My friend and I were going over the best films of the year, that we’ve seen so far and we could only come up with two: Crash and Sin City. Both are dark horse Oscar nominees at best. This was supposed to be a better year for films, but frankly I’ve been a little disappointed. Still, there’s some good stuff still to come.

I already got my pick for the 2005 Academy Award for Best Picture: Munich. What’s that you say? It’s Steven Spielberg’s upcoming movie about Israel’s response to the 1972 Munich Olympics attacks. You mean its not even out yet? No its not out yet, but the trailer is available in glorious HD. Sounds kind of controversial for the guy who made Hook? Sure, but Spielberg is also the serious filmmaker who brought us Schinder’s List and Saving Private Ryan.

Munich is sure to stur up plenty of movie controversy unseen since The Passion of the Christ. Spielberg’s wants to let the movie speak for itself. He has decided not to do a premiere, press junkets, or Oscar publicity about the movie. It will be in theaters in only a few weeks and the studios just saw their first look this weekend. Longtime Spielberg producer Kathleen Kennedy saw it for the first time at the screening and came out saying it may be his best.

I am pretty intrigued by it all. I have always been a Spielberg fan and I appreciate him wanting to offer a new viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and the broader topic of terrorism in general. I doubt it will come down to much on either side, but will definitely raise the level of debate about the issue. I look forward to seeing it this Christmas.