Opening Soon

The Dark Knight
(USA) See Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and the SAR at their darkest in the Batman film everybody’s been waiting for. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Also starring Aaron Eckhart. Opens Jul 17.

Space Chimps
(USA) The grandson of the first monkey in space is sent to retrieve a wayward spacecraft in this bananas computer animation. Directed by Kirk De Micco. Starring Andy Samberg, Jeff Daniels. Opens Jul 17.

The Way We Are
(Hong Kong) See above. Opens Jul 17.

Opening

I Served The King Of England
(Czech Republic) Jiri Menzel’s Czech comedy about a provincial waiter determined to become a millionaire skewers the decadence of pre-war Europe. Starring Ivan Barnev, Julia Jentsch. Opened Jul 10. BC, MCL

HK PICKS
Red Cliff
(China) John Woo finally returns with the most expensive Asian film ever. Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhang Fengyi battle it out at the heart of the AD 208 war that laid the borders of the Three Kingdoms. Also starring Chang Chen, Hu Jun. Opened Jul 10. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Keroro 3
(Japan) The platoon leader and his fellow alien/frog space invaders are back for another loopy anime adventure. Directed by Yusuke Yamamoto. Opened Jul 10. AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Continuing

21
(USA) Inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team, this nerdy thriller stars Kevin Spacey as a snarky professor leading a group of mathletes on a mission to take Vegas. Don’t try it in Macau. Directed by Robert Luketic. Also starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne. AMC, MCL, UA

City Without Baseball
(Hong Kong) “Besieged City” director Lawrence Lau delivers this gritty, coming-of-age drama based on stories from the real Hong Kong Baseball Team about everything from sexuality to suicide. PPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Deception
(USA) See review, p.34. BC, MCL, UA

Ensemble, C’est Tout
(France) Another bittersweet Parisian romance starring Audrey Tautou, this time as an aspiring artist who moves in with a young aristocrat and his womanizing roommate. Directed by Claude Berri. Also starring Guillaume Canet, Laurent Stocker. AMC, BC, MCL

Hancock
(USA) Big Willie Smith stars in his annual summer blockbuster as Hancock, a down-on-his-luck superhero who gets a little boost of publicity from a PR professional. Directed by Peter Berg. Also starring Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman. P AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Happening
(USA) Mark Wahlberg and his family flee an apocalyptic nightmare tearing through America in this environmentally friendly horror. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. PP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Incredible Hulk
(USA) Eat your green beans and steroids to look like the colossus of constipation in this summer’s long-awaited blockbuster, which pits Ed Norton’s Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk) against Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky (The Abonimation). Directed by Louis Leterrier. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Kung Fu Panda
(USA) Jackie Chan and Jack Black do the voices for this epic animation about a lazy panda who becomes the martial arts savior of his local village in ancient China. Directed by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson. PPPP AMC, BC, BEA IMAX, MCL, UA

Nim’s Island
(Australia) Family film about a young girl who requests the help of a female adventure novelist and her fictional protagonist when her father goes missing at sea. Directed by Mark Levin. Starring Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler. PP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Reservation Road
(USA) The death of a child in a hit-and-run accident sends two families hurtling down a nightmare collision course in this dark drama with an all-star cast. Directed by Terry George. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo. PP AMC, MCL, UA

Sex and the City
(USA) Been deprived for four years? Never fear, the bitches are back and sexier than ever. Directed by Michael Patrick King. Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon. PPPPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

The Sparrow
(Hong Kong) Johnnie To gets French New Wave on us with this stylish crime film starring Simon Yam as a master pickpocket and Kelly Lin as a seductive damsel in distress. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Wanted
(USA) Angelina Jolie helps a young slacker become a killing machine in this balls-to-the-wall adaptation of the comic-book miniseries. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov. Also starring Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy. PPP AMC, BC, MCL, UA

Arthouse

Care For Our Community
Iconic films from the past 50 years revealing the changing face of Hong Kong communities. Tickets $30 from Urbtix. Jun 21–Jul 19. Screenings at the Film Archive. See www.lcsd.gov.hk.

Cageman
(1992) Jacob Cheung’s update of the classic “House of 72 Tenants” story depicts the real-life situation of local men driven to live in cages by urban overcrowding and alienation. Fri, Jul 11, 7pm.

Man on the Brink
(1981) Alex Cheung’s story of a cop who infiltrates the triad world. The film dramatizes the personal conflicts faced by cops going undercover 20 years before “Infernal Affairs.” Sat, Jul 12, 7pm.

Village Song
(1980) A look at changes in the New Territories over past decades through the poignant reflections of a village elder. Sat, Jul 12, 9pm.

HK PICKS
The Investigation
(1977) Ann Hui’s production for then newly formed ICAC looks at its early investigation into the corrupt police force, and also unveils some of the lush privileges enjoyed by lofty expatriates during colonial rule. Sat, Jul 12, 9pm.

The Kid
(1950) A 10-year-old Bruce Lee plays an orphan who befriends a petty crook and a wealthy factory boss in this passionate portrayal of the struggle of the working poor. Sun, Jul 13, 5pm.

Ah Ying
(1983) A non-professional cast populates this docudrama about a working-class girl at a family fish stall who wants to study film. Sun, Jul 13, 7pm.

bc Sunday
Ping Pong
(Japan, 2002) This stylistic adaptation of the popular manga about two high-school table-tennis players captures the energy and the agony of the game. Directed by Fumihiko Sori. Starring Yosuke Kubozuka, Sam Lee, Shido Nakamura. Sun, Jul 6, 12:30pm. Broadway Cinematheque.

Master of Provocation:
Michael Haneke
Tribute to the controversial Austrian director. Jul 2-20. Tickets $40-$75 from cinema or www.cinema.com.hk.

Who Was Edgar Allen?
(Austria) An adaptation of Peter Rosei’s novel about an art-history student, obsessed with a mysterious American who becomes his double and his criminal counterpart. Starring Paulus Manker, Rolf Hoppe. Fri, Jul 11, 8pm; Sat, Jul 19, 2:10pm. Broadway Cinematheque.

71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance
(Austria, 1994) A fictional recounting of the killing of three people in a bank by a 19-year-old student, the final installment of Haneke’s “Glaciation Trilogy” is a meditation on the banality of evil. Sat, Jul 12, 9:50pm; Tue, Jul 15, 8pm.  Broadway Cinematheque.

24 Realities per Second
(Austria, 2004) With a handheld camera, Nina Kusturica and Eva Testor observe Haneke from location scouts to film premieres, radio interviews and the editing room. Sun, Jul 13, 4:15pm. Broadway Cinematheque.

HK PICKS
Code Unknown: Incomplete Tales of Several Journeys
(France/Germany/Romania, 2000) Juliet Binoche stars in this collection of 27 vaguely connected scenes from the perspectives of an actress, an African immigrant and a war reporter from Bosnia, highlighting the immigration dilemmas facing contemporary Europe. Also starring Thierry Neuvic. Sat, Jul 12, 7:40pm; Fri, Jul 18, 9:40pm. Broadway Cinematheque.