THE BEST OF 2021 - The Best GAMES Of The Year

- Last year I talked about how thankful I was for games that let me escape the quarantine life and be virtually transported to far-away cities, worlds, and realities. I was equally thankful for that in 2021, and spent much of the year continuing to play through some of 2020's best games, as well as games I'd missed from previous years - from The Last of Us 2 to Spider-Man: Miles Morales to the Life is Strange series (so that, hopefully soon, I can play the latest entry, True Colors). There were, of course, a lot of great new games this year (see my list below!), and my Switch and PS4 got a workout for sure.

That said, the games industry was in a weird sort of limbo this past year. Production delays and development delays led to a constant waiting game for gamers. Scores of big new releases set for 2021 were pushed back to 2022 and beyond, and the Playstation 5 console was still nearly impossible to get ahold of. For me, I took the PS5's scarcity as a sign to just concentrate, for now, on my growing pile of un-played or unfinished PS4 and Switch games - even if I did feel major FOMO around a couple of key 2021 releases, like the new PS5 exclusive Ratchet & Clank game (Ratchet & Clank, as is well documented, being one of my all-time favorite series). At the same time, it was interesting to see so many thought-to-be PS5 exclusives end up getting released, also, on the ol' PS4 - most of them handling just fine on the old reliable last-gen console. Well, sort of reliable. Around Halloween, my PS4 - which I'd owned for several years! - randomly broke, where the disc drive just stopped working. And man, even just replacing my PS4 proved a challenge, with game-starved gamers making even older consoles scarce this Fall and Winter. 

So will 2022 finally be the year that next-gen consoles become readily-available to all? Let's hope so - as it's not great for the games industry to be stuck in this mid-generation limbo. And personally, I'm going to really want that PS5 as long-awaited games that truly take advantage of the system - like Horizon 2, God of War, and more finally release. But I also hope that the industry learns some lessons from some of this year's most successful and acclaimed games, and realizes that there is a path towards a more sustainable future. What I mean is: over the last decade plus, games have become too long, too overstuffed, and too determined to create persistent and evergreen experiences that serve as long-term revenue streams for publishers. But consumers are backlashing - rightfully so - and not buying hyped-up games, like last year's Avengers, because they've had enough. So publishers - look to games like this year's Metroid Dread and Guardians of the Galaxy - long-enough games that don't try to be everything to everyone, but just deliver solid, straightforward experiences that are exactly as advertised. Plus, more focused and less bloated game experiences are great for aging gamers like me, who no longer have endless time for massive games.

With all that said, I'm excited by the ever-increasing mainstreaming of games. Game influences are everywhere in movies and TV, game-related content on Twitch and elsewhere is watched by a huge audience, and game fans continue to push for more diversity and representation in games - as well as for fairness and zero-tolerance for harassment and abuse at their favorite game publishers and studios. Games, it seems, are growing up.

DANNY'S BEST GAMES OF THE YEAR:


1.) Metroid Dread

- Believe it or not, Metroid Dread is the first Metroid game I've ever owned. So while I was never a diehard fan of the Metroid series growing up, I did become a huge fan of the "Metroidvania" games genre that was inspired by the series (as well as the similar Castlevania series) - that encouraged adventuring through a huge map in which new powers and areas are gradually unlocked as you progress. And so, in an era of an overabundance of great games *inspired* by Metroid (Hollow Knight, anyone?), how would the OG series hold up with its long-time-coming latest entry? Turns out, it holds up pretty well! Metroid Dread is pure, old-school 2D Metroid - with some new polish, new wrinkles, and a new horror-inspired vibe in which the player must evade all-powerful creatures known as "E.M.M.I.", lest they want to face the cruel hand of insta-death. Dread took me a bit of time to get used to, and some of the gameplay can feel a bit wonky at first. But once I mastered the game's unique weapons control scheme, the game really opened up for me and became fun as heck. There's a driving urgency to this game that many Metroidvanias lack - propelling you forward with a constant sense of kinetic motion. This is a triumphant return for Samus Aron and for one of Nintendo's flagship franchises.


2.) Psychonauts 2

- Psychonauts was one of my favorite games of the PS2 era - an incredibly imaginative 3D platformer that brought the legendary humor of Tim Schaefer (one of the minds behind point-and-click classics like Day of the Tentacle) and the team at Doublefine to a big, fun, 3D action game. Now, decades later, we finally get a sequel - and it's awesome! This game reminded me how much I love 3D platformers - the feeling of freedom, immersion, and jumping around beatin' on badguys. But of course, the gameplay is only half the story here - there's also the amazing writing and storytelling to boot. This is the gaming equivalent of a Pixar movie, and it's one of the year's best.


3.) Guardians of the Galaxy

- After last year's critically-panned Avengers game, many were weary of this one - especially given that it was also from publisher Eidos. But whereas Avengers aimed to be a persistent-world, loot-based game, Guardians is just a straight-up action/adventure. Single player, story-driven, and linear - just like they used to make 'em. The result is a damn good game - a little bit Uncharted, a little bit Devil May Cry, and a lot James Gunn's Guardian of the Galaxy. The game's constant witty banter and space-faring story captures the spirit of the hit films.


4.) Eastward

- Indie games continue to be where a lot of the action was in 2021. And Eastward - an homage to classic 16-bit era RPG's - was one of my favorites. Clearly inspired, specifically, by Nintendo classic Earthbound, Eastward does a lot of interesting world-building, has a lot of interesting quirks, and has some truly gorgeous pixel art to boot. If you're looking for a nostalgia rush, this one's a can't-miss on Switch.


5.) F.I.S.T.

- I haven't seen a ton of people talking about this one, but I had a blast with it. F.I.S.T. is another 2D Metroidvania that feels great to play, with tons of fun weapons and upgrades and a really cool steampunk world to explore. The story and writing is a bit janky, I'll concede - but the addictive gameplay more than makes up for it.


6.) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

- How to rank a next-gen remake of one of the all-time great gaming trilogies? For me, I'd been looking for an excuse to finally play the Mass Effect series all the way through, and it was great to be able to play this version with some much-needed graphical and control overhauls. In particular, I immediately noticed the smoother action controls in Mass Effect 1 - updated to be more like the more refined sequels. But man, there's no denying that this is one of the high water marks for videogame world-building and storytelling. 


7.) Unpacking

- In 2021, we all needed some calming and soothing influences in our lives. Enter Unpacking, a surprisingly therapeutic game in which you literally help to unpack an unseen protagonist's possessions following a move to a new home. Each "level" in the game brings you to that protagonist's latest living situation, and while the game relaxes you as you place various objects in rooms just so, it's also got a wistful quality as you get all sorts of hints about where this person is in their life and what's changed and what's stayed the same. A unique and low-impact indie that's highly recommended.


8.) Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

- This one's another re-release of a Nintendo game that had the unfortunate luck of being released on the little-played Wii U system. But I'm glad Nintendo is doing these re-releases, as there were clearly at least a couple of real Wii U gems. This one is a very good Mario game - more 2D and linear in nature than more recent series entries like Odyssey, but still a lot of fun. But the real kicker here is Bowser's Fury - a sort of proof of concept for what a true next-gen Mario could be like. It's an add-on that provides an awesome open-world 3D, free-roaming Mario experience - and I can't wait to see more of this sort of gameplay in future iterations.


9.) Scarlet Nexus

- Want an anime-styled action RPG that just gives you straight-up, 100 mph craziness? Then look no further. Scarlet Nexus delivers some incredibly vivid visuals paired with super-fun gameplay that makes you feel like an all-powerful badass straight out of Akira. Good times.


10.) Guilty Gear Strive

- The Guilty Gear series of fighting games is a reliable franchise for fun one-on-one combat action, and the latest iteration, Strive, is no exception. The series is known for its hyper-fluid anime graphics, its rocking metal soundtracks, and its fast-paced and over the top gameplay ... and all of that is ramped up to eleven here. Whether you're a series expert of a casual fan / button-masher (raised hand!), this is one of the year's best fighters.

THE BEST OF 2014 - The Best MOVIES Of The Year

THE YEAR IN MOVIES - 2014

- Well, it's been an interesting year, hasn't it? There were a lot of things I could have talked about with regards to the state of movies in 2014, but ultimately, this was the year that The Interview almost caused an international incident. As I write this, there's still a bit of ambiguity over who, exactly, hacked Sony Pictures and later threatened to retaliate should The Interview be released. But because of our suspicions that North Korea was behind the attack on Sony, major theater chains pulled out of showing The Interview - leading Sony to follow up by cancelling the release of the movie altogether. Soon, an outcry began, and a Seth Rogen / James Franco comedy was the unlikely centerpiece of a movement. Fans, Hollywood insiders, and politicians all wanted the film to be released - not releasing it was an affront to our freedom, a victory for censorship. The President of the United States stated he thought Sony should have gone ahead and released the film, and encouraged Americans to go to the movies over the Christmas holiday. Eventually, as small theater operators rallied and fans protested, Sony relented. The movie ended up releasing in independent movie theaters across the county over Christmas, and also went live on select digital distribution platforms. The Interview could be seen, and freedom won the day.

The entire thing played out like some strange comedy of errors. The movie was cancelled, then suddenly back on again. America spent days worrying about some sort of attack on movie theaters, then began to doubt whether North Korea was even truly the source of the hack that started this whole incident. When Sony finally decided to pull the trigger on okaying a digital release for the film over Christmas, the timing was such that many big distribution platforms were unprepared to go live with the film - this meant that iTunes got the movie late, and Sony's own Playstation Store still, at year's end, doesn't have it available (while their competitors at XBOX do). 

In many ways, it's all already a bit silly in retrospect. But at the same time, it's not at all. If North Korea truly was behind the threat, and truly was willing to use force to keep The Interview from being seen - than that is a legitimate assault on our country and an attack on our freedoms. As surreal as it is to be having this conversation about an over-the-top comedy, we also can't dismiss what happened just because of the movie's genre. In fact, comedy is in many ways the epitome of our freedom of speech. The ability to mock, satirize, and poke fun at people and institutions - that's the very essence of what it means to have that freedom. And as I said in my review, The Interview feels like the kind of silly retort that an absurdly silly regime like Kim Jong Un's deserves. 

In purely pop-cultural terms, all of the discussion about The Interview opened up a debate about how we view comedy. One of the strangest side effects of The Interview becoming a politically-charged issue: scores of people watched it who would not normally be caught dead watching this kind of comedy. Which in turn led to an endless supply of comments trashing it. As a guy who reviews movies, and as a huge comedy nerd, this really frustrated and annoyed me. Suddenly, everyone was an expert, and people were all too happy to declare, definitively, that The Interview sucked. Ugh.

One of the things that got me interested in reviewing movies in the first place was the rise of internet enthusiast sites like Ain't It Cool News, circa the late 90's. As a kid, I remember always feeling frustrated with the movie reviews in the local paper. Comedies were always reviewed poorly, no matter how funny I found them. Action movies were always panned, no matter how badass their fight scenes were. Luckily, the internet gave voice to a new breed of reviewer who actually understood and appreciated genre. If you're going to review comedy, you've got to understand timing, joke construction, delivery, etc. It's why I hate when reviews seem to rag on comedies that aren't "about" some larger issue, instead of actually analyzing how well-constructed the jokes and dialogue are. If we only graded comedies based on what big, important issues they dealt with, then I suppose the works of Mel Brooks and Monty Python would be considered failures. 

This is why you're not going to see They Came Together on many 2014 Best-Of lists. But there was never any doubt in my mind that it would make mine. Watching They Came Together, I laughed more than at any movie I've watched in years. The movie isn't really *about* anything. It's just funny as all hell. Recognize and respect, people. For similar reasons, it was a no-brainer to me that the masterful The Raid 2 would rank high on my list. The movie is an absolute action-movie masterpiece, with some of the most jaw-dropping fight choreography I've ever seen. I understand that it may not be some people's cup of tea. But if you're going to talk about it, you've got to do so in the proper context, and look at what it is and what it's trying to be. 

Luckily, the mainstream seems to be getting increasingly down to get weird and crazy. Almost all of 2014's best and most acclaimed films are actually pretty insane, in their own way. Boyhood is a twelve-year opus from Richard Linklater, a guy who's always been a Hollywood outsider - a rock n' roll auteur. Whiplash, Nightcrawler - both dark and gritty and disturbing and intense as hell. One of this year's biggest fan favorites, Snowpiercer, is also quite possibly one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. And arguably the year's best and inarguably highest-grossing summer blockbuster, Guardians of the Galaxy, brought the weird, trippy, cosmic side of the Marvel universe to the big-screen - making heroes of a talking racoon and an ass-kicking tree-guy who says the same phrase over and over. 

So yeah, I guess 2014 was a pretty great year for movies - in the weirdest, strangest, unlikeliest of ways.


DANNY'S BEST MOVIES OF 2014:

1.) Boyhood

- Richard Linklater has long been one of our best filmmakers, but he outdid himself with the game-changing Boyhood. The way the film was shot - continuously over a twelve-year period - was no mere gimmick. Instead, Linklater created a film that gave us an unprecedented feeling of watching a life unfold before our eyes. Never before has a movie so actively invested us in the well-being of its protagonist. We hope and pray that the kid is alright, that Mason will be okay despite the hard times he goes through. Featuring incredible performances from Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and from star Ellar Coltrane, Boyhood was the one film from 2014 that struck me as an instant classic, one for the all-timers list. I know, there's always backlash when a movie is proclaimed as being this singularly great. But on this one, believe the hype.

2.) Whiplash

- Whiplash will leave you breathless. When I saw it in the theater, it left the audience in stunned silence, and it had the audience burst out in spontaneous applause. In this film, music is a battle, and Miles Teller's young, would-be drummer extraordinaire is at war. His barking general is JK Simons, in a performance for the ages - a can't-lose shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor. Simons is masterful in this film, and his stern warnings of "not my tempo" are flat-out nightmare inducing. Whiplash, in its own way, is one of the most messed-up movies you'll ever see. It's a dark, bloody, intense-as-hell look at the steep price of perfection.

3.) Interstellar

- Why did some people hate Interstellar? My guess is that whenever you take a story right up to the very edge of existence itself, you're invariably going to end up in some pretty far-out places - and some people would just prefer not to go there. But man, I give Christopher Nolan credit for pushing his film to the absolute narrative and thematic limits. He sends Matthew McConaughey's Cooper on a journey to the edge of space and time, and at some point, he's got to grapple with what happens when you cross over into the great unknown. Call it silly if you want, but I say it's brave. To me, Interstellar was flat-out mind-blowing - a sensory-overload experience that took us to places that no film has gone before. I suppose the film would inevitably be divisive. I say it's a new masterpiece from Nolan that's on par with his best work.

4.) Selma

- Selma was the right film at the right time - a moving, disturbing, deeply affecting look at a seminal moment in our country's history - a moment that feels as relevant today as ever. The brilliance of the movie is that it doesn't paint its characters in black and white. These are flawed, fully-formed people - but that makes what they accomplished that much more impressive. David Oyelowo is fantastic as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Tom Wilkinson kills it as LBJ. But Selma isn't just a slice of history - it's a rallying cry, a reminder that we can do better, that America is imperfect, but that its greatest strength is that it's a place that empowers its people to affect lasting change.

5.) The Raid 2

- The Raid 2 is the Godfather II of action movies. The Raid was a straight-up, no-frills action classic - featuring a simple but effective premise that provided the backdrop for some of the hardest-hitting, most jaw-dropping fight scenes ever seen on film. But The Raid 2 one-ups it by framing the action with a sprawling, crime-saga storyline that, even without the bone-crunching action, would be compelling. But combine the two, and what you get is sheer epicness - and hands-down one of the greatest action films ever made. If you dig action and martial arts films and have somehow not yet seen The Raid and its sequel, get to it.

6.) Nightcrawler

- What a dark, badass, wickedly satirical film. Like some nightmarish mash-up of Taxi Driver and Network, Nightcrawler shows us the dark side of humanity while also offering up a biting commentary on the often predatory nature of the news and entertainment we consume. Jake Gyllenhaal is off-the-charts great here as the psychopathic Lou Bloom, and Renee Russo also impresses as his news-producer enabler. This one stuck with me for a long time after viewing it, in part because it has one of the most uncompromisingly brutal and hard-hitting endings I've ever seen. An unforgettable walk on the wild side.

7.) They Came Together

- For devotees of Wet Hot American Summer, here, finally is the worthy follow-up we've been clamoring for. This is David Wain, free from big-studio restrictions, able to go all-out in order to provide the sort of insane absurdist humor that first put he and his fellow members of The State on the map. Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler destroy as the leads, and they're surrounded by a who's who of funny people, including several fan-favorite State alumni. I've seen people talk about They Came Together as if it's a straight-up parody of romantic comedies. Only sort of. Mostly, it's just an excuse for Wain and co. to provide scene after scene of over-the-top hilarity. Basically, this is a comedy nerd's dream-come-true.

8.) Obvious Child

- It's always exciting to see new comedic voices emerge, and Obvious Child is a highly impressive debut from writer/director Gillian Robespierre. It's also a true coming-out party for star Jenny Slate. After being booted from SNL, Slate bounces back with an incredible performance that's both heartfelt and hilarious. You wouldn't think that a comedy about abortion could work. But Robespierre handles the delicate topic with such humanity and humor that, somehow, the film turns into one of the funniest and surprisingly poignant movies of the year. To me, the film works as more than just a story about abortion. It's a comedy about what it means to be a struggling young adult in 2014 - and I think that's why it spoke to so many people as powerfully as it did.
9.) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

- 2014 had one of the best summer movie seasons ever. Several of the year's big blockbusters were not just great popcorn movies, but great movies in general. My favorite of the pack was the second film in the rebooted Planet of the Apes franchise - a series which I've quickly grown to love as much as the legendary originals. What's amazing about Dawn is that the humans are largely peripheral. This is the apes' story, and it's remarkable that we come to care about Ceaser, and root against his rival Koba, to the extent that we do. Give huge credit to the phenomenal mo-cap performances of Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell. Also give credit to a smart script that creates the rare action-movie scenario where we root more for an end to hostilities than we do for one side to triumph.

10.) Snowpiercer

- Snowpiercer is flat-out insane, but man, is it awesome. The film is a true international production. It's a Korean film that's (mostly) in English, based on a French comic book, adapted by American screenwriter Kelly Masterson (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead), shot in Prague, and starring a diverse cast that includes big-time talent like Chris Evans, John Hurt, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Alison Pill, and Octavia Spencer. And it really is unlike anything I've seen before. Visually, it evokes the post-apocalyptic sci-fi stylings of Terry Gilliam. The extreme action brings a Hong Kong martial-arts sensibility to the table. But beneath the out-there aesthetic trappings, there's a pretty potent message about manufactured inequality. Don't write this one off as a mere oddity - there's plenty of substance to accompany the style.

JUST MISSED THE CUT:

This was a year that was positively overflowing with great films, with perhaps the most films I considered in the "A" range of any year that I can remember. Here are five superb movies that just missed the cut.

11.)  Edge of Tomorrow

- This one was a huge surprise - an expertly-crafted sci-fi action film that made the most of its conceit: that its soldier hero, played by a game Tom Cruise - re-spawns every time he dies, now equipped with the knowledge to stay alive at least a little longer when he re-enters the fray. The way the premise plays out is clever and novel, providing the real viewer with a real sense of videogame-esque trial-and-error and ultimately reward. But aside from all that, this movie is owned by Emily Blunt, who shows never-before-seen action movie chops. Blunt absolutely kicks ass in this film, in an instantly-iconic turn that surely puts her at the top of every female superhero casting call from here on out.

12.) Only Lovers Left Alive

- Jim Jarmusch's gothic vampire film was a real surprise and a true stunner. Dripping with goth-rock atmosphere, the film is a darkly funny tale that is almost like the vampiric version of Before Sunrise. Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swindon slay as the two immortal lovers, who now find themselves facing true danger that threatens to uproot their lives. What really struck me about the film is how it uses the vampires' immortality as a way to comment on what's important in life. The two are terminally bored, but it's the discovery of the new - of art and ideas - that keeps them engaged and makes continued immortality a thing worth fighting for. 

13.) Guardians of the Galaxy

- Guardians of the Galaxy is the kind of fun, funny, imagination-filled spectacle that they just don't make anymore. As great as the current cinematic superhero renaissance has been, what's been missing has been the weird, cosmic, trippy stuff that made us all love these comics in the first place. Now, finally, it felt like we were getting to the good stuff - and James Gunn imbued his movie with a personality and quirkiness unique in the superhero genre. It was, indeed, a cosmic mix-tape of awesome.

14.) The LEGO Movie

- Speaking of awesome, who would've thought that this of all movies would be an instant animated classic? Somehow, Phil Lord and Chris Miller made The LEGO Movie into a brilliantly-scripted adventure that served as a commentary on conformity, imagination, and growing up. On one level, the movie was funny and fun and visually-breathtaking. On another level, this was a surprisingly deep and thoughtful and moving film. That, I think, is a minor miracle.

15.) A Most Wanted Man

- A sad but fitting goodbye for the powerhouse that is Philip Seymour-Hoffman, A Most Wanted Man is a slow-burn, ultra-intense story of political intrigue that casts Hoffman as an under-pressure, in-too-deep German official trying desperately to foil a terrorist plot. Adapted from a John le Carré novel, the film brims with a quiet, methodical intensity, and Hoffman here is at the top of his game. 

THE NEXT BEST: 

16.) The Guest

-From the brilliant, genre-bending minds behind last year's cult-fave horror hit You're Next comes a must-see midnight-movie action/thriller that goes to some very cool, very unexpected places. Riffing on 80's action films, but with a modern twist, this one's a bonafide new cult classic.

17.) Locke

- A movie that takes place entirely in one man's car, with the only dialogue involving his conversations on a speaker phone. That can't possibly work, can it? It does. An unbelievably great performance from Tom Hardy and a crackling script make this one a must-see.

18.) The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

-A fitting send-off to Peter Jackson's Middle Earth epic, the final Hobbit movie delivers gravitas-filled moments of action, drama, and epic fantasy. Maybe it's not Lord of the Rings, but there's still a magic in Jackson's Hobbit films - especially in this one - that makes them a cut above. The end of an era.

19.) The Skeleton Twins

-My single favorite movie scene of 2014 is in The Skeleton Twins - a hilarious, sad, moving, chill-inducing, fist-pumping lip-sync sing-off involving stars Bill Hader and Kristin Wiig, set to Starship's cheesetastic ballad "Nothin's Gonna Stop Us Now." A showcase for the two SNL alums, who deliver laughs as well as pathos.

20.) Calvary

- Featuring a brilliant, razor-sharp script and picturesque direction from John Michael McDonagh, and an earth-shaking performance from the great Brendan Gleeson, Calvary is a meditative, elegiac, darkly funny story about Ireland's last good priest facing down a would-be murderer.

21.) Noah

- Darren Aranofsky's biblical epic is sort of bat$%&% crazy, but that's why I love it. It's got epic battle scenes, warrior-angels, a stunning animated sequence that depicts the entire history of evolution as filtered through the Book of Genesis, and a Noah who is downright psychotic. Somehow though, it all comes together to form a big, bold, dark, epic that is entirely unforgettable. 

22.) Gone Girl

- David Fincher's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel is an engrossing, screwed-up look at the dark side of marriage. Rosamund Pike is fantastic here, showing the true wrath of a woman scorned. Gone Girl is the ultimate bad date movie - a sordid look at the modern relationship that, in its own way, is as much about the darkness within as Fincher's Fight Club or The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and as much about who we are today as The Social Network.

23.) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

- A worthy sequel to the original film, this one pays homage to gritty 70's spy-thrillers, smartly adding Robert Redford to the cast as a S.H.I.E.L.D. official with suspect motives. The film plays out like one of those classic paranoid thrillers, pitting cap (Chris Evans still owning the role) against a new threat from a reborn Hydra and an awesomely badass antagonist in the mysterious Winter Soldier. 

24.) Big Hero 6

- Disney's animation studio is on a creative roll of late, and the streak continues with Big Hero 6. It might just be the studio's best CG-animated film yet - a visually-stunning, action packed superhero story that also packs an emotional punch. The movie is just flat-out fun. It one-ups The Incredibles in terms of paying homage to classic superhero and sci-fi tropes, and it delivers a story rich with positive messages that also never lacks for kick-ass action.

25.) TIE: The Imitation Game

- The Imitation Game isn't an experimental game-changer or a boundary-pushing film from a narrative or aesthetic viewpoint. It's a pretty classically-made Hollywood prestige film, no question. But there is also a lot of depth to the narrative and a lot to chew on - this is the rare World War II film that's not about combat, but about strategy and tactics and smart people trying to out-think the opposition. That to me is cool, and if that still doesn't sell you, the all-star cast, led by an Oscar-worthy Benedict Cumberbatch as genius code-breaker Alan Turing, should. 

25.) TIE: Top Five

-  Top Five is Chris Rock's Woody Allen film - a wryly witty, laugh-out-loud funny, emotionally involving story that is, one one level, about one man trying to find himself, but is, on another level, about, well, everything. Few comedians are able to put themselves out there in such a raw fashion, but that's exactly what Rock does here.

MORE GREAT FILMS OF 2014:

26.) Neighbors

- A hilarious comedy in the grand bro's vs. schmoes tradition, Neighbors is funny, but it's also got some real depth and heart. Seth Rogen is funny, but a hilarious Rose Byrne is the film's secret weapon. And Nick Stoller again proves that he is one of the best comedy directors working today.

27.) Unbroken

- An inspiring true-life tale, Unbroken features breakout performances from lead actor Jack O'Connell, and from Takamasa Ishihara as his relentless torturer in a Japanese P.O.W. camp. Featuring some truly chill-inducing moments, Unbroken is a strong effort from director Angelina Jolie.

28.) X-Men: Days of Future Past

- This one really surprised me. I was weary of yet another X-Men movie, but DOFP is a fun movie, plain and simple, and it has just about everything you could ask for in an X-Men/First-Class passing-of-the-torch film. There are nice callbacks to the previous movies, as well as some nice stage-setting for stories yet to come. This is pretty much the ultimate Brian Singer X-Men movie, both keeping what worked about the older films but also addressing some of the issues. This is a film that elevates the franchise as a whole.  

29.) The Book of Life

-  The Book of Life may not have the blockbuster name-recognition of some of the year's other big animated movies, but it's a fantastic film - on par with the best from Disney and Pixar. Not only that, but it's a crafted-with-love celebration of a culture that we don't often see in film or TV beyond cliches and stereotypes, and it brings a unique sensibility and art-style to the table. There is a 100% universal story here about family and legacy, told in a fun, action-packed, visually-dazzling manner.

30.) TIE: Veronica Mars

- Come on now sugar: bring it on, bring it on - and long live Veronica Mars. Kickstartered back to life by a passionate fanbase, the cult-fave TV show returned in movie form in 2014 - and the result was a great film that served as a satisfying epilogue to the series, and a great example of how to continue and build upon a beloved franchise. The pop-culture universe is stronger with great characters like Veronica Mars in it.

30.) TIE: The Interview

- Oh, how could I not give one final round of props to The Interview, the movie that changed movies forever in 2014. I don't know that the movie is a stone-cold comedy classic. In 2014 alone, I felt that They Came Together, Obvious Child, and Seth Rogen's other big movie, Neighbors, reigned supreme. But The Interview *was* funny. Very funny. And if you disagree, hey, that's your prerogative. But let me know when next we see such an epically ballsy comedic take-down of an evil dictator come 'round the pike. I'll be waiting.

HONORABLE MENTIONS - OTHER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MOVIES FROM THIS YEAR:

Blue Ruin
Inherent Vice 
Frank
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Under the Skin
The Muppets: Most Wanted
Coherence 
Birdman
Wild
The Theory of Everything
John Wick
Fury
Get On Up

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:

BEST LEAD ACTOR:

1.) Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
2.) Philip Seymour Hoffman - A Most Wanted Man
3.) Tom Hardy - Locke
4.) Brendan Gleeson - Calvary
5.) Tie: Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything / Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game / David Oyelowo - Selma

BEST LEADING ACTRESS:

1.) Patricia Arquette - Boyhood
2.) Rosamund Pike - Gone Girl
3.) Kristin Wiig - The Skeleton Twins
4.) Reese Witherspoon - Wild
5.) Jenny Slate - Obvious Child


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

1.) JK Simons - Whiplash
2.) Ethan Hawke - Boyhood
3.) Tom Wilkinson - Selma
4.) Riz Ahmed - Nightcrawler
5.) Josh Brolin - Inherent Vice

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

1.) Renee Russo - Nightcrawler
2.) Emily Blunt - Edge of Tomorrow
3.) Jessica Chastain - Interstellar
4.) Tilda Swindon - Snowpiercer
5.) Emma Stone - Birdman

BEST DIRECTOR:

1.) Richard Linklater - Boyhood
2.) Christopher Nolan - Interstellar
3.) Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler
4.) Damien Chazelle - Whiplash
5.) Gareth Evans - The Raid 2

BEST SCREENPLAY:

1.) Nightcrawler
2.) Whiplash
3.) Calvary
4.) Obvious Child
5.) The LEGO Movie
6.) They Came Together
7.) Edge of Tomorrow
8.) Guardians of the Galaxy
9.) Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
10.) Locke

- And that's that, another one for the books. 2014 over and done. 2015 is going to be epic.

THE BEST OF 2014 - The Best COMICS Of The Year

THE BEST COMICS OF 2014:

- It's amazing how much the world of comics has changed in a short time. Digital comics have opened up the medium to a whole new readership - and the ease of availability of new and classic books - along with the continued proliferation of comics-based movies and TV shows - made this a banner year.

What's amazing now is the sheer diversity of content that's out there. If you look at, say, the 90's, the major publishers all sort of leaned in the same direction. Most of the books from DC, Marvel, Image, and others were all, stylistically, pretty similar. Now, it's a whole new ballgame. I look at Image alone - the way they've become a breeding ground for creator-owned, creator-driven series - and it's amazing. They've come a long, long way from the early days. Many others are now following their lead - IDW, Boom!, Dynamite, etc. Even Marvel and DC have more books now that feel less bound to some giant connected universe, and more accessible to people who are simply fans of those characters. Marvel in particular drew tons of buzz in 2014 by putting out books that felt like they were made less for the fans who'd read every Marvel book since 1973, and more for the influx of new fans who hoped for the sorts of stories and characters that spoke to them, a more modern audience. Case in point is Ms. Marvel - one of the year's most interesting and applause-worthy success stories. The book stars a new character, Kamala Khan, a young Muslim-American teen who gets superhuman powers and becomes an unlikely hero. It's written by G. Willow Wilson, a woman who converted to Islam and who, I might add, is a fellow BU grad. Wilson has been an up-and-coming writer for a while now, and it's great to see her enjoy this sort of success - Ms. Marvel, as it turns out, became an unlikely top seller - something that, I'm guessing, was in large part thanks to the way that digital comics have broadened the traditional audience. But there's something that's just plain cool about this new Ms. Marvel becoming a fan favorite. Comics have always been about celebrating those that are different, but diversity has sadly not always been something that mainstream comics have done well. But Kamala Khan is, in her own unassuming way, breaking down barriers left and right. Here's a character that diverges from the idea that Islam's teachings can only lead to evil. Here's a strong female character who *isn't* the stereotype of what a strong female character should be (i.e., she's not just a guy with boobs). And here is a character that can be a hero to girls, women, Muslims, and everyone else. Hell, I'm a white Jewish male and I think she's pretty damn awesome.

Kamala Khan, to me, represents what's great about comics. Unlike the high-stakes, big-money world of movies, comics are not focus-tested and franchised-out to the nth degree - at least not all of the time. Comics are a place where barriers can be broken, where new, original, and oftentimes crazy ideas can be tried out. Comics are where anything goes and the sky's the limit. I think that's why Guardians of the Galaxy was such an exciting movie in many ways. To date, most superhero films have played it safe, to an extent - giving us more grounded, real-world versions of our favorite characters. But Guardians is one of the first modern superhero movies to fully embrace the sort of cosmic craziness that made me love comics in the first place.

Putting superheroes aside though, I'll take a step back and talk again about the diversity in storytelling in 2014's best comics. One of the year's best books was Sex Criminals, about a couple that can stop time whenever they get busy. Sounds insane, I know. But writer Matt Fraction made it into a book that's at once completely out-there, yet at the same time has some of the most authentic-feeling characters in anything I've read this year. It's a similar story with my favorite new comic of 2014, Alex + Ada. It's a type of story we've seen before: man meets robot, man falls in love with robot, man and robot have to go into hiding because human-like robots that can think and feel are outlawed in this world. But what makes it work so well here are characters that seem authentic, and storytelling that keeps you guessing. That's not to say that I don't also love stuff that's just flat-out out-there. In other words, thank the comic gods for Grant Morrison's continued output. One of my favorite books in 2014 has been Morrison's Multiversity for DC, which is a tripped-out celebration of all the wonderful weirdness of DC's past, present, and future, with a meta twist that only a guy like Morrison could dream up.

Despite everything I've said, I still miss old-fashioned paper-and-ink comics. I miss going to the comic store and coming home with a stack of crisp comics begging to be read. I miss the tactile nature of holding the pages in your hand. When I do buy a new comic or trade paperback and read it in the traditional manner, I can't deny that that, to me, is the superior experience. I think the benefits of digital outweigh the negatives. What's been so cool about the digital experience is how easy it is to discover more material based on an existing favorite. This year, I got hooked on Alex + Ada, and quickly decided I needed to read more from the Luna Bros., whose work I'd somehow not familarized myself with far. Soon enough, I was knee-deep in the series that put them on the map, a Stephen King-like horror/thriller called Girls. Now I'm on to another work of theirs, The Sword - pretty cool. Still, I hope that we don't have to wait long for someone to come out with a better reading alternative than an iPad. Amazon, I'm looking at you. Amazon this year purchased the primary digital comics retailer, Comixology, so I suspect there may be some interesting developments still to come as a result.

But here's to the great year for comics that was 2014. And here's to an even better one in the year ahead.


DANNY'S BEST COMICS OF 2014:

1.) Locke & Key

- This one is fudging things a little, because technically Locke & Key wrapped up in 2013. However, the collection of the series' final chapters - Alpha & Omega - wasn't released until 2014, and I suspect that many were, as I did, reading this one via the hardcovers and trade paperback collections. In any case, Locke & Key has been one of the seminal works - comics or otherwise - of the last decade, in my view. It's something that, I suspect, will always be a defining work for author Joe Hill, and for artist Gabriel Rodriguez. Hill has the uncanny ability, like his father Stephen King, to write incredibly-realized characters that feel tangible and wholly authentic, and to then place them in absolutely insane situations tinged with horror, fantasy, and the supernatural. As I said in an earlier post praising the series:  in many ways, it feels like vintage King: a rustic New England setting, a distinctly slice-of-Americana vibe, and an existential horror that creeps its way into these characters lives and starts profoundly changing their worlds. I felt a profound sadness as I read the book's concluding chapters, both for the characters and what they'd endured, and also because this was the end of one of the great comic stories. I can't wait to see what Joe Hill does next.


2.) Alex + Ada

- Written by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn, with art by Luna, Alex + Ada is my current must-read monthly comic. The work of Jonathan Luna (as well as earlier work done with his brother) reminds me a lot of that of Brian K. Vaughan. The characters are so well-realized that all the craziness that happens around them feels plausible. The Lunas, like Vaughan, tend not to write about traditional hero characters. Their protagonists are regular dudes, relatable and not all that extraordinary. Often, these types of sci-fi stories are about a guy who's the best at what he does, etc. Not here. Alex is just a regular, slightly disaffected young adult who's trying to figure out what he's doing with his life. That said, this is riveting storytelling - each issue ends in a cliffhanger that leaves you clamoring for more. Sci-fi stories about robots are a dime a dozen, sure. But this one has the potential to be one for the cannon.


3.) Sex Criminals

- Sex Criminals has such a great voice, and that's thanks to writer Matt Fraction, who has become a real favorite over the last few years. He blends real human drama and pathos with a wicked sense of humor. Sex Criminals shouldn't work, but it does, because it's as much about people trying to figure themselves out as it is anything else. And by the way, best letters page going by a long-shot.


4.) Hawkeye

- More Matt Fraction. I fully caught up on Hawkeye this year, and am now suffering because of the long gap between new installments. But Fraction's Hawkeye is just plain awesome - it's like Coen Bros' doing superheroes - funny, irreverent, moody, and yet oddly insightful about the human condition. In 2014, the book took an extended detour to LA, to follow Kate Bishop, the female Hawkeye, as she delves into a neo-noir mystery. Such great stuff, can't recommend it enough.


5.) Lazarus

- Lazarus continued to wow me in 2014, with some serious world-building going on that continued to fill in the puzzle pieces of the book's post-apocalyptic dystopia. Writer Greg Rucka has been taking his time in putting all of the building blocks in place, but there's a great sense that this is all leading to big things, world-shaking things. As I've said before, imagine a Game of Thrones-esque society where, instead of houses, warring corporations vie for control of a collapsed world.


6.) Multiversity

- As I said above, Multiversity is just a treat for fans of DC, fans of Grant Morrison, and fans of the weirder, sillier, more out-there side of superhero comics. This is Morrison's roadmap to DC's multiverse, with each issue taking place on a different earth. So far, one issue has told a Watchmen-like conspiracy-thriller with the Charlton characters on which that story was based. One issue has told a whimsical Captain Marvel story in the spirit of the original comics. Another imagined the sons and daughters of iconic superheroes in a crime-free world where heroes prefer starring on reality TV to battling evil. Great stuff from the ever-fertile mind of Morrison.


7.) Saga

- Saga's release schedule has been intermittent in 2014, but when it's come out, it remains one of the true must-read ongoing series out today. Brian K. Vaughan is taking us on an adventure here, and I honestly have no idea where things are going month-to-month. As Y: The Last Man was to surviving your 20's, Saga is to the later part of adulthood - a star-spanning tale of two parents drawn together and now, drawn apart. But what's cool about Saga is that this story seems destined to expand well beyond its current scope. Who knows where it's all headed? But in BKV we trust. And man, that Fiona Staples art is as amazing as ever.


8.) Fatale

- Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips' Fatale came to a close in 2014, and it will go down as a recent favorite. The book was a unique mix of noir and Lovecraftian horror, and the scope of the narrative just kept expanding and going in interesting directions. The femme-fatale protagonist, Josephine, finally confronted her otherdimensional tormentors in the big finale, and the result was a satisfying conclusion to one of Brubaker's best books to date.


9.) The Walking Dead

- The Walking Dead as a franchise is so ... everywhere ... that praising the comic seems almost unneeded. But I want to give props to Robert Kirkman, because while the Walking Dead TV series' quality fluctuates wildly, the comic is consistently excellent. Following the ultra-intense conclusion to the "All Out War" storyline, the book did a bit of a re-set, time-jumping ahead and introducing a new status quo. It was just what the book needed, and a reminder that what's great is that this is a story that truly keeps evolving. Kirkman is writing the zombie story that never ends, but that's a good thing - especially if it remains this compelling.


10.) Injustice

- How is Injustice possibly as good as it is? The best-selling weekly digital comic is a spin-off of a videogame. That should mean it's crap. But Injustice is actually the best ongoing superhero book that DC is putting out - it's a book that seems downright giddy at getting to play with the toys in the sandbox, pitting the DC characters against each other in ways that are surprising and downright fun. This is the superhero book that most gives me the feeling of being a kid again and discovering the joy of comics. And in bite-sized digital form, it's the perfect quick-read.

THE NEXT BEST:

11.) Batman

- Scott Snyder continues to do great things with the core Batman book. His "Zero Year" storyline was an unexpected epic, and his current "Endgame" arc is page-turning, blockbuster storytelling at its finest.

12.) Invincible

- Robert Kirkman's other big book is still one of my favorite reads. This is a book in which anything can and will happen, and Kirkman seems to love changing up the tone of the book on a whim, just to throw readers off. If Walking Dead is the zombie story that never ends, Invincible is the superhero story that never ends. And again, that's a good thing.

13.) The Silver Surfer

- Dan Slott's whimsical take on the Surfer has been a treat - especially with the added bonus of stunning Mike Allred art. The book is a trippy, funny, cosmic riff on sci-fi in the vein of Dr. Who, but Slott has made this its own thing - a book that feels wholly unique in the Marvel pantheon.

14.) The Wake

- The Wake was my 2013 book of the year, and it remained strong in 2014 - though the conclusion did not have quite the punch of the first half of the book. Flashing to a future where the world is overrun with water, the book became less horror and more apocalyptic fantasy-adventure. Still fun and intriguing, but not quite as awesome and badass as what preceded.

15.) Ms. Marvel

- See above. But just to add, Ms. Marvel feels like the book we needed in 2014, the book that felt like it was a long time coming, and the book that made us wonder how we did without Kamala Khan and characters like her for so long.

16.) Swamp Thing

- Charles Soule's run on Swamp Thing has been stellar. The book is a strange mix of horror, adventure, and trippiness - very much in the spirit of the classic Alan Moore run. Soule has introduced some intriguing new supporting characters, and expanded the mythology of the Green to include new enemies and allies.

17.) Batman '66

- Batman '66 was a weekly pleasure in 2014, building on the success of the previous year. Writer Jeff Parker so skillfully and so hilariously captures the wry humor of the Adam West TV show, cranking the absurdity up just a notch to make sure we get that he's in on the joke. Visiting with the classic TV Batman - both in the '66 series and in the great Green Hornet crossover - was some of the most fun I had reading comics this year.

18.) Red Lanterns

- Charles Soule again. Even as the Green Lantern franchise struggled to maintain consistent quality in 2014, Red Lanterns was the one book of the bunch that consistently brought its A-game. In 2014, the book told a pretty epic story - showing us the transformation of the formerly-villainous Red Lanterns into a group that was a force for good, albeit in their own unique, rage-filled, blood-spewing way.

19.) The Manhattan Projects

- Jonathan Hickman's monthly dose of insanity is almost always at the top of my must-read list, and this year, the book closed its current run, with the promise of further stories down the line. But man, the stuff that happened in The Manhattan Projects in 2014 ... this story about America's secret cabal of scientists went to even more far-out places than normal. Where else can you see twin Alfred Einsteins hunting aliens, or a gun-toting LBJ kicking ass and taking names? Nowhere, that's where.

20.) The Twilight Zone

- J. Michael Straczynski's update on the classic TV show was a real surprise this year. Over multiple story-arcs, the book told Twilight Zone-style stories that felt true to the issues and concerns of 2014. I enjoyed that the book didn't try to 100% ape the format or the stories of the show, but instead went for something different. All the while, it stayed true to the spirit of the show.


RUNNERS UP:

Batman & Robin
Batwing
Fables / Fairest
Batgirl
All-Star Western
Action Comics
The X-Files: Season 10
Batman: Eternal
Starlight
Velvet

SPECIAL MENTIONS:

- I'd like to give a special shout-out to ALL-STAR WESTERN. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti wrote the character of Jonah Hex for years and years - since 2005 - both before and after DC's New 52 reboot. Over the years, I always looked forward to the writing duo's gritty, weird, engrossing tales of the Old West, and I loved their take on Hex and DC's other Western heroes (in particular, I really dug their introduction of new character Tallulah Black, a badass female gunslinger who could match Hex's attitude and guts). The series finale of All-Star Western was a fitting closer to this storied run, although I also hope that the pair have a couple more Jonah Hex stories left in the tank.

- I'd also like to mention another long run that came to a close in 2014, that being Gail Simone's tenure writing BATGIRL. Simone, a longtime fan-favorite, was intimately linked to Batgirl and Barbara Gordon, having written her for years - pre-New 52 - as the star of Birds of Prey. When the New 52 reboot began, Simone was in the tough position of having to undue one of the defining traits of the modern Babs Gordon - the fact that she was confined to a wheelchair after having been shot by the Joker. But Simone endeared fans to the re-tooled Barbara Gordon Batgirl, and wrote some fantastic issues of the book. A 2014 highlight was the "Future's End" tie-in that imagined a five-years-later version of the character - it was an epic and emotion-packed issue that felt like the end of an era.


WRITERS OF THE YEAR:

1.) Matt Fraction (Hawkeye, Sex Criminals)
2.) Ed Brubaker (Fatale, Velvet)
3.) Brian K. Vaughan (Saga)
4.) Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead, Invincible)
5.) Greg Rucka (Lazarus)
6.) Tom Taylor (Injustice, Earth 2)
7.) Scott Snyder (Batman, The Wake)
8.) Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn(Alex + Ada)
9.) Joe Hill (Locke & Key)
10.) Charles Soule (Red Lanterns, Swamp Thing)

ARTISTS OF THE YEAR:

1.) Chip Zdarsky (Sex Criminals)
2.) Fiona Staples (Saga)
3.) Mike Allred (Silver Surfer)
4.) Michael Lark (Lazarus)
5.) Greg Capullo (Batman)
6.) Jonathan Luna (Alex + Ada)
7.) Sean Phillips (Fatale)
8.) Ryan Ottley (Invincible)
9.) Adrian Alphona (Ms. Marvel)
10.) Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Is One Rocking Cosmic Comic Book Jam

 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Review:

- Here it is. What we've been waiting for. Now ... we get to the good stuff. I said it back when I reviewed Thor: The Dark World, but I'll repeat: Marvel is boldly going to some very weird places with its big-budget movies, and I'm lovin' it. Think about where we've come from. When this whole big-screen superhero renaissance started with movies like X-Men, the colorful comic book heroes of Marvel made it to cinemas in a whitewashed, scrubbed-up fashion. "Yellow spandex" was a punchline. Black leather was the order of the day. The characters were mostly intact, but the sci-fi grandeur and acid-trip visuals of Kirby and his ilk were all but gone. Now, slowly but surely, Marvel Studios has brought the weird and cosmic aspects of its comic book universe to its movies - and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is the apex of that evolution, a loud-and-proud color-burst of a movie that feels like a statement from Marvel: the Marvel universe has officially been cracked open, and there really are no more limits to what can happen in these movies.

The man who makes it all happen is director James Gunn. Just saying that is sort of weird and sort of awesome. Until recently I knew Gunn as an outside-the-system director of genre movies that were, by and large, insane. I saw an opening-weekend screening of his movie Super a few years ago, featuring a Q&A with Gunn. Super remains one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. And Gunn seemed like the kind of guy who'd perhaps be happiest doing these oddball, limits-pushing, low-budget movies filled with his usual cast of go-to actors. But here's the remarkable thing: GUARDIANS is very much a Marvel movie, but, no question, it's also a James Gunn movie through and through. The movie revels in its own weirdness, much like Super and also Slither. It features the oddball, oddly-perverse sense of humor that Gunn is known for. It's got his brother, Sean Gunn, appearing in a supporting role, as he always does in James Gunn films. It's got other Gunn regulars like Michael Rooker. Gunn's movies push boundaries and go to unexpected places, and this is no exception. This is rock n' roll filmmaking like we haven't see yet in the Marvel cinematic universe.

However, what keeps all of the cosmic craziness of the film grounded is the real humanity at its core. As out-there as things get, even the movie's strangest characters have surprising depth. At the center of it all is Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord. Quill is a classic, swashbuckling rogue in the grand tradition of Han Solo and the like - but Gunn (along with screenwriter Nicole Parlman) also give him a tragic backstory and a real warmth. Also credit the gifted Pratt for making Star-Lord into a character both empathetic and hilarious. Pratt - so good for years on Parks and Recreation - is a natural at this sort of action/comedy leading man role. The guy has the bravado for epic adventure, but also the dude-next-door affability that makes him easy to root for and care about. He nails it in this film.

I can't say enough about the rest of the film's eclectic cast. It's no major surprise that Zoe Saldana is fantastic as the traumatized adopted-against-her-will daughter of Thanos, Gamora. Saldana is now a multi-franchise sci-fi superstar, but Gamora is an interesting new twist on her usual badass persona - a woman hated and feared because of her father, out to prove that she is, in fact, nothing like him. Gamora is also the moral center of the movie's ragtag team - the only one who, from the outset, has an altruistic agenda. What is more of a surprise though is that wrestler Dave Bautista is actually really, really good here in a scene-stealing role as Drax the Destroyer, a muscled-up alien hellbent on revenge for his wife and child, killed at the hands of the power-mad Ronan. What is also a surprise is how a character that I assumed would be pretty awesome - Rocket Raccoon - is not just awesome, but also the emotional center of the movie. I would never have expected that the talking raccoon would have some of the movie's most emotionally-charged moments, but James Gunn and co. go all-in with the Bradley Cooper-voiced creature. Rocket rules, but he's much more than just comic relief. Same goes for talking tree-man Groot, elegantly voiced by Vin Diesel. Groot is funny and weird, but also the source of several moments of awe, wonder, and emotional resonance. Give both Cooper and Diesel some major, major props here for their voice work. Cooper is the lovable, fast-talking, Brooklyn-accented, chip-on-his-shoulder badass we all hoped and wanted Rocket to be. And Diesel pulls an Iron Giant with Groot, making the lumbering tree-creature somehow full of pathos.

I could go on an on about the cast. Michael Rooker is just great, in a distinctly Michael Rooker sort of way, as the blue-skinned alien outlaw Yondu. Yondu is a perfect example of how Gunn just flat-out embraces the craziest aspects of these characters and goes all-in. Yondu isn't *just* a badass blue alien who talks like a southern-fried redneck, you see. He's also got a deadly blowing-dart that he controls by whistling, which he can use to take out armies of enemies simply by whistling a tune. Holy $^&#, people ... James Gunn isn't messing around. That same wholesale embrace of comic book insanity is evident in the film's chief villain, Ronan The Accuser. Played by Lee Pace - of late the master of over-the-top genre movie grandstanding - Ronan is a straight-from-the-comics cosmic bad guy of epic proportions. There's a similarly otherworldly sheen to Karen Gillan's Nebula, another daughter of Thanos, whose metallic blue skin and cybernetic enhancements make her a truly alien creature. We caught a glimpse of Benicio Del Toro's enigmatic Collector at the end of Thor: The Dark World, and the character is yet another that is just plain nuts, in the best way possible. And of course, the mighty, mad titan Thanos lurks in the background of the film - menacingly voiced by Josh Brolin and looking straight out of a Jim Starlin-drawn comic book page - waiting to stake his claim as the Marvel Universe's most-wanted.

In fact, the comic book literalism in GUARDIANS is pretty crazy. There's a clear reverence for the architects of Marvel's weird and cosmic corners - Jack Kirby, Jim Starlin, etc. - and I don't know if I've ever seen a comic book adaptation that so faithfully reproduces the costumes and colors of its source material. As others have pointed out, the movie is not just visually jaw-dropping, but also bursting with color in a way that the dulled-out modern superhero movies have mostly avoided to date. Star-filled cosmos flooded with neon-colored splashes. Gleaming alien cities filled with colorful locales. Space-bars to rival the Mos Eisley cantina. A legion of Nova Corps agents wearing their trademark gladiator-helmets and Kirby-ringed uniforms, riding around in a battalion of starburst-shaped attack ships.

Gunn shoots the film in a classical manner that calls to mind 70's and 80's sci-fi films. The movie's action is fast and furious, but also well-staged, easy-to-follow, and impactful - littered with character moments both funny and poignant. The film's exotic alien locales are all unique and memorable and teeming with detail and motion and easter-eggs. And the movie's various depictions of the vast reaches of the cosmos are both awe-inspiring and fit for framing.

The film is also very funny. Sure, other Marvel movies have had quippy humor and self-referential gags, but GUARDIANS is the first true Marvel action/comedy. The movie's got a plethora of extended comedic scenes that go for big laughs. Comedy vet Chris Pratt anchors the humor with his great timing and delivery. And, despite its massive kid-appeal, Gunn sneaks in plenty of scandalous little moments that may go over the heads of the younger set, but that are guaranteed to get a chuckle from adults. But what's really remarkable is that the movie can switch gears and deliver epic action, romance, and space-opera - all while being very funny and light-on-its feet. In that way, it really is a throwback of sorts to the classic sci-fi cinema of the 70's and 80's. Action, humor, and moments that kids will later look back on and wonder "how did they get away with keeping *that* in there?".

The movie packs in so much that it does, inevitably, leave you wanting just a bit more. While an opening prologue nicely establishes some backstory for Quill, other characters' origins are often only briefly alluded to, left to be further fleshed-out in future sequels, tie-ins, etc. Certainly, I would have loved to have gotten some additional history around Gamora - to really get a sense for what her childhood must have been like under the thumb of Thanos, and what it was like to be raised alongside his other "children" like Nebula. There was also plenty of untold story with Rocket and Groot. Some mystery is good, but having just a bit more to chew on for the non-Star-Lord characters would have made things feel a bit more substantive. Same goes for chief villain Ronan. I know some of his background from the comics, but here he gets only minimal screentime to properly explain his sinister motivations.

Overall though, what James Gunn and his team have accomplished here is pretty remarkable. They've brought the Marvel cosmic universe to the big-screen, and they've taken characters and concepts that were long thought too weird for the mainstream and made them work - not by watering them down, but by going all-in and just fully embracing the awesome. For many months I've heard speculation that GUARDIANS would bomb, that Marvel movies worked because of a particular formula, and  that any deviation from that formula would spell box office disaster. But this is a new dawn, a world where weird is accepted and where comic book adaptations can let their freak flag fly high. It's funny, because in this film alone there are several concepts that have clear DC Comics analogues, that Marvel has now beat them to the punch in doing right on the big screen. As Marvel has done Thanos, DC could do Darkseid. As Marvel has done a pretty epic take on the Nova Corps, man, that's how DC could do Green Lantern. Seeing the visuals on Groot made me realize how cool a Swamp Thing film could be in 2014. And seeing Marvel embrace its comics' weirdest corners on the big-screen made me realize that there are no more limits. Because as a young comic book fan, sure, I loved the big heroes and the iconic stories, but most of all I loved the way that these comic book universes seemed to expand across all of space and time, filled with an endless collection of characters and concepts that ran the gamut of genres and artistic influences. With GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the Marvel cinematic universe now feels ever closer to the kind of place that made comics so cool to generations of readers. The kind of place where Steve Rogers can rub shoulders with The Hulk, who can pick a fight with Thanos, who can run afoul of the Kree empire, who might tangle with Spider-Man, who might just share an adventure with Howard the Duck. The beauty of these organic fictional worlds is that anything is possible. And GUARDIANS - complete with an off-the-wall end-tag that serves as a sort of exclamation point for this idea - confirms that this is now true of the movie-verse as well.

It's fitting then that the iconic object of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY turns out to be Peter Quill's mix-tape cassette - a memento from his mother - that provides the soundtrack for his adventures, and for much of the film. The tape jumps from "Hooked on a Feeling" to "Cherry Bomb," a diverse playlist of pop  favorites that somehow adds up to Peter Quill, in miniature. So too is the film an anything-goes mix-tape of pop-art - a color-soaked genre mash-up that evokes the same anything-goes spirit of the comics it adapts. Those books were rock n' roll. This movie is rock n' roll. And it delivers one awesomely groovy space-jam.

My Grade: A-