Someone I know considers her the most gorgeous woman on Earth, which I found rather surprising. Then again, that sullen eyeshadow pouting thing reminds me of my sister way too much, so I guess there was a pretty inevitable cap on how much allure she'd have.

Just watched Sherrybaby, arguably one of Maggie Gyllenhaal's best performances ever. Critics often say an actor/actress is "fearless" in a role, and I never really get what that means, but then I saw this, and she epitomizes the fearless performance. It was jaw-droppingly good, and I'm surprised she didn't get more recognition (I know she got a Globe nom but no Oscar buzz and, most shocking, no Independent Spirit nom; what's up with that?).

It was really tough to watch, though. I simultaneously wanted to hug her and smack her upside the head.

She got Oscar buzz. It was just a surprisingly strong year for women. But yeah she was fantastic.

My good friend loaned me a copy of Pasolini's Salo, which is an adaptation of De Sade's 120 Days of Sodom. It was incredible, dark, perverse, funny, and intriguing. I wish it were more widely available because it is that good of a movie.

I don't know what's up with the Indie Spirit awards. They seem to pull all kinds of budgetary restrictions out of their asses when recognizing stuff. It's kind of hard to tell what's even an independent film anymore, though.

Just watched Marie Antoinette. It was pretty good. Not great. I thought the ending was a cop out and there were other things they could have done and still not gone with the head being cut off route.

Loved the "I want candy" scenes! Mmmmm....shoes!

Strange to see Jason Schwartzman as King Louis. He's too much Rushmore/Slackers for me to see him in this role. The Colonel, though, rrowrrrrrr.

I actually thought both Kirsten Dunst and JS were really, really good. The only person who seem out of place for me was Rip Torn. Who was good...just wrong.

So, for their final papers, my students are supposed to watch a movie and analyze it using the concepts from the class. Every quarter, at least half write their paper on Mean Girls, so I figured I should probably just swallow my Lindsay Lohan loathing and watch the damn thing.

I like it. It's really funny ("Danny Devito! I love your work!"). Gods, I hate myself. Also, Amanda Seyfried is stunning (long live Lily Kane!).

I rented The Ruling Class, in which Peter O'Toole plays a paranoid schizophrenic who thinks he's Jesus. Very black humored, like a drawing room comedy that dropped some acid. Worth the price of rental for the dueling Jesuses (Jesi?) scene at the very least. And if you ever wanted to watch Peter O'Toole wrestle a guy in a bear suit, here's your movie.

Some people make mvoies inlpursuit of Oscars, some in pursuit of money, but I wonder if people ever make movies with the pure goal of being the source of obsession for niches like that? Like, someone trying to make the next Fight Club, and getting all upset when it reaches too wide an audience?

Since most of these "Independents" star famous people and half the nominees are the same as the Oscars anyway?

Nashville: I loved it! The pinnacle of Altman's overlapping sound and ensemble casting. So understated and subtle.

I saw Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle for the first time last night. Totally bizarre at times, but very funny stuff. All of the scenes with Neil Patrick Harris were comic gold.

If this isn't an April Fool's joke, you can find me in my underground bunker, waiting for the apocalypse with my canned hams and bottled water.

I rented Sweeney Todd and enjoyed the heck out of it. It's a stripped down version (minimal sets) with George Hearn as Sweeney and Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett. I'm just worried now I won't enjoy the version that Tim Burton is doing. After seeing George Hearn, I just can't imagine Johnny Depp in that part because he's not a big imposing guy.

But now I am very much looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I just wish they had gotten Angela Lansbury involved because she was just so awesome in that part.