Cinema: Aieee! It's Summer!!

(4 of 4)

SIX DAYS, SEVEN NIGHTS (June 12). Here's Harrison Ford, 55, in an ornery romance with Anne Heche, 28. But stuff blows up, and Ford has the chance to solidify his claim as heir to Clint's manly scowl.

THE HORSE WHISPERER (May 15). In his first film as star and director, Robert Redford, 60, talks to the animals and delicately woos Kristin Scott Thomas, a matronly 37. Will the teen-girl audience in search of movie romance cotton to a man who's old enough to be Leonardo's grandfather? Not DiCaprio's--da Vinci's. (Bygones!)

DOCTOR DOLITTLE (June 26). When he talks to the animals, they talk back, in the voices of Chris Rock, Albert Brooks, Garry Shandling and Paul Reubens. The Nutty Professor proved that audiences still love Eddie Murphy--when he's funny and sweet. This comedy, and Murphy's work as the Mulan dragon, could have viewers shouting, "Eddie! Eddie!"

WEIRD TV!!!

BASEKETBALL (July 31). The South Park kids--not Cartman and Kenny but creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone--star in a sports farce from David (Naked Gun again!) Zucker. It might score, but the grownup in us says the Parker-Stone celebrity clock is at 12 minutes and ticking.

THE AVENGERS (Aug. 14). Can a hit spy caper be spun out of a '60s TV series that few saw and fewer remember? Maybe not, but savor the swank cast: Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and evil Sean Connery--finally the anti-Bond.

THE X FILES (June 19). TV's hit psy-fi drama dares to powerize the paranoia up to big-screen voltage. "The show is too big to call a cult now," observes actor-comedian Harry Shearer. "You could put the name X Files on a pack of cigarettes and people would buy it." (Hmm: "Cancer Man says, 'Smoke these and you too can head a vast government conspiracy.'") Our bet: with the top-rated series among young people as its base, the film will find $100 million worth of viewers ready to inhale.

--Reported by Jeffrey Ressner/Los Angeles