Reader Tom Van watched the Brokeback Mountain discussion on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” last night and didn’t think it amounted to much. “The main push of this piece was Bill’s assertion that the left-wing media constantly pushes films on people that support the liberal political agenda, and in the case of Brokeback the gay movement and gay marriage,” Van reports. “O’Reilly said that a paper like the New York Times does it all the time through ‘stealth’ methods and yet the at same time he said it’s constantly ‘in your face.’ Conservative film critic Michael Medved agreed, of course, and said that Narnia made more in a weekend than Brokeback will make overall. (He must understand the concept of per-screen averages, so I don’t get it.) He followed that gem up with ‘Why isnt’ the New York Times pushing family films like that?’ Fascinating stuff. He also mentioned Brokeback is destroying the legacy of John Wayne. Uhhm….okay. Critic Jeanne Most tried to bring up the box-office discrepancy and inject the notion that Brokeback Mountain is first and foremost a quality film, but she didn’t have the chutzpah to compete against Medved and O’Reilly. It was a pretty silly piece and nothing surprising but as always, good for a few laughs.”

Munich supporters will probably curse me for saying this, but I think it’s entirely fair to observe that after today’s “Big Picture” Patrick Goldstein column in the L.A. Times about the media’s pre-release bashing of Munich that the game is all but over. Munich was hurting already but this is the crashing left hook to the jaw. Munich has not fallen to the canvas, but — quickly pop in a DVD of Raging Bull and chapter-search to the final fight between Jake La Motta and Sugar Ray Robinson — this pretty good movie that has won the admiration of several critics and some Academy members…this decently-made film with a tedious third act is against the ropes and bent over and bloodied with a swollen left eye. And its manager-director, Steven Spielberg, isn’t even at ringside, and seems to be a little bent-over himself. He was described a few days ago by L.A. Times writer Rachel Abramowitz (in the one non-Time magazine interview Spielberg has given to help support the film) as “slumped — almost curled up against a pillow — on a banquette by a window overlooking the Pacific…his hair is gray, his face pale, his manner muted. He seems tired — soul-tired — almost emptied out, as he talks.” And the publicists are still in a hunker-down mode. There have evidently been no interview pieces about Munich star Eric Bana in newspapers. There are no interviews with screenwriter Tony Kushner I’ve run across. Munich costar Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, isn’t doing any press as far as I know. (I’m told there will be forthcoming features about one or two of these guys, but appearing more in concert with the nationwide 1.6.06 opening rather than the 12.23 limited break.) And Spielberg, Kushner and Bana won’t be doing the standard q & a thing after Munich plays this evening at the Variety Screening Series…even though this series is considered an essential by Oscar-consulting publicists all over town. (This is due to a conflict with an industry screening this evening with Spielberg, Kushner and Bana attending, but such conflicts can always be finessed if there’s a will to do so.) I want to be fair and even-handed, but add all this mishegoss to what my Manhat- tan-based Academy friend told me about Munich this morning [see the 12.20.05, 9:17 am item below], and it seems that even the doggedly-Munich-supporting David Poland would have to admit that the crowd, sensing defeat, is on its feet in anticipation of what appears to be a fait accompli.

Carmike Cinemas Inc. has pledged to install 2300 digital projection systems in its 37-state theatre chain by October 2007….good. Carmike is the first U.S. exhibitor to step up to the plate, dig deep and start rolling with this. The investment will cost them about $150 million. There are currently only about 100 screens in the entire country capable of showing digitally-projected movies. There are roughly 36,000 movie screens in the U.S., so this is only a small first step.

Words about Steven Spielberg’s Munich from a Manhattan- dwelling Academy member: “I have not seen it but I know several people who have and they are unanimous — it is too long, it is repetitive, it is pretentious, and they all wondered if anyone would have the guts to say that. I mean, Jeffrey…I have not heard more negative responses on what is supposed to be a quality film this year.”

That mention by my Manhattan friend about whether people will “have the guts” to critique or give a general thumbs-down to Munich is indicative of a lingering notion that Spielberg is a dispenser of great tribal power, and to say anything against him or one of his films could conceivably result in a negative reaction down the road. You have to at least consider that this psychology was part of the reportedly positive reactions to Munich at the Beverly Hills Academy screening last Sunday night. Take it with a grain of salt, but that’s what The Envelope‘s Steve Pond reported yesterday.

And I love, by the way, that boldfaced photo caption that ran with Pond’s piece: “Munich” was definitely not a bomb with the academy audience. It reminds me of that very-first-reac- tion to 1995’s Waterworld that got around after the first junket screening: “It doesn’t suck.”

The NYC transit strike began this morning, but this will not interfere with Hollywood Elsewhere’s plans to see Terry Zwigoff’s Art School Confidential, which is screening this evening at 6 pm at Sony headquarters on Madison and 55th. That’s right — I’m prepared to leg it both ways because I doubt I’ll be able to get a cab. From my Brooklyn apartment, which is near the corner of Montrose and Bushwick, I’ll have to walk a mile and a half west to the Williamsburg Bridge and then hump across the damn thing (which will not be pleasant due to the extreme windy cold), and then comes a 65 block walk north to Sony and after the screening comes another 65 blocks south and back over the bridge, etc. With the subways running I usually figure about 30 minutes to get to uptown Manhattan — now it’s at least two hours. I’m figuring I’ll have to leave at 3:45 pm, and after the screening ends at 8pm I’m figuring another two hour walk back…at least. If anyone is reading this and wants to try and share a cab, get in touch.

I don’t mind the transit strike. Walking is good for your mind, body and soul. Hardship is always a good thing when it comes to friendliness and community relations and people actually treating each other with caring and good cheer. Manhattanites are famous for coming alive when things are really tough. I wonder if anyone will be hitchhiking? So today’s forthcoming four-and-a-half-hour walk isn’t just about seeing the Zwigoff film. If nothing else, it’ll be about (hopefully) taking some good pictures.

The San Diego Film Critics made some bright interesting calls with their 2005 Awards. Capote‘s Bennett Miller as Best Director and Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Best Actor, The Upside of Anger‘s Joan Allen for Best Actress, Broken Flowers‘ Jeffrey Wright for Best Supporting Actor, The Constant Gardener‘s Rachel Weisz for Best Supporting Actress, Best Documentary Award to Werner Herzog’s Grizzly Man and a Best Screenplay Award to Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Thought- ful independent-minded choices, all…and then the group went and gave their Best Picture award to King Kong. C’mon! Even its admirers admit Kong is only about two-thirds of an eye-popping emotional ride because the first 70 minutes more or less suck. So what happened? Obviously forces within the San Diego Critics group forced a capitulation to commercialism. If I were a member, I would run an ad to apologize to the citizenry for the group’s decision and make it clear that Kong, good as it is for what it is, sure as shit wasn’t my choice, etc.

I am comfortable with a certain lack of consistency in myself. Life is duty, beauty and criteria, but it’s also a series of moods and passages from one thing to another…highs and detours and occasional levitations and floatings. All to say I don’t what the hell happened when I ran my Best 14 Movies of 2005 list in the column a while back and omitted James Mangold’s Walk The Line. It’s #4 on my MCN Gurus of Gold list and I also submitted it as #6 in a Year’s Ten Best list based in my own personal criteria. Obviously on some level I mood-tripped my way out of including Walk The Line in that previous piece but I can’t figure why. I guess the boat rocked and some beer spilled out of the mug. Apologies for the oversight.