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The best movies are a breed apart – exceedingly rare, and born of compelling human stories well told. A superb drama has the power to change how we see the world, while a first-rate comedy can provide sublime entertainment that nourishes both brain and spirit. Today, too many exceptional films are hiding in plain sight, obscured by big commercial titles that may divert us in the moment, but offer little lasting impact, insight or enjoyment.

Like the old saying goes, art imitates life. Before the women’s movement changed the landscape forever in the mid-late sixties, most Hollywood films limited women to playing “traditional” roles of housewife and mother.

Wes Anderson’s disarming new film, “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” is undoubtedly his most ambitious to-date. While the director’s signature visual style will be familiar to his fans, “Hotel” feels distinctly fresh and different. From its genre (a caper of sorts) to its complexity (his most complicated story yet, with multiple storylines and flashbacks); from the soundtrack (no British Invasion-era Kinks or Stones) to the script (tight, mercilessly funny, yet with tragic elements), “Hotel” is a bold, exciting step forward in Anderson’s career as a filmmaker. The main story thread follows the exploits of Gustave M. (Ralph Fiennes) and his protege, Zero Mustafa (newcomer Tony Revolori). Gustave is the titular hotel’s legendary concierge, resident expert on romantic poetry, and gentleman lover to the hotel’s migratory flock of elderly, blonde aristocrats.  When one particularly besmitten widow dies (an unrecognizable Tilda Swinton), it’s discovered that she bequeathed Gustave a priceless painting in her latest will. Her jealous family, led by her jackbooted, eldest son Dmitri (the wonderfully profane Adrien Brody), challenge the will’s legitimacy. Undeterred, Gustave and Zero abscond with the painting. Pretty soon, everyone who knew of this second will begins to disappear. Can Gustave and Zero survive Dmitri’s deadly machinations?

I’ve written before about my particular love for mysteries and suspense films. When done well, they tease the mind and quicken the pulse. In a world bursting with distractions, you suddenly find yourself totally focused, hooked, transported.

We movie fans all know there are times when only a mystery or thriller will do. These films draw us in from the start, and hold us fast till the finish. We are side-by-side with the protagonists as they solve a crime, or work to clear themselves, or attempt something we’d never want to risk ourselves.

I’ve always appreciated how movies set on liners recreate a bygone era when travel could be calm and civilized. Other boat films may take us on-board a luxurious yacht, or show man pitted against the biggest and cruelest natural force on earth: the sea.