Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Avengers: Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s first gig for the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a game-changer. While the first Cap film was fun retro romp through World War II, Winter Soldier played more like a political thriller with a throbbing vein of muscular action. It was the first sign that Marvel were ready to start tearing down the worlds they’d spent six years building, and the elevator fight scene is still one of the finest action sequences in the entire MCU. But at the heart of the film is the human connections; Steve Rogers’ old relationship with Bucky, his new relationship with Natasha Romanoff, and his ongoing relationship with his little notebook of modern culture. 

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Amongst the fictional Zubrowkan mountains we reach peak Wes Anderson in his delightful comedy concerning the titular hotel and its legendary concierge. Following the death of one of the hotel’s most wealthy and aged residents, M. Gustave H is forced to go on the lam with lobby boy Zero Moustafa to clear his name and conserve his inheritance. Ralph Fiennes revels in his delightfully eccentric character, whose perfectionism and pinches of profanity mirrors Anderson’s fastidious attention to cinematic detail.