Intro

For better or worse, there's no getting away from the juggernaut called Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace. It is assumed that every man, woman, and child in the galaxy will see the film at least once. The only serious question up for scrutiny now is how many viewers will want to queue up to see the movie over and over again. Will the returnees be dominated by the PG crowd for whom the prequel is carefully calibrated? Will the hordes outside the theatres in the makeshift Tentooine villages return to the end of the line as soon as their current ticket stubs are used up?

Hollywood's never been known as a one-horse (or is that one Force?) town. We all know there are many more movies out there to choose from this summer. Of course, none of them will receive the same kind of free media blitz the Star Wars phenomenon has received. Most of them will have to struggle just to break out of the pack. The following listings provide a guide to the movies expected to open in Austin this summer. Odds are that many of the opening dates and titles will change over the next few weeks as distributors take full measure of the Star Wars factor and juggle their calendars accordingly.

Last summer was the season of the mega-movie. Big-budget would-be blockbusters such as Armageddon, Lethal Weapon 4, Godzilla, and Deep Impact hit the screens with a vengeance. This summer's offerings seem more modest by comparison, as though all the studios long ago abdicated the number-one blockbuster spot to Star Wars and never even gave a thought to trying harder. Will Smith and director Barry Sonnenfeld will give it a go with their Wild Wild West, hoping to repeat their success a couple summers ago with Men in Black. Mike Myers will try to shag another hit with the fly spy-guy sequel, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Comedies will be plentiful in the weeks following Star Wars. Included here are the feature-length South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Adam Sandler's Big Daddy, Bowfinger with Steve Martin and Eddie Murphy, the Nixon-era comedy Dick (can't wait to see the promotional giveaways for this one), the all-star superhero spoof Mystery Men, the teen picture American Pie, and at least a couple of romantic comedies starring Julia Roberts -- Notting Hill and Runaway Bride.

Probably the summer's two other most talked-about movies are Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez's The Blair Witch Project. Any Kubrick movie is highly anticipated because of the security that surrounded his productions and the overall creative challenge of his output. The circumstances of his death shortly following the film's first screening and the rumors and teasers surrounding its subject matter have made Kubrick's final film one of the events of the decade. The Blair Witch Project has been building a steady buzz after its cliffhanging season closer on an episode of the TV show Split Screen and a bravura run through this year's Sundance. The low-budget horror film uses creativity and nerve to create its authentically chilling state of horror and uncertainty.

Counter-programming has become one of the recent hallmarks of summer schedules. DreamWorks has not just scheduled the romantic comedy, The Love Letter, to open up the same weekend as Star Wars. The studio has also slotted its adult horror film, The Haunting, to open the same weekend this summer that proved so successful for them last year with Saving Private Ryan. Arthouse distributors have increasingly found the summer's lighthearted fare to be a good time for releasing their more thought-provoking products. New works to look for by European auteurs include Bernardo Bertolucci's Besieged, Eric Rohmer's Autumn Tale, and Wim Wenders' The Buena Vista Social Club. Also slated for summer release are mavericks Spike Lee's Summer of Sam and John Sayles' Limbo.

There will also be many screenings unique to Austin throughout the summer. Included with these listings are the City of Austin Summer Splash pool party movie schedule. Next week look in these pages for a profile of the Austin Film Society's Summer Free-for-All series -- a tribute to George Morris; the week after, we'll offer a rundown of the Paramount Theatre's annual Summer Classics series. Opening for a theatrical run later this summer will be Bob Ray's Austin-made movie Rock Opera (which premiered at SXSW '99) and a special celebration to mark the one-year steady run of Hands on a Hard Body at the Dobie. After one straight year, Hands still often pulls in bigger crowds than some of the theatre's newest releases. Only in Austin ...)

The listings that follow are meant as a guide. All dates are subject to change. --M.B.