The Captain America character stirs your patriotism in the audience as a guy you really root for to save the day and get the girl. For all that, Captain America: The First Avenger is, far and away, the best comic book movie this summer and acts as an outstanding final springboard piece to Marvel's mega-event Avengers team-up next May.
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Beyond all that, the real progress that made the movie series tick is the dual-growth of Harry, Hermione, Ron, and the three actors that played them. The classic aspects of teenage coming-of-age storytelling have always been present in the Harry Potter series, but on two distinct fronts. As the characters, they have grown to find their skill, importance, and desires as to what really matters in the grand scheme of all that has transpired around them. As actors, Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint have gone from unknown cute-faced children playing borderline stereotypes to mature and capable performers we genuinely care about and root for through this decade within their characters' shoes and robes.
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Inception may go down as his masterpiece someday, with its ability to take such a huge, wild, and suspenseful concept and pace it was such a deeply affecting emotional story. The powerful relationship between DiCaprio and Cotillard successfully overcomes the heist action to great effectiveness. Between Inception and his continuing work with Martin Scorsese (Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island earlier this year), DiCaprio is building an impressive resume of compelling psychological performances. He hasn't been that teen heartthrob from Growing Pains, Romeo + Juliet, and Titanic for a long time and it's time for people to take notice, because he might be the best young actor working today.
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