The greatest villain of American cinema of all time has all but three minutes in Rogue One but he, obviously, steals all of them. If you are a Star Wars fan, you might get an orgasm seeing Vader do his thing in the last three minutes of Rogue One. If you are not, be prepared to join the Dark side.

While the world stays busy over what’s better – DC or Marvel – and people cannot get more of the umpteenth Harry Potter or Jack Sparrow movie, Arrival, like Inception or Gravity, is the rare film that stands tall at the end of the year because of its sheer genius.

Full of Spielbergian wonder and spectacle, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a well-written, well-directed and well-acted family film. It is rare that a spin-off of a highly popular franchise genuinely works as a film and not just exists as a cash cow (The Hobbit, Puss in Boots).

The real and only hero of Dr Strange is its visual effects. What happens to large cities and vast tracts of land in the film is what you see when you look into a kaleidoscope. Buildings, roads and bridges fold upon each other while the heroes and villains do parkour between all of that. It is great to look at till a point. But then, you have seen stranger things before.

A note of appreciation for Vir Das. The comedian holds his own as a likable sardar and father of two really annoying kids who should be nominated for Ghanta Awards for Annoying Children. In the future, 31st October will serve as his show-reel to directors who might want to cast him in ‘serious roles’. Soha Ali Khan, who plays Vir’s wife, sleepwalks through the entire film just like the other actors.

Pink, like Madaari, also written by Ritesh Shah, is a film that has the trappings of a thriller to keep the audience guessing about the outcome every minute, while simultaneously engaging them in a conversation about contemporary society. Pink is about the patriarchal mindset which looks at independent women capable of making the same choices as independent, enfranchised men, as ‘loose’ or ‘characterless’.

Too bad, as is always with any film from the bhai stable, the film’s makers did not give two hoots about the film’s script, which is why Freaky Ali ended up being two hours of zzzZZZzzzz…

Island City is one of the best Hindi films in recent times. It is a very well-made, confident film that fearlessly eschews Bollywoodisms and just exists in its distinctive rhythm; never for a second, feeling the need to shock and impress the audience.

A Flying Jatt is meant for kids. If grown-ups don’t mind doing the fabled “leave the brain outside the home and enjoy” routine before stepping into the theatre, they will not mind A Flying Jatt.

War Dogs is a film about two twenty-something men who do terrible things for a living. Besides echoing the Scorsese rise-and-fall story, the film is reminiscent of The Social Network – a more layered film about the moral corruption of twenty-somethings trying to win the world. Is there redemption? No.