The long journey I've taken with Spielberg's torch-bearing production "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" has been interesting, to me anyway. Over the last decade, this one has bubbled up as one of the director's most unique and genuinely moving films to date. Of course, plenty is owed to the grand conceiver, Stanley Kubrick, but the finished product -- which I had feared would be a bastardization -- was a gorgeous blend of two artists' visions. The finale ultimately represents their fascinating thematic preoccupation: Advanced A.I. seeking the meaning of all things, viewing the human spirit, long evaporated, as the skeleton key -- seeking their God.

- Kristopher Tapley