Recently in Steven Spielberg Category

Loath am I to be the bearer of bad tidings on this front, but it must be said: Upon walking out of the midnight show of Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last night, I found myself grappling with a condition that can only be described as "Prequelitis." To wit, I felt almost exactly as I did after emerging from The Phantom Menace in 1999, struggling to rectify the mental disconnect between my strong desire to like the movie I just witnessed and the undeniable sense that said film had been lousily written, if not thoroughly mediocre. As such, I wrote up a pretty negative review of Crystal Skull here this morning, before deciding that, even though I'd calibrated my expectations to the floor going in, perhaps I'd still carried too much baggage into the film with me. (After all, while Raiders of the Lost Ark is an enduring masterpiece, its strength tends to make me forget how campy Last Crusade turned out to be, and how borderline-unwatchable Temple of Doom seems today.) And so, in between packing up the apartment this afternoon, I decided to give the film one more shot, unburdened by any expectation whatsoever. I figured, after all these years, I owed Dr. Jones that much.

Well, I enjoyed the film slightly more the second time, particularly its first forty-five minutes. And in both viewings, I found the movie a decently diverting thrill ride, with a few very brief glimpses of real Indy grandeur. Let me be clear: the film isn't Attack of the Clones atrocious -- It's more on the order of a cable-grade Indy knockoff like National Treasure (and, in fact, it's probably better than Temple of Doom, although I guess that jury's still out.) But, given its two decades of gestation, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still seems a remarkably shoddy enterprise, despite yeoman's work by Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett, Shia La Boeuf, and the rest of the cast. The main problem is neither the years nor the mileage: It's the sloppy, patchwork script. (The screenplay is attributed to David Koepp, but it went through the hands of a slew of writers first, and definitely bears the fingerprints of George Lucas.) Overstuffed with midichlorian-style exposition, random acts of slapstick, and useless, one-note characters, Crystal Skull makes very little sense, even if you manage to make allowances for the arbitrary, Looney Tunes physics that now seem to hold sway over the Indyverse. As it is, Crystal Skull seems so haphazardly scripted at times that one wonders why they greenlighted this version of the film at all...unless, of course, Spielberg and Lucas just figured we'd all go see the movie regardless. (Alas, they're probably right. I mean, I'm mostly hating on it and I saw it twice.)

At any rate, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull begins in Nevada, 1957, with a clever fade-in to a US Army convoy, an impromptu American Graffiti-style drag race (Old Lucas), and the first of three reaction shots by CGI prairie dogs (Sigh...New Lucas). Said convoy approaches a checkpoint, guns down everyone in sight (They're Russkies!), and stops outside a top-secret military hangar, a.k.a. Area 51. These Soviet ne'er-do-wells then pop out of a trunk two captives they grabbed in Mexico: The one and only Henry Jones, Jr., Ph.D. (Ford, with a long-missing gleam in his eye) and his current sidekick, Mac (Ray Winstone, woefully underused). After the requisite introductions are made, Jones and Mac meet the Lady in Charge, the black-bobbed, blue-suited psychic scientist Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett, playing it broad...but, really, how else does one play a Ukrainian dominatrix?), who demands that they help her find a hypermagnetic treasure somewhere in the hangar. This box is found, shenanigans ensue, Indy pulls off easily his most death-defying stunt yet (I have to admit, I kinda dug it)...and we're at Marshall College, where Professor Jones has now found himself on the wrong end of the blacklist. (In 1957?) Just as he's looking to go adjunct in Leipzig, Indy meets a young greaser-adventurer, Mutt Williams (Shia LaBoeuf, fine), who says that both his father-figure (and Indy's old friend) Prof. Oxley (John Hurt) and his mother Mary (guess) have gone missing in Peru. What's more, it all seems to have something to do with a mysterious Crystal Skull...

So far, so good. Not only do Ford and LaBoeuf have a nice, easy rapport, but Ford seems like he's shown up to play for the first time since, I dunno, Air Force One? One reason why Indy 4 is -- and will likely remain -- more satisfying than the Star Wars prequels is that this is in fact the "real" Indiana Jones here (and he even gets to channel Han Solo at one point.) Watching Ford reawaken his long-dormant scoundrel edge is a kick in and of itself, and he has a few fun, iconic moments here. (See, for example, Atomic Age Indy in the early going. The second-act quicksand scene is a poorly-scripted non-sequitur, but Ford almost sells it, and I love the way he lights up so goofily when you-know-who emerges.) But, while Blanchett is both good pulpy fun and very easy on the eyes as Agent Spalko, the rest of the cast suffers mightily with too little to do. Jim Broadbent does passable, if unnecessary work as the Ghost of Marcus Brody, I suppose. But Ray Winstone (a.k.a. Sallah meets Elsa) and John Hurt (the voice of the Maguffin) in particular are given thankless, underwritten parts, and both are too good at what they do to be wasted as plot devices, as they are here.

Underwritten characters are only part of the problem. Another aggravating fault of Crystal Skull is that it compels the audience to forsake the reasonable suspension of disbelief that has usually undergirded the series and instead treat the movie like a full-fledged cartoon. Now, obviously, there are elements in the earlier films, even in the estimable Raiders, that fly in the face of established reality. (One of the quintessential fanboy conundrums, akin to "Why didn't Frodo just fly an eagle to Mordor?," is "How the heck did Indy survive that ride on the Nazi sub?" And Temple of Doom in particular is rife with goofiness.) Still, Crystal Skull strains credulity time and time again. I can forgive the end of the opening scene, even if it's arguably the (second-)dumbest moment in the movie, just because it is particularly fun (and, as I said, it's capped with a great money shot.) I'll even give the two-car jungle swordfight a pass, as I suppose it's in the tradition of Errol Flynn and the old-school serials. But that rubber-banding tree? "Three times, it goes down"? And, don't even get me started on the ghastly trainwreck of the senses that is Tarzan Mutt.

Even if you're willing to roll with the Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner rules Crystal Skull lives by (as I tried to the second time), the script is chock-full of continuity errors and moments that irritatingly don't make any sense. [Spoilers] Why doesn't Indy know Spalko's name or identity when being debriefed, when he just called her out in the previous scene? If KGB are stalking Indy at work, wouldn't they also stake out his home? Who or what are the native folk protecting the crypt and temple? (If they're living, why do they all pop out of the walls at once? If they're dead, why are they affected by poisons and machine guns?) What kind of "help" would Indy expect "the Ox" to get? Doesn't Indy carry a whip for situations exactly like quicksand? What causes this film's creepy-crawlies to go their collective separate way? How can Indy or anyone else not notice the transponders? How would the baddies be able to follow Indy et al past the disappearing staircase-and-spike trap? Nobody's ever noticed this gimongous Amazonian basin of temples from the air? One or two minor quibbles are simply grounds for fanboy nitpicks, sure. But the lazy scriptwriting here is off-putting and distracting in its sloppiness, particularly when you factor in all the Basil Expositioning we have to sit through in the middle going.

One reason Crystal Skull seems so disappointing, I think, is that most of its best moments occur in the first hour, while all of these streams of lousiness I've just listed converge with a vengeance in the last twenty-five minutes or so. Everything after the nod to The Naked Jungle (and the beside-the-prop-plane fight in Raiders) is silly to the point of being near unwatchable, as Indy and his four sidekicks (think Team Indy Power Rangers) wander around the temple talking about watching stuff happen. I don't begrudge Lucas and Spielberg's turn toward 50's pulp sci-fi here -- in fact, I think that was a very clever way of rejuvenating the series -- and I think the final reveal might've worked really well. (Granted, it's not much of a reveal -- They've been toting around that damn skull for 90 minutes.) But the incoherence of Crystal Skull's last act only underscores how much more work needed to be done before this pic ever got filmed. Even by the laxest of standards I accorded this movie the second time around, the final act is an unsatisfying mess, right down to its last few moments.

So, did I hate this fourth installment? No, I wouldn't say that. Even the first time 'round, I usually had a smile on my face throughout. Crystal Skull has its moments here and there and, like I said, it's no worse than one of the Mummy sequels. If anything, I'd say it's Mostly Harmless. But, even after the humbling experience of the prequels, and even after lowering my expectations to suit both my and the franchise's advanced age, I still find I expected more from Kingdom of the Crystal Skull than what we have here: namely, a dopey-but-diverting, nostalgia-heavy advertisement for a forthcoming thrill park ride. Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford haven't embarrassed their franchise here, I guess. But -- thanks mostly to the poorly-conceived script, they sadly haven't contributed much of import either.

Lincoln laughs last? It seems that due to rewrite issues with the rumored Abbie Hoffman film, Steven Spielberg has put his Lincoln biopic back on the front-burner, to be shot right after Tintin (a la Jurassic Park/Schindler's List and War of the Worlds/Munich.) Other than Liam Neeson and Sally Field as President and Mrs. Lincoln respectively, no other casting has been announced.

In the weekend trailer bin, Will Smith is legend, whether we like it or not, in the full trailer for Peter Berg's Hancock, also with Jason Bateman & Charlize Theron. And last week's Indy boot goes legit: Behold the trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (I dunno...Is it just me, or does Cate Blanchett seem hammier than a drunken Anthony Hopkins?) Also, The Dark Knight trailer follows suit tomorrow.

Update: The Dark Knight trailer is now up. Also, Aaron Eckhart seems to let slip a pretty major plot point in an interview with the LA Times. If you're staying spoiler-free, don't read this one (or Moriarty's telegraphing of the same here.)

Indiana is May 6. Indiana Jones is May 22. And, while WB's cadre of lawyers try to lock down various versions of the Dark Knight trailer, the new Kramerized Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer has also popped up online. I'm still of 2 minds about Indy 4. It could be a great throwback, it could be Attack of the Clones...but at least we only have to wait a few weeks to know the score. (In fact, Indy IV will close out four weeks of Fanboy May(hem), beginning tomorrow with Iron Man, followed by Speed Racer (5/9) and Prince Caspian (5/16).

Regarding much-anticipated projects further down the pike, Guillermo del Toro has been confirmed for The Hobbit, as has Ian McKellen. "'Yes, it’s true,' he said. 'I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role. Obviously, it’s not a part that you turn down, I loved playing Gandalf.'" I'm obviously hugely excited for this project, but, still...that second filler movie attached to The Hobbit sounds like it could end up being a colossally bad idea.

Update: Also out today, Edward Norton wrestles with the angry, powerful alpha male inside him in the new trailer for Louis Leterrier's Incredible Hulk. Pfff...Tyler could still take him in a fight.

Henry Jones, Jr. imparts a life lesson in a new TV spot for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. A lot of the overlap with the teaser here, but worth a look for the opening exchange.

"An executive who worked with Sangster in Los Angeles recently told me: 'Thomas seems to be the one. He was just great, but I'm not certain if anything has been finalised yet.'" Spielberg and PJ look to have found their Tintin, and it's Thomas Sangster, formerly of Love, Actually (but I'll try not to hold it against him.) He joins Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock and...hey, it's mocap...can we get Berk as Snowy/Milou?

"We have top men working on it now...top men." The powers-that-be release the final poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and it's in keeping with the classic Struzan look.

In the trailer bin, Keanu Reeves gets all Training Day up in here in the trailer for David Ayers' Street Kings (formerly The Night Watchman), also starring Forrest Whitaker, Common, The Game, Hugh Laurie, and Chris Evans. (Perhaps more importantly, it's penned by James Ellroy of L.A. Confidential.) And Jet Li and Jackie Chan join forces to train a fish-out-of-water apprentice in the trailer for Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom. Um, even notwithstanding the Mortal Kombat cheese here, didn't Jet Li say he was done with martial arts epics after Fearless? I guess it's a Jay-Z thing. (By the way, our first look at Indy 4 will be Valentine's Day.)

"'Harvey Dent is a tragic figure, and his story is the backbone of this film,' says Christopher Nolan...'The Joker, he sort of cuts through the film -- he's got no story arc, he's just a force of nature tearing through. Heath has given an amazing performance in the role, it's really extraordinary.'" With the next Democratic debate tonight at 9pm EST on MSNBC, one that will hopefully help defuse the tone of the past few days, now seems as good a time as any to check on the big box office rivalry of the summer, Batman v. Indy. (Well, and the forgotten man, Iron Man.) Last we checked, the Jones camp had suggested Bruce Wayne was too wealthy and privileged to understand ordinary people's concerns, while Batman surrogate Alfred told The Daily Planet's Clark Kent that Jones was too "pointy-headed and academic" to save anyone but upscale, overeducated professionals. (The missed rejoinder: The Batman camp is calling people pointy-headed?) Also, scurrilous rumors abound that Shia LaBoeuf was added to the Indy ticket merely to siphon the youth vote away from Batman's running mate, Dick Grayson...Yep, it's getting ugly, folks.

Anyway, as the quote above attests, Dark Knight director Chris Nolan recently checked in briefly with the L.A. Times about his two main villains: "Don't expect a lot laughs in this summer's return to the cave. 'It's a dark and complex story,' Nolan said, 'and the villains are dark and complex as well.'" Meanwhile, on the Spielberg side of things, we have this new still from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. (Note Ray Winstone lurking in the corner.)

Move over Lincoln Liam and Sally Todd: It seems Steven Spielberg's next post-Indy project may involve Sasha Baron Cohen as Abbie Hoffman in The Trial of the Chicago Seven (not to be confused with the Seattle Seven, i.e. the Dude "and, uh, six other guys.") "The Spielberg film is said to be closer to Munich...than to his next Indiana Jones frolic, due in the summer." Could be good, and Cohen is dead-on casting. Still, I've been looking forward to Spielberg's Lincoln, and the Hoffman story was done rather recently with Vincent D'Onofrio and Steal this Movie. Update: Concerning the rest of the cast, the recent Vanity Fair Indy article suggests Philip Seymour Hoffman is up for William Kunstler (i.e. the Chicago 7's lawyer) and that Will Smith, Taye Diggs, Adam Arkin, and Kevin Spacey are also being considered for roles.

Well the Ukraine girls really knock him out, they leave the West behind... Cate Blanchett makes her first official appearance as the (presumably villainous) "Agent Spalko" in this new Vanity Fair article on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The Jim Windolf piece also offers some sizable spoilers on the MacGuffin and tone of the fourth Indy outing [highlight to read]: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will apparently nudge our hero away from his usual milieu of spooky archaeology and into the realm of (spoiler Code Red) science fiction. 'What it is that made it perfect was the fact that the MacGuffin I wanted to use and the idea that Harrison would be 20 years older would fit,' Lucas says...'So instead of doing a 30s Republic serial, we’re doing a B science-fiction movie from the 50s. The ones I’m talking about are, like, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Blob, The Thing. So by putting it in that context, it gave me a way of approaching the whole thing.'" Hey, that could work.

Dictatorial duck billed diplodocus! Motion-capture veteran Andy Serkis joins Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg's Tintin trilogy, most likely as the inimitable Captain Haddock.

Quite a few new movie images popping up on the grid today...Then again, it's that time of year, when the mags roll out the 2008 previews. Here, it appears to be Take Your Son (Shia LaBoeuf) to Work Day for Henry Jones, Jr., PhD (Harrison Ford). Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is slated to arrive May 22, 2008, and it, like The Dark Knight, should have a trailer kicking around relatively soon. (A few more pics of Indy looking suitably grizzled are over here at AICN.)

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's previously-announced Tintin trilogy finds a writer in Doctor Who scribe Steven Moffat, of the Season 3 episode "Blink." Speaking of which, I've run hot and cold on BBC's Doctor Who update thus far, and have found showrunner Russell Davies' campy contributions to be mixed at best. But the second half of Season 3 has been exceptionally good Who. From "Blink" to the "Doctor goes Human" two-parter in pre-WWI England ("Human Nature/"The Family of Blood") to Derek Jacobi's turn as a lonely, befuddled scientist at the end of time in "Utopia" to the Master taking Tony Blair's job in "The Sound of Drums," I'd say this most-recent run can hold its own with the best of the Pertwee-Baker years. (I haven't seen "Last of the Time Lords," the Season 3 finale, yet, but I dig John Simm as the Master, and his evil companion is a real kick.)

Off-topic, but also on the television front, I've recently boarded the 5:23 Mad Men commuter train. It's a show I've been shying away from despite the good reviews, mainly because I feared it'd be 85% Rat Pack kitsch, i.e. its raison d'etre would be primarily to wallow in the unregenerate un-PCness of the early Sixties. But, while I'm still living a few episodes behind present-time, Mad Men makes for pretty solid television, even if, as with Miller's Crossing, it can be hard to watch without a glass of Jamesons and clinking ice in hand. Jon Hamm's Don Draper and John Slattery's Roger Sterling are particularly good, and, as someone noted on The House Next Door, Michael Gladis' Paul Kinsey is an eerie facsimile of the young Orson Welles. Plus, with all due respect to Officers Bunk and McNulty, it's a nice change of pace to watch smart, well-written characters in a TV drama that aren't cops, doctors, or mobsters.

Finally, I never much cottoned to it anyway, but after the Season 2 premiere, NBC's Heroes is getting kicked off the DVR. As I said last Spring, the blatant, unattributed ripping off of Watchmen and the X-Men's "Days of Future Past" in Season 1 was already hard to swallow. And, judging from the first week's installment, Kring & co. have decided to go back to the well, and have stolen the Comedian storyline straight out of Watchmen too. Given that their poorly-written, overstuffed show is usually as artless as their theft here, count me out.

Liam Neeson has his Mary Todd: Sally Field joins Spielberg's forthcoming Lincoln biopic as Abe's First Lady.

In a move sure to enrage the Lucas/Spielberg empire, a chatty extra spills the goods on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, including who the Big Bads are and how Marian Ravenwood (Karen Allen) will fit into the story. Oops.

Indy IV gets a title: If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Well, better than Attack of the Clones, I suppose.

Thundering son of a sea-gherkin! Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are teaming up for a Tintin trilogy! "Sources said Monday that Jackson and Spielberg would each direct installments of the franchise...The movies would be made using motion-capture technology."

Ten Thousand Thundering Typhoons! As has been rumored for good long while, Steven Spielberg officially announces he'll be producing a Tintin movie. Berk says don't forget Snowy/Milou.

In a wide-ranging interview with one of his fansites, Steven Spielberg talks Indy 4 and other projects in his possible short-term future, including his long-rumored Lincoln biopic (with Liam Neeson, and based on Doris Kearns Goodwin's recent Team of Rivals) and a new hard sci-fi project entitled Interstellar.

Two decently amusing fanimation links courtesy of Ed Rants (who, it should be noted, has had a really lousy week): Stick Figure Dragon's Lair and Raiders of the Lost Ark in GIF form. Enjoy.

Steven Spielberg announces he's taking a hiatus in 2006, meaning that both his Lincoln biopic with Liam Neeson and Indy 4 (currently being polished by Spiderman scribe David Koepp) might take longer than expected to hit theaters.

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone..I'm celebrating in San Diego with old college friends and likely won't update again until 2006. So, without further ado, here's the 2005 movie round-up. Overall, it's been a pretty solid year for cinema, and this is the first year in the past five where the #1 movie wasn't immediately obvious to me. But, still, choices had to be made, and so...

[Note: The #1 movie of 2005 changed in early 2006: See the Best of 2006 list for the update...]

1. Syriana: I know Stephen Gaghan's grim meditation on the global reach and ruthlessness of the Oil Trade rubbed some people the wrong way, but I found it a gripping piece of 21st century muckraking, in the venerable tradition of Ida Tarbell and Upton Sinclair. True, Christopher Plummer was a mite too sinister, but otherwise Syriana offered some of the most intriguing character arcs of the year, from morose CIA Field Agent George Clooney's ambivalent awakening to corporate lawyer Jeffrey Wright's courtship with compromise. In a year of well-made political films, among them Good Night, and Good Luck, Munich, Lord of War, and The Constant Gardener, Syriana was the pick of the litter.

2. Layer Cake: If X3 turns into the fiasco the fanboy nation is expecting with Brett Ratner at the helm, this expertly-crafted crime noir by Matthew Vaughn will cut that much deeper. Layer Cake not only outdid Guy Ritchie's brit-gangster oeuvre in wit and elegance and offered great supporting turns by Michael Gambon, Kenneth Cranham, and Colm Meaney, it proved that Daniel Craig had the requisite charisma for Bond and then some (and that Sienna Miller is no slouch in the charisma department either.)

3. Ballets Russes: Penguins and comedians, to the wings -- The lively survivors of the Ballets Russes are now on center stage. Like the best in dance itself, this captivating, transporting documentary was at once of the moment and timeless.

4. Good Night, and Good Luck: Conversely, anchored by David Strathairn's wry channeling of Edward R. Murrow, George Clooney's second film (and second appearance on the 2005 list) couldn't have been more timely. A historical film that in other hands might have come off as dry, preachy edutainment, Good Night, and Good Luck instead seemed as fresh and relevant as the evening news...well, that is, if the news still functioned properly.

5. Batman Begins: The Dark Knight has returned. Yes, the samurai-filled first act ran a bit long and the third-act train derailing needed more oomph. Still, WB and DC's reboot of the latter's second biggest franchise was the Caped Crusader movie we've all been waiting for. With help from an A-list supporting cast and a Gotham City thankfully devoid of Schumacherian statuary, Chris Nolan and Christian Bale brought both Batman and Bruce Wayne to life as never before, and a Killing Joke-ish Batman 2 is now on the top of my want-to-see list.

6. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: As I said in my original review, I initally thought Cuaron's Azkhaban couldn't be topped. But give Mike Newell credit: Harry's foray into Voldemortish gloom and teenage angst was easily the most compelling Potter film so far. Extra points to Gryffindor for Brendan Gleeson's more-than-slightly-bent Mad-Eye Moody, and to Slytherin for Ralph Fiennes' serpentine cameo as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

7. King Kong: I had this film as high as #2 for awhile, and there are visual marvels therein that no other movie this year came close to offering, most notably Kong loose in Depression-Era New York City. But, there's no way around it -- even given all the B-movie thrills and great-ape-empathizing that PJ offers in the last 120 minutes, the first hour is close to terrible, which has to knock the gorilla down a few notches.

8. Capote: When it comes to amorality for artistry's sake, Jack Black's Carl Denham ain't got nothing on Philip Seymour Hoffman's Truman Capote. I think it'd be awhile before I want to watch this movie again, but, still, it was a dark, memorable trip into bleeding Kansas and the writerly id.

9. Sin City: One of the most faithful comic-to-film adaptations on celluloid also made for one of the more engaging and visually arresting cinematic trips this year. I don't know if the look and feel of Sin City can sustain a bona fide franchise, but this first outing was a surprisingly worthwhile film experience (with particular kudos for Mickey Rourke's Marv.)

10. Munich: I wrote about this one at length very recently, so I'll defer to the original review.

11. Brokeback Mountain: A beautifully shot and beautifully told love story, although admittedly Ang Lee's staid Brokeback at times feels like transparent Oscar bait.

12. Lord of War: Anchored by Nicholas Cage's wry voiceover, Andrew Niccol's sardonic expose of the arms trade was the funniest of this year's global message films (That is, if you like 'em served up cold.)

13. The Squid and the Whale: Speaking of which, The Squid and the Whale made ugly, embittered divorce about as funny as ever it's likely to get, thanks to Jeff Daniels' turn as the pretentious, haunted Bernard Berkman.

14. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith: Thank the Force for small kindnesses: George Lucas put the Star Wars universe to bed with far and away his best outing of the prequels. The film flirts dangerously with the Dark Side, particularly in the "let's take a meeting" second act, but for the most part Sith felt -- finally -- like a return to that galaxy long ago and far, far away.

15. A History of Violence: I think David Cronenberg's most recent take on vigilantism and misplaced identity was slightly overrated by most critics -- When you get down to it, the film was pretty straightforward in its doling out of violent fates to those who most deserved them. Still, solid performances and Cronenberg's mordant humor still made for a far-better-than-average night at the movies.

16. Walk the Line: Despite the great performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line ultimately seemed too much of a by-the-numbers biopic to do the Man in Black full credit. But, definitely worth seeing.

17. In Good Company (2004): Paul Weitz's sweet folktale of synergy, downsizing, and corporate obsolescence was too charitable and good-natured to think ill of any of its characters, and I usually prefer more mordant fare. Nevertheless, the intelligently-written IGC turned out to be a quality piece of breezy pop filmmaking.

18. The Constant Gardener: Another very good film that I still thought was slightly overrated by the critics, Fernando Meirelles' sophomore outing skillfully masked its somewhat iffy script with lush cinematography and choice Soderberghian editing.

19. Primer (2004): A completely inscrutable sci-fi tone poem on the perils of time travel. Kevin and I saw it twice and still have very little clue as to what's going most of the time -- but I (we?) mean that in the best way possible.

20. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Chronic-what? Andrew Adamson's retelling of C.S. Lewis's most popular tome lagged in places, and the two older kids were outfitted with unwieldy character arcs that often stopped the film dead, but it still felt surprisingly faithful to the spirit of Narnia, Christianized lion and all.

Most Disappointing: The Fantastic Four, which I finally saw on the plane yesterday -- One of Marvel's A-List properties is given the straight-to-video treatment. From the Mr. Fantastic bathroom humor to the complete evisceration of Dr. Doom, this movie turned out just as uninspired and embarrassing as the trailers suggested. Runner-Up: The Brothers Grimm. Terry Gilliam's long-awaited return wasn't exactly a return-to-form. But, hey, at least he got a movie made, and Tideland is just around the corner.

Most Variable: Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: I still haven't figured out how I feel about this one. I liked it quite a bit upon first viewing, but it didn't hold up at all the second time around. Still, the casting feels right, and I'd be up for The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, provided they turn up the Ford-and-Zaphod shenanigans and turn down the forced Arthur-and-Trillian romance.

Worth a Rental: Constantine, Aliens of the Deep, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Island, March of the Penguins, The Aristocrats,Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Jarhead, Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic, The Ice Harvest, War of the Worlds

Ho-Hum: Inside Deep Throat, The Jacket, Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Ring 2, Kingdom of Heaven, Unleashed, Mr. & Mrs. Smith,
Aeon Flux

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote; Eric Bana, Munich; Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain; David Straitharn, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line; Naomi Watts, King Kong

Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale; George Clooney, Syriana; Brendan Gleeson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Best Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, A History of Violence; Tilda Swinton, The Chronicles of Narnia

Unseen: The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Bee Season, Broken Flowers, Cache, Casanova, Cinderella Man, Crash, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Grizzly Man, Gunner Palace, Head On, Hustle & Flow, Junebug, Match Point, The New World, Nine Lives, Pride and Prejudice, Serenity (although I watched all of Firefly last week), Shopgirl, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wedding Crashers

2006: Frankly, the line-up doesn't look too exciting at the moment. Nevertheless, 2006 will bring A Scanner Darkly, Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, Flags of our Fathers, The Good German, The Inside Man, Marie Antoinette, M:I III, Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Snakes on a Plane (!!), Southland Tales, Superman Returns, Tristam Shandy, V for Vendetta, and X3.

If at times somewhat turgid, Steven Spielberg's Munich, which I caught this afternoon, is a lively and admirable piece of filmmaking. For the most part, it works as both an expertly-told cloak-and-dagger thriller and a timely rumination on the moral consequences and violent blowback that accompany vengeance as an anti-terror policy. (Indeed, the film infuses Spielberg's dramatic strengths with contemporary gravitas much more smoothly and profoundly than this summer's War of the Worlds, which, like Tom Cruise's earlier Collateral, seemed like it'd be a better movie until taking a tremendously ill-conceived jag in the second hour.) Still, while Munich is assuredly a very good film, ultimately I think the gears grind a bit too loudly at times to consider it a great one.

After a chilling retelling of the horrible events that forever marred the 1972 Olympics (told mostly through newsfootage at first, with reenactment filling in the details later on) and a grim strategy session presided over by Golda Meir (Lynn Cohen), the film introduces us to Avner (Eric Bana), the family man-cum-Mossad agent assigned to head one of Israel's deep-undercover response teams. Comprised of embittered wheelman Steve (Daniel Craig), nebbishy bombmaker Robert (Matthieu Kassovitz), resigned forger Hans (Hanns Zichler), and conflicted clean-up man Carl (Ciaran Hinds), Avner's team crisscrosses various scenic European vistas, clumsily dealing death to the alleged perpetrators of the Munich tragedy. (One would think an assassination squad that included James Bond, Julius Caesar, and the Hulk wouldn't have as much trouble as they do here.) But as the (terrorist and collateral) body count piles up and Avner's hunters become the hunted, these agents of vengeance increasingly question the righteousness of their retribution, and wonder whether the costly murders they've perpetrated have made any dent in the war against Black September.

The acting in Munich is universally good, with special marks going to Bana and his colleagues, particularly as their early relish for the job shades into reluctance and, eventually, paranoia and abject horror. (Mathieu Almaric and Marie-Josee Croze are also memorable as a French information dealer and Dutch assassin respectively.) And, for most of the film, Spielberg's direction is exquisite. Still, sadly, there are some flaws -- The pacing of Munich noticeably lags in the middle hour. And, more troubling, the film seems to strain visibly at times to seem arty and high-minded. For every few import-laden scenes executed with a deft touch (for example, the sequence in which Avner's team shares a safehouse with a PLO cell), there's one where the symbolism seems just a tad inflated. (Particularly egregious in this regard is the, ahem, climax, which intercuts the Munich massacre with scenes of a tortured-looking Avner having sex with his wife. What, exactly, does this mean? Are love and war meant to seem oppositional or synchronous? Is this union the "home" that Israel must protect, or what? Whatever the intended message, the scene comes across as not only opaque but overblown.)

Still, not to miss the forest for the trees, Munich is a movie well worth-seeing, the rare thriller that's not afraid to grapple with today's thorniest political questions, and without insulting the audience's intelligence by giving easy, simple-minded answers to seemingly insoluble problems. The film may at best be a long triple, but, to his credit, at least Spielberg is swinging for the fences.

The 2005 Golden Globe nominees are announced, with Brokeback Mountain (7 nods) and Good Night, and Good Luck (4 nods) the big winners and Syriana (2: Clooney for Supporting Actor & Best Score), King Kong (2: PJ for Best Director & Best Score), and Munich (2: Spielberg for Director and Best Screenplay) for the most part overlooked. (Despite what the official website says, All the King's Men has been kicked to 2006.) Brokeback seems to have the early lead, but I'd say the field is pretty open in most categories (although Philip Seymour Hoffman as Best Actor for Capote seems likely.)