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^ortlanb ©baeruer
Focus
June 23, 1999
S u m m er M o v ie G u id e
O P E N S
kT K
?lta Escobar (SALMA HAYEK) with Special government agent James
West (WILL SMITH).
B y K \ m W illiams
C ontributing R eviewer
Star Wars: The Phantom
pair of sexually-obsessed shrinks.
Tom and Nicole cavort naked in the
trailer. C orrection, she’s wearing
' ovie star Will
Sm ith and ac
. claim ed direc
tor Barry Sonnenfeld thrilled audi
ences with the summer hit ‘Men in
Black’. Now they’re together again for
Warner Bros. ‘WILD WILD W EST’,
a fast-paced adventure sparkling with
comedy, action and fantasy. Academy
Award-honorees Kevin Kline and Ken
neth Branagh, as well as the gifted and
glamorous Salma Hayek, join Smith
in starring roles in a retro epic that
mixes witty science fiction with hip-
hop savoir faire - all set against a
Western backgroud.
Special government agent Jam es
West (Smith), long on charm and
wit, and special government agent
Artemus G ordon (Kline), a master
of disguises and a brilliant inventor
of gadgets large and small, are each
sent to track down the diabolical
genius Dr. Arliss Loveless (Branagh).
Loveless is plotting to assassinate
the President of the United States
with the aid of his monstrously huge
walking w eapon-transport vehicle
I ’m still re c o v e rin g from T h e
M uppets taking M anhattan.
alized perspective of a pair of inad
vertent teen accomplices. Pass.
s tru g g lin g p la y w rig h t (John
T urturro). Shakespeare in Love-lite.
Runaway Bride July 30 • Julia
Roberts and R ichard Gere directed
again by G arry M arshall. Not ex
actly a sequel to Pretty Woman.
O ne of those ‘W edding I n te r r u p ts ’
affairs as Roberts dum ps her fiance^
for investigative reporter, Gere.
Mr. A ccident August 13 • Fright
en ed p o rc u p in e Y ahoo S erious
wrote, directed and stars in a com
edy about m arketing nicotine-laced
eggs to the unsuspecting public. I
Dudley Do-Right August 2 0 •
B re n d a n F ra s e r plays a n o th e r
Doofus, with Sarah Jessica Parker as
the im periled Nell.
glasses.
T he Blair W itch Project July 16
Can you live up to the enorm ous
• Low-budget Shockum entary by
hype? You can’t get away from the three young film m akers who disap
unprecedented hoopla. Every maga peared from their campsite five days
zine cover. Nightly news stories. Los into an investigation of witchcraft
ers with no lives cam ping out at in the hills of M aryland. No slash
Sum m er of Sam July 3 0 • Spike
theaters for a m onth before the open ing, shrieking or splattered guts, yet Lee’s spin on 1977 serial killer,
ing. Stroke of m idnight feeding fren a very creepy air.
David Berkowitz, aka Son of Sam.
zies for Phantom Menace m erchan
W
ith J o h n L e g u iz a m o , M ira
B ow finger Ju ly 2 3 * E ddie
dise. May the sales force be with
S
ervino,
J e n n ife r E sposito and
M urphy and Steve M artin yuck
you. T he first movie to have too
Michael
Badalucco,
all ending in
things up. Funny trailer, buy un
much prom otion. Enough already.
‘o’.
T
hreatened
with
NC-17
rat
funny prem ise (ala Ed TV/Trum an
You might not know it, but there
ing,
rum
or
has
steam
y
Plato’s
Show). Sounds like another bomb
are other films being released this
Retreat orgy being edited down
for these dem olition experts.
summer, over 130 of them. Let s
to steam y hot dog buns at
T he H aunting July 2 3 • Liam
take a look at the rest of the field.
Neeson and C atherine Zeta Jones. N athans.
Big Daddy June 2 5 • French
Deep Blue Sea July 30 •
O ne of those movies where the set is
farce where snobs com pete to invite
Samuel
L. Jackson, Thomas
the star. W ith walls that grab, slip
the dum best guest to a dinner party.
Jane
and
LL Cool J. M utant
pery spiraled staricases, come-to-life
A premise with promise.
sharks,
bio-engineered
with big
m arble gargoyles, and blood-cur
Wild Wild West July 2 • $100 dling shrieks. Psychologist uses re b ra in s fo r A lz h e im e r’s re
million rem ake of the ‘60’s TV se mote, haunted house on hill to con search, escape. T he sharks start
ries. Will Smith as a federal agent in duct an experim ent on unsuspect hunting for hum ans, making
1867? D on’t laugh, his blockbusters
this a horror flick.
ing subjects.
(Men In Black and Independence
T h e Iron G iant August 6 •
Inspector G adget July 2 3 • Ac
Day) were also 4'h of July weekend
9
year
old discovers 50 ft. tall
tio n -c o m e d y
w ith
M atth ew
releases. D irector Barry Sonenfeld
Broderick as a crime-fighting sleuth robot in his yard. T he robot is
promises, “cool gadgets, cool stunts
with gizmos for appendages. Looks friendly, making this a whole
and girls with lots of cleavage.” The
some family comedy.
very funny.
cool cash com bination.
W hite Boys August 6 ' Iowa
O utside Providence July 3 0 •
A m erican Pie July 5 • Comedy
farm
boy try in g to be black
The
F a rre lly
b r o th e r s ’
about four seniors who m ake a pact
makes
transition from Whegro
Rushm oresque follow up to T here s
with each other to sleep with girls
to
hardcore
gangsta rapper. Just
Som ething A bout Mary. Comedy
before the prom . G irls as objects,
funnin*.
about a troubled teen creating ma
boys as latents. O riginally too ex
Mystery Men August 6 •
jo r m ayhem at a New England
plicit, but edited down to a very
Parody
of comic book superhe
boarding school.
hot R-rating.
roes
with
stellar cast including
Fight C lub July 3 0 • Brad Pitt
Eyes W ide Shut July 16 • Direc
Ben
Stiller,
Jean n e Carofalo,
and Ed N orton start a club to pick
tor Stanley K ubrick’s swan-song
G
e
o
ffre
y
R
u sh an d G reg
fights. H elena Bonham C arter op
s ta r r in g T o m C ru is e , N ico le
Kinnear.
posite Pitt.
Kidman and Leelee Sobieski. Sec
D ick August 6 • Nixon and
M uppets From Space July 30 •
ond most anticipated film this year.
W
atergate,
fromm the fiction
Kermit and Miss Piggy take a planet.
The hush hush plotline involves a
Menace
called T he Tarantula.
West and Gordon begin as com
petitors but soon pool their talents to
become a wily team of operatives who
trust each other...most of the time.
T he beautiful and mysterious en
tertainer Rita Escobar (Hayek) com
plicates m atters for the duo as she
insinuates herself into their plans to
capture Loveless.
Romance, hum or, fantastic weap
ons and devices and hair-raising con
frontations and escapes enliven their
adventures as West and Gordon dar
ingly outwit their enemies.
don’t Yahoo.
T he W ood August 13 ’ Taye
Diggs, O m ar Epps and Richard
Jones. West Coast rap underscores
the reflections of three hip-hoppers.
Illum inata August 13 • Period
piece set in late 19,h C., where ac
tress (Susan S arandon) seduces
Blue Streak August 2 0 • M artin
Lawrence, in Nothing to Lose theme
plays unlucky jewel thief.
T h a t’s T he Way I Like It August
2 7 • ‘70s disco redux. Adrian Pang
as a loser going nowhere in a dead
end job. He wins a disco dance con
test, buys a motorcycle and goes
everywhere in a dead-end.
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