Doug Schneider's picks...

In a decidedly weak year for films, only a handful of releases really stood out. Martin Scorcese's sprawling bio-pic about Howard Hughes, The Aviator, is a lavish, enthralling spectacle that captures Hughes' glory years before he went into complete seclusion. DiCaprio plays Hughes, and although he looks almost nothing like him, he captures the spirit of the man and plays him convincingly -- it's one of his best performances yet. And while this isn't Scorcese's best film -- Goodfellas is -- it's close to it.