A wealth of performance-driven films, costume pageants and visual spectacles are in the Oscar hunt, among them the cowboy romance "Brokeback Mountain"; the great-ape flick "King Kong"; the Oriental pageant "Memoirs of a Geisha"; the Jane Austen adaptation "Pride & Prejudice"; and the road-trip chronicle "Transamerica." Then there are three films centering on illustrious figures in the 1950s and '60s, the Johnny Cash saga "Walk the Line," the Truman Capote drama "Capote" and the Edward R. Murrow story "Good Night, and Good Luck."

Other films jockeying for attention include the colonial epic "The New World"; the gangster tale "A History of Violence"; and two dramas dealing with Middle East turmoil, the oil-industry thriller "Syriana" and "Munich," about the massacre of Israelis at the 1972 Olympics.

After last season's showdown between eventual Oscar champ "Million Dollar Baby" and runner-up "The Aviator," clear frontrunners have yet to merge for the March 5 Oscars. The nominees will be announced Jan. 31.

In the best-picture race, Steven Spielberg returns with "Munich," his most serious film since Oscar winner "Schindler's List" and runner-up "Saving Private Ryan." It recounts an Israeli assassination squad's manhunt for Palestinians suspected of plotting the massacre of 11 athletes and coaches at the 1972 Olympics.

Yet "Munich" could be a tough sell for Oscar voters, a disturbing reminder of unresolvable conflicts in the Middle East. Critics speculated that Spielberg was too pro-Israel to make a fair movie, but along with angering Muslims, "Munich" could vex Jews for its depiction of Israel's Machiavellian machine of vengeance and the human face put on the assassins' Arab targets.

Still, this is a Spielberg film, and a very good one.