The movies of today. High quality. Exceedingly well-researched. Every aspect led by the specialists of their respective trades. Babel - cross cultural incoherence, Japan, California and North Africa. The Last King of Scotland - Idi Amin, charisma and insanity. Flags of Our Fathers - war for friends, war as the activity of the time. Blood Diamond - bounty hunter with a heart. The Pursuit of Happyness - victory over circumstance. Apocalypto - Maya savagery and individual courage.

Each movie a spectacle. Each a guided missile towards the Golden Globes and Oscars. Each a marketing success

Are any of these movies a tool of self-expression? A story that someone was yearning to get out of his system? I doubt it - for most

In the modern tradition of order out of anything at all, here would be my ranking of the above:

1) Apocalypto: Simply too authentic to be anywhere else but at the top. Mayan dialogue and Indian/ Hispanic cast. Gory to the point of revulsion - the sack of a village, torture and human sacrifice, killing for sport, death by jaguars snakes poisoned darts traps and the ubiquitous mace. An unbelievable and sensorily shocking spectacle

2) Blood Diamond: This movie is DiCaprio and Djimon Housnou. A bounty hunter and a victim of a brutal land. Sierra Leone's agony. And at the end a positive ending, a ray of hope that resonates with modern legislation against conflict diamonds and the fact that Sierra Leone is at peace

3) The Last King of Scotland: Forest Whittaker in the performance of a lifetime. More of TIA (This Is Africa). Between this and #2, brings in stark relief the modern-day apathy of the Dark Continent

4) The Pursuit of Happyness: Dont get me wrong, #5 is a great movie. But Will Smith surpasses himself here, in a serious role to boot. The agony of the human condition and the conviction of sticking to the right decisions in the face of near-insurmountability, make this a poignant, heart-warming and inspirational tale. The fact that the real-life protagonist - Chris Gartner - is alive, well and prospering doesn't hurt

5) Flags of our Fathers: A "Saving Private Ryan" style landing, less intense and focused on the humanity of it all. Why we need war is I guess a theme for many many more movies to come

6) Babel: Highly rated but if truth be told I did not like this movie. This is too much a transnational copy of "Crash", the theme of disjoint existences

Watch these movies. I would throw in "Letters from Iwo Jima", Clint Eastwood on the other side of the battle, and acheiving yet another milestone on his way to possible directorial immortality