dirty hands, icebox, you don't wanna know

So I'm kind of digging at least a few of the American Idol contestants. Who knew?

Watched the Heckerling straight-to-video I Could Never Be Your Woman. It's unfortunately out-of-date now, with references to Will and Grace, but since the movie is a total Paul Rudd charmathon, features next-big-thing Saoirse Ronan and the wildly talented, if underused OT Fagbenle (Quarterlife), and is supremely optimistic, it's literally impossible not to like it. It's not a classic or anything, and the You Go Girl show-within-a-show makes me want to ralph, but I think we should all support Amy Heckerling forever and always, so go rent it. K?

Unfortunately, however, I do have the White Town song of the same name threaded through my neural cortex now. Gotta say. It blows.

Also saw Becoming Jane. It's a weird movie because it can't really be a rom-com because the pair don't end up together (as anyone who knows anything about Jane Austen knows), and it's not really a biopic since it mostly concentrates on the romance. Everyone loves James McAvoy, who I think has done this amazing thing by turning a not-remarkable face into supernova-attractive through this wildly sincere charm and charisma. It's not crude and suspicious like Colin Farrell's, and that helps things considerably.
But Anne Hathaway, for all her merit, just doesn't hit the necessary intellectual notes. Maybe no one asked her to, but she's pretty unbelievable. She's just, you know, a girl in this. There's nothing brewing under the surface, which we'd all demand from a person playing Jane Austen. Maybe she's too young in this. I'm trying to think of someone younger who could have done it, but I can only see Kate Winslet or Jennifer Ehle, neither of whom are young enough I guess.

This NBC no-upfront thing is kinda wigging me out.