i can honestly say that “the terminal” is undoubtedly one of my favorite movies. for those unfamiliar with the plot, tom hanks plays viktor navorski, an eastern european man forced to live in JFK for six months when he is denied entry onto US soil, but can’t fly back to his native country due to a revolution. in those six months, he learns english, befriends many of the people working at the airport, begins a somewhat unrequited romance with a flight attendant played by catherine zeta-jones, and hilariously irritates the head immigration officer more and more by the day…a guy who tries to do everything legally possible to rid himself of the “navorski problem”, but fails repeatedly

yet, despite hanks’s comedic affectations, zeta-jones’s world-weary milfy sexiness, spielberg’s direction, and great performances by myraid actors, the movie solidified itself on my “top” list because of a single relatively insignificant character…a character who probably spoke less than 500 words the entire flick…

…zoe saldana’s officer torres…

…my favorite fictional love-interest of all-time. (honorable mention: nia long’s brandy from “boyz in the hood” and elastagirl from “the incredibles” )

in her mere 15-20 minutes of screen-time, saldana’s character somehow managed to exhibit pretty much every quality i’d look for in an ideal mate. compassion, intelligence, humility, romantic optimism, a tight blue uniform quirkiness…it’s like they intentionally grafted a character straight out of my conscious, a perfect personification of all of my “deal-makers”, fiction be damned.

anyway though, my question to you relatively fine folks: if you could bag (and “bag” in this instance could mean anything from “date” or “court” to “sleep with” or “imprison them in a texas ranch for 15 years“) any fictional character from any book, movie, or television series, who would it be? remember, i’m not referring to real live actors or actresses, but fictional characters that had you completely enthralled.

***oh. btw, on behalf of the team at verysmartbrothas.com, i wanted to thank everyone for helping to make our first month so successful.we’ve come a long way from those lonely shanty nights. riley and springer would definitely be proud.***

—the champ