THREE MONTHS OF MIGHTY MOVIES:
A Preview Of The Summer 2004 Movie Season

by Kristi Kates

 
Some of summer's potentially biggest hits rolled into theatres before summer had even officially begun - among them, Troy, Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Day After Tomorrow, starring, respectively, ancient Greeks, green ogres, young wizards, and plenty of disasters.  But the two months comprising the real heart of summer - July and August - each still have their own roster of anticipated films for you to check out!

 
JULY:  Superheros, Valley Girls, And A Fine Romance...

OPENING JULY 2ND:  The subject of the most movie talk for July is also Most Likely To Swing In On A Web - "Spiderman 2," that is, which brings back Tobey Maguire as Spiderman and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane. 
 

But that's not the only big ticket of the month.  Also opening on the 2nd, just in time for the 4th of July, "De-Lovely" chronicles the life of composer Cole Porter, with Kevin Kline in the title role; also in "De-Lovely" are Ashley Judd as Porter's long-suffering wife and performances from a host of pop stars portraying the musical acts of the time, including Alanis Morissette, Robbie Williams, Sheryl Crow, and Elvis Costello. 
 

And if you ever saw "Before Sunrise" with Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, then you'll probably love "Before Sunset," which reunites the romantic duo 10 years after their initial encounter in Vienna, Austria. 

OPENING JULY 9TH:  Clive Owen, Ioan Gruffudd, and Stellan Skarsgard share the screen in "King Arthur," which brings to life yet again the tales of the Knights of the Round Table in this big-screen epic; while the story of a smaller screen - TV - is played out through Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate, the two actors who anchor the television-news tale "Anchorman." 

OPENING JULY 16TH:  Take a sci-fi trip with the much-anticipated "I, Robot," starring Will Smith and Bridget Moynahan, the film inspired by the Isaac Asimov stories in which robots become just a little too un-robotic for comfort.   Teen idol Hilary Duff also returns on the 16th with "A Cinderella Story," in which she plays Valley Girl Sam Martin, who meets her crush through e-mail in spite of her evil stepmother and stepsisters (sound familiar?). 

OPENING JULY 23RD:  The second of the superhero movies of this summer, Halle Berry crawls onto the screen on the 23rd as the title character in "Catwoman" - while Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in "The Bourne Supremacy" (the sequel to "The Bourne Identity") along with Franka Potente and Julia Stiles, who also reprise their roles from the first Bourne movie. 
The 23rd also sees the re-release of the cult soon-to-be-classic Donnie Darko, with "The Day After Tomorrow's" Jake Gyllenhaal in the lead role. 

OPENING JULY 30TH:  Adrien Brody and Joaquin Phoenix star in the end-of-July supernatural thriller "The Village," the story of a town surrounded by a race of mythical creatures, while another story, that of two Gulf War soldiers who return from the war after being subjected to brainwashing, is told in "The Manchurian Candidate," which features Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep. 

OUR PICKS FOR JULY: "Spiderman 2," "King Arthur," and "The Bourne Supremacy" all promise plenty of action and plenty of adventure.
 
AUGUST:  Bad Guys, Good Girls, And Some Monster Snakes...

OPENING AUGUST 6TH:  With Tom Cruise playing the rare bad guy, August's "Collateral" finds a cab driver taken hostage by a contract killer as he makes his rounds; and stranded not on asphalt but in the ocean, "Open Water," a Sundance fave starring Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, and Saul Stein, leaves two scuba divers adrift in shark-infested waters. 

OPENING AUGUST 13TH:  The kids'll love this one (and a few anime-loving adults might just want to see it, too) - "Yu-Gi-Oh!" is the latest Japanese marketing franchise to challenge the Pokemon throne. 

 

For the girl-power crowd, Anne Hathaway stars as the Princess of Genovia in "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," with Julie Andrews and Hector Elizondo also back for the royal ride. 
If it's slightly darker fare you're looking for, you'll probably want to check out "Alien vs. Predator," the flick that unites the two monster legacies into one movie destined to be another cult classic. 

OPENING AUGUST 20TH:  "Bright Young Things" introduces the viewer to the way young London might've looked in the 1930's - that is, 1930's London as seen through the eyes of Emily Mortimer, Stephen Campbell Moore, and Fenella Woolgar.  The latest Jet Li flick hits theatres on the 20th, too - specifically, "Hero," in which three warriors unite while trying to conquer Qin, ruler of the northern province. 

OPENING AUGUST 27th:  And, winding up August, it's "Anacondas: The Hunt For The Blood Orchid," which features Nicholas Hope and Peter Curtin, who are thrown up against some frighteningly powerful anacondas. 

OUR PICKS FOR AUGUST:  "Open Water" seems a good distraction for the hot dog days of the last month of summer, while "Alien vs. Predator" is a good choice for popcorn-throwing fun.
 
Whatever your movie preference is, it certainly seems like this summer's choices have it to offer - adventure, suspense, a look back at history, a lot of flash, and even a little heart. 
Each week brings something new and entertaining to your local theatre - and once the summer's over, you'll have both your summer movie memories and a whole new fall movie season to look forward to.