If you want simplicity and controll then why not make your own template system?
Here is a very, very simple one that I came up with. I use it for all my web sites no matter how complex they are. It really works wonders!
http://www.jvmultimedia.com/download.php?simpletemplate
Rgds,
Justin
p.s. Let me know what you think and how useful you find it.