SUMMER

The Adventures of Sebastian Cole. Quests for identity consume both a 17-year-old boy and his sex-change-ready stepfather in first-time writer-director Tod Williams’ comedy-drama. (Paramount Classics)

Alice et Martin. Juliette Binoche (“The English Patient”) as a woman whose lover is haunted by a mistake in his past. (October Films)

Austin Powers the Spy Who Shagged Me. The dentally challenged agent (Mike Myers) swings again, with Heather Graham as his leading lady. (New Line)

Autumn Tale. The final installment of writer-director Eric Rohmer’s “Tales of the Four Seasons” tells the story of a middle-aged winegrower facing the prospect of new love. (October Films)

Beefcake. Thom Fitzgerald blends drama and documentary in his account of the muscle magazine industry of the ‘50s and ‘60s. (Alliance Atlantic)

Besieged. Bernardo Bertolucci traces the unusual relationship of an African expatriate in England and her eccentric employer. (Fine Line)

Best Laid Plans. Three friends reach crossroads in their lives, facing moral decisions and difficult, far-reaching choices. (Fox Searchlight)

Blue Streak. Jewel thief Martin Lawrence must pose as a cop in order to access his loot. (Columbia)

Bowfinger’s Big Thing. Loser film producer (Steve Martin) decides to cast action hero (Eddie Murphy) in his movie--without the actor’s knowledge. Frank Oz directs Martin’s screenplay. (Universal)

Buena Vista Social Club. Wim Wenders documents the celebrated collaboration between some Cuban musical elders and guitarist Ry Cooder (who has scored several Wenders films). (Artisan Entertainment)

Caligula. The 20th anniversary reissue of the director’s cut of the Penthouse-produced, Gore Vidal-written epic of explicit sex and violence under the decadent Roman emperor. (Legacy Releasing)

Chill Factor. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Skeet Ulrich try to play it cool: They’re carrying a substance that will explode when it reaches 50 degrees. (Warner Bros.)

Deep Blue Sea. Genetically enhanced sharks lick their chops as the marine researchers who created them become stranded on a sinking marine facility. Renny Harlin directs. (Warner Bros.)

Extreme. Extreme sports filmmaker Jon Long captures athletes contending with forces of nature around the world. (Imax)

Eyes Wide Shut. Jealousy and sexual obsession are the themes in the much-discussed, long-time-coming teaming of producer-director Stanley Kubrick with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. (Warner Bros.)

Fight Club. Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter navigate a brutal world of underground fisticuffs. Directed by David Fincher. (Fox)

For Love of the Game. As veteran pitcher Kevin Costner nears ninth inning, he’s faced with losing both his longtime team and his longtime woman. Directed by Sam Raimi (“A Simple Plan”). (Universal)

The Haunting of Hill House. “Speed”-meister Jan De Bont downshifts for this version of Shirley Jackson’s supernatural thriller, previously made as 1963’s “The Haunting.” (DreamWorks)

Killing Mrs. Tingle. Horrormeister Kevin Williamson makes his directing debut with a dark comedy starring Helen Mirren and also featuring “Dawson Creek’s” Katie Holmes, Jeffrey Tambor and Molly Ringwald. (Dimension)

Lake Placid. Paleontologist Bridget Fonda and game warden Bill Pullman seek the secret behind a death at a remote upstate New York lake. (Fox)

Last Night. What would you do if the world were ending at midnight? “Last Night” looks at the way a few people in Toronto face that situation. (Lions Gate)

Lost and Found. Restaurateur David Spade nabs his beautiful neighbor’s pooch in hopes of landing a date. (Warner Bros.)

The Minus Man. “Blade Runner” co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher makes his directorial debut with his own script, about a quiet stranger and disappearing locals in a small town. (The Shooting Gallery)

Mr. Accident. Triple threat Yahoo Serious is the writer-director-star in the story of a fall guy fighting a plot to market nicotine-injected eggs. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

Muppets From Space. After discovering that he’s an alien, Gonzo is pursued by government agent Jeffrey Tambor and faced with a choice between his extraterrestrial family and his earthly friends. (Columbia)

The Muse. Sharon Stone is the title character, enlisted by dismissed Hollywood screenwriter Albert Brooks to inspire his comeback. Directed and co-written by Brooks. (October Films)

My Life So Far. This memoir of an unusual family is produced by David Puttnam, directed by Hugh Hudson and features Colin Firth, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Malcolm McDowell. (Miramax)

My Son the Fanatic. Culture clashes and generation gaps spark this comedy, involving a cabdriver, his suddenly religious son, a prostitute and a German businessman. (Miramax)

Mystery Men. A motley collection of would-be superheroes (including Ben Stiller, Paul Reubens and Janeane Garofalo) is charged with saving a city from villain Geoffrey Rush. The action comedy is based on the Dark Horse comic. (Universal)

The Ninth Gate. Roman Polanski directs Johnny Depp as a man on the trail of an occult text, which comes complete with curse. (Artisan Entertainment)

Notting Hill. Movie star (Julia Roberts) enters a small travel bookstore, setting off an unusual courtship with its proprietor (Hugh Grant). Screenwriter Richard Curtis and producer Duncan Kenworthy previously teamed on “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” (Universal)

Pitch Black. What’s worse than being marooned on a sun-blasted planet? How about a solar eclipse that brings out the night life? David Twohy, screenwriter of “The Fugitive,” wrote and directs. (PolyGram)

Princess Mononoke. The animated Japanese smash is dubbed into English by a cast that includes Gillian Anderson, Billy Crudup, Claire Danes and Minnie Driver. (Miramax)

The Red Violin. An instrument crafted first in celebration then in grief touches a variety of lives across continents and centuries. Score by John Corigliano, with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the London Philharmonia Orchestra. (Lions Gate)

Runaway Bride. The “Pretty Woman” team of director Garry Marshall and stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere reunite for the story of a reporter and a woman with a string of jilted grooms in her past. (Paramount)

Run Lola Run. Short on both time and the money he owes the mob, a young man embarks on a suspense-riddled adventure in this German entry. (Sony Pictures Classics)

Siegfried & Roy: The Magic Box. The illusionists and their animals, in an exotic adventure captured in Imax 3-D. (Imax)

Star Wars: Episode I--The Phantom Menace. Darth Vader is a 9-year-old boy and Obi-Wan Kenobi a young Jedi knight in George Lucas’ prequel to the “Star Wars” saga. (Fox)

Summer of Sam. Spike Lee’s depiction of the hysteria and fear that gripped New York during Son of Sam’s 1977 murder spree. John Leguizamo, Meredith Brody and Mira Sorvino head a large cast. (Touchstone)

Tarzan. Phil Collins’ songs and the voices of Tony Goldwyn, Glenn Close, Minnie Driver and Rosie O’Donnell are some of the attractions in Disney’s animated saga of the Ape Man. (Walt Disney)

The Thirteenth Warrior. Emissary Antonio Banderas joins a band of Vikings in combat against some omnivorous critters. (Touchstone)

Universal Soldier II. Jean-Claude Van Damme takes on Michael Jai White, a haywire computer in charge of a formidable force of warriors. (Columbia)

Untitled Michael Cristofer Project. Pulitzer and Tony winner Michael Cristofer, working with a script he co-wrote, directs an ensemble cast plunging into the Los Angeles night life. (New Line)

White Boys. Stage performer Danny Hoch co-wrote and stars in the saga of a white, working-class Iowan obsessed with hip-hop and the gangsta world. Directed by Marc Levin (“Slam”). (Fox Searchlight)

Wild Wild West. Will Smith and Kevin Kline as government agents assigned to thwart a presidential assassination. Kenneth Branagh and Salma Hayek also star for director Barry Sonnenfeld. (Warner Bros.)

The Yards. Ex-con Mark Wahlberg takes a job in a Queens commuter rail repair company, where his efforts to straighten up are threatened by corruption and stubborn loyalties. With Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron and James Caan. (Miramax)

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Capsules by RICHARD CROMELIN

Research by KATHLEEN CRAUGHWELL