What John Roberts and I have in common

I'm something of a movie buff. I'll say this-- the two friends who helped me move in to my Boston apartment three years ago were begging me to make the switch from VHS to DVD. Which I've done. But who would've guessed that one of my ten all-time favorite movies is the favorite (or second favorite) movie of judge John Roberts? Maybe he's keen on the censure and re-dubbing of Eva Marie Saint's saucy line during the "trout" sequence. (Look it up. I must've seen the movie eight times before I even heard the story.)

Oh, and bravo to Chuck Schumer. The confirmation hearings were a joke of McClellanian proportions (I love coining terms) in Roberts' ability to avoid answering any question thrown his way.

Frustrated by Roberts' answers, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., suggested on Wednesday that if he dared to ask the nominee his favorite films, he would get a discussion of cinematography and why "Casablanca" is considered one of the greatest.

Instead, Roberts answered flat out, bringing laughter from the audience and senators alike.

"North by Northwest," Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic, starred Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason and Martin Landau, and included a death-defying scramble on the face of Mount Rushmore.

"Doctor Zhivago," the 1965 film directed by David Lean, was described as "a love caught in the fire of revolution" and starred Omar Sharif, Julie Christie and Rod Steiger.

Wow, what a laugh riot. He might've avoided making any statements of substance, but it's good to know that our representatives in DC can enjoy a hearty chuckle now and then.