After the insanity of Oscar night, Universal Pictures dropped a few critical hits on the scene in the forms of Spike Lee’s overrated “Inside Man” and Paul Greengrass’s awards hopeful “United 93.” The former came and went, thankfully, while the latter boasted, at the very least, a directorial talent to be taken seriously. Universal will hope to ride the critical reception of “United 93” all the way to the awards season, but it’s yet to be seen whether Oliver Stone’s upcoming “World Trade Center” will affect it in anyway. It is also yet to be seen whether the Academy will be as respectful of the film as the critics were.

Also releasing in those early months were two independent gems that I fear will be lost in the shuffle and long forgotten when all is said and done. Doug Atchison’s “Akeelah and the Bee” was a heartfelt story that certainly did its job on screen, while Sidney Lumet’s “Find Me Guilty” boasted what is still one of the year’s best performances from a hair-piece-laden Vin Diesel. The handling on that one really was botched, but hopefully it can find an audience on DVD.

The summer arrived in the form of sequel splendor, and the press actively sought the story they’d hoped for in “Mission: Impossible III”: a weak box office showing that would somehow reflect on negative reaction to Tom Cruise’s private life. In so doing, the media pretty much avoided any sense of historical typicality where third installments in franchises are concerned.

Next up, “The Da Vinci Code” swept in and REALLY stunk up the joint, proving just how unnecessary adapting a book that essentially reads like a screenplay is. The audiences showed up, however, and so commerce outweighed art as always.

Speaking of art getting the short end of the stick, Fox’s “X-Men” franchise finally hit a snag – one hell of a snag – as “X-Men: The Last Stand” proved just how foolish it can be to rush a project of substance to the screen. Despite the position the studio was put in by an abandoning Bryan Singer, and despite the fact that Brett Ratner held the threads together to provide at least a WATCHABLE movie, it really was painful to witness that franchise crash and burn like it did. But, again, the commerce was certainly there for the taking, and the “X-Men” series is now one of the few trilogies to best itself at box offices each time out.

Also having a world premiere in May was Alejandro González Iñárritu’s “Babel” at the Cannes Film Festival. The film received wide-spread acclaim and was a real threat to win the Palm d’Or. Iñárritu took home the Best Director prize and Paramount Vantage laid claim to the second real Best Picture contender of the year. The film, which will be featured here in the coming days, absolutely lives up to the hype, becoming Iñárritu’s crowning achievement in a trilogy that has defined his sensibilities and strengths as a filmmaker. I look forward very much to seeing it again.

June saw the first truly substantial domestic release in Robert Altman’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Though hindered ever-so-slightly by bookends that do not lend to the conviction of the film’s themes, the film is a wondrous experience from the mind of the timid but assured Garrison Keillor. The ensemble is fabulous, including another exceptional turn from Meryl Streep, who has also further stirred the awards buzz waters with her scenery chewing in “The Devil Wears Prada.”

The rest of the month was rather drab, including lame horror remakes, repetitive fart gags, Adam Sandler and yet another sequel to “The Fast and the Furious.” But things really hit a high note when “Superman Returns” landed two weeks ago, as the discussion of art versus commerce took a whole new meaning.

There has been no question that the budget for “Superman Returns,” amongst those of numerous other tent pole productions, reached embarrassing heights. But the most expensive movie ever made certainly won't be the highest grossing film of the year - or even of the summer. I wrote about this subject as one of my final points of business at the old site, but as Bryan Singer left the “X-Men” franchise alone to wither away, he may have in turn crippled another franchise before it even has the chance to take off. “Superman Returns” really is one of the best films of the year, but I hope what it does to the check book of Warner Bros. doesn’t negatively affect the future of the series.

Now...we finally got a story this past weekend, as "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" swept in and demolished box office records left and right. However, the excitement rather stops there as the bloated and drunken screenplay of this follow-up to the 2003 smash hit needed some drastic lessons in structure, even if it does boast highly creative action set pieces that bring with them a delightful and at times hysterical sense of humor. We can pretty well expect this one to march on toward further monetary accomplishment. However, while many found the film to be terribly empty, I at least caught glimpses of Gore Verbinski cutting lose and experimenting as a director. I find him to be one of the more underrated filmmakers working today, to be quite honest, and to see him stretch his legs here and there within the confines of this admittedly trying story brought a smile to my face at times.

In the thick of summer now, we’ve still got M. Night Shyamalan’s follow-up to the atrocious “The Village,” testing his box office valiance with “Lady in the Water;” Michael Mann’s “Miami Vice,” stealthily skimming along all year with stylish trailers and rampant budget speculation; a Woody Allen comedy in "Scoop" that looks like the old guy might be grinding the rotors; Oliver Stone’s 9/11 drama “World Trade Center” that, if executed beyond the flatness of the script, could resonate as a Best Picture hopeful; and the already-a-cult-phenomenon “Snakes on a Plane,” hoping against hope not to have peaked too early buzz-wise (anyone even care about it now?).

Tucked in here and there are a few films that could make a stand awards-wise, depending on the handling (“The Night Listener,” “Quinceañera,” “The Illusionist,” “Little Miss Sunshine”). However, Oscar season really kicks off on September 15 with the wide release of Universal’s “The Black Dahlia” and the limited engagements of Warner Independent’s “The Painted Veil” and “The Science of Sleep.” And I guess Michael Moore’s “Sicko” will hit eventually in September – that is, unless no one responded to his plea for assistance.

And at that point...expect the heat to turn up around here. The next two months will be mere preparation for whatever surprises lie in store. What film will lurk about and become this year's "Crash?" Does "United 93" have the chops? Can Streep really pull out a 14th mention for one of her two stellar performances this year? Will "Superman Returns" prove to be more than a popcorn flick in the minds of Academy voters? Or is the cream of the crop still to come?

We'll know soon enough.