Now that autumn has arrived, the usual fall activities can commence. School's back in session. Pumpkins will soon be carved into Jack O' Lanterns. And like the leaves falling from the trees, all those big summer movies that packed in audiences across the country are beginning to trickle down into our DVD collections. Here's a quick wrap up of some of the summer event pictures, possibly coming soon to a living room near you...

Spider-Man
Easily one of the most entertaining films of the year, the team of Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, writer David Koepp and director Sam Raimi have raised the bar of the action-fantasy to a new level. Hitting just the right mix of whiz-bang fun and character depth, sorrow and childhood-wonder, this unapologetically traditional and non-cynical adventure is just about as good as it gets. Combining themes of adolescent discovery and responsibility with great action, huge laughs and colorful effects work, Raimi (a movie-fan favorite) outdoes himself, and Maguire is note-perfect as our classic hero, Peter Parker. Add a fun score by Danny Elfman and a great cameo by a certain cult-movie hero and you have what amounts to the perfect summer movie. Special thanks to all of the above, and creator Stan "The Man" Lee, for reminding us what fun the movies can really be.
**** out of 4 stars

Signs
M. Night Shyamalan's unexpectedly spritual examination of the alien-invasion storyline gets us both ways: by its far-deeper-than-average characters, brought to stirringly realistic life through inspired work from Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix, and by it's sure-handed, old-fashioned thrill-house atmosphere and sense of story. By starting very slowly and working step-by-step the film never lets our attention go. Unlike so many films of the genre that just bombard our senses (the same movie in another's hands might have had a screaming Gibson attacking aliens with a shotgun), Signs gets us by stirring our intelligence and fear of the unknown. By the time the final act of the film is played out, we feel astonished at Shyamalan's economy as a filmmaker and relieved that what looked like just another sci-fi movie has actually made us feel something.
***1/2

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
Perhaps George Lucas is spreading himself too thin, not handing off directorial duties of the new trilogy to others. Technically impressive as they are, the human factor is falling fast. Those of us who grew up with the Star Wars movies as formative childhood experience want them to be as great as we remember Star Wars, Empire, and Jedi being, and if they're not we won't stand for it. While I appreciated Episode One's hyperactive action and whimsy, Episode Two simply has a troublesome second act that nearly collapses the entire movie. The burgeoning love story between Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala is a huge event in the Star Wars mythos, yet it's badly handled to the point of being almost comical (audiences reportedly laughed aloud at screenings). Fans can point out several things that just don't work, yet there's just as much that actually does. The first and third acts succeed brilliantly, particularly the more chaotic action sequences. Also, Ewan MacGregor stands out as the real anchor of the story, emerging as the true hero of this new trilogy. However, the classic battle toward the film's end (fans know the one I mean) is the only moment that comes close to reaching the sense of awe and amazement that the "first three" Star Wars films reached on a regular basis, and even that sequence is cut drastically short. Lucas has one more chance to bring it all home. Here's hoping the swan-song of these stories will be as well-imagined and well-realized as the ones we grew up with.
***

Minority Report
Steven Spielberg returns to more action-oriented storylines with this exciting, thought-provoking entertainment. The film's vision of the future bounces back and forth between tangible ideas (clever takes on advertising) and pure fantasy (cityscapes inspired by Fritz Lang's Metropoils), while never losing sight of the film's primary goal: the chase. Tom Cruise drives the film with his character's need to clear his name and discover the plot to frame him, and does so in the same way that makes the Mission: Impossible movies so much fun. Samantha Morton delivers an unusual and haunting performance as the tortured psychic; a character that could be described as an "abused natural resource." The film has cerebral concepts, fun action, terrific special effects, lots of surprises, a wonderful John Williams score and even some gross-out humor. And while the seriousness of some issues and the bluish-cinematography might hinder repeated viewing for some, the film is definitely one of your smarter action movies.
***

Road to Perdition
In this story of Fathers'-responsibilities-to-their-Sons masquerading as a gangster-epic, Tom Hanks strips away his usual decency to show us the darker side of an American family man. As a hitman who does his job so that he can provide for his family during the Depression, Hanks is all gruffness and quiet authority until events push him to drastic measures, which is when the drama in the film really takes off. As a follow-up to his first film, American Beauty, Sam Mendes directs this story with the sure-handedness of a De Palma or even a Coppola. Tyler Hoechlin shines as Hanks' son in the film and catalyst to the action. Jude Law oozes evil as another killer in the mix and Paul Newman adds a wonderful touch of class in his handful of scenes. Yet, the film's closing moments don't quite add up, when suspense gives way to predictability. A re-imagining of the last scene could have made the movie a true masterwork.
***

Mr. Deeds
In this loose (to say the least) remake of the Capra classic, Adam Sandler's charm and sense of comedy win the audience over from the start. Of course, a Sandler comedy is a genre in itself, so the degree to which it wins you over is determined by the degree to which you've liked other Sandler comedies: you're either ready for his sensibilities or you're not. Story takes a backseat to in-the-moment laughter while slapstick and non-sequiter overtake natural logic, and always in a fun way. As a New Hampshire pizza house owner and aspiring greeting card author who inherits $40 billion from a deceased media-magnate relative, Sandler's Deeds is a fun character to know in the same way his heroes of Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore are: good guys who have just a little more going on upstairs than they seem. Winona Ryder is similarly appealing as a cynical New Yorker who falls for Deedsy's rustic decency. John Turturro and Steve Buscemi add to the fun.
***

Insomnia
A decent remake of the Swedish thriller with impressive work from Al Pacino, Martin Donovan, Hilary Swank and Robin Williams. Christopher Nolan wrests a few changes from the source material: a detective narrative that gives us the killer's identity halfway through, becoming a "cat-and-mouse" story. Keeping the same structure that made the original film so good, yet altering things just enough to make this new version just as good in a different way, Nolan succeeds in keeping the film tight and entertaining. Pacino's performance is intriguing as well: starting off as the typical bright and confident hero, slowly winding down into something more and more fascinating. The cast is all just as good, particularly independent film favorite Martin Donovan as Pacino's partner in the investigation and Nicky Katt as the small-town Alaskan cop, who has one of the funniest lines of any summer movie this year.
***

Lilo & Stitch
While I'm not a huge fan of Disney's family animated output over the last few years, this is not your usual Disney film. Blending themes of genetic engineering, destiny, strength of family, government conspiracy and the power of Elvis music, Lilo & Stitch is a colorful, hilarious, wild and crazy time for, yes... "the whole family." Dropping CGI in favor of old-fashioned hand-painted cel animation, the filmmakers achieve a lush and amazingly detailed look to the Hawaiian "locations" and a bright, shiny techno-sparkle to the sci-fi stuff. The music, from the Elvis tunes to the raucous Alan Silvestri score, impresses. Ving Rhames, Tia Carrere and Kevin McDonald (of Kids in the Hall fame) are noteworthy in their voicework, but the show belongs to the title characters, naturally. Lilo is smart, sweet and funny... and excuse me, but ya' just gotta love Stitch. Ya' just gotta.
***

Men in Black II
A pale imitation of the first film (but still goofy fun, on occasion) the team and repartee of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are the high points of this sequel. Barry Sonnenfeld shows he still knows how to shoot fun visuals, but has lost his sense of story. Once again, something from another planet (this time called 'The Light") has been stashed here on Earth, and some monster-baddie masquerading as human (this time Lara Flynn Boyle) wants it, and the Men In Black have to stop him (this time, "her") and save the Universe. What this one has in design and momentary inspiration it lacks in smart humor, starting off promisingly but moving far too fast to make any sense. Rosario Dawson is engaging as Smith's love interest, yet Boyle never gets to cut loose as the villain the way D'Onofrio did in the original, and Johnny Knoxville is so annoying it's a blessing that the filmmakers simply seem to cut him out of the movie's third act without explanation."Frank the Pug" and the "Worm Guys" actually had me laughing, but the moment Zed (Rip Torn) defies gravity and ineffectually performs karate you know something's definitely wrong.
** 1/2

The Bourne Identity
While Matt Damon and Franka Potente make for a fun couple, and director Doug Liman achieves some surprises, this adaptation (and presumed first in a series of of films) based on the novels of Robert Ludlum falls short of intrigue and a little long on preposterousness. Not really a spy-film at all, it's a mannunt thriller where it seems nearly everyone on Earth wants to kill Jason Bourne (Damon), an amnesiac in Europe with deadly skills and knowledge he can't explain. The cast does fine with what they have: Clive Owen in particular in a small role and even Damon, who's actually better at this sort of thing than buddy Ben Affleck. The story doesn't add up to a lot, though. It spends too much in the old pattern of a Bad Guy yelling "Kill Bourne," and the hero escapes, over and over. Though it's exciting to watch Liman, the director of Swingers, tackle a big-budget action movie, it's only once Bourne turns the tables and combats his oppressors head-on that film takes life. Pity that by then the film's already nearly over. Perhaps the next Bourne film will have more to offer.
** 1/2

Austin Powers in Goldmember
Despite the truly hilarious opening scene, this third go-'round for the shagging spy just doesn't live up to the original's highs and just barely surpasses the second film's lows. Beyonce Knowles does fine as Foxxy Cleopatra, Austin's partner in espionage. Michael Caine, an inspired choice of casting as Austin's father, is wasted by doing almost absolutely nothing more than standing around and existing as a plot device. And Mike Myers needs to create newer, more interesting characters for himself: while always fun, Dr. Evil has played himself out and Goldmember is just too weird to be amusing. All that being said, there are great jokes laden throughout the film involving Asian film subtitles, a son's gift to his father, self-reflective criticism of the first two Powers movies and a classic fight sequence with Mini-Me that should be remembered at this year's MTV Movie Awards.
** 1/2

Blood Work
Clint Eastwood is one of the last of American film's great and dependable icons. No matter what he stars in or has directed as of late, he offers something either respectable and entertaining or psychologically dark, often both in the same package. Sadly, this one is neither. Reportedly rushed through production and into theaters in less than eight months, the film has an alarming lack of suspense for a who-done-it. This isn't because of bad filmmaking, rather because of an acting and casting choice: you seriously know who the killer is two seconds after first seeing them, and for a detective story driven by the need to discover a serial-killer's identity that's the real kiss of death. Eastwood is always engaging in these roles as the aging man still able to fight the evil in this world, but the presentation of the rest of the film counts too. Once that error is made the film never recovers, despite the charge of seeing Eastwood do what he does best: cutting through the bullshit, grabbing a shotgun and walking calmly toward his enemy.
**

Windtalkers
I wanted to like this film so much, but the dreaded specter of movie cliché looms high and mighty over every frame. John Woo, master of the soulful action film, weaves a technically-proficient but overwrought based-on-truth war movie. Nicolas Cage is a far-too-brooding presence as a soldier wracked with personal demons assigned to protect a Navajo code-talker (Adam Beach, in the film's best performance), who's abilities prove key to the U.S. success in WWII. Too much "boom" and not enough insight into humanity weighs down the story. Woo has already made the great Bullet in the Head, which is a more personal war-story. By getting too wrapped up in epic battle scenes and too-typical story construction, the film loses it's way and the heaviness becomes too much.
**

-Matt Goltz