High-profile films to light up big screen after July 4th holiday
Spider-Man has shot his web, The Force has faded from theaters and the Men in Black have already come back. Does that mean film fans have nothing left to look forward to during the post-July Fourth period? Hardly.
Plenty of high-profile films are on the way. Mike Myers will go for the gold in the next “Austin Powers” installment, Mel Gibson will be looking for “Signs” of intelligent life in the universe, the “Kids” will be back as spies, Tom Hanks will take a violent road trip to “Perdition,” Vin Diesel will go the triple “X” route and Eddie Murphy will be getting lost in space during “Pluto Nash.”
Here’s a look at what’s coming to a theater near you from now through Labor Day (with all dates subject to change):
July 12
“The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course”: Steve Irwin, better known as The Crocodile Hunter from the “Animal Planet” series, battles to save a feisty croc from some poachers. He later discovers that the creature has somehow become involved with a top secret U.S. satellite beacon and the men chasing the fast-swimming beast are actually special CIA operatives. John Stainton directed.
“Elling”: Two former mental patients (Per Christian Ellefsen and Sven Nordin) bond as friends, agree to share an apartment and then try to adjust to new things, such as phone-sex lines and poetry readings. Based on a hit stage play, the import from Norway received an Oscar nomination as best foreign film. (Kevin Spacey is currently preparing to star in an American version.) Petter Naes directed.”Reign of Fire”: A stranger (Matthew McConaughey of “U-571”) from America arrives in London and claims to be able to destroy an enormous fire-breathing beast that has been awakened from centuries of slumber. Christian Bale (“American Psycho”) co-stars in the action adventure tale. Rob Bowman (“The X-Files: Fight the Future”) directed.
July 19
July 26
“The Country Bears”: The bear musicians from the Disney theme parks who perform in the Country Bear Jamboree discover a member of their family has been adopted by humans and then must put aside their differences to save their original home during this family comedy. Christopher Walken (“Sleepy Hollow”) and Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense”) co-star, and Elton John, Queen Latifah, Willie Nelson and Bonnie Raitt perform during a concert sequence. Peter Hastings directed.
“My Wife the Actress”: During this import from France, a sports writer grows extremely jealous when his performer/spouse lands a role opposite a sexy leading man. Terence Stamp (“The Limey”) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Jane Eyre”) co-star. Yvan Attal, who also has a starring role, made his directing debut.
“Tadpole”: During this screwball comedy, a 15-year-old student (Aaron Stanford) returns from an exclusive boarding school and discovers that his father (John Ritter of TV’s “Three’s Company”) has remarried a beautiful woman (Sigourney Weaver of “Aliens”). He soon finds himself sexually attracted to his stepmom and ends up physically involved with the woman’s best friend (Bebe Neuwirth of TV’s “Fraser”). Gary Winick directed the shot-on-video picture, which was a sensation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Aug. 2
“Signs”: Set in Bucks County, this highly anticipated fantasy thriller stars Mel Gibson as a farmer who discovers huge designs of circles and lines carved into his family’s crops and learns that the formations have a mysterious meaning perhaps related to extraterrestrials. Joaquin Phoenix (“Gladiator”) co-stars. M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense”) directed.
Aug. 7
“The Good Girl”: A married woman (Jennifer Aniston of TV’s “Friends”) finds herself trapped in an unhappy marriage and a dead-end job at a Texas discount retail store. She becomes attracted to a young, artistically minded co-worker (Jake Gyllenhaal of “October Sky”) and struggles over having an affair with him or remaining faithful to her husband. Miguel Arteta (“Chuck & Buck”) directed.
“Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”: Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino return as crime-fighting parents who again involve their children (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) in the espionage business when they travel to a remote island and encounter dangerous man-made creatures. Steve Buscemi (“Ghost World”) and Bill Paxton (“Frailty”) co-star. Robert Rodriguez again wrote and directed.
Aug. 9
“Blood Work”: Clint Eastwood may have retired from playing tough cop “Dirty Harry” Callahan, but that doesn’t mean he’s over the hill. In this edgy thriller, he plays a former FBI agent who retires after a heart-transplant operation and then risks his life to pursue a serial killer who had previously eluded him. Jeff Daniels (“Terms of Endearment”) co-stars. Brian Helgeland (“Payback”) directed.
“Jackass: The Movie”: Daredevil Johnny Knoxville creates a big-screen version of his MTV show, which features dangerous stunts and in-your-face pranks. Jeff Tremaine, who co-created the controversial reality series, made his directing debut.
“The Kid Stays in the Picture”: The career of bigger-than-life producer Robert Evans, whose credits include “Love Story,” “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Godfather,” is chronicled during this critically acclaimed documentary, adapted from the subject’s best-selling autobiography. Brett Morgen and Nanette Burstein (“On the Ropes”) co-directed.
Aug. 16
“The Adventures of Pluto Nash”: Set in 2087, this sci-fi comedy stars Eddie Murphy (“Doctor Dolittle”) as a businessman who opens a nightclub on the moon and then must defend his investment from out-of-this-world mobsters. Pam Grier (“Bones”), Rosario Dawson (“Josie and the Pussycats”) and Randy Quaid (“Independence Day”) co-star. Ron Underwood (“Mighty Joe Young”) directed.
“Blue Crush”: During this romantic adventure, a young woman (Kate Bosworth of “Remember the Titans”) moves to Hawaii to follow her dream of living as a surfer and then finds riding the waves isn’t so important once she meets a handsome football player (Matthew Davis of “Legally Blonde”). Michelle Rodriguez (“Resident Evil”) co-stars. John Stockwell (“crazy/beautiful”) directed.
“Mostly Martha”: A single German woman (Martina Gedeck) who runs a fancy restaurant in Hamburg finds her world turned upside down when she hires a demanding Italian chef and allows her feisty niece to move into her home. Sandra Nettelbeck wrote and directed
“Simone”: A desperate producer (Al Pacino of “Insomnia”) agrees to allow a computer whiz to digitally create a synthetic replacement for his leading lady after the major star walks off a film and endangers the project. The public never realizes that the character only exists inside a computer, and the producer fears revealing the truth will destroy his career. Catherine Keener (“Walking and Talking”), Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore”) and Jay Mohr (“Jerry Maguire”) star in the biting Hollywood satire. Andrew Niccol (“Gattaca”) directed.
“Swimfan”: A high-school girl (Erika Christensen of “The Banger Sisters”) allows a championship swimmer (Jesse Bradford of “Clockstoppers”) to seduce her on their first date. The athlete looks upon the evening as a one-night stand, which causes the teen-ager to begin stalking and terrorizing him in this erotic thriller. John Polson made his directing debut.
Aug. 23
Aug. 30
“Biggie & Tupac”: The still-unsolved murder of rap stars Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace and Tupac Shakur, who were killed six months apart, are examined in this documentary. British filmmaker Nick Broomfield (“Heidi Fleiss, Hollywood Madame”) directed.
“One Hour Photo”: A psychologically unbalanced photo-lab technician (Robin Williams of “Insomnia”) becomes obsessed with a suburban family and then begins stalking its members. Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”), Gary Cole (“American Gothic”) and Eriq LaSalle (TV’s “ER”) co-star in the urban thriller. Mark Romanek made his directing debut.
“Possession”: A couple of arrogant intellectuals (Gwyneth Paltrow of “Shakespeare in Love” and Aaron Eckhart of “Erin Brockovich”) agree to team on a research project involving the lives of two Victorian poets and discover parallels between their lives and the artists they’re studying. Jeremy Northam (“Enigma”) co-stars in the offbeat romantic tale. Neil LaBute (“Nurse Betty”) directed.
“Slap Her, She’s French”: A foreign exchange student (Piper Perabo of “Coyote Ugly”) from Europe brings an air of cosmopolitan sophistication to a small Texas school and suddenly finds herself the most popular girl at school, a situation that upsets the high school seniors from the in-crowd. Melanie Mayron (“The Baby-Sitters Club”) directed.