My latest crush: Gordon Buchanan

He's a nature filmmaker. He's adventurous. He's Scottish. He's smart. He's sexy. He just needs to shave more often, and I'll love him even more. (He reminds me of a favorite actor of mine, Ben Chaplin, from Birthday Girl with Nicole Kidman, and Terrence Malick's WWII epic, The Thin Red Line.)

See Gordon Buchanan in Expedition Borneo on The Science Channel.

His Nature documentary, Leopards of Yala, has clips on the PBS website.

I've got my eyes on you: "Idol" Chatter

My favorite contestant, Season 6, so far: Blake Lewis. I didn't like him at first because of the ridiculous overuse of gel. But he won me over by choosing a Keane song, "Somewhere Only We Know," which is currently on heavy rotation on my jukebox. All he has to do is stop looking like he's from a prefabricated English boy band, and I'll keep vigil over the busy signals to vote for him.

My second favorite is Phil Stacey, who is so cute with a hat on (without one though, he looks a little Vulcan/Nosferatu; he's no Daughtry when it comes to a shaved head). Up close, he also appears much older than he does on his Idol profile. He's a decent singer and has charisma, so hopefully he'll stay on long enough to grow a bit of hair on top.

Of the women, alas, I was at mass for Ash Wednesday, so I missed all but the last half hour. Who I'm happy I saw: Gina Glocksen. She rocks. I'm a bit bothered that none of the judges liked the beginning of her performance, which I thought was moody and affecting, and a modern, edgy update to a Celine Dion song. Who I'm disappointed I didn't see: Antonella Barba, who is hot (girl-crush alert!) and has a great exotic look. I like the fact she isn't a trained singer.

Who I think should go from the men's side: Rudy Cardenas, who (no hate mail please) is so gay and hackneyed, and Sundance Head, who is so unhot and gave a dreadful Meatloaf-like performance. It wouldn't be fair for me to judge the ladies. We'll see tonight who makes the cut...

A homage to unplanned pregnancy & Adrienne Shelly

Catch it while you can: Trust (1990) airs on IFC today from 3:30 - 5:20 PM ET. It airs again 2/21/07 at 12:15 PM and 7:05 PM ET. (Those with DVR: now is the time to use it.)

This is a classic Hal Hartley film, starring Adrienne Shelly, a talented actress, and also wife and mother, who was murdered on November 1, 2006. Her untimely death sadly exemplifies the phrase "a life cut short."

In this offbeat comedy, Shelly plays a teenager who gets pregnant and is alienated from her family; she becomes independent and smarter because of it. Martin Donovan, her sexy co-star, is phenomenally intense in this film as well. Albeit his loner character is a touch crazy, he plays such a man. It also stars an early Edie Falco, pre-Sopranos.

I miss arthouse films...

Forget mainstream, R-rated films. It's the unrated foreign or indie films that I miss the most now that I am a mother, especially now that my son is a very aware toddler. As a single mom struggling with her budget too, it is hard to find an excuse for spending $25+ for just a visit to a far off arthouse movie theatre, not to mention the subway time and fare, and the distinct possibility that grisly popcorn and nuked nachos will not satiate my stomach. Then add the hassle of sneaking in a bottle of seltzer and maybe a Quiznos sandwich. On top of that, try coordinating schedules with an ex-boyfriend-turned-parenting-partner who will babysit for free, only if he can raid your fridge. Last but not least, breast engorgement from staying away from my nursing child too long...

At long last, my cable provider, Time Warner, added an "International Movies on Demand" Channel, an offshoot of the "Indie" section on the general "Movies on Demand" Channel. My prayers were somewhat answered — there are some interesting sounding films listed, but many are years old. If I'm looking for the latest Almodóvar film that was just released on DVD, this is not the channel to search.

Yesterday was my second time ordering a Pay-Per-View movie, and both had been from the "International" Channel. (The first was a French period film, A Song of Innocence, about the life of a wetnurse in the 19th century — excellent and resonant film that could be applied to the politics of mothering and breastfeeding today.) Yesterday, I ordered 1996's The Stendhal Syndrome, a tale of a policewoman in Italy hunting for a serial rapist/killer. It stars Asia Argento, who I have a girl-crush on (she is like a cross between Chloë Sevigny and Angelina Jolie; if I were a dyke I'd totally fuck her — actually all three of them) and Thomas Kretschmann, this blond German up-and-coming hottie, who was in King Kong and The Pianist with Adrien Brody.

It was melodramatic, heavy-handed with the dialogue and acting. It was extremely gory and violent, considering it came from Europe and since it's from 1996, it predates the CSI-TV and Saw-movie series. It was also impressively imaginative in its hallucinatory depiction of an actual Stendhal Syndrome sufferer and the viseral nature of this sociopath's crimes. Asia Argento shows off her dichotomous butch/femme side (which is making her hot in Hollywood action films right now) as an avenging riot grrrl on Thomas Kretschmann's disturbingly sexy sadist with washboard abs (his second-fiddle roles in King Kong and The Pianist did not put him on the map for me). (I did not actually finish the climax of the film because Time Warner's On Demand system can be wonky and block your access to content often, even if your account is in good terms. A frequent topic for me with TW reps on their 24-hour hotline.)

I recommend this film if you're cringe-factor is quite resilient, both to violence and Jean Cocteau-esque European cinematic excess. Also, I recommend you put your child down to sleep for the night or a very long nap.