This week’s pick is Death Wish (1974) which stars Charles Bronson as a vigilante who cleans up the seedy streets of New York in this classic tale of revenge. The film was based on the novel written by Brian Garfield and boasts a great score from famed musician Herbie Hancock.

Bronson stars as Paul Kersey an architect whose family is brutally attacked by vicious hoodlums. His wife is murdered and his daughter is raped and left for dead in their own apartment. Without any leads and the inability of his daughter to make a positive ID due to her catatonic state, the police are powerless to do anything. Paul is devastated and begins to adopt a new sense of self-preservation.

The film takes a while to build up momentum but when it does, it really gets going. Trying to put the incident behind him and get on with his life and his work, Paul is sent to Arizona by his boss to oversee a new land development deal. Paul arrives in Tucson, Arizona and is met by Ames Jainchill (Stuart Margolin) who shows Paul the land where he wants to develop property. After witnessing a mock gunfight at an old movie set in Tucson, Ames takes Paul to a gun club where Ames is impressed with Paul’s deadeye shooting.

It’s that time of year when thoughts turn to network schedules. This time around it’s ABC, which released its full Fall 2012 schedule this week.

The network is taking no prisoners this year and boldly launching 10 new series including 666 Park Avenue, The Family Tools, How To Live With Your Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life), Last Resort, Malibu Country, Mistresses, Nashville, The Neighbors, Red Widow and Zero Hour. Five of the new series will bow in the fall, the rest in midseason.

Hey, we’re just happy Castle and Happy Endings are coming back. As for the new shows, we will have to wait and see. No point getting invested now, especially these days when networks kill shows after only a few episodes.

Full schedule followed by descriptions of the shows follows (thanks to the folks at Deadline for putting this together:

MONDAY

8 PM “Dancing with the Stars”

10 PM “Castle”

In January

8 PM “The Bachelor”

10 PM “Castle”

TUESDAY

8 PM “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”

9 PM “Happy Endings”

9:30 PM “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23”

10 PM “Private Practice”

Mel Gibson returns to the big screen after a personal and professional hiatus of over seven years. His last starring role was in 2002’s We Were Soldiers. Many are hailing Edge Of Darkness as Gibson’s “comeback.”  So is it?  Meh. He is fine as a grief stricken Boston Detective, but he won’t be winning an award any time soon. There are a dozen actors that could have navigated this role equally well. That’s not knocking Gibson, but it’s a pretty  generic role.

Edge of Darkness veers into spoiler territory early, and often, and I don’t like to spoil movies, so here is a spoiler-free synopsis. Gibson plays Craven,  a single dad who goes to pick up his grown daughter from the train station. It is obvious he loves her very much. She seems slightly distant. Sensing something is wrong, he implores her to tell him what it is.  Shortly after they get home, she becomes seriously ill. Craven takes her to the hospital, but as soon as they reach the front door, his daughter is violently gunned down in front of him.

The rest of the movie concerns Craven trying to uncover the mystery behind his daughter’s death. It involves government conspiracies, shady political types, evil corporations, and unconscionable greed. Because Craven has no family left, his vengeance is of the reckless variety, which too often translates into over the top.