Is “Borat” the best movie of the year?

Maybe not, but it’s up there — not only does it upend every expectation we have about what constitutes effective moviemaking, but it also has more to say about the reality of America (and Americans) than any other film on our screens.

Also it’s so funny it might induce hypoxia. And it has a naked wrestling sequence with three distinct acts. Niiiiiice.

Other movies opening this week:

“Boynton Beach Club“: A movie for people who really, really like watching TBS.

“Flushed Away“: The Aardman animation studio goes digital, with results so faithful to its previous Claymation productions that several critics don’t appear to have realized this movie’s made entirely of bits and bytes. It’s not “Wallace and Gromit” … but then, what is?

“Sleeping Dogs Lie“: Bobcat Goldthwait spent so much time in other people’s crappy comedies that he’s learned what not to do when making his own; yes, the DV aesthetic is atrocious, but the sweetness of Melinda Page Hamilton’s remarkable performance gives the movie plenty of sunshine. Too bad they changed the title; “Stay” was a lot more appropriate.

Due to a combination of really annoying factors — late print, throbbing tooth, rapidly disintegrating family — I managed to miss “Babel”, but you can find Chris Atchison’s review here, if you’re curious. I’ll try to catch it over the weekend.

Saw “Saw III“.

Didn’t love it.

Of course, $34.3 million in ticket sales suggests my opinion ain’t worth all that much at the moment …

Family comes first, obviously. But I did get some work done this week …

“Catch a Fire“: Talented director, true story, impassioned performances, massive Oscar campaign. And if the movie worked, that would be worth something.

“Death of a President“: Roger Ebert said it best: It’s not what a movie is about, but how it is about it. This is a textbook proof.

“Deliver Us from Evil“: Unrelenting and remorseless, until Amy Berg gets just a tad greedy in the last reel. But still entirely deserving of attention.

“Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing“: It’s the Southern-fried version of “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster”, except all the introspection actually improves the music.

“Saw III”: The review will run in Monday’s Metro, but the short take is … yeah, great, it’s the goriest and most cynical in the series. Whee!

Seen “The Departed” yet? Even if you haven’t, this is still really funny.

The intensive care unit’s a fine and sterile place, but none, I think, do there embrace.

Meanwhile, I’m told the mistakes that crept into my work in Friday’s paper were the result of “editing oversights”. I’m told it won’t happen again.

Yes, that’d be nice.

Oh, and I saw “Flicka” over the weekend. No one seems too bothered by the likelihood that Maria Bello would have had to have given birth to Alison Lohman when she was about eleven or twelve, but maybe that’s just the way of things in today’s Wyoming.

Hey, guess what? I gave “The Prestige” four stars in yesterday’s Metro!

Except that … um … I didn’t. I gave it two stars in the copy I filed to the paper on Thursday. Also, I spelled Sofia Coppola’s name correctly.

No idea how this happened. But it’s a huge “WTF” moment, editorially speaking … I’ve been working with the same people at Metro for several years now, and whenever there’s been any kind of change to my text they’ve always called to double-check with me first. You can be sure I’ll investigate this further when the office reopens tomorrow.

(Thanks to Adam for the tip-off.)

It must be Oscar season or something — look at all the self-importance on display!

“The Prestige“: Gorgeous to look at, entertainingly performed, elegantly assembled, but built on a concept so fundamentally illogical that the foundation collapses about five minutes before the credits roll … landing right on top of a second ridiculous idea. Really, I’d have been happier watching “Batman vs. Wolverine”.

“Tideland“: Terry Gilliam makes a movie on his own, uncompromising terms, and it’s the worst thing he’s ever done. Terry, you know I love you, and I’m telling you this for your own good: Make “Watchmen”. Now.

“Running with Scissors“: It doesn’t matter if Augusten Burroughs’ memoir is telling the truth about his turbulent adolescence; it only matters that Ryan Murphy’s film is so hideously affected that it’s impossible to perceive the characters as anything more than cartoons. By the third redemptive musical montage, I was hating this like poison. Still, Annette Bening has a shot at an Oscar, so that’s something.

“Flags of Our Fathers“: Clint Eastwood’s look at the Marines who raised the flag on Iwo Jima often feels like it was directed by remote control — or by a particularly competent second unit. When one considers how small Eastwood’s films have become over the last decade (even “Mystic River” is really only about the three guys at its center), one has to wonder why Steven Spielberg thought he’d be a good fit for this material.

Fortunately, there are a couple of good pictures opening amidst all the posturing: Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” isn’t a classic for the ages or anything, but Kirsten Dunst is terrific, and Coppola’s hermetic approach to the courts of Louis XV and XIV is never less than intriguing. Plus, it has Steve Coogan in it.

And though it’s dividing critics a little more fiercely than I’d expected, I found Todd Field’s “Little Children” to be an involving character piece quite in step with his last film, “In the Bedroom”. Same undercurrent of dissatisfaction, same gathering dread, but Tom Perotta’s novel also supplies a streak of mordant wit before everything goes to hell.

The only film left is “Flicka”, which I’ll be seeing this afternoon, because the work never ends.

It’s been a rough month. And today was particularly bad, for a variety of reasons. (Let’s just say grandparents on morphine aren’t nearly as entertaining as Hollywood would have you believe.)

But then I came home, wandered over to Callaghan‘s blog, and found this: Two teaser trailers for Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s upcoming “Hot Fuzz”.

Pegg and Wright — along with invaluable sidekick Nick Frost — previously collaborated on the Channel 4 series “Spaced” and the brilliant feature film “Shaun of the Dead”, which I continue to believe was the best movie of 2004.

I love them and want to have their babies, and I cannot wait to see their new picture.