> May 16 - Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars dropped sharper than Spiderman did in its second weekend box office grosses. Unless something bizarre happens, Spiderman will beat its domestic gross. I still haven't seen Spiderman, but I caught Episode Two. I liked it, and preferred it to The Phantom Menace, but I would have preferred a memorable line or two.

> May 24 - Insomnia

This got excellent reviews. It opened to Memento's total gross earnings, although it won't achieve Memento's reputation. It's sort of silly to compare the two, though, as they are nothing alike. If I get to the theaters again before Minority Report, this may be the one I see.

> May 24 - Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Leen and I saw the first showing of this on opening day. One kid babbled through the whole thing, and the parents did do a thing. When Leen and I become parents, assuming we do, we are actually going to parent our children.

> May 31 - The Sum of All Fears

This also got good reviews, although some are cynical about the obligatory personal subplot. Ebert figures it was thrown in to keep the movie from being too depressing. Its box office performance, $31 million on its opening weekend, would have been big news just a couple of years ago. These days, for a movie like that...it's a number. Weekend two will determine how it'll go down in history in the eye of the mainstream. This weekend lacks new competition, so the road is paved, but although it won last weekend, I suspect Spiderman and Star Wars still own the summer movie spotlight.

> June 7 - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Reviews for this appeared yesterday and today. Critics trashed it.

> June 14 - Windtalkers

The only advance word I've heard about this is from David Poland, at http://www.thehotbutton.com/. He called it nonsensical, John Woo's worst movie. Poland is a great industry analyst but not (IMHO) such a great reviewer. Still, he doesn't usually come down so hard without good reason. I reserve judgment as always, but I have to wonder what happened to John Woo. Although I am in a minority of people who liked Face/Off, I don't contest that his recent work is lacking. Once upon a time, John Woo made disturbing but visionary films -- pure visceral ultra-action combined with extreme melodrama, all tempered with humanity and complex ethical dilemmas. Then he came to Hollywood. Blah.