Oswald's Ghost is the rare film whose power increases with distance. As I sat in the historic Texas Theatre last week, where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested on the day President Kennedy was assassinated, and watched a special screening of the documentary, the suggestive rhythm of the editing and the understated urgency of the musical accompaniment lulled me into a false sense of security. I was deceived into thinking that I knew what kind of film it was and so, based on that assumption, I allowed the shaped narrative to lead me down a certain path, only to discover at the end that I had arrived at a very different destination than I expected.

Filmmaker Robert Stone says that he was initially inspired by the furor that erupted after the release of Oliver Stone's JFK in 1991. Why were people so wrapped up emotionally in what had happened so many years before? How had that pivotal event changed the nation? Ten years later, he saw parallels in how the nation responded to 9/11 and started what he calls his own "journey" to discover why America has remained obsessed with the JFK assassination, to the point that he calls it a "theology."

That being said, Stone does not take the approach I had anticipated. After an opening fusillade of opinions issued by experts, he dives right into the events leading up to November 22, 1963, laying them out one by one in distinct, logical order as though he had an organized sheaf of papers he was slapping down on a table. The drama is inherently captivating; no matter how many times you've seen news footage and photographs from the days in question, it still feels like you're dragged against your will into a nightmare.

Apparently the Val Kilmer-led indie Conspiracy is done shooting, but The Hollywood Reporter is only now reporting that Jennifer Esposito (Crash) is co-starring in the drama as Kilmer's love interest (the IMDb does have her listed in the cast, though not prominently). These kinds of late announcements can happen with independent films, which don't often get a lot of exposure or interest from the press. Even Variety's recent article on New Mexico's Film Investment Program, which spotlighted Conspiracy, didn't have any word about the actress' involvement. According to THR, Esposito plays a single mother and former abused wife who falls for Kilmer's wounded Iraq War veteran, who has just arrived in town. The main plot of the film involves Kilmer's search for an old friend who is not only missing, but who seems to have been wiped from the memories of the townspeople.

In the end we probably find out that Kilmer's friend was kidnapped by aliens, because that seems to be one of Hollywood's favorite surprise endings these days. But this isn't a Hollywood movie, so I think we can be hopeful that it will be more interesting than that. Despite the stupid title and the unremarkable writer-director, Adam Marcus (Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday), this could be another decent little film, since Kilmer is typically enjoyable in any indie he stars in. Reportedly, the actor, who owns a ranch in New Mexico, agreed to star in the pic if it was shot in the state. The film's story actually takes place in Arizona. Conspiracy will probably hit some film festivals early next year and then get a limited release.

There's an appeal to the sniper's art -- the snick and snap of each hand-pulled bolt, the blue-steel poetry of it. Each cycle of the firing mechanism is as brief and constrained as a haiku, one that says the same thing over and over again: Die. Based on the novel by thriller writer and film critic Stephen Hunter (The Day Before Midnight, Pale Horse Coming), Shooter is an attempt to capture the essence of the sniper -- that most existential yet intimate of murders, where you shoot from a distance, killing one by one. Mark Wahlberg plays Bob Lee Swagger; when we meet Bob Lee, he's with Marine Force Recon, loaned out to shady suit-clad types in the name of some greater good. When Bob Lee's spotter Donnie (Lane Garrison) pulls a picture out of his fiancée out of his spotter's notebook, we sigh -- might as well be a boat called the Live Forever -- but we kind of accept that scenes like this are a necessary preamble in a certain kind of thriller, the overture before the curtain goes up.

Fade to black, and a title card tells us it is 36 months later, and Bob Lee is living in the woods with a tragic past, and an even more tragic ponytail. Men are looking for Bob Lee -- men with work to do. Led by Danny Glover, they explain that intercepted communiqués indicate someone will try to kill the President from a mile out with a single shot during scheduled appearances in our nation's capital, or Baltimore or Philadelphia. Not many people in the world could make that shot -- but Bob Lee could, so they want him to tell them where to look for the would-be assassin. He's an expert. He's a patriot. He's a patsy.

On the off chance that you haven't already been convinced that the CIA and FBI (two agencies that can't effectively do anything together) conspired with British intelligence to murder Princess Diana, a movie is coming to jolt you out of your foolish naiveté. Based on Jon King and John Beveridge's "investigative" book Princess Diana: The Hidden Evidence, Hidden Truth is expected to begin shooting this spring. The movie will be produced by William P. Cartlidge, whose resume features producer credits for both The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker, as well as a deeply disturbing start on The Benny Hill Show. Perhaps Diana will be murdered by a dapper spy - but really, really, quickly, and with the accompaniment of a laugh track. Disappointingly, the movie not only lacks a cast, but also does not appear to involve Oliver Stone in any way.

Sony, fully aware of the controversy surrounding its upcoming movie based on a popular book that isn't very good, has set up a Web site for detractors of The DaVinci Code. The site will feature essays by Christian leaders and scholars, one of which is Gordon Robinson, son of televangelist Pat Robertson. Don't worry, though, there's much better essays to be found on The DaVinci Challenge. Dan Brown's novel claims that Jesus married and never rose from the dead and places the Vatican at the center of the conspiracy. The site features absolutely no writings from Catholics, although Charles Colson, a prominent figure during the Watergate scandal, will write on Catholicism.