The March of Films--Week by Week by Week . . .

Following are capsule summaries of the summer’s movies. They are listed in alphabetical order according to the latest available release date. Movies that are as yet unscheduled are listed at the end of each month, and at the end of the list. May 24

Backdraft. Director Ron Howard’s look at a Chicago firefighting family’s affinity for heroics and sacrifices. Ensemble cast includes Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca DeMornay, Donald Sutherland and the incendiary Robert De Niro. (Universal)

Chopper Chicks in Zombietown. Troma Films tries its hand in the summer movie frenzy. The title pretty much says it: Jamie Rose and Catherine Carlen lead a pack of women bikers. Dan Hoskins writes and directs. (Troma)

Drop Dead Fred. Phoebe Cates’ imaginary playmate Fred, Brit comic Rik Mayall (one of “The Young Ones”), plays havoc on her on the day she loses her philandering husband, her job, her car and her purse. Marsha Mason, Carrie Fisher and Tim Matheson co-star for director Ate De Jong. (New Line)

Hudson Hawk. Bruce Willis plays cat burglar Hawk, who’s just out of the slammer and itching to retire until Richard E. Grant and Sandra Bernhard talk him into snatching three Da Vincis from a trio of European museums. Danny Aiello plays Willis’ friend, Andie MacDowell his love interest in this $60-million spectacle. Michael Lehmann directs. (Tri-Star)

Only the Lonely. John Candy plays a lonely, warmhearted Windy City cop who falls for Ally Sheedy, the shy daughter of the local mortician. Maureen O’Hara plays Candy’s domineering, bigoted and disapproving mother. Jim Belushi, Kevin Dunn and Anthony Quinn play supporting roles. (Fox)

Tatie Danielle. A comedy about what happens when an older, seemingly benevolent auntie (who’s really a terror) moves in on her unsuspecting Parisian relatives. Starring Tsilla Chelton. Directed by Etienne Chatiliez (“Life Is a Long Quiet River”). (Prestige)

Thelma & Louise. A Ridley Scott road movie starring Susan (Louise) Sarandon and Geena (Thelma) Davis. Geena’s character is a housewife whose dull existence is drastically upended during a wild weekend getaway with wild waitress pal Sarandon. (MGM-Pathe)

Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. The story of a young girl who rides the diving horse at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City in the ‘30s--from erstwhile horror director Steve Miner. Gabrielle Anwar plays the girl and Michael Schoeffling (the “Mermaids” hunk) is the dashing man who helps her. Cliff Robertson also stars. (Walt Disney Pictures)

May 31

Drowning by Numbers. Peter Greenaway, notorious for his “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover,” brings us this charming story of three women who have made a cruel game out of drowning their husbands. Joan Plowright, Juliet Stevenson and Joely Richardson play the villainesses. (Prestige)

Soapdish. Sally Field, Kevin Kline, Robert Downey Jr., Cathy Moriarty and Whoopi Goldberg head this comedy about the off-camera (and off-kilter) loves and lives of soap opera idols. Robert Harling (“Steel Magnolias”) and Andrew Bergman wrote the script directed by Michael Hoffman. (Paramount)

Ambition. Lou Diamond Phillips wrote this psychological thriller in which he plays an ambitious writer who becomes obsessed with his murderous subject. Scott D. Goldstein directs co-stars Clancy Brown, Cecilia Peck, Richard Bradford, “Twin Peaks’ ” Grace Zabriskie and Haing S. Ngor. (Miramax)

Straight Out of Brooklyn. Matty Rich writes/produces/co-stars/directs this depiction of a struggling black working-class family. Filmed in the borough’s housing project where Rich grew up. Stars George T. Odom, Ann D. Sanders and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (The Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

June 7

City Slickers. Biggest plug in motion picture history?: Billy Crystal rides off the Oscar telecast into the sunset atop the horse from this movie. Crystal, Bruno Kirby and Daniel Stern sign up for a weeklong cattle drive. Ron Underwood directs; Patricia Wettig, Helen Slater and Jack Palance co-star. (Columbia)

Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. “Married . . . With Children’s” Christina Applegate stars in another look at a bunch of kids sans supervision. When the baby-sitter suddenly drops dead, the possibilities are, well, scary. The original “Bill & Ted” director, Steven R. Herek, orchestrates the mayhem. Co-stars Concetta Tomei, Eda Priss Merin and Joanna Cassidy. (Warner Bros.)

Everybody’s Fine. The director of “Cinema Paradiso,” Giuseppe Tornatore, directs Marcello Mastroianni as an aging patriarch who attempts to get his famiglia together for one last bash. As he journeys across Italy, he sees a changed country as well as his children’s disappointing legacy. (Miramax)

Jungle Fever. Spike Lee’s next involves a successful black architect who has a romance with his Italian-American secretary. The couple soon confronts the harsh realities of race relations in New York. “New Jack City’s” Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent and Anthony Quinn appear. (Universal)

June 14

An Angel at My Table. “Sweetie” director Jane Campion follows that up with the story of Janet Frame, one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed writers. Kerry Fox stars. (Fine Line)

Bright Angel. This drama covers the travails of a young girl who drifts into a small Montana town, then falls in love with an attractive resident. Based on short stories from the Richard Ford book “Rock Springs.” Michael Fields directs; stars Lili Taylor and Dermot Mulroney as the couple and supported by Valerie Perrine, Bill Pullman, Mary Kay Place, Burt Young and Sam Shepard. (Hemdale)

Prisoners of the Sun. Bryan Brown portrays a military trial lawyer sent to Ambon Island where a mass grave containing hundreds of Aussie POWs is uncovered. While prosecuting the accused Japanese officers and soldiers, he finds himself at odds with both them and the Americans. George (“Star Trek”) Takei and Terry (“The Stepfather”) O’Quinn co-star for director Stephen Wallace. (Skouras)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Kevin Costner personifies the legend of Hood for director Kevin Reynolds, who did some second-unit directing on “Dances With Wolves.” This $50-million epic was filmed in England and France and co-stars Morgan Freeman, Alan Rickman (Nottingham’s evil Sheriff), Christian Slater and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. (Warner Bros.)

Love Without Pity. Eric Rochant writes and directs this subtitled saga of a young man without a job or much of a life to go with it. When he meets a beautiful young translator, she translates his existence into one he can be proud of. Hippolyte Girardot and Mireille Perrier star. (Orion Classics)

June 21

The Rocketeer. Disney is hoping director Joe Johnston (“Honey, I Shrunk the Kids”) goes two-for-two. Newcomer Bill Campbell is a racing pilot who discovers a rocket pack that enables him to sweep through the air and into the heart of Jennifer Connelly. Based on the Dave Stevens comic book series; co-stars Alan Arkin, Paul Sorvino and Timothy Dalton. (Walt Disney Pictures)

Talkin’ Dirty After Dark. Let’s laugh late into the night at Dukie’s, a comedy club in the heart of South-Central Los Angeles. Topper Carew directs stand-ups Martin Lawrence, John Witherspoon, Jedda Jones, “Tiny” Lister Jr., Phyllis Stickney and Darryl Sivad. (New Line)

June 28

Europa. A young Jewish boy, Solly, is captured by the Nazis during the big war and decides to pass as Aryan to avoid extermination. Sent to an exclusive Hitler Youth School, the boy struggles to retain his heritage--and stay alive. Agnieszka Holland directs; Solomon Perel and Marco Hofschneider star. (Orion Classics)

The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear. Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, George Kennedy and O.J. Simpson return. The villains this time are the nuclear and oil industries who try to influence White House energy policy. Robert Goulet chips in as a conniving industrialist; David Zucker directs again. (Paramount)

July 3

Problem Child 2. The terror tyke’s next victim: a new town where Dad’s taken him to start anew. But Junior’s considerable antics are upstaged by a new friend, Trixie. John Ritter, Michael Oliver, Amy Yasbeck and Jack Warden return; Laraine Newman and Ivyann Schwan co-star for director Brian Levant. (Universal)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day. James Cameron directs the sequel, which picks up in 1997, after 3 billion people have perished in a nuclear Armageddon. A new Terminator, looking a lot like the old Terminator, is sent back in time to terminate John Connor while he’s still a child. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton return along with co-stars Robert Patrick and Edward Furlong. (Tri-Star)

July 5

My Father’s Glory. It’s based on Vol. 1 of Marcel Pagnol’s autobiographical “Souvenirs,” and paints a luminous portrait of his 11th summer in the rolling hills of Southern France. Yves Robert directs Philippe Caubere and Nathalie Roussel. (Orion Classics)

July 12

Boyz N the Hood. Twenty-two-year-old John Singleton wrote and directs this look at three brother buddies growing up in a South-Central L.A. neighborhood. Larry Fishburne, Ice Cube (no relation to Ice-T) and Cuba Gooding Jr. (Columbia)

Life Stinks. Mel Brooks directs and stars in this riches-to-rags story about an arrogant billionaire who wagers a rival he can survive a month in an L.A. slum with no cash, identity or connections. Lesley Ann Warren co-stars as a feisty bag lady who brings him down to earth and saves his life. (MGM-Pathe)

101 Dalmatians. A reissue of the Disney classic in which villainous Cruella De Vil steals a gaggle of Dalmatians for the wonderful coats they make. Betty Lou Gerson provides De Vil’s malevolent voice. (Walt Disney Pictures)

Point Break. Director Kathryn Bigelow takes it to the beach in this action-thriller starring Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves and Gary Busey. FBI agent Reeves hits the beaches of the Southland to investigate a series of bank heists and meets Swayze, a mystical mastermind who shows this G-Man a thing or two about the world--and himself. (Fox)

Regarding Henry. Director Mike Nichols and actor Harrison Ford reteam with this story of a rich, successful New York lawyer who has, it seems, everything but a heart. When tragedy strikes, our protagonist must start life anew. Annette Bening, Bill Nunn and first-timer Mikki Allen all star. (Paramount)

July 19

Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter return as their rad selves in this journey through hell, heaven and beyond. Year?: AD 2691. Dilemma: An evil dude has decided to rid the world of Bill & Ted’s memory so he unleashes his secret weapon--the evil robot twins of Bill & Ted! Can the real ones stop him?! Peter Hewitt directs; George Carlin, Amy Stock-Poynton, Hal Landon Jr., William Sadler, Joss Ackland and Pam Grier. (Orion)

Mobsters. Christian Slater is Lucky Luciano, Patrick Dempsey plays Meyer Lansky and Richard Grieco is Bugsy Siegel in this true-to-life depiction of the rise, then fall, of organized crime circa 1917-1930. Michael Karbelnikoff directs; Costas Mandylor, F, Murray Abraham, “Twin Peaks’ ” Lara Flynn Boyle and Anthony Quinn co-star. (Universal)

July 26

Slacker. Richard Linklater directs/produces/writes this choreographed look at 100 Austin, Tex., residents in various stages of life. (Orion Classics)

July Unscheduled

Livin’ Large. Dexter Jackson is a broadcasting student who gets the scoop of a lifetime, lands a local newscasting job and finds shattered relationships and an acute identity crisis. Michael Schultz (“Disorderlies,” “Cooley High”) directs T.C. Carson, Lisa C. Arrindell, Afrika Baby Bam, Blanche Baker and Julia Campbell. (Goldwyn)

The Big Man. Liam Neeson (“Darkman”) stars as a striking coal miner who leaves prison a hero. Sucked into a bare-knuckles fight by a Glasgow gangster, Neeson is pulled down into a seedy world of revenge, greed and drugs. The thriller is directed by David Leland from the novel by William McIlvanney and also stars Joanne Whalley-Kilmer and Ian Bannen. (Miramax)

Another You. Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor join again in this look at a pathological liar and con man who get caught up in a mistaken identities scam. Mercedes Ruehl, Stephen Lang and Vanessa Williams co-star; Peter Bogdanovich lost the director’s job to Maurice Phillips (1987’s “Riders of the Storm”) shortly after shooting began. (Tri-Star)

Every Other Weekend. Nathalie Baye plays a failed, divorced actress who loses her children, then attempts to reestablish a relationship with them. Nicole Garcia directs. (MK2)

Hot Shots! Charlie Sheen stars in this kinetic comedy from director Jim Abrahams (“Big Business;” he co-directed “Airplane!” and “Ruthless People”). Sheen plays a renegade pilot who bears the memory of his pilot father’s misadventures while he gets ready for a dangerous mission. Like “Top Gun” with a few laughs. Also features Cary Elwes, Valeria Golino, Jon Cryer, Lloyd Bridges and Kevin Dunn. (Fox)

Lame Ducks. Dennis Dugan (“Problem Child”) directs this wacky farce about the exploits of Roland T. Flakfizer, as played by John Turturro. Flakfizer is joined by Mel Smith and Bob Nelson to help a wealthy dowager fulfill her late husband’s dream of founding a ballet company. (Paramount)

The Miracle. Neil Jordan directed this disturbing tale of two best friends who enjoy play acting during their summer months when a femme fatale ventures into the scenario. Beverly D’Angelo plays the woman who, at first, seems like another play character to Jimmy and Rose. They soon find out it’s not like this. (Miramax)

August 2

The Doctor. “Children of a Lesser God” director Randa Haines and her “Lesser God” star William Hurt bring us this drama of a 40ish physician who learns he suffers from cancer of the larynx. For once, he must rely on the medical opinions of others. (Touchstone)

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. We’ve heard of product placement in the films themselves, but in the title? Mickey Rourke plays Harley, a philosophical drifter whose lifelong friend is an ex-rodeo rider (Don Johnson). The two team up when a bank threatens to foreclose on their hangout, the Rock ‘n Roll Bar and Grill, to rob said bank. Simon Wincer directs. (MGM-Pathe)

Return to the Blue Lagoon. Essentially, the toddler son of the deceased couple from the original hooks up with a stranded, orphaned young girl,and the whole thing starts up again, on another idyllic island. Milla Jovovich, Brian Krause and Lisa Pelikan star for director Randal Kleiser. (Columbia)

V. I. Warshawski. This Kathleen Turner vehicle is based on the popular V.I. Warshawski mystery novels written by Sara Paretsky. Warshawski is a private detective who’s been hired by a teen-age girl to find who is behind the murder of her father--an ex-hockey player Warshawski knew casually. The action-drama is directed by Jeff (“Tough Guys”) Kanew and also stars Jay O. Sanders and Charles Durning. (Hollywood Pictures)

August 9

Body Parts. Jeff Fahey stars in this psychological horror picture dealing with a criminal psychologist who turns very nasty after an operation following an auto crash. Eric Red (he wrote “The Hitcher”) directs. (Paramount)

Double Impact. Jean-Claude Van Damme plays twin brothers: One of whom grows up in the streets of Hong Kong, the other in posh Beverly Hills. They both take on the Chinese Mafia in Hong Kong to avenge the murder of their parents. Sheldon Lettich directs. (Columbia)

Mystery Date. “Dead Poets Society’s” Ethan Hawke is excited about a date arranged by his older brother. But a case of mistaken identity turns the evening into a dangerous one. Jonathan Wacks (produced “Repo Man,” directed “Powwow Highway”) directs; Teri Polo plays The Date. (Orion)

Trust. Maria’s a pregnant teen who unwittingly triggers her father’s last heart attack. After she’s thrown out of the house by her grief-stricken mom, she meets a genius weirdo named Matthew and they struggle to live happily ever after. Hal Hartley writes and directs; Adrienne Shelly and Martin Donovan star. (Fine Line)

Aug 16 Bingo! “*batteries not included” director Matthew Robbins directs Cindy Williams alongside an actor’s worst enemy--a cute little dog. David Rasche and Robert Steinmiller Jr. also will have scenes stolen from them in this peek at American life through the innocent eyes of a canine. (Tri-Star)

Child’s Play 3. Chucky the Doll is back. This trip, he’ll infiltrate the military academy attended by recurring character Andy Barclay, who’s 16 now but still the object of Chucky’s blood lust. Jack Bender directs; Justin Whalin, Perrey Reeves and Brad Dourif star. (Universal)

Aug 23

The Butcher’s Wife. Demi Moore pairs up with Jeff Daniels in this clairvoyant comedy of a Greenwich Village butcher (George Dzundza) who returns from a North Carolina fishing trip with a wife--Moore, who soon displays an uncanny influence on those in the neighborhood. Daniels plays an MD who looks into this strange occurrence. Terry Hughes directs co-stars Frances McDormand, Margaret Colin and Mary Steenburgen. (Paramount)

True Identity. Director Charles Lane (“Sidewalk Stories”) gets a bigger budget to work with in this mob yarn of a fellow (comedian Lenny Henry) who discovers a mafia kingpin, believed dead, is actually alive. (Touchstone)

Suburban Commando. Hulk Hogan takes a break from the ring in this action-adventure with Christopher Lloyd and Shelly Duvall. The Hulkster plays a pursued intergalactic warrior forced down on our planet in his spaceship. Lloyd and Duvall take this cuddly little alien into their home. Burt Kennedy directs. (New Line)

Aug Unschedules

City of Hope. Director John Sayles’ next film concerns the shifting, volatile dynamics, despair and hope in today’s working-class world. Stars Vincent Spano, Tony LoBianco and Joe Morton. (The Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

The Commitments. A working-class group of Dubliners decide to form a band together, christen it the Commitments, and bring rhythm ‘n’ blues to the Irish capital. Alan Parker directs; Robert Arkins, Michael Aherne and Angeline Ball star. (Fox)

My Mother’s Castle. Patterned after Pagnol’s second volume of memoirs, which focuses on Marcel’s bewitching mother. (See July’s “My Father’s Glory.”) (Orion Classics)

Doc Hollywood. Young doctor Michael J. Fox is headed for Beverly Hills to practice a little plastic surgery when his wheels break down in a small Southern town. While there, he gets a new perspective on life and love. Bridget Fonda, Woody Harrelson, George Hamilton and Julie Warner also star. Michael Caton-Jones (“Scandal”) directs. (Warner Bros.)

One Cup of Coffee. A minor-league baseball team in the late ‘50s provides the setting for a friendship between an aging white “has-been” from the major leagues and an up and coming young black rookie. Starring William Russ, Glenn Plummer, Noble Willingham. Directed by Robin B. Armstrong. (Miramax)

Pure Luck. Martin Short and Danny Glover team up with “Malcolm” director Nadia Tass in this remake of Francis Veber’s “Le Chevre.” Short is an accountant who’s sent to rescue an accident-prone heiress. Glover’s the no-nonsense detective who comes to his aid. Sheila Kelley, Scott Wilson, Harry Shearer and Sam Wanamaker also star. (Universal)

Late for Dinner. A new comedy from W. D. Richter (“Buckaroo Banzai”) looking at two 1962 buddies, frozen for 29 years in a peculiar experiment. Stars Brian Wimmer and Peter Berg. (Columbia)

Delirious. Soap opera writer John Candy is hurled into the very soap that he writes after an auto accident. Tom Mankiewicz directs; Mariel Hemingway, Emma Samms (a real soap star), Raymond Burr, Charles Rocket and Dylan Baker. (MGM-Pathe)

Dutch. Dutch is to pick up his girlfriend’s son at an Atlanta boarding school and transport him home to Chicago in time for Turkey Day. Well expect trouble. “Married . . . With Children’s” Ed O’Neill stars with JoBeth Williams and Ethan Randall as the tyke. Directed by “ ‘Crocodile’ Dundee’s” Peter Faiman. (Fox)

The Super. Joe Pesci in a look at the comedic comeuppance of a slumlord. Pesci is Louie Kritski, a detestable perpetrator of code violations who’s forced, by law, to live in one of his dumps till major repairs have been completed. Rod Daniel directs; Vincent Gardenia, Madolyn Smith Osborne and Ruben Blades co-star. (Fox)

Rover Dangerfield. Give this film some respect, gang, ‘cause it’s Rodney Dangerfield’s foray into the realm of the animated feature. Rover, equipped with Rodney’s voice, is a Las Vegas dog. Dangerfield also writes the Jim George/Bob Seeley-directed film. (Warner Bros.)

Summer Unscheduled

Highway to Hell. Chad Lowe, Kristy Swanson and Patrick Bergin roast in this tale of a demon cop who drags a young girl down through the hells of purgatory and the boyfriend who rescues her. Ate De Jong directs. (Hemdale)

Love Potion 9. Dale Launer, writer of “Ruthless People” and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” gets a directing shot. Tate Donovan and Sandra Bullock star as a biochemist and psychobiologist who test a mysterious and potent potion that renders the opposite sex totally infatuated . . . for but a mere four hours. (Fox)

McBain. When Christopher Walken’s rescued from the jungles of Vietnam, he later repays the favor by avenging the death of his rescuer 18 years down the road. He even gets to overthrow a corrupt South American government in the process. Maria Conchita Alonso and Michael Ironside co-star for director James Glickenhaus. (Shapiro Glickenhaus)

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll. The movie of Eric Bogosian’s Off-Broadway one-man show is a satirical look at a variety of characters. (Avenue)

The Story of Boys and Girls. Pupi Avati writes and orchestrates this funny look at 30 relatives and friends who meet at a grand engagement celebration. Felice Andreasi and Angiola Baggi lead the feast. (Aries)