A discussion over at Voter Vault got me thinking about who I would rank as the best and worst Presidents in our history. Here are my top five:

1. Abraham Lincoln
2. George Washington
3. Franklin D. Roosevelt
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. John Kennedy

I don't feel too strongly about Kennedy. Maybe Wilson should be there. Kennedy did get us into Vietnam, but he also pushed the Apollo program. I guess the nerd in me wins out.

Now, for the worst Presidents:

39. Franklin Pierce
40. Herbert Hoover
41. Andrew Johnson
42. James Buchanan
43. Warren G. Harding

It's still way too early to put George W. Bush in either list. Unless things turn around in Iraq in the next year, he'll probably find his place in the bottom five eventually.

Who would you put in these two lists? If you need some help, take a look at this article about scholar's rankings.

ROFL

Clippy can be a jackass sometimes.

I LOVED this movie. The story is incredibly simple - a boy loses his sister's shoes when he's on the way back from picking them up from the repair shop. They don't want to tell their parents because they don't have a lot of money and either they will get in trouble or they will stress the parents out. So they share one pair of shoes while the boy works on trying to get back his sister's shoes. Sharing means the girl, Zahra (Bahare Seddigi is wonderful), has to go to school in the shoes, then run all the way to a meeting point so she can give them to her brother Ali (Amir Farrokh Hashemian), who in turn runs off to his school (and is often late).

This is all seen completely through the eyes of these kids. The goings on with the shoes is what occupies their minds and their lives, and they share this secret with each other, often being mad at each other but never willing to tell the parents. The boy, Ali, is so earnest in trying to please his sister and not bother his father, and when he enters a race because 3rd prize is a pair of tennis shoes, the whole drama that follows had me completely enticed. Every time a kid was late or something happened to the shared pair of shoes, I actually felt nervous for them. The race was incredible. I felt more emotionally connected to this story than most of the movies I saw this past year.

I loved the performances, use of color, subtle direction, and perfect portrayal of childlike behavior. I'm pretty sure I picked it up based on a recommendation in the movies folder (Nate?), so whoever inspired me to add it to my queue: thanks!

Letters From Iwo Jima shows a Japanese perspective of the events that took place on the little island whose fate would also determine the fate of Japan. I'm very glad I rented Sands of Iwo Jima earlier this year, which takes an American perspective that integrated real war footage into the movie. The two together are a nice package, and I'm sure I'll feel even more appreciation once I watch Flags of Our Fathers, which is probably in my mailbox right now.

Letters is a good war movie, and one of the aspects I appreciated about it the most was seeing what it was like for soldiers who saw hardly any action in the outdoors. The film shows us the Japanese preparing for the battle, even having enough time to dig massive trenches, and in the meantime, we get to know the inhabitants of the island, including a few flashbacks to their pasts (which are slightly cliche but forgivable).

The part of the movie that most impacted me was the fact that we were getting to know these soldiers on a personal basis, but their superiors were so involved in a battle of who had the best plan of action that these soldiers were being completely wasted (especially the grenade scene). Also, just like in Fires on the Plain, these soldiers are practically abandoned by their country like sitting ducks waiting to die, which is infuriating to sit by and watch.

The music is simple, mostly effective, but borderline annoyingly repetitive. I didn't get angry at it, but did come out of the theatre with the main theme repeating over and over in my head.

As far as direction goes, Eastwood is great. I can't believe how much he has to offer this industry, and that he's doing it so well at an older age.

On a side note, did I ever share the story with all of you about how Ric's grandpa used to date Eastwood's sister? He used to pay off little Clint so he could have some alone-time with her. Haha.

Anyway, it's a very good movie, with many great details of execution. I didn't feel as emotionally impacted as some of the reviews I have read, but I'm okay with that.

The new poll question asks you, the reader, who should win the Oscar for Best Picture. I've only seen The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine. I really liked both of them. I plan on seeing Letters from Iwo Jima sometime soon and maybe the other two if I get a chance. Money is kind of tight right now.

Spider Man 3 is the clear winner in the Most Anticipated Movie of 2007 poll. It had twice as many votes as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Transformers came out one vote ahead over Pirates 3. Rounding out the type 5 were 300 and The Simpsons Movie, tied at 6 votes each.

For the five people out there who never got a Gmail invite, you can now sign up for an account without one. Wow, that only took about three years. I don't know where I'd be without my Gmail. Kudos to Google on this milestone.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I agree with Smiles that anyone who calls it "Singles Awareness Day" should be punched. Get over it already. It's one stinking day.

I completely forgot that I also have a secret SISTER through our business women's lunch thing that meets monthly. I mean, I remembered I was involved in it because yesterday I sent my sister a Valentine's vase full of her favorite flowers along with a box full of heart-shaped peppermint patties. But I totally forgot that someone was supposed to send me gifts too. So today, this is what I received through house mail. It's a magnetic dartboard (works good!), a desktop pool table, a giant Reese's peanut butter heart, and a chocolate rose. Fun times!

Ric and I don't have any plans for tonight. We'll probably celebrate on the weekend because the holiday kind of snuck up on us and we didn't make any reservations anywhere.