I wasn’t picked and therefore didn’t ask Russell Crowe about a perception that Robin Hood is either sympathetic to or in league with tea-bagger sentiments (i.e., against oppressive governments that don’t respect Average Joes and tax without giving anything back, etc.). And Crowe dodged a question about what Robin Hood would be for or against in today’s political world.

He did, however, convey his usual disdain for mainstream media (i.e., “you people”), and particularly its ownership/control by corporations (and its resultant obsession with trivial bullshit). He conveyed this physically, as you’ll see in this video clip, and later verbally. The man is funny, brilliant, perceptive and no fool. And one of the few genuine movie stars left.

I’ve emerged from my second Robin Hood screening with my initial reactions intact — it’s an expertly made, handsomely shot, very well acted film with a story that deserves at least some favor for not doing the same old Robin Hood sha-la-la.

And I was even more taken this time because the projection and sound at the Salle Debussy are unmistakably better than at Manhattan’s Lincoln Square, where I saw it the first time. It really does matter if a film looks and sounds its very best.