thursday afternoon

Slate's David Edelstein has a piece today about cinematic couplings that just don't work and those that do -- despite the odds.

I'm particularly fond of his deft analysis of Ms. Lopez. I thought she and George Clooney were hot together in Out of Sight, but she hasn't come anywhere close to that since then.

Recent favorite onscreen pairing? Topher Grace and Laura Linney in P.S. I'm not sure they qualify as being a particularly odd coupling, beyond their age difference. He had already proven his acting chops in Traffic, so it's not even that he is a sitcom actor playing with one of the queens of independent cinema. Anyway, they're HOT together.

You should also read David Brooks' column in The New York Times about the alliance of social liberals and socially conservative evangelical Christians who want to fight poverty in the developing world. Downright hopeful.

Award for dumbest headline goes to CBSNews.com:

"Jury Won't See Jackson's Privates"

Alternative title under consideration:

"Jackson's Finally Going to Keep His Dick in His Pants"