Now that it's been almost six months since the Oscars were handed out, entertainment reporters are already starting to pick next year's nominees. Maybe, though, it's more instructive to look back on last year's winners, like... Who won, again? That's the annual problem about those award winners, isn't it? No one can remember who they are the next day. But, this year, the Best Picture winner is a little more memorable, since Crash beat out Brokeback Mountain. I know the whole gay community was bummed over the loss, but if Crash was the better movie, give it all the awards it deserves. Unfortunately, before Brokeback even came along, though, Crash had already entered the editorial pages of America's newspapers and magazines. Because of this, it was judged on its own, without the comparisons to Brokeback, which came much later, after both were frontrunners for the Oscar. At that earlier date, we were all able to judge Crash on its own terms, and I wasn't thrilled with the results. That doesn't mean I'm surprised it won the Oscar. Look at the films of Stanley Kramer for explanation. Who? Exactly. Kramer was a very successful filmmaker in his day, who, more often than not, made issue pictures. Good for him. The thing I most admire about Crash is its willingness to take the audience into uncharted territory, discussing race and culture and where we now stand. Kramer did the same thing in movies like The defiant Ones, where Sidney poitier and Tony Curtis are escaped convicts handcuffed together and on the run in the South, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Have you actually seen Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Everyone knows it's about the white girl, who brings home a black boyfriend, but just try sitting through it. It's the movie equivalent of a 4th grade civics essay. Not exactly riveting entertainment, though Hepburn and Tracy try to remember they are in a movie and not a propaganda piece. Crash works the same way for me. It's important. After all, it pretty much tells you so, smugly, I might add, and so differently from Lawrence Kasdan's (The Big Chill) Grand Canyon, a movie from over a decade ago, that tackled the same issues, with Danny Glover and Steve Martin. Kasdan's film felt preachy to me, but at least it wwas honest in its smugness. Crash is so self important, that viewers deserve certificates for attending. Proof, they would say, that this audience member sat through this lesson and learned something, is now a better person, and will never again have a racist thought. All well and good, but is that what makes a great movie?