"There are days that define your story beyond your life. Like the day they arrived..."

The problem is that this starts out with the kind of story we've seen a thousand times before. The alien invasion theme is nothing new. H.G. Wells was describing it back in the 19th Century with War Of The Worlds. Unrelated Orson Welles scared the crap out of a depression-era radio audience with the same story. Independence Day gave us a brilliantly visual story that also begins the same way: alien ships begin to take strategic positions around the world. Here we go again, right? Wrong. We should have guessed from the beginning that when director Denis Villeneuve tackles a genre, he's going to turn it on his head. We’d seen him do it before. Last year's Sicario gave us a "war on drugs" film that wasn't like anything that came before it. Prisoners could have looked like a Taken sequel. I mean, how many ways can a tough guy deal with a kidnapped daughter? Of course, Villeneuve showed us there was at least one more way. He does it again with an alien first-contact film that is a blend of The Day The Earth Stood Still, 2001 A Space Odyssey, and maybe a little bit of the Twilight Zone classic To Serve Man, without the special sauce recipe. But mostly it's a cerebral journey that mines much of the same ground that Christopher Nolan did with Interstellar. Except that Villeneuve did a better job. Oh, and he spent $120 million less to do it. You still might be scratching your head when you leave, but you will also have some wonderful themes to ponder on the drive home. Arrival might well be one of the best films I'll see in 2016.

“Heroes like the Avengers protect the world from physical dangers. We safeguard it against more mystical threats.”

Back in 2008, Iron Man was entrusted with kicking off Phase One of Marvel's Global Takeover Cinematic Universe. The film centered around an arrogant hero brought low who builds his own costume — and essentially creates his own superpowers — by scraping together spare parts in a cave. As the years have gone by and Marvel's brand of superheroism has proven to be infinitely more bulletproof than comic book characters who are actually impervious to gunfire, the studio has earned the right to get a little Strange.

Just when you thought you’ve seen it all when it comes to films about World War II, Mel Gibson helms a film that hits you with such an emotional wallop that I’ll say it right now: just hand the man the Oscar for this film.  It’s only November; how can I be so sure of this? Well, of course there are some titles to keep an eye on as we enter award season, but I honestly can’t imagine a title coming out that can achieve what Gibson did.    I’m sure by now you’ve seen the ads for the film that draw comparisons to Saving Private Ryan.  It’s a bold statement, but I’m writing this to say that Hacksaw Ridge isn’t the best war film since Saving Private Ryan, it is a superior film to it as well.  I honestly can’t think of a war film that has ever balanced the raw violence of war while maintaining the humanity of its characters and draw out so much emotion.  It’s based on a true story, and the only injustice I see is that this film wasn’t made sooner.

Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) isn’t like most guys enlisting for the war; he’s not bloodthirsty and out to avenge our country after the attack at Pearl Harbor.  Desmond is a man who has been overcome with the sense of duty to honor and protect his country, only the problem is, he refuses to touch a weapon in the process.  Instead he sees that he can help by being a combat duty medic on the front lines.  It’s a notion his superiors and fellow comrades see as ludicrous.  But Desmond refuses to back down from his principles, even when his platoon has mostly turned on him and the Army is ready to court-martial him.  Why would a man go through such lengths and risk losing so much, simply because he won’t carry a weapon?  That’s where the front half of the film pays off.