The summer movie season is upon us, and that means more popcorn on the screen
than in the bucket. You can count the original ideas on one hand, what with
the endless array of sequels, remakes, updates, and rehashings flooding the
multiplexes. Check your brain at the ticket booth and come back for it in the
fall. The movie descriptions are organized by release dates, which are subject
to change.
JUNE 4
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J. K. Rowling’s blockbuster children’s story returns in this third movie installment, with Daniel Radcliffe reprising his role as the title character. In this darkerepisode, convict Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) escapes from Azkaban Prison and heads for Hogwarts. Is he planning to kill Harry?
JUNE 11
The Chronicles of Riddick Vin Diesel returns in the sequel to his first
hit, Pitch Black, as an escaped alien convict who can see in the dark.
The story picks up five years later as Riddick becomes involved in a galactic
war. Director David Twohy was probably given a much bigger budget for his follow-up.
Garfield: The Movie The famous cartoon cat finally comes to the big
screen in a mix of live action and CGI animation. Lorenzo Music, whose voice
is so familiar to many from the TV cartoons, died a few years back, but Bill
Murray seems the ideal choice to voice the cat with an attitude.
Napoleon Dynamite An independent feature from Sundance that has sleeper-hit
potential. The title character is an odd Idaho teenager whose great loves are
dancing and the ways of the ninja. The cast is mostly unknown, but a wide release
is planned.
The Stepford Wives Nicole Kidman stars in this remake of a mediocre 1970s science-fiction thriller about a suburban town whose female citizens are too perfect and very artificial. With Frank Oz at the helm, this version may have a more satirical edge than did the original.
JUNE 16
Around the World in 80 Days Jules Verne’s novel gets another go, with Steve Coogan perfectly cast as Phileas Fogg, the adventurer who travels the globe in a hot-air balloon. The top-billed Jackie Chan co-stars as Fogg’s sidekick, so expect some martial-arts action. With any luck, it will be better than the original bloated cameofest.
JUNE 18
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story Vince Vaughn leads a group of friends
to a dodgeball competition in Las Vegas to save their favorite gym. In an interesting
bit of casting against expectations, Ben Stiller is the leader of the corporate
team.
The Terminal Tom Hanks stars in this Steven Spielberg romantic comedy as an Eastern European immigrant who is confined to an American airport after his country is ravaged by war. Catherine Zeta-Jones co-stars.
JUNE 23
The Door in the Floor Jeff Bridges stars as a children’s-book author
whose marriage to Kim Basinger sours after the deaths of their two sons. The
story is based on the first third of John Irving’s long novel A Widow for
One Year.
White Chicks Marlon and Shawn Wayans star as a pair of bumbling FBI agents who volunteer to protect two rich heiresses, patterned after the Hilton sisters. Part of their plan is to pose as the girls — in drag and white makeup. Older brother Keenen Ivory Wayans directed.
JUNE 25
De-Lovely Kevin Kline stars in this biopic of the legendary songwriter
Cole Porter, with Ashley Judd co-starring as his wife. Unlike the old Cary Grant
film, this offering will deal with Porter’s homosexuality. Elvis Costello and
Sheryl Crow are among the singers who perform Porter’s songs.
The Intended Janet McTeer stars in this period thriller about a woman
and her younger lover who become involved in murder and intrigue while traveling
through Borneo in the 1920s.
Kaena: The Prophecy A CGI animated fantasy set in a world dominated
by a giant tree that gives life to a small village. Kaena (voiced by Kirsten
Dunst) tries to save her village by discovering why the tree is losing its sap.
Other voices are provided by Anjelica Huston and the late Richard Harris.
The Notebook James Garner is a retired salesman who regularly reads
stories from a notebook to an old woman (Gena Rowlands) in a nursing home. The
stories, shown in flashback, tell how he and another competed for her affections
back in 1946. Rising star Ryan Gosling portrays Garner’s youthful counterpart.
Rowlands’ son Nick Cassavetes directed.
Two Brothers The brothers of the title are actually two tigers who were separated as cubs. Years later they are forced to become adversaries by an explorer, played by Guy Pearce. Jean-Jacques Annaud proved his skill as director of wildlife sagas years ago with The Bear.
JUNE 30
Spider-Man 2 The Marvel Comics superhero returns in the most anticipated movie of the summer. Tobey Maguire reprises the role of Peter Parker, alter ego of the title character. His adversary in this first sequel is a multi-mechanical-armed criminal named Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina). Kirsten Dunst also returns, as does director Sam Raimi.
JULY 2
The Clearing Robert Redford and Helen Mirren are a couple who have
built a successful business, but their world is shattered when he is kidnapped
by a disgruntled employee (Willem Dafoe) and held for ransom in a remote forest.
Before Sunset Richard Linklater’s sequel to his minor hit Before Sunrise reunites Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy nine years later. He is an American author who returns on a book tour to Paris, the couple’s meeting place, where the pair resume their relationship.
JULY 7
King Arthur The true story of King Arthur may be a bit different from the legend, and this version claims to be the truth. Chaos tears Britain apart after the fall of the Roman Empire, and Arthur (Clive Owen) tries to reunite the nation. Rising star Keira Knightly portrays Guinevere.
JULY 9
Anchorman Former Saturday Night Live star Will Ferrell, who is now a major lead, stars as a TV-news anchorman in 1970s San Diego whose sexist views make it difficult for him to cope with a new and very qualified newswoman (Christina Applegate).
Sleepover Alexa Vega (Spy Kids) is an eighth-grader who invites three friends over for a slumber party. The night turns into a competition with another group of girls for dibs on the best table in the school cafeteria.
JULY 16
A Cinderella Story Hilary Duff, of Lizzie McGuire fame, stars
in a modern-day high-school version of the classic fairy tale, complete with
an evil stepmother, evil stepsisters, and sort of a prince.
I, Robot Will Smith is a police detective in the year 2035 who investigates the murder of a human by a robot. The script is loosely based on ideas from the stories of Isaac Asimov, and it was directed by Alex Proyas, who made the incredible science-fiction thriller Dark City. This is the most promising film of the summer.
JULY 23
The Bourne Supremacy The second of the planned trilogy based on Robert
Ludlum’s novels about a CIA agent (Matt Damon) with a secret identity. The Chinese
vice premier is assassinated by someone using the agent’s cover name, Jason
Bourne, and the agent must find the real killer to prevent a war between the
U.S. and China.
Catwoman Halle Berry stars as Patience Philips, a graphic artist who is murdered when she discovers secrets about the cosmetics company she works for, which is a front for a criminal organization. Brought back to life, she seeks revenge. This is essentially a different character from the one played by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns.
JULY 30
Danny Deckchair An Australian comedy, with perhaps the best title of
the summer, about a truck driver who attaches helium balloons to his lawn chair
and sails away to a small town in the Outback.
A Home at the End of the World Colin Farrell and Dallas Roberts are
childhood friends, one straight and one gay, who reunite years later. Their
friendship is challenged when Farrell falls for Roberts’ roommate (Robin Wright
Penn).
The Manchurian Candidate Director Jonathan Demme remakes and updates the classic 1960s political thriller about a soldier (Denzel Washington) who was captured by the enemy in the Korean War (this time it’s the Gulf War) and brainwashed to be used later as a pawn. Liev Schreiber is one of his military comrades who is moving up politically; Meryl Streep plays Schreiber’s ambitious mother.
Garden State Zach Braff, star of the TV sitcom Scrubs, makes
his directorial debut and stars in this romantic comedy about a young man who
returns home for his mother’s funeral and experiences many life changes. Natalie
Portman co-stars.
Thunderbirds Live-action version of the popular British science-fiction
series featuring marionettes as a family of rescuers. Bill Paxton is the patriarch
of the Tracey family, who use various ships and rockets called the Thunderbirds,
and Ben Kingsley is the villain, known as the Hood.
The Village M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable), the director who brought intelligence and thought to the horror and science-fiction genres, is back with a period tale about a tiny village in 1897 Pennsylvania that is surrounded by a forest hiding a group of mythical beasts.
AUGUST 6
Code 46 A futuristic tale of societies divided into city-states. Tim
Robbins plays an insurance investigator who is sent to another city on a forgery
case and falls in love with a woman (Samantha Morton) who is involved in the
crime.
Collateral Tom Cruise is a hired killer who uses a cab to get from one hit to another; Jamie Foxx is the cab driver who slowly begins to realize what is going on. Dennis Farina and Mark Ruffalo co-star as cops on the pursuit. Michael Mann (Manhunter, Heat), a crime-thriller specialist, is the director.
AUGUST 13
Alien vs. Predator This pairing of 20th Century-Fox alien-creature
franchises has been threatened for years, but there is no direct link to either
series. Lance Henriksen stars as an industrialist who uncovers both races during
an archaeological dig in Antarctica.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement The original movie was one
of the surprise hits of 2001, so a sequel was inevitable. Now that Mia (Anne
Hathaway) is a princess, she decides to move to Genovia to accept her position.
Julie Andrews returns to give her more guidance.
We Don’t Live Here Anymore Naomi Watts, Peter Krause, Laura Dern, and
Mark Ruffalo star as two couples whose lives are complicated by adultery. This
independent feature premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
Yu-Gi-Oh! First it was Pokémon; now Yu-Gi-Oh!, which many consider a rip-off of Pokémon, comes to the big screen. Yugi, a Japanese anime character, discovers the secrets of a card game called the Shadow Game.
AUGUST 20
Exorcist: The Beginning The original movie hinted at a backstory, and this prequel details the first encounter of Father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgård) with the demon Pazuzu in Africa after World War II. This has been a troubled production, and original author William Peter Blatty had no involvement.
Hero Zhang Yimou’s award-winning and Oscar-nominated period epic finally
receives a theatrical release in the United States. Jet Li stars as an assassin
who seeks revenge against the emperor who murdered his family.
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead Clive Owen stars in this gritty British gangster
thriller about a retired mobster who seeks revenge for the murder of his brother.
Malcolm McDowell co-stars; directed by Mike Hodges (Croupier).
Without a Paddle Three friends go canoeing in Washington state, hoping to find the money stolen by D.B. Cooper, who parachuted over the area in 1971. Burt Reynolds, in what must be the casting gimmick of the year, appears in a supporting role as a crazy mountain man.
AUGUST 27
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid This is a sequel to the 1997
hit Anaconda, about a monster snake, but none of the principals returned
for the follow-up. An expedition searches the jungles of Borneo for a rare orchid
and uncovers a race of snakes that use the flower to gain super strength.
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2004.
