Sky City Cinema

'Cars 2' drives into Boaz

In the new animated comedy adventure “Cars 2,” Lightning McQueen and his pit boss Mater journey overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix.

Mater (voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) takes center stage as he gets tangled up in a case of international espionage.

Rated G and showing in 3D, “Cars 2” is one of two new films playing at Boaz 9 Cinema this weekend.

The other is “Bad Teacher,” a crass R-rated comedy starring Cameron Diaz as a jilted, gold-digging middle school instructor trying to win the affections of Justin Timberlake’s substitute, whose family has money.

• According to its website Friday, Sand Mountain Twin Drive-in Theater in Boaz is showing “X-Men: First Class” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” on Screen 1; and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” and “Rio” on Screen 2.

Midnight shows

Boaz 9 Cinema and Sand Mountain Twin Drive-In are showing midnight screenings of “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” on Tuesday night.

Concerts

Reliving the Memories Dinner Theater in Sardis City has scheduled a huge legends show Friday, July 1, at 7 p.m., according to the RTM website. A number of tribute artists, including Elvis, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison, are set to perform.

Last weekend’s report

Superhero flick “Green Lantern” topped the North American box office last weekend, earning $53.1 million in its opening weekend.

Nostalgic sci-fi thriller “Super 8” ($21.4M) slipped one notch to No. 2.

Jim Carrey family comedy “Mr. Popper’s Penguins” ($18.4M) debuted at No. 3.

Superhero prequel “X-Men: First Class” ($11.9M) fell two spots to No. 4 in its third weekend.

“The Hangover: Part II” ($10M) dropped two slots to round out the top five.

Other picks of the week

DVD/Blu-ray: “The Adjustment Bureau.” A suspenseful thriller starring Matt Damon as an ambitious politician who falls for a beautiful ballet dancer. However, mysterious forces conspire to keep them apart.

Other DVD/Blu-rays released this week:

• “Cedar Rapids.” R-rated comedy starring Ed Helms (“The Hangover”) as a small-town insurance salesman who experiences the modern world while attending a convention in the big city.

Cinema writedown hits SkyCity profit - business | Stuff.co.nz

SkyCity Entertainment Group's annual profit has almost halved thanks to the $58 million write-down of its cinema business.

SkyCity said today June year net profit fell to $49.9 million from $98 million last year. However, excluding the write-down on SkyCity cinemas, which the company unsuccessfully tried to sell, net profit rose 19 percent to $111.9 million.

That is slightly ahead of guidance SkyCity gave in February and reconfirmed last month for net profit of between $108 million and $110 million before the write-down.

SkyCity, which owns casinos in Auckland, Hamilton Adelaide and Darwin, 46 percent of Christchurch Casino and 55 percent of one of Queenstown's two casinos, and SkyCity Cinemas, will pay a final distribution - or dividend of 10.5 cents per share. That is equivalent to 90 percent of net profit.

Nigel Morrison, an Australian who took over as SkyCity's chief executive on March 3, said he was "cautiously encouraged" by what he described as a sound result in a challenging economic environment. SkyCity was budgeting for growth in the 2008-09 year.

"The results and progress achieved in 2008 provide a good platform upon which to build," Morrison said. "Our shareholders have made it clear they want us to focus on maximising the performance of our existing assets, and this is exactly what we're doing."

Focus was on delivering an improved customer experience, enhancing information technology systems capabilities, growing and diversifying international high roller business and improving employee advocacy.

Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda), excluding the cinema chain, rose 8 percent to $306 million. Underlying cashflow, after interest and tax, rose 15 percent to $199 million.

"Our business plans for 2009 are predicated on growth and I'm confident we now have the team and plans in place to build on the sound results achieved in 2008," Morrison said.

- More BusinessDay.co.