Snap judgments.

• Rent:
  Yup, it's awful. Clunky, inert, D.O.A. Thank God I managed to see it on an Academy DVD Screener and not stranded in a movie theater. As bad as the movie is, I think it's nearly impossible to deny some of the music. The lyrics are incredibly dubious in places, but Jonathan Larson had a great sense of melody; Even Chris Columbus couldn't lose that in the translation.
  
  
• The Adventures of Robin Hood:
  I saw this for the first time yesterday and as it was meant to be seen: on the big screen at a Saturday matinee. I loved it. A lot. Errol Morris,uh, Flynn is magnetic, there's a peerless supporting cast (Basil Rathbone is so wonderfully oily), a classic score, and some of the best use of Technicolor ever.
  
  
• Syriana:
  Memo to Gaghan, Clooney, et al.: Guys, I like to read sprawling indictments of Big Oil in The New Yorker and The New Republic too. But when those journalists go on and on for thousands upon thousands of words, they usually do it in a crafty and clever way; That is, they find a hook, an angle, build some sort of dramatic arc, and then wallop you with the information. You guys forgot that part. Two hours of geopolitical babble spewing from bland wonks does not a movie make. And what's worse, you guys cast actors like Jeffrey Wright--Jeffrey Fucking Wright!--to play two dimensional stock characters. See, you guys have the pedigree (those actors, Robert Elswit shooting it, Alxandre Desplat scoring it, Tim Squyers cutting it, the Section Eight banner, etc.) but someone forgot to mention that you have a hollow and dull script. Were the suits too scared to look dumb? That if they mentioned that there wasn't a single compelling and/or entertaining character to be found, Clooney would rag on them about "BEING THE MAN" and "BEING PART OF THE PROBLEM IN HOLLYWOOD" and "BEING ON BILL O'REILLY'S SIDE"? Guys, what happened? (Oh and Tim Blake Nelson... You're cut off. No more. Nope.)
  
  
• And finally: David Ansen provides the first real Top 10 List of the season.