SUMMER SNEAKS : Ninety, in the Shade

How hot is this summer’s movie lineup? Eastwood and Streep in a clinch. Tom Hanks in the stratosphere. Stallone in the future. Jim Carrey in tights. Get the picture? The popcorn practically will cook itself. Here, our Top 90 reasons to get out of the sun this summer:

FRIDAY

Die Hard With a Vengeance. Original director John McTiernan returns with original star Bruce Willis. Jeremy Irons plays a brilliant, vengeful terrorist keen on blowing the smithereens out of New York, while Samuel L. Jackson plays Willis’ reluctant partner. (Fox)

Forget Paris. Forget “City Slickers 2,” pleads Billy Crystal, and allow him to regroup with this comedic drama also starring Debra Winger. Crystal wrote, directs and plays a single basketball ref who meets American-in-Paris Winger and considers calling a timeout on bachelorhood. (Castle Rock/Columbia)

The Mystery of Rampo. The Japanese film blends fact and fiction as it looks at the life of author Edogawa Rampo (Naoto Takenaka) and his involvement in an erotic murder mystery. (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

MAY 24

Braveheart. The studio’s heart was indeed brave, entrusting star and director Mel Gibson with a huge budget for this, his second feature, a 13th-Century tale of a Scottish hero who returns to his homeland after England’s cruel king assumes power. (Paramount)

Tales From the Hood. Spike Lee is executive producer of this horror-in-the-hood story of three thugs who are given a lesson in the supernatural by mortician Clarence Williams III. (Savoy)

MAY 26

Casper. Steven Spielberg produces this childhood fantasy, starring Christina Ricci as a young girl who can communicate with the friendliest ghost. Bill Pullman plays her dad, who tangles with a not-so-friendly Cathy Moriarty. (Universal).

Johnny Mnemonic. This 21st-Century thriller concerns a high-tech courier (Keanu Reeves) who’s on the run when he learns that the chip implant in his brain contains priceless data. Will he become road kill on the information superhighway? Written by cyberpunk author William Gibson. (TriStar)

Mad Love. Rebellious Drew Barrymore and straight-arrow Chris O’Donnell are the mismatched lovers in this examination of a passionate teen-age romance from director Antonia Bird (“Priest”). (Touchstone)

JUNE 2

The Bridges of Madison County. Clint Eastwood directs and stars with Meryl Streep in this highly anticipated film version of the publishing phenomenon. Eastwood is the photojournalist and Streep the Italian American farm wife with whom he shares a four-day tryst. (Warner Bros.)

Fluke. Comet and Barney star in this story of a dog’s big adventure in search of his family. Humans on hand to help include Matthew Modine, Nancy Travis, Eric Stoltz and Max Pomeranc. Carlo Carlei directs his first American film. (MGM)

The Glass Shield. Young L.A. sheriffs officers Michael Boatman and Lori Petty encounter corruption and racism in the department while trying to unframe crime suspect Ice Cube. (Miramax)

Little Odessa. The title refers to the Russian Jewish emigre community of Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. When Russian mob hit man Tim Roth (“Rob Roy”) returns there for a job, he is drawn back into his old world. USC film school grad James Gray’s feature debut won the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion trophy. (Fine Line)

JUNE 7

El Bulto. Producer, director, star and co-writer Gabriel Retes’ story concerns a middle-class Mexican man who emerges from a 20-year coma and must deal with the changes in his personal and political landscape. (Million Dollar Enterprises)

JUNE 9

Congo. Frank Marshall directs Michael Crichton and John Patrick Shanley’s adaptation of Crichton’s shelf-buster novel of a primatologist (Dylan Walsh) and a supervisor with a computer conglomerate (Laura Linney) who seek out the lost city of Zinj for very different reasons. (Paramount)

The Crew. It’s a motley one--including a rock star and a new transsexual--thrown together on a tension-packed cruise in the Bahamas. Carl-Jan Colpaert (“Delusion”) directs his second feature. (Cineville)

Party Girl. The party girl is Parker Posey, a sort of contemporary Holly Golightly whose big rent party doesn’t quite work as planned. Now can she really survive as a librarian? (First Look Pictures Releasing)

Smoke. Director Wayne Wang’s episodic look at the habitues of Harvey Keitel’s Brooklyn cigar shop is based on a Christmas-season New York Times essay by novelist Paul Auster, who expanded it into a full screenplay. (Miramax)

Wigstock: The Movie. RuPaul and musical dance darlings Deee-Lite top this wacky and tacky look at the 10th anniversary of Wigstock, the transvestite festival that overtakes New York’s East Village each year. (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

JUNE 16

Batman Forever. Val Kilmer takes on the cape and cowl, Tommy Lee Jones (Two-Face) and Jim Carrey (Riddler) provide malice, and Nicole Kidman and Chris O’Donnell are, respectively, Bruce Wayne’s romantic interest and Robin. Also starring Drew Barrymore; Joel Schumacher directs. (Warner Bros.)

The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love. The first feature from writer-director Maria Maggenti is a romantic comedy about first love. The principals: rebellious tomboy Randy (Laurel Hollomon) and popular schoolmate Evie Roy (Nicole Parker). (Fine Line)

Pocahontas. Mel Gibson is just one of the voices behind Disney’s summer animation event. The relationship between the independent Native American woman and handsome English settler John Smith propels the animated feature, punctuated by songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. (Walt Disney)

The Postman. Michael Radford (“White Mischief”) directs this adaptation of the Chilean novel “Burning Patience,” about the relationship of an exiled poet-diplomat in Capri and his uneducated personal postman. (Miramax)

JUNE 21

Roosters. Edward James Olmos stars as a husband and father who returns home after seven years in prison, only to clash with his son (Danny Nucci) over the family’s fighting cock. Sonia Braga, Maria Conchita Alonso and Sara Lassez also star. (IRS Releasing)

JUNE 23

Lie Down With Dogs. New York University Film School grad Wally White wrote, directed, co-produced and stars in this quasi-autobiographical coming-of-age story of a young man’s summer at a gay resort. (Miramax)

JUNE 28

Belle De Jour. The re-release (after 20 years out of circulation) of Luis Bunuel’s erotic classic, starring Catherine Deneuve as a bored housewife who takes up prostitution in the afternoon. (Miramax)

JUNE 30

Apollo 13. Director Ron Howard and star Tom Hanks go from “Splash” to splashdown in this big-budget re-enactment of the lunar mission that shut down 200,000 miles from Earth. Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and Kathleen Quinlan co-star. (Universal).

Judge Dredd. Sylvester Stallone is Dredd, a futuristic jurist known for his brutal legal decisions. When an arch-nemesis frames him for murder, Dredd rolls up his robe sleeves and unleashes terrible retribution while possibly even saving his own planet. With Armand Assante. (Hollywood)

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. Clear clean outta the way, folks, ‘cause they’re coming to the big screen! Paul Freeman plays one of the older folks in this, the MMPRs’ very first feature. (Fox)

JUNE UNSPECIFIED

Love and Human Remains. “Jesus of Montreal” director Denys Arcand’s first English-language film concerns the lives, loves and delicate situations surrounding some twentysomething singles in Toronto. (Sony Pictures Classics)

A Pure Formality. Gerard Depardieu is an accused murderer and Roman Polanski is his interrogator in the latest from “Cinema Paradiso” director Giuseppe Tornatore. Score by Ennio Morricone. (Sony Pictures Classics)

JULY 7

The Crude Oasis. Alex Graves’ feature debut is the story of a Kansas housewife (Jennifer Taylor) and the mysterious stranger who tries to extricate her from her unhappy marriage. (Miramax)

First Knight. It took some time for director Jerry Zucker to follow up “Ghost,” but here it is: Sean Connery plays King Arthur in this romantic adventure, but it is through Richard Gere’s eyes as Lancelot and his love for Lady Guinevere (Julia Ormond) that the tale unfolds. (Columbia)

Species. Roger Donaldson directs this thriller in which a nearby galactic civilization transmits “friendly” instructions regarding human DNA. Ben Kingsley stars; H. R. Giger (“Alien”) designed the creature. (MGM)

JULY 14

Country Life. Michael Blakemore’s film, based on Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya,” stars Sam Neill and Greta Scacchi as a sheep-farming couple in turn-of-the-century Australia whose life is disrupted by a long-lost son-in-law. (Miramax)

Grosse Fatigue. French star Michel Blanc plays himself (as do such colleagues as Carole Bouquet and Philippe Noiret) in a farce about the trials of fame. Winner of the best screenplay award last year at Cannes. (Miramax)

The Indian in the Cupboard. Frank Oz directs this adventure based on the Lynne Reid Banks’ bestseller about Omri, a 9-year-old boy whose birthday presents include a miniature plastic Indian who comes to life. Adapted by Melissa Mathison (“E.T.”). (Paramount)

Nine Months. Chris Columbus wrote and directs this look at two couples and their long, comic paths to maternity. Hugh Grant, Tom Arnold, Julianne Moore and Joan Cusack star. (Fox)

Operation Dumbo Drop. Director Simon Wincer leads Danny Glover and Ray Liotta in this comedy about a tough Green Beret who repays the Vietnamese villagers who rescued him by replacing a cherished elephant that perished during the mission. (Walt Disney)

Under Siege II: Dark Territory. Steven Seagal, after directing “On Deadly Ground,” lets Geoff Murphy call the shots in this sequel, a kind of “Under Siege” on a train. Eric Bogosian plays the Tommy Lee Jones role. (Warner Bros.)

JULY 19

Johnny 100 Pesos. A political thriller based on a 1990 video-store robbery gone awry in Santiago, Chile. (IRS Releasing)

JULY 21

An Awfully Big Adventure. “Four Weddings and a Funeral” collaborators Mike Newell (director) and Hugh Grant (leading man) reunite in 1950 Liverpool, where star-struck teen Georgina Cates becomes involved in the theater company that Grant directs. (Fine Line)

Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. When Jekyll’s great-grandson Tim Daly samples his improved version of the family potion, he turns into Sean Young. (Savoy)

Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home. Willy’s happily cruising the Pacific Northwest with his brother and sister and whale buddies. When an oceanic disaster separates Willy from family, his young human pal Jesse is off to save him again. (Warner Bros.)

Kids. The directorial debut of Larry Clark (noted for his harrowing photographs) covers 24 hours in the life of three teen-agers. Gus Van Sant executive-produces. (Miramax)

Postcards From America. Inspired by the writings of David Wojnarowicz, director Steve McLean’s film follows a gay outsider from childhood abuse to teen-age hustling to adult rootlessness. (Strand)

To Die For. Gus Van Sant directs Nicole Kidman, Joaquin Phoenix and Matt Dillon in Buck Henry’s story of a woman with a naive ambition to become a TV personality. (Columbia)

JULY 28

Clueless. Amy Heckerling wrote and directs this romantic comedy about a Beverly Hills teen who’s quite a pain-in-the-derriere. Not only is she filthy rich, but she must control all aspects of all things for all those around her. Alicia Silverstone stars. (Paramount)

Double Happiness. Sandra Oh plays a Chinese actress who agrees to marry a nice lawyer from China to appease her folks. Things get sticky when she falls for a non-Asian collegian. (Fine Line)

The Innocent. Campbell Scott is involved with both a secret intelligence operation and the mysterious Isabella Rossellini just after World War II. Director John Schlesinger’s thriller also stars Anthony Hopkins. (Miramax)

Untitled Michelle Pfeiffer Project. Oscar-winning screenwriter Ron Bass (“Rain Man”) scripted this true-life-based story (tentatively titled “Dangerous Minds”) of an ex-Marine (Pfeiffer) who becomes an inner-city schoolteacher. (Hollywood)

A Walk in the Clouds. GI Keanu Reeves and vintner’s daughter Aitana Sanchez-Gijon find passion amid the magical sensuality of the harvest ritual. Sounds like an aftertaste of “Like Water for Chocolate”? Well, Alfonso Arau directed both films. (Fox)

Waterworld. Kevin Costner plays the Mariner, the only man who can save this future world-without-land from Dennis Hopper and his marauding pirates. Jeanne Tripplehorn joins the Mariner in his soggy quest. Kevin Reynolds directs. (Universal)

JULY UNSPECIFIED

Dead Presidents. “Menace II Society” directors Allen and Albert Hughes examine a Vietnam vet who encounters nothing but grief as he resorts to violent crime after trying to assimilate into society. Larenz Tate stars. (Hollywood)

Living in Oblivion. If you thought things were wacky on Ed Wood’s sets, check out what happens behind and in front of the camera in Tom DiCillo’s account of a low-budget independent film production. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Safe. Julianne Moore stars in this sci-fi-tinged look at a suburban mom who becomes a victim of a strange malady that may or may not be attributable to the environment. (Sony Pictures Classics)

AUG. 4

Arabian Knight. Richard Williams, the creative mind behind Roger and Jessica Rabbit, directs this animated adventure about a simple cobbler, a beautiful princess and a bumbling thief. (Miramax)

Big Bully. When they were school kids, Rick Moranis and Tom Arnold were victim and tormentor, respectively. When they meet again as adult dads, well, there they go again. (Warner Bros.)

Jeffrey. Paul Rudnick wrote the script, based on his Off Broadway hit about gay relationships in the AIDS era. The romantic comedy is directed by Obie winner Christopher Ashley and stars Steven Weber, Patrick Stewart, Michael T. Weiss and Bryan Batt. (Orion Classics)

The Net. Systems analyst Sandra Bullock interfaces with intrigue and conspiracy when she taps into a classified program. Jeremy Northam and Dennis Miller are along for the cyber-ride. Irwin Winkler directs. (Columbia)

The Tenderfoot. Daniel Stern plays a sloppy, kid-hating guy who’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit. So what he does is hide out with a bunch of 10-year-old scouts on their first camping trip. (Fox)

Virtuosity. Director Brett Leonard has Denzel Washington playing an ex-cop with a pained past. Suddenly, he finds himself all over 1997 L.A. looking for a computer-generated personality on a rampage. (Paramount)

AUG. 9

The Brothers McMullen. First-time writer-director-actor Edward Burns examines the romantic confusion of three Catholic brothers (himself, Jack Mulcahy and Mike McGlone). (Fox Searchlight)

AUG. 11

The Amazing Panda Adventure. This story, filmed in the jungles of China, tells of an American boy who visits his dad to watch him care for this scarcest of species. What the boy sees--ruthless poachers and all--helps him mature in many ways. Stephen Lang stars. (Warner Bros.)

Fair Game. Police detective William Baldwin defies strict orders from up high and selflessly protects a young attorney from high-tech assassins in Miami. The lawyer is played by Cindy Crawford, in her feature debut. (Warner Bros.)

Hellraiser IV. Clive Barker’s never-ending story spins on under the directorship of Kevin Yagher, who oversees this expansion of the original mythology. (Dimension/Miramax)

Learning Curves. When a gifted high school senior (Jason London) finds out that Harvard won’t have him if his math numbers do not improve, he desperately hires a tutor (Tia Carrere). (Savoy)

Mallrats. Slacker auteur Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) leaves the convenience store for the mall, where two couples (Jeremy London and Clair Forlani, Jason Lee and Shannen Doherty) encounter oddball denizens. (Gramercy)

The Tie That Binds. Darryl Hannah and Keith Carradine are dangerous fugitives who attempt to reclaim their daughter from adoptive parents Moira Kelly and Vincent Spano. (Hollywood)

World and Time Enough. Gay life in the Midwest is the subject of Eric Mueller’s directorial debut, which combines an eye for cultural eccentricities with a sensitivity to the characters’ bittersweet passage. (Strand)

AUG. 16

Cold Blooded. Jason Priestly is a numbers cruncher for the mob who gets promoted to hit man and then complicates things by falling in love. Wally Wolodarsky wrote and directs. (IRS Releasing)

AUG. 18

The Baby-Sitters Club. Melanie Mayron directs this adaptation of the classic book series, concerning one summer in the lives of seven young women confronting family crises and romantic entanglements. (Columbia)

Empire. Anthony LaPaglia heads a young ensemble cast in this account of high jinks at a record store. Allan Moyle (“Pump Up the Volume”) directs. (Warner Bros.)

A Month by the Lake. The lake is Lake Como in Italy, the time is pre-World War II, the couple is Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox, and the trouble is Uma Thurman. (Miramax)

Mortal Kombat. Christopher Lambert stars in the film version of one of the most popular (and graphic) video games in the world. (New Line)

Theremin. A documentary on Leon Theremin, the Russian who invented the early electronic musical instrument that bears his name. Robert Moog is a consultant, and Hal Willner is the music producer. (Orion Classics)

The Usual Suspects. Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri and Kevin Pollak top this cat-and-mouse thriller that starts with five notorious thieves, incarcerated courtesy of the NYPD. The story shifts to L.A. and culminates with a heist of $91 million. (Gramercy)

AUG. 25

Desperado. In the follow-up to his hailed debut, “El Mariachi,” director Robert Rodriguez sends Antonio Banderas to confront a border drug lord. (Columbia)

Purple Noon. The re-release of Rene Clement’s 1960 classic “Plein Soleil,” starring Alain Delon as the ne’er-do-well who is recruited to return an errant young man from Italy. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Incredible Mr. Ripley.” (Miramax)

River of Grass. Director Kelly Reichardt debuts with a homage to the classic American B-movie. The Florida misadventures of Cozy (Lisa Bowman) and Lee Ray (Larry Fessenden) suggest that the outlaw myth is a tough one to live up to. (Strand)

Roy Cohn/Jack Smith. Jill Godmilow’s document of the late Ron Vawter’s theater piece, which examined the gay experience through the contrasting characters of two gay men--homophobic right-winger Cohn and performance artist Smith. (Strand)

Steal Big/Steal Little. Director and co-writer Andrew Davis moves from the epic action of “Under Siege” and “The Fugitive” to the intricate intrigues of this comic adventure, starring Andy Garcia as twins out to outwit each other. (Savoy)

AUGUST UNSPECIFIED

Babe. This live-action comedy focuses on a pig who wishes he could lead the sheep around all day, like a sheep dog. (Universal)

Beyond Rangoon. Patricia Arquette and Frances McDormand are sisters who head for a vacation to the Far East, but Arquette’s passport is stolen. It is during her extensive search for it that she discovers the true sense of courage. John Boorman directs. (Castle Rock/Columbia)

Lucky Break. Gia Carides (“Strictly Ballroom”) is a romantic novelist whose fling with jeweler Anthony LaPaglia sets in motion a series of mishaps. (Samuel Goldwyn Co.)

Mute Witness. The feature debut of commercial director Anthony Waller concerns a group of Americans who are swept into murder while making a low-budget film in Moscow. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Phat Beach. Rap star Coolio joins a young cast in what is billed as the first hip-hop beach movie. (Live)

Wild Bill. Jeff Bridges is Wild Bill Hickok to Ellen Barkin’s Calamity Jane in Walter Hill’s Old West saga. John Hurt, Keith Carradine and Bruce Dern also kick up some dust. (United Artists)

SEPT. 1

The Prophecy. Christopher Walken leads a band of renegade angels out to claim a valuable soul. Priest-turned-cop Elias Koteas and schoolteacher Virginia Madsen resist. (Dimension/Miramax)

LATE SUMMER

Hackers. Iain Softley (“BackBeat”) directs a cast of newcomers whose cyber-antics entangle them in a case of industrial conspiracy. (MGM)

Lord of Illusions. Clive Barker’s latest supernatural foray plunges detective Scott Bakula into the mysterious world of magician Kevin J. O’Connor and the dark power behind the magic. (MGM)

Compiled by RICHARD CROMELIN

Photo Research: SUE MARTIN