thriller, James McAvoy stars as brow-beaten loser
Wesley Gibson, who not only learns his estranged father was a member of
a top-secret group of assassins that kill people to make sure the
balance between good and evil remains stable, but that he’s inherited
his dad’s talent for murder. A really skinny Angelina Jolie co-stars as the sexy Fox, who initiates young Wesley into the group and teaches him how to kill.
WALL•E
When mankind abandons the Earth, it leaves behind a trash-bundling
robot named WALL•E, who for the next 700 years continues to pick up
garbage with only a pet cockroach to keep him company. But his lonely
days come to an end when EVE the robot arrives, and the lovestruck
WALL•E hitches a ride aboard her spaceship. By all accounts, Pixar’s
latest looks to be one of its best.
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GET SMART
Remember Bewitched, The Beverly Hillbillies and McHale’s Navy? Those three not-so-good movie versions of ’60s TV sitcoms proved how hard it is to adapt 40-year-old TV fare into present-day films. However, what Get Smart has in its favour is the casting of Steve Carell as hapless Control Agent 86, who, along with smart-as-a-whip Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), takes on the evil KAOS. See Anne Hathaway interview.
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The Love Guru
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THE LOVE GURU
Mike Myers spent three years fine-tuning Guru Pitka, the star of
his new comedy. Pitka (Myers), a Caucasian orphan raised inside an
Indian Ashram, desperately wants to conquer the North American
self-help market. So to further his career he agrees to help the owner (Jessica Alba) of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who needs the guru to sort out the team’s broken-hearted star player (Romany Malco). See Mike Myers interview.
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Director Werner Herzog
and his cameraman travel to Antarctica to film the continent’s
breathtaking landscape and interview the fascinating, sometimes odd,
men and women stationed at the remote McMurdo research station.
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SPECIAL EVENTS ON THE BIG SCREEN
WWE-PAY-PER-VIEW
ONE NIGHT STAND
June1: Mayhem ensues when the WWE hits San Diego for this knock-down extravaganza.
Go to cineplex.com for participating theatres and to buy tickets.