Five Autumn Films Worth Falling For

You probably could tell from my lack of a preview post in May that I didn't think much of the then-pending summer movie season. Nothing but sequels and uninspiring CG-heavy fare. A far cry from last summer's bumper crop of original, character-driven offerings.

Four months and a handful of screenings later, my initial opinion hasn't changed much. Granted, Mad Max: Fury Road was amazing and both Jurassic World and Mission: Impossible - Rouge Nation were far better than I thought they'd be, but films like Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man seemed overly repetitive and unoriginal. And then there was Tomorrowland. What the heck happened there?

All told, I caught eight films this summer, the fewest in recent memory, perhaps ever, and with the exception of Mad Max, I'd give none of them a grade higher than a B. Too harsh? Maybe. All I know is that I love cinema and when I drop my $15 to see a movie on the big screen, I want to see something special, something with a little thought behind it. I bet most of you feel the same way.

Luckily for us, things look pretty optimistic from now through Christmas. Below are my five films worth falling for this autumn, especially on the big screen (in order of release).

The Walk: Oscar-winning visual maestro Robert Zemeckis takes us back to 1974 when French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) took a covert, commando-like 1,300-foot-high stroll between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. This one definitely needs to be seen on the largest screen possible. Just don't look down. (Sept. 30)

The Martian: Ridley Scott adapts Andy Weir's 2014 bestseller in which an astronaut (Matt Damon) is left for dead on Mars and must find a way to survive until NASA and his Earth-bound crewmates can figure out a way to retrieve him. The book was a little too technical for my liking, but the story is undeniably cinematic and with sci-fi master Scott calling the shots, this one should prove to be a very worthwhile ride. (Oct. 2)

Bridge of Spies: Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks reteam for the first time in 11 years. I'm in! (Oct. 16)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens: As a first-generation Star Wars fan, I have my reservations on a J.J. Abrams-helmed SW tale filled with Rebels-like misfits only a seven-year-old could love. But here's what I keep telling myself: it's a sequel to Return of the Jedi and features Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie. How can you not go? (I'm actually writing this while waiting in line.) (Dec. 18)

The Hateful Eight : Quentin Tarantino's follow-up to Django Unchained is another "wild" Western in which a group of unsavory strangers get stranded together in close quarters and must "work out" their differences as only Tarantino characters can do. Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson and Jennifer Jason Leigh headline the eclectic cast, and as an added bonus, select theaters will screen the film in glorious 70mm. I guess I know what I'm doing the day after Christmas. (Dec. 25, limited)


Five More That Should Be On Your Radar: Black Mass (Today); Everest (Today); Steve Jobs (Oct. 9); Spectre (Nov 6); In The Heart of the Sea (Dec. 11)

Quick Blu Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road was easily the best and most original film of the summer: simply two hours of non-stop, jaw-dropping, in-your-face action that completely immerses you in a world of sight and sound like few films ever have.

Fury Road is Miller's reimagining of his popular post-apocalyptic Mad Max films of the 1980s. Tom Hardy takes over for Mel Gibson as road warrior Max Rockatansky, a former highway cop who now battles gangs of vicious marauders across a dystopian wasteland. This time around Max finds himself in the middle of deadly conflict between warlord Immortan Joe and Imperator Furisoa (Charlize Theron). Nothing major, Furiosa's just absconded with five of Joe's enslaved wives in an attempt to secure their freedom.

The story and characters in Fury Road are pretty one-dimensional, and that's fine. We're here for the action and frankly there just isn't enough room for anything else. Miller and his team have taken the kinetic energy of the first three films and thrown them on their ear, delivering amped-up visuals unlike anything we've ever seen. Everything is a feast for the eyes. I've long dreamed of finding cinematic Xanadu. Damned if George Miller hasn't delivered it.

As expected, Fury Road looks spectacular on Blu-ray. Presented in its native 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the razor-sharp images leap off the screen. The rust-colored desert, the blood-red sandstorms, that fire-spewing guitar player from hell, everything, just gushes with vibrant color and gritty menace.

The Dolby Atmos-enhanced TrueHD 7.1 audio track is fully immersive and both dialog and music are crystal clear at minimal levels.

Extras include a handful of insightful make-of documentaries that should keeps fanboys busy for hours.

Mad Max: Fury Road is a landmark achievement in action filmmaking and will most likely end up on many reviewers' best-of lists for 2015, my own included. Grade: A

Quick Flick Review: No Escape

No Escape is one of those late-summer, ninety-minute head-scratchers you question why was even made.

The set-up is laughably simple: within hours of landing in an unnamed Southeast-Asian country, an American family, led by Owen Wilson and Lake Bell, must flee for their lives as guerillas stage a coup and begin executing foreigners.

The whole film is devoid of any characterization and basically plays like one endless chase sequence: running, jumping, shooting and screaming. Lots of screaming.

Wilson seems grossly out of place in this type of role (his last action film was 2001's Behind Enemy Lines) and the always-engaging Bell has really nothing much more to do here than cry and question her husband's actions.

Pierce Brosnan is somewhat intriguing as a British intelligence operative who helps the family, but not even 007 can breathe any sustainable life into this pointless turkey. Grade: D

Quick Flick Review: Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation

It's pretty much business as usual for Tom Cruise and the nearly 20-year-old Mission: Impossible franchise, but Rogue Nation offers just enough wildly inventive, breathtaking sequences to make taking another trip with Ethan Hunt and his IMF team worthy of your time, especially on the big screen. Grade: B

Quick Flick Review: Southpaw

Antoine Fuqua's Southpaw basically plays like a reworking of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky III: boxing champ loses both his title and a member of his family and mounts a comeback with an unconventional trainer.

The film unabashedly wears its heart on its sleeve, but it is engaging and offers solid performances from both Jake Gyllenhaal and Forest Whitaker.

The real star, however, is 13-year-old Oona Laurence, who more or less breaks your heart every time she appears on screen. Grade: B

Remembering James Horner

I was very sad to hear of film composer James Horner's sudden passing yesterday at 61.

With the exception of John Williams, I don't think another composer's work has fostered my love of cinema more than Horner's.

I was just nine years old when I heard the rousing Main Title for 1980's Battle Beyond the Stars, a film really only notable for the music. Two years later came the beloved score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, followed by Something Wicked This Way Comes and Krull.

Each of those scores was pure magic, full of conflict, playfulness and adventure. Sitting in the dark with my friends at the neighborhood five-plex are some of my most cherished childhood memories. James Horner's music was a big part of that.

Over the next 15 years Horner delivered unforgettable compositions for films like Cocoon, Aliens, Willow, Field of Dreams (one of my personal favorites), Glory, The Rocketeer, Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, Apollo 13 and of course, Titanic.

In all, James Horner scored over 100 films in 35-plus years. His work remains a testament to the power of cinema and will undoubtedly inspire audiences and filmmakers alike for generations to come.

You're Gonna Need A Bigger Theater: 40 Years of Jaws

I was just four years old in the summer of 1975, too young to see Steven Spielberg's Jaws during its record-breaking theatrical run.

No, my initial exposure to the cinematic phenomenon then sweeping the country came in the form of an IDEAL Great White-shaped scavenger game and a deluge of rubber sharks flooding the toy aisles.

It wasn't until a quiet Sunday afternoon a few years later that I finally realized what all the fuss was about.

I was visiting my dad's place, flipping through TV channels, trying to find something to hold my interest. My old man was in the garage, washing the car or something, and I had the house to myself.

I came across one of the pay movie channels, HBO or ON-TV, and the scene where Brody's son gets attacked in the estuary was just getting started. You know the one where the guy in the skiff falls in and his gnawed-off leg slowly sinks to the bottom? I remember feeling a sudden horrific thrill at the sight of that indelible image, unlike any I'd ever seen, and for the next hour, right up through when Quint becomes a "hot lunch," I sat glued to the television, perpetually sneaking glances over my shoulder, afraid that at any second my dad would come in and bust me.

My dad never did come in and that secret, heart-pounding viewing inside a non-descript '70s-era townhome, one I kept to myself for many years after, remains one of my all-time favorite cinematic experiences.

Based on Peter Benchley's 1974 bestselling novel, Jaws appears on the surface (no pun attended) as just another thrilling man-versus-beast genre tale. I mean the set-up is pretty simple: a Great White shark begins terrorizing a small New England island and a trio of heroes must work together to destroy it. A perfect recipe for a Saturday matinee or a night at the drive-in. Two hours of fun, cheap thrills, easily forgotten by morning. At the time, that was the tried-and-true, paint-by-numbers formula for these types of pictures. Fortunately for us, the makers of Jaws never got that memo.

Director Steven Spielberg had already proven himself an adept filmmaker with the 1971 TV movie Duel. What had made that film work so well was the fact that you never completely saw the menacing tanker truck chasing Dennis Weaver across the desert. You were only afforded glimpses, long shots, tire close-ups, etc. You weren't sure what the hell was chasing him and that scared you even more.

Spielberg applied the same precept for Jaws. You never completely see the shark, only outlines, until the last half hour of the film. You know there's something big, something scary lurking under that inky water and while you dread the eventual reveal, you secretly can't wait.

And then there's John Williams' score. Talk about classing up a monster movie. Sure the now-iconic "duh-dunt..duh-dunt..duh-dunt" gets all the attention, but dig deeper and you find a wonderful adventure score, full of playful nautical references and tension-packed action cues. There's a reason it earned the composer his second Oscar.

But what really allows the film to break out of its genre mold and become something truly special is the relationship between the three main leads: Brody (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw). Each is as different as different can be. Brody's the water-fearing chief of police, Hooper the young, sardonic marine biologist and Quint the salty shark hunter. None would have any business being around one another if it wasn't for the shark. But they form a bond that plays off one another perfectly and the result is really the main reason the film still resonates so well today.

Jaws opened on June 20, 1975 and became an instant cultural phenomenon, playing to packed houses all summer long and becoming the first film in history to gross $100 million (The Godfather had held the previous record with $86 million).

Its success signified a radical change in Hollywood as studios could now make back their investments in days instead of months or years. Everyone wanted a summer blockbuster (20th Century Fox would get theirs two years later with Star Wars), not the gritty, anti-establishment auteur films that had so memorably defined the first half of the decade. For better of worse, the tentpole picture had been born.

40 years after its release, Jaws still holds a special place in my heart. I screen it every 4th of July and each time it's like visiting with an old friend. I admit, however, after countless viewings the film no longer provides the horrific thrill of that initial screening back in the '70s.

No, my admiration today extends to just about every aspect of the production itself - direction, acting, writing, music, editing, etc. Jaws is not just a masterwork of the genre, it's a masterwork of cinema, a textbook on how to tell a story in the dark.

Most call Jaws the perfect summer film. I just call it perfect, period.

Experience Jaws as audiences did 40 years ago when it returns to select theaters June 21 and 24.