2014 / Gareth Edwards > You’ve done it, Gareth Edwards: You have given me everything I’ve ever wanted in a mainstream monster film in a neat, two-hour package.  The subtlety, the lore, the focus on the smallest of details.  In fact, you’ve almost made me forget Ferris Bueller’s taint on Godzilla! Your ability to capture the feeling of a devastating, towering presence in a metropolis of your choosing has yielded memories of classic kaiju adventures! The respect you pay to the genre is only surpassed by your much needed attention to what the audience wants, though not at the detriment to basic filmgoing intelligence. There is family drama, romance, monsters, science, some math and even a little sex (though probably not the kind we deem to be normal). It has twists, turns but not the kind that Shyamalan would throw upon an innocent bystander! What I appreciated most were the aesthetics. The bits that made me care, the hints and the heartbreaks without going overboard and at just the right moments.

And by the way, how did you ever get “Kick-Ass” guy to look like an action hero? Kudos!

1987 / Richard Donner > They don’t make ’em like this anymore: An 80’s buddy cop actioner with an underlying sense of humor that pervades even the most serious of moments.  As such, while Lethal Weapon is damn violent, it’s also damn charming to watch Mel Gibson and Danny Glover interact and build their relationship against a backdrop of family ties, Los Angeles prostitutes and bad Christmas turkeys.  We also get to witness Gary Busey’s Mr. Joshua, a villainous caricature who finds ways to progress the plot due to a dire need to impress his big, bad boss.  It doesn’t always make much sense, but it works—even if it’s pretty thin.

2014 / Joe & Anthony Russo > You’ve done it, Marvel: You’ve finally taken your audience for granted.  In the post-The Dark Knight world of comic superhero films, we, as an audience, have become increasingly forgiving in the hopes that the major studios will continue to follow through in their promise to actually build plausible storylines, that we won’t be insulted by constant deus ex machina plot progressions and 180° character transformations.  While The Avengers did quite a bit to strengthen our hope, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has ripped the concrete off that foundation.

At this point in time, Marvel has the global audience by its neck.  It cannot fail because we’ve been brainwashed to believe they can do no wrong.  The positivity surrounding this film is shocking as it’s a veiled attempt at capitalizing on a generic storyline utilizing tropes that would shame Steve Rogers.   After nine films, the formula is not only getting stale but regressing.  The thought of the The Winter Soldier’s plot co-existing with The Avengers feels absolutely ridiculous.  And the pattern has become obvious: Hero finds devious plan much bigger than previous film and succeeds in taking care of the issue—but with one lingering problem that leads to the subsequent sequel.  So, knowing that the third Captain America film is due in two years, couldn’t we get more of an emotional bridge?  All we got were bread crumbs and no finalities.  In this universe, everything seems to have a way of resurrecting—and while this may be a common theme in comics, it becomes a rather lame exercise at the cinema.

2013 / Brian Helgeland > There’s nothing worse in sports than mismanaging a prized asset. You can’t force positions on a player he’s physically not fit for, though some managers and coaches will outsmart themselves into thinking so. Once in a while, it may end up working, but statistically, success is an uncommon outcome. Therefore prized assets, especially those with significant potential, should be handled with care by the gentlest and more sophisticated of persons.

Jackie Robinson was a prized asset, a great ballplayer and an equally great man who struck one of the strongest chords in the fight for racial equality in American history. To think that he entered the big leagues over 15 years before Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech is to gain perspective on the importance of Robinson’s act. As such, his story, to be told for a wide audience, should have been handed to someone more capable than a director whose best effort was a Mel Gibson revenge flick. (( Helgeland won an Oscar for writing L.A. Confidential, but surely Curtis Hanson’s tight directing is what ultimately kept it together. )) It’s painful to witness a story of such gravity butchered with generic characterization and amateur manipulation tactics.  Too many by-the-line good vs. bad guy scenes undermine Robinson’s actual achievements for a feel good time, one that can be had only if you can force yourself to turn a blind eye to such shenanigans.  In an era of heightened racism due to anti-Obama rhetoric and the wide net cast by social media, it’s important to remain objective about race relations rather than pigeonhole them into buckets to serve superficial purposes.  Sadly, 42 sends Robinson back to the minors and loses out on an opportunity to educate contemporary youth about race history.