Hack-Fans of the World, Unite!

I just read EW.com's article, "Is Gene Hackman the Greatest Actor Ever?" and am elated to know that I can safely come out of the Hackman closet now. (And of course, the answer is YES!)

Those who know me well, already know my secret. There's just something about the guy. I have this weird non-sexual "thing" for him. If he's on-screen, I can't look away. I feel like I know him. He's on my list of three people I'd love to have dinner with (along with Paul McCartney and J.J. Abrams). Weird right? Well, apparently, I'm not alone. Here's what the article's author notes:

He snagged a Best Actor Oscar as the hair-trigger narc Popeye Doyle in 1971's The French Connection. He had the range to play both the paranoid, twitchy surveillance expert in The Conversation and the blustery, hambone alpha-male preacher in The Poseidon Adventure. He was Lex freakin' Luthor, for crying out loud!

Ahh, Lex. I think that's when my obsession began, back when I was 6 or so, and first watched his brilliance as the "greatest criminal mind of our time." Genius!

OK, so maybe you're thinking it's a freaky journalist thing. After all, Gene was a journalist himself before breaking into the movies at a late age. (See, I do know a lot about him.) But now I know there are other Hack-fans out there. Check out these reader comments on the EW article:

> "He can play anything, tough, funny tough, sleazy/slimy and sleazy/vulnerable, ditzy, authoritarian, egomaniacal, bombastic, earnest, and wacko. He has NO EQUAL."

> "If Gene Hackman is in a movie or TV show- I ALWAYS watch it!"

> "I think Hackman's alacrity to play different characters makes him INVALUABLE as an actor."

> "It's strange how you don't think of him when you're talking about our greatest actors, but when you think of the films he's done, of course you remember he is."

So now that everyone is starting to jump on the "I heart Hackman" bandwagon, just remember where you heard it first. And step off -- I've got dinner dibs.