Are the terms 'meet cute,' 'whirlwind romance,' and 'head over heels' exclusive to the twenty- or thirtysomething set? Not according to Last Chance Harvey, which finds an older couple embarking on an unexpected, impromptu relationship in London. The film pairs Kate (Emma Thompson, nearly 50) with Harvey (Dustin Hoffman, good-looking for 71) and takes midlife romance seriously.

Melissa Silverstein, who writes the blog Women & Hollywood, has newbie blogger Emma Thompson's take on the film and her character, and why Hollywood needs more realistic depictions of women on film:

I shall turn 50 this year, which is not without its odd emotions...It was rather a treat, therefore, to play...my first modern romantic lead in a film that is more romantic than comic...where I was...simply an ordinary woman in her forties living a rather stale-looking life as best she can....

If you see the picture...you’ll notice I am decidedly unglamorous and at least size 16. I really wanted to look like a “normal” woman, I mean in terms of body size.

Actresses seem to be getting tinier and tinier and I do wonder how we think we can present really powerful women...when we seem to insist upon having such attenuated physiques.

So Kate is solid – probably worries a bit about her muffin-top (mine is more like a desk-top these days if you must know) but can’t find the energy to worry enough to go to the gym and can’t find the time either.

She’s a real sort of person, someone I could relate to entirely and I hope you enjoy her....[T]he more we can get films like this well distributed the more films we can make about (for want of a better epithet) real women as opposed to (let’s face it) pretend ones.

I've always found Thompson down-to-earth and appealing (much as I do Jamie Lee Curtis), and still recall with a shiver the long-suffering wife Thompson played, married to philandering Alan Rickman in the movie Love Actually. Although she didn't actually enjoy any love in that film, sounds like she will in this one which opens nationwide today.

_{Photo of Emma Thompson
© Neilson Barnard/Getty Images}

More on the film Last Chance Harvey:

About.com Movie Guide Rebecca Murray's Last Chance Harvey site

Natalie Dylan is a 22-year-old from San Diego who says she's a virgin. She has a B.S. in women's studies and hopes to get her masters in marriage and family therapy. Dark-haired and very attractive, she's decided to finance her grad school education by putting something up for auction. Not her college textbooks or her Pez collection...but her virginity.

She started the auction back in September 2008, and at that time she was hoping for a $1 million dollar bid.

Fast forward to 2009. The economy is faltering worldwide, millions have lost vast amounts of money, foreclosures continue, unemployment is rising, retail sales are down, and the financial future looks grim. But not for Natalie Dylan (which, by the way, is not her real name). On January 13, she claims to have have received a high bid of $3.7 million.

Dylan told the Telegraph that she decided to profit from selling her virginity after learning that her older sister had earned enough to pay for her own education after three weeks of turning tricks.

She explained to the British newspaper that she's willing to submit to medical tests to prove that she's a virgin, and commented

"I think me and the person I do it with will both profit greatly from the deal."

She added: "It's shocking that men will pay so much for someone's virginity, which isn't even prized so highly anymore."

I asked a few friends and acquaintances of various ages what they thought of Dylan's actions, and I was surprised by a handful of responses. Several didn't think that a female's virginity was such a precious thing, and that if she could make money off it, why not? "It IS an awful lot of money," one young woman confessed.

What do you think? Would you do it?

Hillary Clinton seems to have passed muster with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. This morning they voted 16-1 to approve her appointment as nominee for Secretary of State.

According to Reuters:

Clinton still has to be officially nominated and then confirmed by the full Senate but this is expected to be a formality, which...will take place shortly after the inauguration of Barack Obama as president on Tuesday.

Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican who this week questioned Clinton about her husband's raising of foreign funds for his charity, was the sole negative vote.

Committee Chairman Sen. John Kerry said Clinton did an "outstanding job" in her testimony before the committee this week but noted some senators had expressed concerns about her husband's charitable foundation and the adequacy of an agreement devised to avoid conflicts of interest.... Clinton, testifying to the committee on Tuesday, resisted Republican calls to amend a pact between her husband's foundation and the Obama transition signed on December 12.

Under that agreement, the Clinton foundation made public a list of its past donors, promised to annually publish the names of its future donors and agreed to submit future foreign donations to a State Department ethics review.

Clinton has promised a more "pragmatic" approach to U.S. diplomacy, relying on what she said was "smart power" rather than...[the] more ideological approach of the outgoing administration Bush administration.

She faces a barrage of challenges from tackling the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea to quelling the violence in the Gaza Strip following Israel's invasion last month.

A lot of women I know put time and effort into hiding their gray hair. (In the interests of full disclosure, I'm one of them.)

So when I noticed my colleague Kathy Gill's Wordless Wednesday entry today, I thought, "It happened to Bill and it happened to George W. The White House makes you go gray."

And then I thought, "Suppose it were Hillary heading to the White House. Would she let the world see her gray?"

Who am I kidding? Of course she's already gray. Most professional women feel compelled to touch up their hair to stay competitive. I know that's an incredibly sexist statement, but it's true. On men, it looks distinguished and earns respect. On women, it often makes them look older than their years and tired.

For years I vowed I wouldn't color my hair. I wouldn't highlight my hair. Absolutely not.

Famous last words.

How about you? No matter what side of the fence you're on, read this article from TIME magazine, "The War Over Going Gray." You'll nod in understanding. I did.