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The 2003 Summer Movie Preview

© Jason O'Brien

Oh, summertime at the movies! Some of my fondest memories of going to the movies took place in the summer. It's the one season of the year where I can actually enjoy seeing some sub-standard big budget movie blockbuster or sequel because movies become such events in the summer. It's almost more fun to be part of the event than the experience of actually seeing the movie. Remember how big Godzilla was when it opened a few summers back? I remember seeing that at a theater at the beach, and how exciting it was to be seeing this film that had been hyped up for so long. Sure, I don't ever watch the film again, but that high-pitched event of seeing movies in the summer has become just as much fun as some of the movies themselves.

And Summer 2003 will be no different. Summer has now officially started May 1, and the big event pictures will be arriving in the multiplexes in just a matter of weeks now. There will be sequels galore, more comic book adaptations, more comedies, and more big movie events. As I look over the schedule for the next four months, however, I don't see very many more serious minded films. Usually in past summers, we get a Saving Private Ryan or Road to Perdition, but I don't see any potential Oscar nominees in this pack of films. We also don't have a lot of major directors with films out this summer ... no Steven Spielberg, no Spike Lee. There's a couple remote possibilities for major Oscar nominations, and we'll certainly see a slew of technical nominations coming from this group of films, but this is looking more and more to be a summer to simply turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

As is tradition, it's time to present my two part series, the Summer Movie Preview! This week, we'll preview the films coming out in May and June, and next week, we'll conclude with a look at July and August. So here it is ... your complete guide to all the major and not-so-major films scheduled to be released in the Summer of 2003.

So let's start with May, and perhaps the film that will really get the boxoffice ringing like crazy ... The Matrix Reloaded, the much anticipated sequel to the 1999 mind-bending hit. There is no doubt this film will be a blockbuster, and with the third film in the trilogy coming out this November, it will be one big year for The Matrix films ... maybe both films will end up competing for the Visual Effects and other technical Oscars! Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss return, and Jada Pinkett Smith joins in the fun too. Hopefully the sequels will live up to the original. Another exciting development about the new Matrix films is that they will also be released in large screen IMAX theaters as well, thanks to the new Digital Remastering Technology which flawlessly transfers 35mm film to big screen 70mm IMAX. The Imax version of The Matrix Reloaded will open two or three weeks after the regular theatrical release, but the Imax version of the final film, The Matrix Revolutions, will open the same exact day as the theatrical version, marking a first for a live action film being released in both formats at the same time.

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