Yes, The Return of the King is opening on Wednesday, but I'm finding myself much more excited about The Fog of War. Errol Morris is one of the most consistently fascinating filmmakers in the world, and with the possible exception of A Brief History of Time, I've never seen a movie or short feature by Morris that I haven't loved. A couple of them (notably Gates of Heaven and Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control) have entered into my pantheon for all time. (However, his short feature on Rick Rosner, the math-loving bouncer who faked his identity to repeat high school four times "until he got it right," and who later sued Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, may be his single most engaging portrait.)

As Noah mentioned somewhere below, The Fog of War is distilled from 23 hours of interviews with Robert McNamara, and is structured as a series of "lessons" from his life and work. On a somewhat related tangent, this New York Times article about the film mentions a similar vade mecum called "The Rumsfeld Rules," which Donald Rumsfeld circulated to Pentagon employees shortly after assuming his current office. Formerly available on the Department of Defense's official site, it has since been removed, but you can find an online copy here. It's actually a rather charming read (Rumsfeld's a smart guy), but there are certainly aphorisms that take on a different flavor when read in light of recent events. My favorite: "The oil can is mightier than the sword."

Oh, and one for this past weekend: "First role of holes: If you get in one, stop digging."