Every week, Ultimate Movie Year looks back into the past to highlight the best film that came out that weekend.

"Rudy"
Released Oct. 15, 1993
Directed by David Anspaugh

Following Martin Scorsese's recent comments that the Marvel Studios films "are not cinema," a small but vocal contingent of social media went to the defense of what is, as of now, the biggest franchise in film history. Meanwhile, the rest of the world went on with their lives, blissfully unaware of this fierce debate that continues to fester and reignite online the moment anyone in the film industry chooses to say something mildly critical of the mighty Marvel.

I'm a big fan of the Marvel movies, but the debate was painful and embarrassing, because when we weren't tying ourselves up about the definition of cinema, it was easy to see Scorsese had a point. The Marvel movies are theme park rides, a corporate product intricately constructed to engage and thrill the maximum amount of people possible. To be sure, Marvel Studios is very, very good at it, almost shockingly so, but ultimately, these are not challenging movies. That, and I cannot emphasize this enough, is not a bad thing.

But what the "cinema vs. movies" debate dismisses is why people watch movies. Those film critics and super fans (like myself, for the latter) tend to take for granted is that we watch far more movies than the average person. We come to the cinema and multiplexes for the full breadth of the experience, thinking about what were the individual aspects of the movie that made it work or not.

The reality is many people don't go to the movies for the artistry or the questions about nature and reality it may pose. They just want to go on a ride, one that excites you, makes you laugh or cry, or makes you feel better about yourself. That might be the disconnect between some critical reviews and audience popularity because audiences don't have to worry about discerning what they just watched for a 500- or 1,000-word review. They just want to know if the movie is good or not.

And on that metric, "Rudy" is a good movie.