I never used to drink coffee at all. None. Now I drink too much. Why? Because these days, when I've got more than an hour to kill between screenings, I haul my laptop with me and pop into Cosi or Starbucks, drink some joe, and hop online. Cosi's my favorite, because the wifi's free and the coffee is better, but as anyone who knows NYC these days knows, there's a Starbucks practically on every corner, and Cosis are fewer and farther between.

I'm in a Cosi now: though you're reading this on Tuesday, it's actually Monday afternoon -- I am speaking to you from the past: behold the awesome power of joe -- and I'm killing time between my screenings of Meet the Robinsons and Blades of Glory. And I could have done without the caffeine at the moment, because Meet the Robinsons has got me seriously pumped. I mean ... wow. I was not expecting to love this movie this much. Yes, it's true that the TV ads with the T. rex complaining about his huge head and little arms has been making me laugh every damn time I've seen it, but that little teaser is but the merest hint of how outrageously, wonderfully bizarre this movie is.

Now, Disney has made the explicit request that all reviews of the film be held till opening day, which is a bit of a head-scratcher. Usually the studios do this when they're not too confident in a film and want to minimize any damage negative reviews might do. But I gotta tell ya: this is instantly one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made, one of the best animated films, and one of the most wonderful movies for kids. Ever, and no exaggeration. I'm walking on air just thinking about the movie itself and how it made me feel, like I'd forgotten how delighted and surprised I could be by a film. And that may be why Disney is asking for reviews to be held: there are some twists and turns that managed to surprise even me, who can usually see these things coming a mile out. But I'd never spoil that for you.

I can only hope that Blades of Glory will surprise me, cuz I ain't expecting much. I'd like to think that this will be more like Talladega Nights than like most of the other movies Will Ferrell stars in -- I'd like to think Blades will be as subversive as Nights, which sent up the very things a less intelligent film would have mindlessly celebrated, like American excess. I'd like to think that Blades will do the same, will send up, perhaps, the rigid ideas about masculinity that hold American culture in their ugly sway. But I suspect that Blades will not do that, that it will celebrate those Neanderthal ideas instead -- certainly, every trailer and TV ad for the movie I've seen makes it look dumb instead of smart. I'd really, really love to be wrong about that, and I will shout my mea culpas loudly from the rooftops if I am wrong.

Time to wander over to the Blades screening. Hey, if you ever see me tapping away and sucking down coffee in a Starbucks or a Cosi, stop by and say hello. I'll be the gal all hopped up on caffeine working on the white iBook with the "Hello, My Name Is ... Mac" sticker on it.

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