AMC THEATRES® BRINGS THE IMAX EXPERIENCE®
TO AMC 30 At The Block

New IMAX® theatre opens at AMC 30 At The Block on August 13

Orange County, California. – Thursday, July 29, 2010 – AMC Theatres (AMC), a leading theatrical exhibition and entertainment company, announces today that guests visiting AMC 30 At The Block can now enjoy The IMAX Experience® from IMAX Corporation (NASDAQ: IMAX; TSX: IMX).

The IMAX Experience combines crystal-clear images, powerful digital sound and customized theatre geometry to create a uniquely immersive movie experience. The IMAX® theatre at this location has been custom-designed for a multiplex. To maximize the field of view in the modified auditorium, the screen was replaced with a larger, slightly curved and specially treated IMAX screen positioned closer to the audience.

IMAX’s digital projection system combines two digital projectors with IMAX’s proprietary image enhancer and custom lenses to create an image with greater clarity, brightness and contrast. The images on screen are complemented with IMAX’s latest sound system, which features its proprietary loudspeaker technology and uncompressed digital sound. This system has ten times more dynamic range, cuts down on distortion and provides a sound quality that feels more immersive, especially with the added acoustic paneling that absorbs sound and removes echo.

The addition of IMAX at AMC 30 At The Block builds upon decades of AMC offering the best and broadest menu of entertainment choices for guests seeking an unparalleled experience. Guests at AMC 30 At The Block will take in the world’s most immersive cinematic experience when “Inception: The IMAX Experience” opens on Aug. 13. The movie has been digitally re-mastered into IMAX’s format exclusively for presentation in the IMAX auditorium. In addition to IMAX-formatted movies, AMC delivers other types of entertainment to guests, including live and pre-recorded alternative content events.

The IMAX theatre at AMC 30 At The Block will feature Hollywood’s biggest movies that have been digitally re-mastered into IMAX’s format.

Upcoming Hollywood movies to be released in IMAX’s format include: “Hubble” (Aug. 20) “Avatar” (Aug. 27), “Resident Evil (Sept. 13), “Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole” (Sept. 24), “MegaMind (Nov. 5) “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1” Nov. 19; and “Tron: Legacy” (Dec. 17).

The combination of IMAX’s revolutionary digital projection system, customized theatre geometry, specially designed screen and powerful digital audio system with AMC’s guest service and innovative products and amenities will make AMC 30 At The Block the No. 1 destination for entertainment. The new IMAX theatre maximizes the experience for guests so they feel as if they are IN the movie they are watching.

The opening of the IMAX theatre at AMC 30 At The Block is part of a joint-venture agreement by AMC and IMAX to install more than 100 IMAX digital projection systems at AMC locations in major U.S. markets.

SALT
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Genre: Action, Thriller
Director: Philip Noyce
Rated:PG-13

When a Russian defector comes into the CIA and says that Evelyn Salt(Angelina Jolie) is a Russian spy, Salt goes on the lamb to figure out how she is involved in this conspiracy.

Salt is probably best known for originally having Tom Cruise scheduled to be in the lead role. The script was overhauled to allow Angelina Jolie to step into his shoes. Based on comparing Salt to Knight and Day, Cruise made the wrong choice. Salt is superior in every way.

The tagline for the film is who is Salt? And that is the major component of the film. There is an element of doubt running through the movie as to whether she is a framed CIA agent or truly is a Russian sleeper agent; furthermore Salt slowly reveals her motivation till you truly know which side she is on. Jolie is finely supported by her handler, Ted Winter (The always solid Live Schreiber) who unwillingly, teams up with Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to hunt Salt down. Together they try and stop a plan that involves killing the Russian President to start another world war and ultimately lead Russia back to greatness.

Jolie is one of few actresses who is able to pull off being an action star. Her fighting skills rely more on leverage than brute force. I am not one to believe that her ultra skinny frame could knock anyone out with a punch, however pistol-whipping someone to knock them out is something that I can go along with. There are some nice feminine touches thrown in including dressing a wound with a maxi pad that was actually quite clever.

While the plot try’s to throw you some twists and turns it is the action scenes that hold the film together. Watching Jolie leap from truck top to truck top down a freeway or slide down an elevator shaft are the type of ridiculous spy stunt that is typically reserved for men, thankfully Jolie pulls off the implausible just as adeptly. Salt tries to be a little to clever for its own good and the final 10 minutes seem like they were added on strictly to appease filmgoers.

Overall for summer fare Salt is an enjoyable mix of action and thrills with just enough thinking to not take you out of the film.

Grade -82

Killers
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, Rob Riggle
Genre: Action, Comedy, Romance
Director: Robert Luketic
Rated:PG-13

Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl star in the Action, Comedy, and Romance “Killers”. Heigl Stars as Jen Kornfelt an unlucky in love young woman who travels with her parents to France and is quickly swept off her feet by Spencer Aimes (Kutcher) a secret agent who is looking to settle down and have a normal life.  Three years later they are now married and Assassins have come out of the woodwork to kill Spencer.

Killers is a pointless and derivative movie that shows that for every Steve Correll and Tina Fey there is a list a mile long of the Ashton Kutchers and Katherine Heigl’s The TV star that for whatever reason just cant connect in the theater and become a movie star. Heigl who outside of leeching off Judd Apatows success in “Knocked Up” has done nothing to prove she should even be a TV star. Her role as the comedic love interest is painful to watch and devoid of any humor or enjoyment. Kutcher is no better, His portrayal of secret agent Spencer Aimes is the most cringe inducing spy to hit the silver screen since Richard Greico in “If Looks Could Kill” although less believable. There is absolutely no chemistry between the two and the love connection they share is not even slightly believable.

The premise of the movie is ridiculous and not only unbelievable but even if you commit to the implausible story it still fails in every aspect. Supposedly for three years all these “Sleeper” agents have been under their noses the entire time but Aimes has absolutely no clue, Once a bounty is put on his head they all come out of the woodwork, but rather than kill Aimes and collect the bounty they have to introduce themselves to Aimes so he knows they are an assassin. No explanation is available as to how all these agents are able to go undercover for 3 years and not be found out by super slick Aimes; However if one was included it most likely would not help and only drag the running time on longer.

Rounding out the cast are Catherine O’Hara playing the exact character she played in “Orange County” the Drunken Mother; while Tom Selleck plays the overbearing father. Everything feels either forced or contrived the film doesn’t know what it wants to be and spreads itself so thin in all categories that it fails at them all, Killers is a straight to DVD release that somehow got a theatrical run. Easily the worst film I have seen this year.

Grade -42

I wanted to mention an independant horror film that will be coming out called Sparrow. I have seen some footage of it and from what I have seen looks like it defanitely wont skimp in the Gore department.  Here are some stills of the cast.

Sparrow is an upcoming Polish-British independent horror film currently in post-production due for release in late 2010. Produced by independent filmmaker Wojciech Stuchlik, and with a mainly Polish crew, the film is directed by Shaun Troke and stars Jack W. Carter, Alexis Jayne Defoe, Eric Kolelas, Sarah Linda, Thomas James Longley and Faye Sewell.
Originally titled Camp Nightmare, the story was written by underground screenwriter Matt Mosley.
The film is based around six teenage friends who set off on a camping trip in a forest presumed to be the site of an historic murder. Casting occurred in the UK in March 2010. Filming took place in Hamerla, Poland in June.
Sparrow will receive its first official showing on Halloween, shortly followed by a British premiere in London

Inception
Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Cilian Murphy
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Director: Christopher Nolan
Rated:PG-13

The latest from acclaimed Writer/Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight) involves a crew skilled in an unusual form of corporate espionage. There methods involve entering the subjects mind and while in this dream world they are able to extract the subject’s innermost secrets.
Leonardo Dicaprio stars as Cobb the leader of the group a formerly great Architect (One who creates the dream world) who now strictly leads the group and puts together the plan to extract information however his latest job is to perform an “Inception” (which is to plant the seed of an idea for it to grow in the subjects head and have the person believe it was there own). His team is filled out by his point man Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Forger, Eames (Tom Hardy) Chemist, Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and New Architect Ariadne (Ellen Page).

Inception is a very complex film with Dreams within Dreams going multiple layers deep, the story intercuts between these layers with each layers concept of time being longer than the last. Nolan is able to create a world that is visually stunning with a plot that challenges the mind. The character of Ariadne is brought into the fold not just as the new Architect to create the world but as a device to allow Dicaprios character to walk her and the audience through the dream world concepts. Some of the best visuals involve her first learning how to manipulate this dream “Reality” Bending Paris literally on top of itself, or have the world around her literally explode around her as the dream becomes unstable.

The finest sequence in the film involves Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Who is now forgiven for taking part in GI JOE) who is in a hotel when his layer of the dream loses Gravity, He must improvise a way of keeping the group together and try to give them a “Kick” (a sudden jolt to awaken them from the dream state) which is cleverly completed while he fly’s around weightless.

Nolan brings not only an international cast together but also brings the cast to multiple international locations including Paris, Morocco, Japan, England, Canada and L.A. One minute we are in a claustrophobic rain soaked dream layer the next we are intercut to an expansive arctic station straight out of James Bonds (On her majesty’s secret service) The locations alone are beautiful, add to that the combination of real effects and CGI and you witness a truly amazing dream world.

Inception is intricate and complicated it makes you think while at the same time it visually dazzles you.  The cast is stellar all delivering great performances. There are multiple twists and turns and honestly it needs a second viewing just to see if it all truly makes sense. I am sure there is quite a bit I missed. On first viewing you just need to go with it. This is the first original story this summer that is truly worth seeing. You know a movie is good when it creates thought, Dialog and opinion and inceptions succeeds on all fronts. You will definitely want to see it again to completely figure it out.

Grade -96