I've seen all of them except "Munich," the movie that I would have seen instead on the night I went to "Brokeback," except that it didn't fit as well into my schedule. Somewhere out there is an alternative-universe me who did go to "Munich" instead, and is now living a whole different life. She's financially richer, probably
, but far poorer in terms of friends, experiences, understanding of film and literature. And she missed a damn fun BBQ in 2007.
Anyway, I thought all of the others were good. But IMO "Crash," while worth watching, was in a lower league than the others. Paul's "blunt instrument" description is exactly right. And "Brokeback," needless to say, was far and away the best. If I were conspiracy-minded, which I'm not, I'd think the academy somehow secretly jammed "Crash" in there -- it was sort of a last-minute dark-horse candidate, as I recall -- so they could all agree on something with a politically progressive message, without having to upset stodgier members like Tony Curtis and Ernest Borgnine.