21 is a 2008 American heist drama film directed by Robert Luketic and stars Jim Sturgess, Kevin Spacey, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Bosworth, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts, and Aaron Yoo. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich. Despite its largely mixed reviews and controversy over the film's casting choices, 21 was a box office success, and was the number one film in the United States and Canada during its first and second weekends of release.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) senior math major Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is accepted into Harvard Medical School but cannot afford the $300,000 fee. Despite a 44 MCAT score and top grades, Ben faces a fierce competition for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship that would pay entirely for the medical school. The director tells him that the scholarship would go to the student who would "dazzle" him.

At MIT, professor Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey) challenges Campbell with the Monty Hall problem, which he solves successfully. After looking at Campbell's score on his latest non-linear equations paper, on which he got 97%, Rosa invites Campbell to join his blackjack team, which consists of fellow students Choi, Fisher, Jill, and Kianna. Despite being told by Rosa that he had already gotten into the Harvard Medical School, Campbell refuses to join the team on the premise he had been promoted at his job. Next day, Jill visits Campbell at his job and attempts to coax him into joining the team. The system involves card counting and the team is split into two groups. "Spotters" play the minimum bet and keep track of the count. They send secret signals to the "big players", who place large bets whenever the count at a table is favorable. Campbell reluctantly joins the team, telling Rosa he is only doing so until he can pay for medical school.

This is a list of all major films made in 2008.

These are the top grossing films that were released in 2008. The top ten films of 2008, by worldwide gross in $USD, as well as the US & Canada, UK, and Australia grosses, are as follows:

These numbers are taken from Box Office Mojo, including their "Yearly Box Office Results".

On August 4, The Dark Knight reached a $400 million domestic gross in a record time of 18 days. The previous record was held by Shrek 2, which reached it in 43 days. On August 31, after 45 days in release, The Dark Knight reached $500 million domestically, becoming only the second film in history after Titanic to cross the half-billion-dollar domestic milestone, as well as the only film of the 2000s decade. For 2008, the top ten films consisted of three superhero films, three animated films, three action films and one musical film. Mamma Mia! became the highest grossing film in UK history until it was surpassed by Avatar in 2010. In the domestic box office, 2008 came very close in passing 2007 as the highest grossing year, falling short by just $30 million.

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects. The process of filmmaking has developed into an art form and industry.

Films are cultural artifacts created by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is considered to be an important art form, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating – or indoctrinating – citizens. The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Some films have become popular worldwide attractions by using dubbing or subtitles that translate the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Films are made up of a series of individual images called frames. When these images are shown rapidly in succession, a viewer has the illusion that motion is occurring. The viewer cannot see the flickering between frames due to an effect known as persistence of vision, whereby the eye retains a visual image for a fraction of a second after the source has been removed. Viewers perceive motion due to a psychological effect called beta movement.

Monte Halperin, OC, OM (born August 25, 1921), better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.

Hall was born in Winnipeg, the son of Rose (née Rusen) and Maurice Harvey Halperin, both of whom belonged to an Orthodox congregation of Judaism and who jointly owned a slaughterhouse. He was raised in Winnipeg's north end, where he attended St. John's High School. Hall started his career in Winnipeg in radio, moving to Toronto in 1946.

Early in his career, Hall hosted game shows such as Bingo at Home on WABD-TV and guest-hosted more established game shows such as Strike It Rich on CBS, before hosting the first show of his own, Keep Talking in 1958. Hall also did color-commentary on New York Rangers (NHL) radio broadcasts during the 1959-60 season. He succeeded Jack Narz as host of a well-received and unique game show called Video Village, which ran from 1960 to 1962 on CBS. On Video Village, contestants played on a giant game board consisting of three sections: Money Street, Bridge Street and Magic Mile. Players advanced with the roll of a large die. The further contestants advanced along the board, the better the prizes that were offered. A spinoff called Video Village Junior, featuring youngsters, was hosted by Hall and ran during the 1961–1962 regular television season.

Ali is a 2001 American biographical film directed by Michael Mann. The film tells the story of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, played by Will Smith, from 1964 to 1974 featuring his capture of the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston (Michael Bentt), his conversion to Islam, criticism of the Vietnam War, banishment from boxing, his return to fight Joe Frazier (James Toney) in 1971, and, lastly, his reclaiming the title from George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle fight of 1974. It also discusses the great social and political upheaval in the United States following the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

The film begins with Cassius Clay before his championship debut against then heavyweight Sonny Liston, in the pre-fight weigh in Clay heavily taunts Liston (Such as calling Liston a "Big ugly bear") but Liston vows to "Fuck him (Clay) up". In the fight Clay is able to dominate the early rounds of the match but halfway through the fight Clay complains of a burning feeling in his eyes (Implying that Liston has tried to cheat) and says he is unable to continue but his trainer/manager Jerry Angelo gets him to keep fighting. Once Clay is able to see again he easily dominates the fight and right before round seven Liston quits, therefore making Cassius Clay the youngest heavyweight champion at the time. (Mike Tyson would later beat this record).