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How can anyone not like this man, he is deadly charming.

The Descendants: You know from the start how it’s going to end, but the journey to get there is so fresh and engaging that the lack of surprise doesn’t matter. Proving again (and again) that subject matter is neutral, it’s either done well or done badly. YES.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: The younger sis of the Olsen twins is getting rave reviews for her performance, which is what reviewers always say about an actress playing a troubled person. Think Angelina Jolie in “Girl Interrupted” or Natalie Portman in “Black Swan.” But the movie is fabulous. Just chilling. YES.

“El Camino” by the Black Keys: It’s 70s rock that your indie friends will dig. LOVE it. Also appreciate the way these guys are a little dorky and self-effacing, meaning their drama and personalities don’t get in the way of the music. BIG YES.

“Homeland” on TV: Wow, this show is blowing me away. Smart, with lots of twists. YES.

“Dexter” on TV: This is one of my favorite seasons because of all the creepy religious stuff and the character development on Deb as the new lieutenant. YES.

Oh look, straight As. Excellent report card dears.

I was flipping through a magazine and saw a photo of Madonna at the Venice Film Festival, and stared in horror at her face. She looks dreadful, barely recognizable. She has what cosmetologists call “pillow face” from overuse of injectibles like Botox, Juvederm, collagen. The swelling also comes from laser treatments and other “work” done.

While I’m no purist about beauty treatments, not by a long shot, there was something about these pictures that made me sad. I came of age in the early ‘80s when Madonna ruled. For a repressed Mormon girl new to the big city, the singer’s confidence and individuality were an inspiration.

Around 1983, nude photographs of Madonna were rumored to exist and were going to be sold to Playboy and Penthouse. Turns out she had posed nude at an art school and someone had taken pictures. They obviously decided to cash in on the snaps when she became famous. This was before the Internet, before you could easily see nudity, and during a time when images of stars — especially in compromising positions — were tightly controlled.

Then she did something amazing: she shrugged it off. “Posing nude was something I did when I was young. I needed the money. So what?” They were published, people bought the magazines, but because of her super-confident handling of the event, there was no scandal.

So you would think Madonna is the kind of person who would just kick expectations about aging right in the groin. “I’m 53, I have wrinkles that are evidence of a life lived at full-tilt, so what?” So much better than pillow face.

Right blend of comedy and pathos

Giving a boost to the relevance of Time Mag

“Next Fall” at the Geffen last night was really good, one of the best plays we’ve seen there. The title works on many levels. Next fall is when one of the gay characters is going to come out to his parents. Since the screenplay discusses themes of Christianity, the term “fall” has religious overtones, as in the fall of man, fall of Adam, fall from grace. Plus, on a more abstract level, the reason for the crisis point that brought everyone together was a physical fall that sent the character to the ED. Great acting, smart dialogue. Big YES.

“Ides of March” is now one of my favorite political movies of all time, really. (Gosling and Clooney — yummy, a little something for the ladies.) The writers took the play, which I saw as “Farragut North” at the Geffen, and dialed it up a notch. No new ground here, after all this is Clinton territory that we explored with “Primary Colors” and “Wag the Dog.” But the story of loyalty and betrayal done extremely well. Did she write the letter and does he have it? Big YES.

What these two share is the tension between two men within a relationship. The father-son dynamic, issues of ambition, of toppling the other to gain prominence. I’ve been focused so much on female characters and leads that I’ve forgotten how interesting the male dynamic is. While there can be a happy pack of alpha females, there can be only one alpha male at the head of the pack.

Lighten up with the symbols of patriotism. "He doth protest too much."

Do the Republicans know that their debate setting looks like the soundstage for the “Colbert Report” — which is a parody! Of you! Although W. didn’t seem to get the joke about Colbert, at least not at that famous White House Press Club Dinner where he was asked to M.C. for a night of great comedy, although W. wasn’t laughing.

Much has been said about the “oops” moment from Rick Perry. If he’s going to have a brainfreeze about that, what other third item might he forget during a potential presidency? Let’s see, I’ve got the Axis of Evil here, Iraq, North Korea and…um…oops. But he wasn’t the only nincompoop on the stage. How about Newt Gingrich telling the university system, the news media and the Occupy Wall Streeters that they don’t know anything about history. What a pedantic jerk. But the biggest douchebag moment came when Herman Cain referred to the woman who has held the highest post ever in our government, former Speaker of the House Pelosie, as “Princess Nancy.” Talk about a cringe moment.

Mitt Romney won the debate handsdown without even uttering a word, just by standing back and letting his opponents self-immolate.

As a sidenote: my favorite Press Corp Dinner moment of all time was when Seth Meyers called out then “candidate” Donald Trump for owning the Miss America Pageant. “It will sure make it easier to find a vice presidential candidate,” he cracked.

I thought I was unshockable regarding the whole financial meltdown. I’ve read the books, watched the movies and truly lived the nightmare — but nothing prepared me for this article in the New York Times.  It describes an office Halloween party at one of the “foreclosure mills” used by the big banks, where staffers dressed up as homeless people, mocking those they were about to evict from their homes. Truly one of those gasping in horror moments. PLEASE read the article.

Why Wall Street (and the world) is being occupied

Then, we get the other side in a series of “postcards from the edge.” These are the 99 percent — young people with crushing student loan debt, families bankrupted by medical bills, the evicted, the unemployed — those occupying Wall Street.

These signs broke my heart