Gossip Girl & Reaper season finales were really good! Chuck Bass is one of the best written characters on mindless television. Truly, he's the only reason I watch that show. Reaper, and god bless Kevin Smith, I love it. One of my favorite movies is Dogma, and Reaper is like watching Dogma every week!!! The CW definitely has 2 shows that I look forward to in the fall. And the best part, THEY ARE BRINGING BACK 90210 ... can't wait to see how bad it's going to be.

Been watching this terrific documentary on FDR on American Experience (the second most important show on television). What a great American. Eleanor too. It's this kind of leadership they they both possessed that is missing in this country. Sure, he had missteps, and unfortunately, Ex Parte Quirin wasn't even mentioned, grrrrrrr. And they kind of glossed over the fact that Pearl Harbor wasn't a suprise attack .. duh. But still, in spite of the fact that the brother couldn't walk and his primary enemy wasn't Congress, but the Supreme Court, FDR and Eleanor's legacy is that of a strong leader who was passionate about every single person in this country, not just the rich. We needed to get into WWII to get out of the depression, Lend/Lease was a brilliant move. I mean for heaven's sake, he charmed Josef Stalin ... who the hell can say they were able to do that??? Yea, it made Churchill mad, but FDR did what he had to do. His cousin is still my favorite president though, but FDR may be my second or third choice.

Movies ... ok, so am I the only person who can't stand Tea Leoni? Seriously, why does she get work? She's married to that complete dork, David Duchovny. Neither one of them can act their way out of a paper bag. Yea yea yea, she's smart, little miss Sarah Lawrence, or is it Vassar grad ... BFD. She's a poor man's Cate Blanchett. She has a weird face. Ok, the movie was You Kill Me. Ben Kingsley was great, as usual. He was probably kicking himself in the behind after seeing it ... why did he do it??? But She ... ugh ... is she the best that was available? I watched it in spite of her. I watched her in Spanglish and, sad to say, Adam Sandler outacted her. Kingsley is an alcoholic hit man who goes to dry out in San Francisco and meets Ms. stupidhead ... zero chemistry, blech. She probably bullied her way into the part because she was a producer ... heck, that's probably the only way she can get parts. Sad to say, this film could have been so much better without her. Maybe Cate wasn't available.

Knocked Up. Judd Apatow writes incredibly funny movies. The 40 Year Old Virgin was the first comedy that I laughed out loud during in many years. Apatow writes loveable loser movies, like 40 Year Old Virgin .. you know .. nice guy who is a total dork who you end up rooting for, remember back in the day when it was all about the "hooker with a heart of gold" Well, now it's all about loveable loser men hooking up with women who are out of their leagues. Ok, the movie is Knocked Up. Loveable Loser this time is Seth Rogan and the woman is Katherine Heigel. There is absolutely no way in heck that this would ever happen in real life ... well, the knocked up part, sure ... we've all had beer goggles in our lives, but there's no way they would ever stay together. But, there were belly laughs (pun intended) like 40 Year Old Virgin, but the "aw golly" factor is a bit cheesey. I think that Apatow is really writing about himself and how he wishes his pre-marriage life really worked out.

Now, the best pregnant movie is Juno. Just watched it. Usually, I don't like movies my Dad recommends. I remind him each and every time that Crash is one of the worst films ever made, but he still insists it is great and we manage to end up yelling at each other. Yuck, I loathe Crash, but I digress. Back to Juno. I could actually see this happening, and heck, it's the best screenplay written by a stripper I've ever seen. All the performances were magnificent. I especially loved Juno's best friend. Where did she come from? I definitely liked it better than Little Miss Sunshine, which I was kind of repulsed by, but still kind of liked it. Well, I think I'm repulsed by Greg Kinnear for some reason ... he's just kind of plastic. Anyway, Juno is the best movie that I've seen in the past week. It was life affirming and everything was tied up neatly in a bow at the end. Everyone was happy. Awwwwwwwww.

And finally, watched Volver a couple weeks ago. Normally, I find Penolope Cruz about as annoying as Tea Leoni, but in this case ... yow, this woman needs to work in Spain exclusively. Hated her in Blow, hated her in Vanilla Sky ... didn't even waste my time with Sahara. But Spanish language films ... perfecto! Plus, now she's dating Javier Bardem, which is a match made in cinematic heaven. But she is hot hot hot in this film. She just looks comfortable. She's a great great actress. The film is typically European. Unlike American films, like Juno, that are all wrapped up in a bow at the end, no loose ends, Volver isn't neat in the end. You get one little loose end tied up, but that's it and it's not tied tight ... this is why I love European films. They aren't easy. This is the second Spanish language film that I've really enjoyed, Pan's Labyrinth being the other one. Now THAT film is one of the best ever made, period, hands down. Where would I rank it ... hmmmmm

1. The Bicycle Thief
2. Donnie Darko
3 Pan's Labyrinth
4. Life is Beautiful

sad ... one American film