Arnold Schwarzenegger was too busy running California to save the world in the new “Terminator” movie.

The action hero turned California governor starred in the first three films in the blockbuster sci-fi trilogy, but top billing in “Terminator Salvation,” which opens in U.S. theaters

on Thursday, goes to “Batman” star Christian Bale.

True to his catchphrase “I’ll be back,” Schwarzenegger did make a brief cameo, even though he never set foot on the movie’s set. Through computer-generated special effects, his fearsome visage was taken from a previous movie and superimposed on a deadly Terminator robot.

Schwarzenegger may not be beloved by voters in California, which is battling a budget crisis, but the critics miss him.

“In Arnold’s absence, an important ingredient of the ‘Terminator’ iconography — namely, the fun factor — is in short supply,” said the Hollywood Reporter of the new film.

Added the Los Angeles Times, “On the plus side, ‘Terminator Salvation’ has lots of action. But it has no soul.”

The film, directed by “Charlie’s Angels” filmmaker Joseph Nichol, known in Hollywood as McG, takes viewers into a world shown only through fearful glimpses in the past three movies — planet Earth in the wake of a nuclear holocaust.

Bale and Australian actor Sam Worthington play allies in humanity’s resistance against the robotic and self-aware machines that have destroyed mankind.

McG said that James Cameron, the filmmaker behind the first two “Terminator” movies, asked him in a conversation why “Terminator Salvation” was worth making.

“I said, because this explores the world after Judgment Day, and all three ‘Terminator’ pictures are indeed present-day pictures of Terminators coming back through time and chasing (humans),” McG told reporters recently.

In the movie set in 2018, John Connor (Bale) is a leader of human resistance fighters hunkered down against humanoid robots. In the midst of plans for a military attack on the machines, a man with a troubled past named Marcus Wright (Worthington) appears out of nowhere.

At first Connor and Wright clash, but they later team up to infiltrate the machines’ headquarters, where the artificially intelligent computer Skynet reigns.

APOCALYPSE NOW

Movies where humanity’s fate is at peril will become familiar territory for movie goers in the coming months.

In the film “Star Trek,” which opened on May 8, a renegade alien named Nero threatens to destroy Earth, but is stopped by the famed crew of the Starship Enterprise.

The film “2012,” which is scheduled to open on November 13, shows the world devastated by a cataclysmic disaster. The movie plays on popular fears of a doomsday scenario for 2012, based on ancient Mayan predictions.

Worthington also stars in the movie “Avatar” opening on December 18, which is directed by Cameron, and which the actor said shares similar themes to “Terminator Salvation.”

“Hope, that’s definitely a theme in ‘Avatar’ and this,” Worthington said. “Humanity, people finding hope in desperate

times, which is good in this day and age.”

Cameron’s 1984 movie “The Terminator,” the first film in the franchise, was a low-budget affair that last year was selected for preservation by the U.S. Library of Congress, based in part on Schwarzenegger’s star-making performance.

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” came out in 1991 and made $519.8 million at worldwide box offices and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” followed in 2003 with $433.4 million.

Read More

• Terminator Salvation (2009)
• The 50 Biggest Movies of 2009

Terminator moves on without busy Schwarzenegger

The Joker’s identity is left a mystery in the film, while Dent’s transformation from heroic district attorney to disfigured killer Two-Face is presented entirely. Nolan’s inspiration for the film was the Joker’s comic book debut in 1940, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face’s origin. The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used an IMAX camera to film some sequences, including the Joker’s first appearance in the film.

On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger died from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and moviegoing public. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger’s death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign. The film was released on July 16, 2008 in Australia, on July 18, 2008 in North America, and on July 24, 2008 in the United Kingdom.

Before its box office debut in North America, record numbers of advanced tickets were sold for The Dark Knight. It was greeted with positive reviews upon release, and became only the second film to earn more than $500 million at the North American box office, setting numerous other records in the process. It is also the fourth highest grossing film worldwide, and only the fourth film to earn more than $1 billion. Following its critical and commercial success, The Dark Knight has gone to garner multiple awards ranging from Best Director to Best Special Effects.

Plot

In Gotham City, the Joker robs a mob bank with his accomplices, whom he tricks into killing one another, ultimately killing the last one himself. That night, Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate including new district attorney Harvey Dent in their plan to eradicate the mob. However, Batman wonders if Dent can be trusted. Bruce runs into Rachel Dawes and Dent, who are dating, and after talking to Dent, he realizes Dent’s sincerity and decides to host a fundraiser for him.

Mob bosses Sal Maroni, Gambol and the Chechen meet with other underworld gangsters to discuss both Batman and Dent, who have been cracking down on the mobster’s operations. Lau, a Chinese mafia accountant, informs them that he has hidden their money and fled to Hong Kong in an attempt to pre-empt Gordon’s plan to seize the mobsters’ funds. In Hong Kong, Batman captures Lau and delivers him to the Gotham City police, where Lau agrees to testify against the mob. In retaliation, the mobsters hire the Joker to kill Batman and Lau. The Joker issues an ultimatum to Gotham, stating that if Batman does not reveal his identity to the public, people will die each day. When Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb, Judge Surillo and Gordon are murdered by corrupt police, the public’s increasing pressure prompts Bruce to decide to reveal his identity. Before Bruce can turn himself in, Dent announces at a press conference that he is Batman and is arrested as part of a plan to draw the Joker out of hiding. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but Batman and Gordon, who had feigned death at Loeb’s memorial to protect his family’s safety, intervene and capture him. In recognition of his actions, Gordon is appointed the new police commissioner, succeeding the assassinated Loeb.

Later that night, Dent and Rachel disappear. At the police station, Batman interrogates the Joker, who reveals that Dent and Rachel are in warehouses rigged with explosives on opposite sides of the city — far enough apart so that Batman cannot save them both. Batman leaves to save Rachel, while Gordon and the police head after Dent. With the aid of a smuggled bomb, the Joker escapes police custody with Lau. Batman arrives to save Rachel but instead finds Dent. Batman, furious with himself, successfully saves Dent, but the ensuing explosion disfigures Dent’s face. Gordon arrives at Rachel’s location too late, and she perishes when the bomb detonates.

Aboard a cargo ship, the Joker burns Lau to death atop a pile of the mob’s money and has the Chechen killed, before taking control of his men. The Joker goes to the hospital and frees Dent from his restraints, convincing him to exact revenge on the people responsible for Rachel’s death, as well as Batman and Gordon for not saving her. The Joker destroys the hospital on his way out, and then escapes with a hijacked bus full of hospital patients.

Out of the hospital, Dent goes on a personal vendetta, confronting Maroni and the corrupt cops one by one. The Joker announces to the public that anyone left in Gotham at nightfall will be subject to his rule. With the bridges and tunnels out of the city closed due to a bomb threat by the Joker, authorities begin evacuating people by ferry. The Joker places explosives on two of the ferries—one ferry with convicts, who were evacuated in an effort to keep the Joker from freeing them, and the other with civilians—telling the passengers the only way to save themselves is to trigger the explosives on the other ferry; otherwise, he will destroy both at midnight. Batman locates the Joker and the hostages he has taken. Realizing the Joker has disguised the hostages as his own men, Batman is forced to attack both Gordon’s SWAT team and the Joker’s henchmen in order to save the real hostages.

The Joker’s plan to destroy the ferries fails after the passengers on both decide not to destroy each other. Batman locates and subdues the Joker, preventing him from destroying both ferries. The Joker acknowledges that Batman is truly incorruptible, but that Dent was not, and that he has unleashed Dent upon the city. Leaving the Joker for the SWAT team, Batman leaves in search of Dent.

At the remains of the building where Rachel died, Batman finds Dent holding Gordon and his family at gunpoint. Dent judges the innocence of Batman, himself, and Gordon’s son through three coin tosses. Because of the first two flips, he shoots Batman in the abdomen and spares himself. Before Dent can determine the boy’s fate, Batman, who was wearing body armor, tackles him over the side of the building. Gordon’s son is saved, but Dent and Batman fall to the ground below resulting in Dent’s death. Batman and Gordon realize that the morale of the city will suffer if Dent’s murders become known, so Batman persuades Gordon to preserve Dent’s image by holding Batman responsible for the murders. Gordon smashes the Bat-Signal, and a manhunt for Batman begins.

Cast & Credits

• Directed by: Christopher Nolan
• Produced by: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
• Written by  Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
• Story: David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan
• Comic Book: Bob Kane, Bill Finger
• Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
• Music by:  Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
• Cinematography: Wally Pfister
• Editing by: Lee Smith

Other Information

• Studio: Legendary Pictures, Syncopy Films, DC Comics
• Distributed by: Warner Bros.
• Release dates: Australia: July 16, 2008; North America: July 18, 2008; United Kingdom: July 24, 2008
• Running time: 152 min.
• Country: United States
• Language: English
• Budge: $185 million
• Gross revenue: $1,001,082,160
• Preceded by: Batman Begins

Links

• Official website
• Official site script
• The Dark Knight at the Internet Movie Database
• The Dark Knight at Allmovie
• The Dark Knight at Box Office Mojo
• The Dark Knight at MySpace
• The Dark Knight at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Dark Knight at Metacritic

Incoming search terms:

• batman film

Premise

In director James Cameron’s original script treatment of Avatar, a man tries to make his way as a miner by combining with an alien during an interplanetary war in which aliens can make themselves manifest by possessing human bodies – avatars.

When Avatar was titled “Project 880″, a casting call was put out in June 2006 with a plot description provided, saying, “In the future, Jake, a paraplegic war veteran is brought to another planet, Pandora, which is inhabited by the Na’vi, a humanoid race with their own language and culture. Those from Earth find themselves at odds with each other and the local culture.”

In December 2006, Cameron described Avatar as “a futuristic tale set on a planet 200 years hence an old-fashioned jungle adventure with an environmental conscience (that) aspires to a mythic level of storytelling.” The January 2007 press release described the film: “Avatar is also an emotional journey of redemption and revolution. It is the story of a wounded ex-marine, thrust unwillingly into an effort to settle and exploit an exotic planet rich in biodiversity, who eventually crosses over to lead the indigenous race in a battle for survival,” and “We’re creating an entire world, a complete ecosystem of phantasmagorical plants and creatures, and a native people with a rich culture and language.”

Other Information

• Also Known As : Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experience, Project 880
• Genre : Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
• Distributed by : 20th Century Fox
• Sound Mix : Dolby Digital
• Filming Locations : Kaua’i, Hawaii, USA
• Company : Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
• Release date :  December 18, 2009
• Language : English
• Budget : $250–300 million

Cast and Credits

• Directed by :James Cameron
• Produced by :James Cameron, Jon Landau
• Written by : James Cameron
• Starring : Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang
• Music by : James Horner
• Cinematography : Mauro Fiore
• Editing by : John Refoua, Stephen Rivkin

Trivia

• ‘James Cameron’ originally attempted to get this film made in 1999 as his immediate follow-up to Titanic (1997). However, at the time, the special effects he wanted for the movie ran the proposed budget up to $400 million. No studio would fund the film, and it was subsequently shelved for almost ten years.

Links

• Avatar at Allmovie
• Avatar at the Internet Movie Database
• Avatar at Wikipedia.org

But when the 75-year-old French actor with the blue-green eyes and broken nose smiles, he evokes the image of the charming gangster and cocky seducer he played in films decades ago.

“My crutch,” he said in a brief interview, as he tried to find his balance in the grand ballroom of the Hotel InterContinental here. “It’s terrible, a crutch, isn’t it?”

It was during a vacation in Corsica in 2001 that Mr. Belmondo had a stroke that paralyzed the right side of his body and left him unable to speak for six months.

With intensive daily physical therapy, he has been able to get back some of his physical strength. After all, he almost became a professional boxer and soccer player (he played goalie) and was adored by fans as an athlete who did most of his own stunts in his action-packed films.

Now, after more than 80 films and a score of theater roles, he summoned a different kind of courage for his first film since his stroke.

He agreed to do “A Man and His Dog” (“Un Homme et Son Chien”), which opened in France on Jan. 14, he said, only if it showed him as the old, disabled man that he is.

“It’s me,” he said, “without any special effects.”

A crimson cashmere sweater and a sport coat adorned with his Legion of Honor rosette gave him an air of elegance, despite the chunky rings on the fingers of his left hand, His jeans revealed the outline of his left thigh, which is much more muscular than his right.

“I hope,” he said, “to be an example for all. I hope.”

So the film makes no effort to disguise Mr. Belmondo’s physical limitations. He is shown walking — slowly and with a cane — in only one scene. He has little dialogue. The deep lines creasing his face are made more dramatic with shadows; the nose squashed decades ago in a boxing ring gives him an oddly broken look.

The film is advertised on billboards throughout Paris, and its release coincided with the publication last week of a new biography by Bertrand Tessier, titled “Belmondo the Incorrigible.”

To showcase the comeback, the Paris-Match of Jan. 14 put Mr. Belmondo on the cover, tanned, smiling, several gold chains peeking out from his lime-colored linen shirt. He was photographed with a woman identified as the new love of his life, Barbara Gandolfi, a 33-year-old, raven-haired, equally tanned Italian in hoop earrings and a low-cut strapless dress who runs a vending machine business and owns nightclubs in Belgium.

“They looked at each other, they had a drink, and the rest is history,” said the actor Charles Gérard, Mr. Belmondo’s friend of 60 years, in an interview. “I have lunch with him two, three times a week, and you have no idea how women are still attracted to him.”

The plot of the film, based on Vittorio De Sica’s 1952 classic of neorealism, “Umberto D.,” is just as sentimental as the original, if more preposterous. An old man is thrown out on the street and finds himself homeless and alone, except for his dog.

In the original, Umberto D. was a retired bureaucrat unable to survive on a paltry pension who is forced out of his rented room by an unfeeling landlady. In the remake, Charles, played by Mr. Belmondo, is also a retiree, but he is shown the door by a widow who had been his lover. She had given him and his dog a maid’s room in her large home, but she finds him a nuisance after she decides to marry again.

“Robert is going to marry me, not my past,” she declares. Charles is reduced to eating at a soup kitchen. His wallet is stolen. He loses his dog., then finds him again. He tries without success to give the dog away to a little girl he meets in a park.

In one moving scene, he cries out for his dog — in the gilded ballroom of the Hotel InterContinental in the heart of Paris.

The director, Francis Huster (who also appears in the film), does not explain why, in an age of extraordinary French social services to protect pensioners, Charles has no means of finding even temporary lodging. Like Umberto D., Charles ultimately considers suicide, and the film, like the original, ends on a hopeful but oddly unsatisfying note.

“A Man and His Dog,” with its melodramatic soundtrack and long silences, has divided the French film world. And it has attracted limited crowds; Baseline, a box-office tracking firm, reported that in its first week the film sold slightly more than 100,000 tickets. The failure to embrace the film reflects in part a desire to remember Mr. Belmondo as he was in his signature roles: the lovable gangster in “Breathless” (1960), the tobacco tycoon in “Mississippi Mermaid” (1969), the French soldier in perpetual motion in the comedy “That Man From Rio” (1964).

This is, after all, the man who played opposite beauties like Catherine Deneuve, Jean Seberg, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida, Claudia Cardinale, Raquel Welch and Ursula Andress (with whom he had a long affair).