"2005"

One way to mitigate the inevitable letdown of fading summer is to look ahead to fall sports. This hit me when I walked into a bar the other night and caught sight of those familiar royal blue Giants jerseys on TV. Yes, pre-season is here, and you can almost feel those cool autumn breezes.

There's a lot of talk these days about disruption and disruptors. But there used to be another name for those who challenged norms: trailblazers. You might also have heard them called “rebels,” “visionaries,” or “iconoclasts.”

There’s a reason why great lines from movies become part of the culture: they express feelings with a concision and accuracy that rarely, if ever, happens in real life. And nowhere is such eloquence more valuable than in affairs of the heart. Movies say what we would like to say, and in romantic movies they say what we would most love to have said to us.

With our laser focus on human stars in films, it’s easy to forget that many outstanding movies depend on talent from the animal kingdom. Whether domesticated or wild, animals throw into sharp relief the highs and lows of human nature.

The challenging, colorful lives of writers often make for solid drama on-screen. While the act of writing is hardly gripping, what it goes into it- the process of delving deeply and fearlessly into the mess and grit of life- can be. 

The movies can take you places you’ve never been before, but they also take you places you will never go — and we’re not just talking about outer space here. Rather, these are points on the map of the real world that are inaccessible by all but the most hardy man and/or beast.

Here’s a bold statement: Giving your children the chance to watch classic films can be just as vital as anything they learn in school. 

When birthday time rolls around for the good ol’ U. S. of A, tradition dictates we set something alight and watch it go boom. Useful tip: just make sure the thing that explodes has left your hand in time; don’t dampen the festivities by losing a digit (or two). And if you really want to play it safe, eschew launching those rockets yourself, and get your fireworks on film instead.

James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," will finally get his due in director Tate Taylor’s "Get On Up," out this week some 12 years after Brian Grazer (who co-produced it with Mick Jagger) first tried to get the project off the ground.   Early reviews champion star Chadwick Boseman’s kinetic performance as "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business." Congrats, Chadwick: those are very big (and very active) shoes to fill. This is just the latest addition to a treasure trove of music biopics that have made some serious box office noise over the decades. Below are ten that deserve a debut or encore performance on your home screen. Pick one, and give your eyes and ears a treat.