In talking with various different people it seems as though many feel summer's entertainment possibilities are limited in wake of "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" having already been unleashed upon us. While "ROTS" is certainly the best of the prequels, it's nowhere near as good as Episodes 4 and 5 and it's definitely not the best of the bunch as lots of folks are quick to suggest. Relax, "Star Wars" geeks, I'm among your numbers and can still assure you that there are still plenty of entertaining options remaining in the realms of movies, music, television and video games for the rest of summer. The following is a look at the best of the bunch.
Movies:\nTomorrow will see the release of "Cinderella Man" (summer's sole Oscar contender) and "Lords of Dogtown," a slightly fictionalized account of skate sensation Stacy Peralta's 2001 documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys."\nThe following week (June 10, specifically) presents "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Doug Liman's ("Swingers," "Go" and "The Bourne Identity") highly publicized romantic/comedic actioneer, and "High Tension," a French fright flick which necessitated a minute snipped out to avoid the dreaded NC-17 rating.\nThe two weeks following play like a nerd's nirvana: "Batman Begins," arguably summer's second-most-anticipated movie behind "ROTS," bows with a mid-week opening of Wednesday, June 15; June 24 will see "Land of the Dead," the first zombie movie in 20 years from the genre's creator George A. Romero and Steven Spielberg returns to the summer spectacle that first made him famous, i.e. "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," etc., with "War of the Worlds" on June 29.\nJuly slows down a tad, but there are still scads of quality stuff hitting the multiplexes. Though "Fantastic Four" (July 8) doesn't look like it'll live up to its title, it's a comic book movie featuring two of TV's better current actors -- Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") and Julian McMahon ("Nip/Tuck"). My ass is already in the seat. \nThe following week offers the diverse selection of Sundance fave "Hustle and Flow" (July 13), Tim Burton's reinterpretation of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and the Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughn perv-o comedy "Wedding Crashers" (both hit on July 15).\nThe theme of diversity continues onward the following week with Richard Linklater directing Billy Bob Thornton in a remake of "The Bad News Bears" and director Michael Bay ("The Rock," "Armageddon") blowing more shit up on "The Island." Both flicks are released July 22.\nIf this weren't enough, August offers "The Dukes of Hazzard" starring Johnny Knoxville and Seann William Scott under the direction of Broken Lizard director Jay Chandrasekhar and "3001," the first comedy from "Office Space" mastermind Mike Judge in six years. The following week gets serious as John Singleton ("Boyz n the Hood") returns to his gritty roots after exercises in the commercial, i.e. "Shaft" and "2 Fast 2 Furious," with "Four Brothers" starring Mark Wahlberg and Outkast's André 3000. Things get funny again on August 19 as Steve Carrell plays "The 40 Year Old Virgin." The last week of August offers the latest works from acclaimed directors Terry Gilliam and Fernando Meirelles ("City of God") -- these are "The Brothers Grimm" with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger and "The Constant Gardner" -- both are released August 26. \nAdditionally, Kurt Wimmer's ("Equilibrium") newest action-thriller "Ultraviolet" will be released sometime in August, and there are plenty of limited-release pictures that should see Bloomington before summer's end, i.e. "Snatch" producer Matthew Vaughn's directorial debut "Layer Cake" and fresh from Cannes Jim Jarmusch's comedy "Broken Flowers" with Bill Murray. \n \nMusic:\nYou only really need to remember one date -- June 7. This is the day that both Coldplay's X&Y and the White Stripes' Get Behind Me Satan both drop.
TV:\nGenerally, people seem to think that summer television sucks. Well, if you only watch network TV, that's true. Thankfully, there is cable. HBO and FX, two of television's best networks, bring back old favorites while still having some surprises up their sleeves. FX will continue running "The Shield" until late June when "Rescue Me," Denis Leary's crackling firefighter dramedy makes its return. The network will also reveal "Over There," a controversial Gulf War drama from executive producer Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue"), sometime late this summer. HBO brings back "Entourage," the hilarious exploits of an up-and-coming movie star and his lackeys, on Sunday, and will air its insanely good miniseries "Empire Falls" with Paul Newman, Ed Harris and Philip Seymour Hoffman throughout June.\nOther worthwhile offerings on television include: TNT's massive 12-hour miniseries "Into the West" produced by Steven Spielberg beginning June 10, Comedy Central's "Reno 911!" (returning with new episodes June 14) and "Stella," the newest brainchild of The State troupe members Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain (premiering June 29). Fox has been airing new episodes of Seth MacFarlane's "Family Guy" and the increasingly likable "American Dad!," and will continue to do so on Sundays throughout the summer. Hopefully, though not likely, we'll also see new episodes of "Chappelle's Show" on Comedy Central by summer's end.
Video Games:\nI pretty much play Xbox exclusively. As such, there are two things I must pick up. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" will make its debut on Xbox June 7. Sure, you Playstation kids have had it since November, but my copy will have far superior graphics. Another must-have is the "Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack" (June 28) with nine new levels, because I'm getting tired of killing my friends on the same stages.
