Happy New Year to you and yours and theirs and hers. Great holiday or greatest holiday? Not sure. What are we really celebrating: good riddance to the year ending or “hello, Mr. New Year?” I don’t know. Seems arbitrary, but then again so does Presidents Day. Anyway, enjoy your champipple and send the dry cleaning bill to us. If you find yourself home alone tonight watching “When Harry met Sally” or “Harry and the Hendersons,” then by gosh, don’t wait until midnight to start drunk dialing your friends. Let them know before the ball drops that you have one foot on the bridge and one dangling precariously over the railing.

Hey, speaking of movies, here are 2 capsule reviews for you regarding some of the latest crap from Hollywood. What can we say about “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” that we didn’t already say about “Forrest Gump?” Not much. Coincidentally, they were both written by Eric Roth. Hmmmm. I think he had a check list. Semi-retard living in the South? Got it. Catch-phrase happy momma? Got it! Trampy love interest? Check! War? Check! Lt. Dan? Would you settle for Cap’n Mike? Got that too! Huzzah. Oscar, please.

Maybe it was Brad Pitt’s sleep walking performance or the math quiz that was trying to figure out his age in relation to the events happening around him that got to be annoying. Maybe it was the “English Patient” way the story unfolds via a dying person sharing the “love” story. I don’t know. Seems that the fable concept of telling the story about someone who ages in reverse was too much for director David Fincher (“Se7en,” “Fight Club,” “Ladies & Gentlemen: The Best of George Michael”) to handle. Shouldn’t we see an old man without the wisdom to understand life around him and a young man who is world weary? Well, at least Cate Blanchett is stunning as usual. Her best work since “Lord of the Rings.”

The special effects of “Ben Button” made me think how cool it would be for Robert Redford to remake “The Natural.” I always wondered why he thought he could play Roy Hobbs from age 18 to mid-40’s. No offense to the casting director, but the entire New York Knights team looked a little long in the teeth. When they call Roy grandpa and old man, I wonder if the mirrors in the locker room don’t work.

Back to “new” talkies. Mims and I also saw Tom “Tom” Cruise in “Valkyrie.” I give all the credit to director Bryan Singer for making this movie intriguing. I actually thought Cruise might pull off the assassination of Hitler afterall. Plus, with a supporting cast of Kenneth Branaugh, Tom Wilkerson, Bill Nighy and Terrance Stamp, it’s worth the price of admission. Man those Nazis had some shiny boots!

Well, I’m off to see some more movies before the Golden Globes start getting tossed around. I’ll see you in the lobby.