The Guardian (2006)

The Guardian is a 2006 action-adventure drama film starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, and Melissa Sagemiller. The film was released on September 29, 2006, and was directed by Andrew Davis, director of The Fugitive. The setting for the film is the United States Coast Guard and their Aviation Survival Technician (AST) program.

The plot follows Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) and Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher) at the United States Coast Guard's Aviation Survival Technician (AST) Program.


Randall is the top rescue swimmer who continues to work against regulation past the age of 40. Fischer is a hot-shot candidate for AST who was ranked as a top competitive swimmer in high school with scholarships to every Ivy league college and university but opted to enlist in the Coast Guard.


The film's title is introduced by a mythic tale: people lost at sea often claim they feel a presence lifting them to the surface, breathing life into their bodies while they are waiting for help to arrive. They call this presence "The Guardian."

Box Office
The film earned $18 million on its opening weekend, and almost $95 million worldwide by January 4, 2007.

Critical Reception
The Guardian received average reviews: Rotten Tomatoes currently has it at 37% rotten (141 reviews: 52 fresh, 89 rotten) while Metacritic rates it a 53/100 based on 29 reviews.

Stephen Hunter pans it in The Washington Post, calling it "a good little film" for the first hour then it "begins to overload its frail reed of a structure with giant sloppages of cliches from other movies, some so bad it's almost comical", concluding that the movie "veers off into slobbery touchy-feeliness, and the tone becomes mock-religious, almost liturgical." Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe called it "dutiful but dull."

For The New York Times, A.O. Scott notes that participation by actual members of the Coast Guard "lends an air of authenticity" and concludes "[i]t’s not a great movie, but it’s certainly one of the finest Coast Guard pictures you’re likely to see anytime soon."

In a Variety review, Joe Leydon says the movie is "overlong but [the] involving drama has obvious cross-generational appeal."

Ed Blank in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review acknowledges there is plenty to snipe at yet also adds The Guardian "regurgitates formulaic elements in a way that pays off repeatedly and potently.


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The Smurf (2011)

The Smurfs is a 2011 American 3D family film based on The Smurfs comic book series created by Peyo and the 1980s animated TV series it spawned.

It was directed by Raja Gosnell and stars Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Jayma Mays, and Sofía Vergara. It is the first CGI/live-action hybrid film to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation and in The Smurfs trilogy. During early production the film was known as The Smurfs Movie.

After five years of negotiations, Jordan Kerner bought the rights in 2002 and was in development with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies until Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation obtained the film rights in 2008. Filming began in March 2010 in New York.

After having the release date changed three times, Columbia Pictures released The Smurfs on July 29, 2011.


Box office analysts initially predicted the film would tie with Cowboys & Aliens, but The Smurfs ultimately came in second grossing $35.6 million against Cowboys & Aliens's $36.4 million. The Smurfs received generally negative reviews from film critics but has been a box office success, and CinemaScore polls showed a positive score from audience voters.

The film's North American theatrical release date was originally December 17, 2010, but it was pushed to July 29, 2011. It was pushed back again to August 3, 2011. On March 25, 2011, the release date was reverted back to July 29, 2011. For marketing, Sony teamed up with marketing partners in the United States and Canada to promote the film with McDonald's Happy Meals and with Post Foods brand cereal with special blue-and-white cereal box.

Reception
Box office
The Smurfs opened on approximately 5,300 screens at 3,395 locations, with 2,042 locations being 3D-enabled theaters. On July 28, 2011, Exhibitor Relations predicted The Smurfs would rank third its opening weekend with $24 million but analyst Jeff Bock added that the film "could be a dark horse and do better than expected". That same day, John Young of Entertainment Weekly predicted a $32 million opening and a second place ranking behind Cowboys & Aliens. He also stated that the ticket service Fandango reported that the film was leading in ticket sales. The Smurfs came in number one on Friday making an $13.2 million, ahead of Cowboys & Aliens $13 million.

According to Sony's research, 65% of Smurfs' audience was parents (40%) and their children under 12 years old (25%). Overall the audience breakdown was reported as 64% female and 55% age 25 years and older.

Estimates later showed that Cowboys & Aliens and The Smurfs were tied at the number spot for the weekend with $36.2 million each. However, actual figures showed Cowboys & Aliens won the weekend with $36.4 million just beating The Smurfs's $35.6 million. The Smurfs's opening was still stronger than anticipated since some box office analysts predicted that it would open below $30 million. For its second weekend the film remained at number two with Rise of the Planet of the Apes taking Cowboys & Aliens's spot. It made $20.7 million (41% being from 3D showings), a 42% decrease from it opening weekend.

The Smurfs opened to $4.4 million from seven territories with Spain taking in $4 million of that total. On its second weekend it expanded to 42 territories, taking first place in most of its markets and grossing $45.2 million. Among the markets the film opened in first place were Brazil ($6.65 million), France ($5.93 million), Mexico ($5.53 million) Germany ($5.43 million) and India (INR17,200,000). As of Sep. 18, 2011, the film has grossed $137.5 million in the United States and Canada, along with $345.4 million in other markets, for a worldwide total of $483 million.

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The Mummy : Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is a 2008 American action adventure film that follows a sequel to The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001). The film stars Brendan Fraser, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Luke Ford, and Jet Li, and was released on August 1, 2008 in the United States.

The film was directed by Rob Cohen, written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and produced by Stephen Sommers (director of the previous two installments), Bob Ducsay, Sean Daniel, and James Jacks.


This film departed from the previous Egyptian setting.

The story has Rick O'Connell's son Alex, now an adult, discovering the tomb of The First Emperor of China, Emperor Han. This leads Rick and his wife Evelyn to travel to China, where an evil Chinese general causes the resurrection of the Emperor.

The Emperor then tries to break an ancient curse set on him by the witch Zi Yuan so he can use his magical powers to bring his army back to life to conquer the world.


The emperor, "Emperor Han" in the film, is based on Qin Shi Huangdi of the Qin Dynasty, and the first emperor of China, not the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of Han.

Box office performance
The film premiered in Moscow on July 24, 2008. With it, the first official trailer of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released.[31] The film had a wide release of 3,760 theatres in North America on August 1, 2008.

The film was the top-grossing film the day it opened, earning $15.2 million (The Dark Knight was in second place with $12 million) on Friday. However, the film did not become number one overall in the box office on opening weekend, claiming only $40.4 million, which allowed The Dark Knight to claim the top spot for the third week in a row with $42.6 million.

The film however scored a bigger success at the international box office where it opened at the first position in 26 of the 28 released markets over the weekend and grossed over $59.5 million in the three-day period.

It substantially outpaced comparable openings for 1999's The Mummy ($16.7 million) and 2001's The Mummy Returns ($21.5 million) in the same markets. The film also set opening records for the distributor in Korea (drawing $13.3 million), Russia ($12.7 million), Spain ($6.7 million), and Thailand. As of October 10, 2008, the film's domestic total stands at $102,491,776, with a much stronger international intake of $298,636,863. This brings its worldwide total to $401,128,639.


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National Treasure (2004)

National Treasure is a 2004 mystery adventure film from the Walt Disney Studios under Walt Disney Pictures.

It was written by Jim Kouf, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Cormac Wibberley, and Marianne Wibberley, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and directed by Jon Turteltaub.

It is the first film in the National Treasure franchise and stars Nicolas Cage, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, Sean Bean, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, and Christopher Plummer.


Cage plays Benjamin Gates, a historian and amateur cryptologist searching for a lost treasure, once protected by the Knights Templar and hidden by the Freemasons during the early years of the United States.

A coded map on the back of the Declaration of Independence points to the location of the "national treasure", but Gates is not alone in his quest. Whoever can steal the Declaration and decode it first, will find the greatest treasure in history.


The film received a mixed reaction from critics, some of whom lauded it as a fun, straightforward family adventure, while others ridiculed its numerous implausibilities and unbelievable plot twists.

Roger Ebert gave National Treasure two stars (out of four), calling it "so silly that the Monty Python version could use the same screenplay, line for line."

Academic David Bordwell has expressed a liking for the film, placing it in the tradition of 1950s Disney children's adventure movies, and using it as the basis for an essay on scene transitions in classical Hollywood cinema.


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MADAGASAR (2005)

Madagascar is a 2005 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation, and released in movie theaters on May 27, 2005.

The film tells the story of four Central Park Zoo animals who have spent their lives in blissful captivity and are unexpectedly shipped back to Africa, getting shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar.

The voices of Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, Chris Rock, and David Schwimmer are featured.



Other voices include Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, and Andy Richter.

Madagascar was released on DVD on November 15, 2005, along with the short film, The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper.


A Blu-ray Disc version was released on September 23, 2008. A sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, was released on November 7, 2008. The third film in the series is planned for summer 2012.


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Finding Nemo (2003)

Finding Nemo is a 2003 American computer-animated film written by Andrew Stanton, directed by Stanton and Lee Unkrich and produced by Pixar Animation Studios. It tells the story of a journey, of an overly protective clownfish Marlin (Albert Brooks) in search for his home, his son Nemo and to return home in the Coral reef as a changed Fish, Marlin helped by a regal tang called Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who also help him search for his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), in the vast ocean of the Great Barrier Reef. Seeking help from other creatures on his journey, Marlin learns to take risks and to let Nemo take care of himself.

The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews and won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. It was the 2nd highest-grossing film of 2003, behind Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, earning a total of $867 million worldwide. Finding Nemo is also the best-selling DVD of all time, with over 40 million copies sold as of 2006 and is the 2nd highest-grossing G-rated movie of all time, after Pixar's own Toy Story 3. In 2008, the American Film Institute named it the 10th greatest animated film ever made during their 10 Top 10.


In an interview with National Geographic magazine, Andrew Stanton stated that the idea for the character of Nemo came from a photograph of two clownfish peeking out of an anemone:

"It was so arresting. I had no idea what kind of fish they were, but I couldn't take my eyes off them. And as an entertainer, the fact that they were called clownfish—it was perfect. There's almost nothing more appealing than these little fish that want to play peekaboo with you."

Pre-production of the film took place in early 1997. Film production began, according to IMDb, in January 2000 with a crew of 180. It was Pixar's final use of Sun Microsystems.

In an interview, Megan Mullally revealed that she was originally doing a voice in the film. According to Mullally, the producers were quite disappointed to learn that the voice of her character Karen Walker on the television show Will & Grace wasn't her natural speaking voice. The producers hired her anyway, and then strongly encouraged her to use her Karen Walker voice for the role. When Mullally refused, she was fired.

Box-office performance
Finding Nemo set a record as the highest-grossing opening weekend for an animated feature, making $70,251,710 (surpassed a year later -in 2004- by Shrek 2, which was in turn out-grossed by Shrek the Third in 2007). It earned $339,714,978 in the U.S.A. and Canada and $528,179,000 overseas for a worldwide total of $867,893,978. It was the second highest-grossing movie of 2003, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Domestically, overseas and worldwide, it was the highest-grossing Disney·Pixar film, up until 2010 when Toy Story 3 surpassed it ($415.0 million domestically, $648.1 million overseas and $1.063 billion worldwide).

Finding Nemo became the highest-grossing animated film in the U.S.A. and Canada ($339.7 million), overseas ($528.2 million) and worldwide ($867.9 million), in all three occasions having outgrossed The Lion King ($328,541,776 in North America, $455,300,000 overseas and $783,841,776 worldiwde). In 2004, it was overtaken by Shrek 2 domestically ($441,226,247) and recently by Toy Story 3 ($415,004,880). Overseas, it was surpassed by Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ($690.1 million) and Toy Story 3 ($648.1 million). Worldwide, it now ranks fourth among animated movies after Toy Story 3 ($1,062,806,932), Shrek 2 ($919,838,758) and Ice Age 3 ($886,686,817).

Among its international markets, in many it had impressive box-office runs. In Japan, it ultimately grossed $102,441,470 becoming the highest-grossing Western animated film of all time until it was out-grossed by Toy Story 3 ($126.7 million) and currently ranks eleventh on the country's all-time chart. $20 million-plus-grossing markets include the ones following. In UK, Ireland and Malta, it grossed £37,178,973 ($67,117,404) being the seventh best animation film. In France and the Maghreb region ($64,781,395) it is third among animation films behind Ice Age 3 and Ratatouille and 8th best film on the all-time chart. In Germany ($53,926,684), it is third behind the two first Ice Age sequels, while in Spain ($29,462,544), in Italy ($27,701,112) and in Australia ($26,820,431) it also had great earnings.

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A Bug's Life (1998)

A Bug's Life is a 1998 American CGI film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution in the United States on November 25, 1998.

A Bug's Life was the second Disney·Pixar feature film and the third American computer-animated film after Toy Story and Antz. Based on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, it tells the tale of an oddball individualist inventor ant who hires what he thinks are "warrior bugs" — actually circus performers — to fight off a small band of grasshoppers who have made the ant colony their servants.

The film was directed by John Lasseter, and was co-directed by Andrew Stanton. It also inspired a 3D show at Disney's Animal Kingdom called It's Tough to Be a Bug!'.

Plot
Every season, a colony of ants are expected to gather food for a gang of bullying grasshoppers. One ant, Flik, is a promising inventor who isn't appreciated due to his inventions causing trouble. While trying out a mechanical harvester, he accidentally knocks the pile of food into a stream just before the grasshoppers arrive.


The grasshopper leader, Hopper, gives the ants the rest of the season to gather more but orders double after Flik stands up to him in defense of the Queen's young daughter and his only supporter, Dot. As a result of his mistake, Flik is admonished by the colony's council. When Flik suggests that he try to recruit warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers, Dot's older sister and the successor to the Queen, Princess Atta, allows him to do so, but only as a fool's errand to get rid of him.

Flik reaches the insect city, which is actually garbage under a trailer. He encounters a troupe of unemployed circus performers whose latest performance has just ended in disaster and mistakes them for the warriors he needs. At the same time, they believe him to be a talent scout who wants to book their act. They return to the colony, to Atta's surprise, and are greeted as heroes who can fight the grasshoppers. In a conversation, Flik and the troupe realize their misunderstandings with each other, which Atta nearly overhears. While about to leave the colony, the troupe reconsider when they manage to save Dot from being attacked by a hungry bird.

Flik proposes to build a model bird to scare Hopper away. Whilst working together on the bird, the troupe members bond with the colony. Atta and Flik, who share mutual feelings of pleasing everyone, begin an awkward attraction for each other. At the grasshopper's hideout, Hopper's brother Molt suggests that they do not come back, since they have more than enough food and that it will rain. Hopper reminds him and everyone else to keep ants living in fear because of the latters' superior numbers, and they all set out to collect their due.

Eventually, circus master P. T. Flea arrives looking for his missing performers and unknowingly exposes them. Upset at Flik's deception, Atta orders him exiled from the colony, while the other ants rush to collect whatever food they can for Hopper. When the grasshoppers arrive, the ants are unable to meet Hopper's demands, so Hopper and his cronies take over the colony and force them to bring them food. Dot overhears their plans to kill the Queen, catches up with Flik and the troupe, and persuades them to return and put their plan into action.

Flik, with help from Dot and her friends, fly the bird, which frightens the grasshoppers senseless, but P. T. Flea, thinking the bird to have injured Manny, sets it on fire. Realizing the bird is a fake, Hopper berates and beats Flik to the ground. Flik, however, is able to stand up and reveals that the ants are more powerful than they are led to believe, with grasshoppers being the weak, reliant ones. Realizing this, the colony swarms against the gang and forces all, except a captured Hopper, to leave. However, a rainstorm begins, causing panic in which Hopper grabs Flik and flies off. Atta rescues Flik and they lure Hopper toward the bird's nest. When they reach the birds nest, Hopper corners Flik, and then is confronted by the bird, whom he at first believes to be another fake, but eventually discovers it to be real. Hopper runs and almost manages to escape, but the bird corners him and picks him up in his beak. As Hopper screams "no" over and over again in panic, Flik and Atta look away as the bird lowers Hopper into its nest, where Hopper is promtly devoured by the bird's chicks.

The next spring, the colony has adopted Flik's harvester to speed up grain collection, and Atta becomes the new queen, passing the princess crown to Dot and choosing Flik as her mate. They wave goodbye to the troupe, now joined by Hopper's younger brother Molt, who all stayed over winter as guests.

Production
DreamWorks Animation's similar film Antz was released a little more than a month before A Bug's Life. DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney in 1994 and said the idea for Antz came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was related to Katzenberg in October 1994. However, Disney had been working on developing an ant film since 1988. Pixar head John Lasseter pitched A Bug's Life the day Katzenberg left Disney in August 1994, and said he felt "betrayed" when he learned Antz was scheduled for release before A Bug's Life. According to Lasseter and Steve Jobs, Katzenberg offered to stop development of Antz if Disney moved the release date of A Bug's Life, which was coming out opposite DreamWorks Animation's The Prince of Egypt. Pixar refused.

The release date of Antz was moved up from March 1999 to October 1998 in response to Disney's refusal. Even though A Bug's Life was the first to be pitched, Antz was finished and released first. A Bug's Life, however, was more profitable.

Reception
The film received very positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 91% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 81 reviews, with an average score of 7.9/10. The critical consensus is "A Bug's Life is a clever and enjoyable movie with great animation."

Box office
A Bug's Life made approximately $162.7 million in its United States theatrical run, easily covering its estimated production costs of $45 million. The film made $200,600,000 in foreign countries. The film made a worldwide gross of $363.3 million, surpassing the competition from DreamWorks Animation's Antz.

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The Last Airbender (2010)

The Last Airbender is an American epic adventure fantasy film released on July 1, 2010. It is a live-action film adaptation based on the first season of the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The film stars Noah Ringer as Aang, a reluctant hero who prefers adventure over his job as the Avatar. Aang and his friends, Katara and Sokka, journey to the North Pole to find a Waterbending master to teach Aang and Katara the secrets of the craft.

At the same time, Fire Lord Ozai, the current Fire Lord of the Fire Nation, is waging a seemingly endless war against the Earth Kingdom, the Water Tribes, and the already vanquished Air Nomads. The film also stars Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone, and Dev Patel.

The first of a planned trilogy, The Last Airbender was produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies. Development for a film began in 2007; it was adapted into a film by M. Night Shyamalan, who also directed and produced.

Other producers include Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Sam Mercer and Scott Aversano. The series from which it was adapted was influenced by Asian art, mythology and various martial arts fighting styles and was created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko.

The Last Airbender was made for $150 million and marketed with a budget of $130 million, making total costs at least $280 million. Other estimates put the cost between $100 million and $110 million, while various news sources reported the whole Last Airbender trilogy would be made for around $250 million. Filming began in mid-March 2009; the movie was released in both traditional two-dimensional projectors, as well as in 3D, grossing an estimated $16 million on opening day.

Release
The Last Airbender was rumored to be released in the summer of 2010 before it received a formal release date of July 1, 2010.[11] In order to avoid confusion with James Cameron's Avatar, the title was changed from Avatar: The Last Airbender to simply The Last Airbender. On June 16, 2010, it was revealed that the film would be released on July 1, 2010, and after questions about the definition of the release being limited or wide, was later confirmed by the studio to be a full nationwide release. The film opened in 3,169 theaters, against The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Box office
The Last Airbender opened with an estimated $16 million, ranking fifth for a Thursday opening. Its mid-night showings earned an estimated $3 million.

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Cast Away (2000)

Cast Away is a 2000 adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks. Hanks portrays a fictional FedEx employee who is stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes on a flight over the South Pacific.

The film depicts his attempts to survive on the island using remnants of his plane's cargo, as well as his eventual escape and return to society. Hanks was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 73rd Academy Awards for his critically acclaimed performance.

Production
The film is unusual in that it was not shot consecutively. Hanks gained fifty pounds during pre-production to make him look like a pudgy, middle-aged man. After a majority of the film was shot, production was halted for a year so that he could lose the weight and grow his hair and beard to look like he had been living on the island for years. During the year-long hiatus, Zemeckis used the same film crew to make another movie, What Lies Beneath.

Cast Away was filmed on Monuriki, a member of the Mamanuca Islands.[1] It is in a subgroup of the Mamanuca archipelago, which is sited off the coast of Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. The island became a tourist attraction following the film's release. Although it is identified by Kelly after Chuck's return as being "about 600 miles south of the Cook Islands," there is actually no land between Antarctica and the southern-most Cook Islands of Mangaia.

The producers made up a list of seemingly useless items that would be in the packages that Noland recovered: party dress, ice skates, divorce papers, video tapes, and other sundries. They turned this over to a group of survival experts who decided how the protagonist might be able to use them. In a panel discussing the movie, director Robert Zemeckis joked that the unopened package contained a waterproof, solar-powered satellite phone. This led to a Super Bowl commercial that parodied the movie, which shows Chuck (though not played by Hanks) delivering the unopened package; as he does so, he asks the recipient "by the way, what's in the package?" and she replies "nothing much, just a satellite phone, GPS locator, fishing rod, water purifier, and some seeds."

Cast
* Tom Hanks - Chuck Noland
* Helen Hunt - Kelly Frears
* Wilson the Volleyball - Wilson
* Nick Searcy - Stan
* Jenifer Lewis - Becca Twig
* Chris Noth - Jerry Lovett
* Lari White - Bettina Peterson
* Vince Martin - Albert "Al" Miller
* Geoffrey Blake - Maynard Graham

Reception
Cast Away was acclaimed by critics, with particular praise for Tom Hanks' role as Chuck Noland. The film holds a score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was a success at the box office, earning over $429,632,142 worldwide in ticket receipts.

The film received several award nominations.
* 73rd Academy Awards: Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks), Best Sound
* BAFTA Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks)
* 58th Golden Globe Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama: For which he won (Tom Hanks)
* Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks)
* 2001 MTV Movie Awards: Best On-screen Team (Tom Hanks and Wilson)

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