Snowpiercer

Captain Antarctica leads fierce fight to put ‘gory’ back in ‘allegory’ as the metaphorical world hurtles around the real one.  Clever concept pits social structure caricatures (wounded Hurt and swine-like Swinton) against each other on fast-paced but farcical rollercoaster that even Christof can’t save from a train-wreck of an ending.

The Adventures of Tintin

Spielberg infuses 3D animated venture with the energy and tone that Crystal Skull sorely lacked.  A clever fast-paced story with witty dialogue and clever exploitation of motion-capture technology make for a fantastically fun film.  Bad guy who looks like Spielberg and good guy Peter Jackson evoke questions of producer-director relationship.