This overview of summer movies was published in The Kansas City Kansan on Aug. 18, 2004.
By Steve Crum
Comic book sci-fi still dominates summer of 2004 movies, but other choices play on. Salt that popcorn.
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•ALIEN VS PREDATOR: What you see in the title is just what you get, although it should be called Aliens vs Predators since this is a tag teamer. Director Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil) helms the story of a scientific team (Sanaa Lathan, Lance, Henricksen, others) exploring an Antarctic pyramid housed with biters. Actually better than expected with slash and jab special effects. [GRADE C]
•CATWOMAN: Halle Berry is Patience Philips aka Catwoman in a very disappointing take on the comic book anti-heroine. Tries to be funny, tries to be S&M. Directed by a guy called Pitof. Me-owwww! [GRADE D-]
•DE-LOVELY: A handsome musical about the most ambiguous of American composers, Cole Porter. Stars Kevin Kline as Porter and Ashley Judd as his beleaguered wife. [GRADE B]
•THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR: Start engraving that Oscar for Jeff Bridges. Bridges stars as Ted Cole, all around free soul and author of children’s books. He and his wife (Kim Basinger in another Oscar-worthy performance) separate after a recent tragedy. How each deals with denial is the crux of the story. [GRADE B+]
•I, ROBOT: Will Smith is a detective who suspects subservient robots in 2035 are turning on their masters. Based on Isaac Asimov’s short story collection and directed by Alex Proyas, who did much better with Dark City and The Crow. [GRADE C+]
•THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE: Sure the original 1962 version with Sinatra was better, but still this Jonathon Demme (Adaptation) take is pretty chilling. Denzel Washington is the Army officer trying to convince his former sergeant/now running for President (Live Schreiber) that they were captured and brainwashed during the Persian Gulf War. Meryl Streep is a conniving senator and mom of the would-be Prez. [GRADE B+]
•THUNDERBIRDS: A gloomy, live action adventure yarn based on the 1960’s British puppet TV series. A villainous one called The Hood (Ben Kingsley) tries to demolish the worldwide rescue fortress of the Tracy 
Family, located on hidden Tracy Island, and headed by the elder Tracy (Bill Paxton). Director Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek The Next Generation) keeps the action moving amongst exotic and astro-tech sets. Not a bad family flick. [GRADE C]
•THE VILLAGE: Dreadfully disappointing and predictable, particularly with Oscar-laden stars (Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody), and writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s track record (The Sixth Sense). The snail-paced plot and dialogue grates to the point of wanting to exit the theater after the first 15 minutes. [GRADE F]
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