Hi Deb, Josie, and Valerie--
This morning I did After Burn (54 min.). Tough for me this morning because I stayed up to watch the Oscars, but by the time I was done, I was feeling good, strong, a Cathe warrior.
Deb, if I were choosing the best film, it would probably be The Descendants or The Help. Both have flaws in my opinion. Some of the humor in the first seems contrived, and The Help is a bit plodding and sentimental at times, but the actors save it. I loved Bridesmaids, and wonder why they don't have a separate Oscar for comedies. I couldn't decide whether Clooney or Pitt should get best actor, but finally chose Pitt because he really IS the film--in every scene with a minimal supporting cast. I didn't see Meryl Streep because the movie sounds not so good, but I have tired of her impersonations anyway, and really think Viola Davis should have won for The Help in the role of Aibileen. Christopher Plummer was brilliant, and so was Octavia Spencer, so no arguments there. The Artist is a charming film, but I really don't think it's a film I would watch a second time. I did love the dog.
Valerie, don't get me going on the Republican clown show. Gingrich is a fear-monger who says he's Mr. "Cheerful"; Romney won't even stand up for a medical insurance program here in Massachusetts that everyone likes, including businesses; and Santorum is a sanctimonious crackpot that would firmly set women back into the home, barefoot and pregnant all the time (contraception is bad for us, and colleges are indoctrinating everyone with a socialist ideology, so scrap a college education, too). Ron Paul is, as he says, "consistent," but that means going back to the gold standard (????!!!!) and basically getting rid of the government, to hell with fixing our infrastructure, let the roads and bridges crumble. Even George Will and Jeb Bush think these candidates are zanily out of touch and total hypocrites about small government. If they truly were for getting government out of our lives, why do they want to poke their laws into our bedrooms and our medical decisions about our bodies. Ugh! End of rant. Loved Billy Crystal last night. He's the best.
One more paper to grade.