Spielberg's 'Munich' gets the gold

Movies -

'Hustle,' 'Batman' also among 2005's finest

By Sally Kline
Examiner Movie Reviewer
Published: Thursday, December 29, 2005 8:25 PM EST
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Eric Bana (left) and Ayelet Zurer star in Steven Spielberg's thriller revolving around the 1972 Olympics, "Munich." Universal Studios photo

The War of the Worlds this year had nothing to do with Tom Cruise's aversion to aliens - it was an epic battle between theatergoers and couch potatoes.

Not even "King Kong" met expectations at the multiplex in this notoriously bad box-office year as watching DVDs at home became an even more entrenched consumer habit and overall movie quality continued to recede. Even among the better films of 2005, no one clear masterpiece feature film stood out head-and-shoulders above the rest; no indisputable classic for the ages was released.

But here's the best of what was. I'll go ahead and give "Munich" the top honor, but the rest are in no particular order:

"Munich": Steven Spielberg's taut fact-based thriller, about Israeli vengeance against Arab terrorists in the wake of the murder of their athletes at the 1972 Olympics, gets the highest kudos for being both a ripping genre piece and an argument for peace in the Middle East. It applies to today as it keeps you on the edge of your seat.