SUMMER PREVIEW: FILM – Hit or Miss

With a few exceptions, it’s probably best to avoid the megaplex for the next few

months.
Related Story:
Phantoms and Secret Genies – As usual, Al Nigrin has worked doggedly behind
the scenes to assemble the summer edition of the New Jersey International Film
Festival in New Brunswick.
By: Jim Boyle

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, while Nicole Kidman (below) finds something strange about her new neighborhood in The Stepford Wives.

   Despite the multimillion-dollar budgets, mega- famous faces
and overbearing marketing campaigns of this summer’s upcoming blockbusters,
the most anticipated film of the next few months might actually be a scathing
$6 million documentary by Michael Moore.
   By now, many are aware of the firestorm of controversy surrounding
Fahrenheit 9/11, which analyzes the Bush family’s relationship with Saudi
Arabia’s royal family and America’s foreign policy after the attacks on the
World Trade Center. Even though Disney-owned studio Miramax funded the project,
its parent company had no intention of distributing the final product. The revelation
a few weeks ago has caused eruptions of censorship accusations by the opinionated
Moore, while Disney officials claimed they made their plans known a year ago,
and that Moore is using the controversy for self-serving reasons.
   Meanwhile, Miramax chairmen Bob and Harvey Weinstein are in
talks to purchase the film from Disney and sell to another distributor. With
the endless publicity and the recent unprecedented 15-20 minute standing ovation
after its premiere screening at the Cannes Film Festival and subsequent capture
of the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize, there should be plenty of suitors.
You can expect the domestic release of Fahrenheit 9/11 fairly soon, if
not during the summer, then definitely before Election Day.
   Until then, we’re left to wade through a summer season that,
with a few exceptions, can be summed up with a "ho-hum."
The Day After
Tomorrow (today) Mother Nature decides that Earth needs a do-over and
throws the planet into another ice age. Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid lead
a cast trying to survive tornadoes, tidal waves and earthquakes.
Raising
Helen (today) Kate Hudson plays a career-minded fashion executive suddenly
left with the responsibility of raising three children after her sister and
brother-in-law die in a car accident.
Soul Plane (today)
Normally, having Snoop Dogg as your pilot would be a major cause for concern,
but in this updated version of the comedy classic Airplane, it’s all
good. Foshizzle.
Harry Potter and
the Prisoner of Azkaban (June 4) The best installment of the book series
finally hits theaters, this time with a new director, Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu
Mama Tambien). If it stays true to the source material, expect a juicy plot
with plenty of twists. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. better hurry up with the rest
of these movies, before Daniel Radcliffe starts growing facial hair.
Mindhunters (June 4) Val Kilmer stars in this thriller directed by Renny
Harlin (Deep Blue Sea), about a group of young agents on a remote island
training for the FBI’s profiling division. They soon learn that one of the members
is also a serial killer and have to figure out the culprit’s identity before
they end up dead.
The Chronicles
of Riddick (June 11) Many critics and filmgoers were slightly surprised
in 2000 when the cheesy-looking sci-fi flick Pitch Black was actually
pretty entertaining, mostly because of Vin Diesel’s performance. Well, you get
what you ask for as Diesel returns in this prequel detailing his character’s
violent past.
Garfield (June
11) The lasagna-lovin’ feline finally goes Hollywood. The computer-generated
tabby is voiced by Bill Murray (yay!) and shares the screen with live action
co-stars Breckin Meyer and Jennifer Love Hewitt (boo).
The Stepford
Wives (June 11) Let the remakes begin, as Nicole Kidman and Matthew
Broderick star as newlyweds who move into a sparkling neighborhood where the
women kowtow to their husbands’ needs. Supposedly, this is a bad thing.
Around the World in
80 Days (June 16) Based on Jules Verne’s novel, the story revolves around
an eccentric English inventor (Steve Coogan) who makes a bet with high-society
members of a gentlemen’s club. He takes on a Chinese thief (Jackie Chan) as
his sidekick and tries to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days using any means
of transportation. Expected cameos include Luke and Owen Wilson as the Wright
Brothers and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Turkish Prince.
Darkness
(June 18) Anna Paquin stars as a teenage girl whose family moves into an
old house with a terrible past that comes back to haunt them.
Dodgeball: A True
Underdog Story (June 18) Vince Vaughn squares off against Ben Stiller
in a Las Vegas dodgeball tournament in a ploy to keep his local gym from being
taken over by a greedy corporation.
The Terminal
(June 18) Steven Spielberg’s latest features Tom Hanks as a man fleeing
his small, war-ravaged Eastern European country, only to find that during his
flight to New York City, his government was overthrown, rendering his passport
and paperwork invalid. He is forced to take up residence in the airport, where
he befriends the employees. The film is loosely based on the story of Merhan
Karimi Nasseri, who was expelled from Iran and, through a series of mishaps,
has lived in France’s Charles de Gaulle airport since 1988.
White
Chicks (June 23) In order to protect two hotel heiresses, two bumbling
FBI agents (Shawn and Marlon Wayans) disguise themselves as the blonde Wilton
sisters. That sound you hear is Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder spinning in their
graves.
The Notebook
(June 25) The story of a 1946 teenage love triangle is relived when a retired
salesman (James Garner) visits an Alzheimer’s patient (Gena Rowlands) and reads
to her from a notebook on her book shelf.
Two Brothers
(June 25) A pair of sibling tigers are separated as cubs, one joining the
circus and the other trained to be a killer, and reunited years later when a
dashing hunter (Guy Pearce) pits them against each other.
Spider-Man
2 (June 30) Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and director Sam Raimi return
to tell the further adventures of the web-slinging wallcrawler. This time, Spider-Man’s
up against a much tougher foe, Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina).
King
Arthur (July 7) The events leading up to King Arthur’s (Clive Owen)
reign are the focus of the latest attempt at filming the knights of the round
table. Director Antoine Fuqua will try to keep the gritty tone of his previous
efforts (Training Day and Tears of the Sun).
Anchorman
(July 9) Will Ferrell stars in potentially the funniest movie of the summer
as Ron Burgundy, a 1970s San Diego newsman whose network is turned upside down
when it hires a female newscaster (Christina Applegate). Look for The Daily
Show’s Steve Carrell to steal some scenes.
Sleepover (July
9) Okay, so like there’s these girls, right, and they’re about to become high-school
freshman. So, like, they decide to have a slumber party. But then these other
girls, total beyotches, crash the party and challenge them to an all-night scavenger
hunt where the winner gets the best lunch table. Whatever.
A Cinderella Story
(July 16) The title pretty much tells you all need to know. Hilary Duff
plays a dorky high school kid with a really mean stepmother. She gets a chance
to meet the man of her dreams at a school Halloween dance, but first she has
to change her look.
I, Robot (July
16) Me, bored while watching the trailers of this Isaac Asimov adaptation starring
Will Smith on the hunt for a murderous robot.
The Bourne Supremacy
(July 23) Matt Damon returns in the sequel to The Bourne Identity,
which did modestly well in theaters, but was a smash hit when it was released
on video and DVD. This time, another assassin is taking out targets posing as
Jason Bourne, making the real Bourne’s life a little difficult.
Catwoman (July
23) Executives were so impressed with Michelle Pfeiffer’s performance as Selina
Kyle/Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns that they wanted to make spinoff
movie focusing on her character. About 12 years later, it’s finally here, except
Pfeiffer has been replaced by Halle Berry.
The Manchurian Candidate
(July 30) Of all the Hollywood remakes, this seems to be the most unnecessary
one since Gus Van Sant’s Psycho. Why try to re-create one of the few
perfect movies ever made? Despite having Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep
in the cast, it’s hard to believe that Jonathan Demme can recapture the original’s
magic.
Thunderbirds
(July 30) This sci-fi actioner starring Bill Paxton won’t use marionettes
like the original British television series, but it will try to re-create its
campy tone. Ben Kingsley plays the villainous Hood and forces the rescue team
to wreak havoc around the world.
The Village (July
30) M. Night Shyamalan returns to scare the bejesus out of everybody, this time
with a tale about a small colonial town surrounded by a thick forest whose inhabitants
threaten to kill anybody who enters. I guess a good ax is out of the question.
Collateral
(Aug. 6) Jamie Foxx is a struggling comedy writer working as a Los Angeles
cab driver who figures out his passenger (Tom Cruise) is actually a hit man
being transported to his next target. Michael Mann directs what could be a pretty
decent thriller.
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (Aug. 11) The newly crowned
teenage princess of Genovia (Anne Hathaway) visits her kingdom during the summer
and finds she is part of an arranged marriage.
Alien vs. Predator (Aug.
13) After seeing Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees clash last year, it’s time
for two more monster movie icons to tangle. Neither Sigourney Weaver or Arnold
Schwarzenegger will be around to clean up the mess. Next year, maybe we’ll finally
get to see Chucky vs. Michael Myers.
Exorcist:
The Beginning (Aug. 20) Find out what happened before the devil possessed
Linda Blair and made her spew pea soup. Stellan Skarsgaard stars as Father Merrin
as he encounters supernatural forces in post World War II Africa.
Without a Paddle (Aug. 20) Three buddies from Philadelphia decide to
paddle their way through a Washington state park, searching for a bundle of
lost money but finding some not-too-friendly locals.
Anacondas:
The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (Aug. 27) This sequel to the dopey 1997
original follows a group of scientists in the Borneo jungle tracking down a
mystical artifact that may hold the key to eternal youth. Guess what. They find
a bunch of giant killer snakes instead.