20TH CENTURY WOMEN

Okay, I'm happy to admit it; I'm in love with Annette Bening, (sorry, Warren). Actually I think I've always been a little in love with Annette all the way back to "Postcards from the Edge" and "The Grifters" though over time Annette met Warren and kind of gave up movies and we sort of drifted apart over the years. Then a few years ago she made a comeback of sorts in "The Kids are All Right" and I started to get stirrings all over again but then I didn't want to break up what she had with Julianne Moore. But now she's back and it would seem she's up for grabs and I'm head over heels all over again.

The movie, of course, is "20th Century Women" and the Academy are absolutely bonkers; they've completely ignored last year's best performance by an actress. In fact, they've ignored the most likeable movie of 2016 altogether; (it's sole nomination is for director Mike Mills' terrific screenplay). This is a feelgood movie the way feelgood movies should be; not soppy and sentimental but smart and funny and sexy and intelligent, chock full of people you would actually like to spend time with. Come to think of it, I'm actually a little in love with Greta Gerwig, (and she can be hard work at times), Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup, (has he ever been smoother or sexier or more grounded), and a kid named Lucas Jade Zumann that I wanted to adopt.

Mike Mills wrote this as an original screenplay but it plays out like a good book. It's literate but it's not stuffy. People in this movie talk intelligently the way intelligent people talk in reality and not in the movies. It feels natural as if they've opened the door and let you into their lives. Yes, I totally love "20th Century Women" and if Annette ever gets tired of Warren, I'll be waiting.