As you — and everyone you know — should be. Ever since the Sunday London Times called us "superb" (apparently our check cleared), we've been soaking in it, so to speak, walking around with a noticeably enlarged head. Or perhaps it's a late case of hydrocephalism. Whatever, all this darn respect made us redouble our efforts to raise, or at least maintain, our standard this time. It wasn't easy. We made sacrifices. We had to turn off the television, cut those daylong trips to the mall, put aside the petit-fours — you get the picture. We suffered — terribly.

Of course, our loss (we're still pining for those petit-fours) is your gain, as we guide you through the byways of cinema, hitting many a hot spot (ouch!) along the way. For example, readers who must know more about Austrian film history and culture can do so courtesy of Robert von Dassanowsky's thoughtful treatise on the subject. Fans of Hamlet will enjoy Alan Vanneman's exhaustive entry on nine cinematic versions. Those intrigued by Hollywood's closets can peek inside Robert Keser's detailed discussion of sexual repression in Tinseltown via recent books on Henry Willson and Tab Hunter.

Moving from features foyer to articles antechamber, we find a gaggle of goodies. Lesley Chow ingeniously investigates new pleasures in Bertolucci's distinctive use of music. Robert Castle takes on a wealth of subjects in two articles that deep-sea dive into two film adaptations of Proust and Philip Roth. Tom Sutpen cannily confronts auteurism and Sergeant Madden as evidence of von Sternberg's demise. Jayson Harsin adeptly analyzes von Trier's Manderlay, while Dave Saunders uses la cucaracha, Hotel Rwanda, and more to launch a clever cultural critique.

In our desperate attempt to chase down (and perhaps kill) the zeitgeist, we feature a whopping ten reviews of recent films. The now iconic Brokeback Mountain gets the once-over twice, stylish applause from Matt Kennedy and mixed reaction from Vanneman, who also praises and pans to various degrees The Squid and the Whale, King Kong, Grandma's Boy, and Jarhead. Cronenberg's A History of Violence elicited two very different but equally exciting analyses by Megan Ratner and A. Jay Adler. Meanwhile, Ian Johnston righteously reviews Wenders' problematic Don't Come Knocking and the Dardennes' more enticing L'Enfant.

There's nothing like the past to make the present look bad, and with that in mind we showcase Dan Callahan's loving resurrection and redemption of Lillian Gish. More charms from cinema's dinosaur days come from Vanneman's tidy tribute to Harold Lloyd (on the occasion of the release of New Line Home Video's Lloyd DVD box set); and from Gordon Thomas' sympathetic study of DeMille's underrated King of Kings. Closer, but not too close, to the contemporary, Lesley Chow assesses David O. Russell's Flirting with Disaster; Tom Sutpen excavates Frederick Wiseman's Juvenile Court; and Matt Kennedy finds fun and foolishness in the 1982 Return of the Soldier.

Rounding out this issue, Scott Thill, commander of the Good Ship Morphizm, interrogates Peter Chung of Aeon Flux fame, and yours truly again dips his toes into a queer film festival, this time the one in Portland, Oregon. Speaking of returning soldiers, the "Little Stabs of Happiness (and Horror)" are back this issue, despite certain readers' persistent pleas and prayers to desist. Enjoy!