JUNE FILM
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Commentary by Ray Pride

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Steven Spielberg puts his hand to one of Stanley Kubrick’s unmade dream projects, about a young boy robot (Haley Joel Osment) who longs to be normal in a world where water and sorrow have covered the surface of the world. With Jude Law as his android-gigolo sidekick.

The Animal
Luke Greenfield is the director credited to this Rob Schneider vehicle, in which he’s a bumbling cop turned super-savvy after a mad doctor stuffs him with animal organs. Colleen Haskell, from "Survivor," is on hand to beam toothily.

The Anniversary Party
Inspired by her experience working on Dogme 95 project "The King Is Alive," Jennifer Jason Leigh teams with pal Alan Cummings (with whom she worked in "Cabaret") to co-write and co-direct a shot-on-digital-video mordantly funny story of friendships and relationships in crisis.

Atlantis
Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, with producer Don Hahn, follow up "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" with an eccentric and sneakily funny 1914-set Jules Verne-meets-the-New-Age adventure. No songs, either.

Baby Boy
After doing battle with producers on the streets of New York with "Shaft," John Singleton returns to the turf of his first feature, "Boyz in the Hood," and let’s hope there’s more life than in his stiff "Poetic Justice." With Tyrese, Ving Rhames, Omar Gooding, Snoop Dogg.

Better Than Sex
Aussie comedy that asks, "Is sex better down under?"

Bride of the Wind
Bruce Beresford tells the true-life tale of a woman’s sacrifice of her own talent to that of her composer husband—Gustav Mahler (Jonathan Pryce).

The Closet
Francis Veber, French master of middlebrow slapstick, takes on a social group no one has ever made jokes about: gays.

Come Undone
French teen gay coming-of-age story has a likable weightlessness at first, but grows dozy fast.

Divided We Fall
Jan Hrebejk’s melodrama follows a Jewish boy shielded from the camps by a Czech couple.

Dr. Dolittle 2
Eddie Murphy, minus the hamster from "The Klumps," returns to family talking animal comedy. Will there be poo-poo and pee-pee? Does a bear shit in the woods? With the voices of Lisa Kudrow, Steve Zahn.

Evolution
Ivan Reitman, one of the key figures of high concept comedy, returns with this alien apocalypse laffers, starring David Duchovny, Orlando Jones and that slapstick great, Julianne Moore.

The Fast and the Furious
Rob Cohen, a career hack at Universal Pictures ("The Skulls") pulls another few million out the bank for a story of illegal urban drag racing, starring Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Rick Yune, Paul Walker, and, in what will likely be a useless arm-candy role, the gifted Michelle Rodriguez ("Girlfight").

Himalaya
Journey by yak to the top of the world. Or not.

Kill By Inches
Taking it all in just a little bit much, a murderous tailor is loosed.

Kiss of the Spider Woman
Hector Babenco’s 1985 Oscar vehicle for William Hurt and the late Raul Julia gets a spruced-up re-release.

Master of the Flying Guillotine
1975’s grindhouse fave returns to the big screen: mid-1970s Hong Kong work could be as daffy as in the 1980s.

Moulin Rouge
Baz Luhrmann’s grandiloquent, heart-tugging musical is one of the year’s highlights to date: flawed, but filled with ambition, passion and a love of the sung word.

The Princess and the Warrior
Tom Tykwer’s follow-up to "Run Lola Run" runs a little long, but there are moments of heartstopping poetry in this story of a nurse whose life is saved by a moody criminal. With Franka Potente.

Rat Race
Jerry Zucker, late of "Airplane" and "Ghost" re-treads "It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

Russian Doll
"The Matrix"’s Hugo Weaving discovers that he’s not the P.I. he thought he was: He missed the clues that his girlfriend is seeing someone else.

Saudade do Futuro
Sexy and stirring documentary about the street music of Brazil.

Sexy Beast
English commercials whiz Jonathan Glazer tries the feature form on for size. When evil Ben Kingsley is on screen, the film smokes; other scenes are filled with glib visuals: "Pointless Blank," anyone?

Strictly Sinatra
The talented Ian Hart ("Hours and Times," "Backbeat") plays an enterprising Glasgow lounge singer who tails after perky cigarette girl Kelly MacDonald.

Swordfish
Working with blow-shit-up producer Joel Silver, Dominic Sena follows "Gone in 60 Seconds" with a high-tech thriller filled with mayhem, John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, and in what can only be a shout-out for a nice new pick-up, Sam Shepard.

That Obscure Object of Desire
A cleaned-up re-issue of Luis Buñuel’s 1977 masterpiece about desire and terrorism makes the perfect counter-detonation to summer bombs.

Tomb Raider
Putting on the muscles and packing all the heat, Angelina Jolie takes on the role of videogame adventuress Lara Croft. Teen boys and middle-aged men will thrill.

What’s the Worst That Could Happen?
Seeing this movie from the director of "The Out-of-Towners, " we fear. Sam Weisman guides Danny DeVito, Martin Lawrence and John Leguizamo through this robbery caper.

Copyright Newcity Communications, Inc.

SUMMER TRAVEL
Snappy suggestions for places you can drive in a day

VIDEO PARADISO
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